Learning Consortium

Today, on KGO radio (San Francisco), an neurologist from St. Francis Hospital explained the danger of concussions to student athletes. Dr. Victor Preato said that it’s time we look at concussions for what they really are, mild traumatic brain injury and stop underplaying their importance. Preato said that a concussion causes bruising and swelling of the brain. As a result of this trauma, some neurons (brain cells) live and some die. Connections (synapses) can also be lost. If an athlete already has a concussion, it takes less force to cause a second concussion. Upon autopsy, the brains of athletes who have suffered multiple concussions look like the brains of those with Alzheimer’s disease.

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Researchers Mary Pyc and Katherine Rawson recently published a study (Science, 15 October 2010: Vol. 330. no. 6002, p. 335 DOI: 10.1126/science.1191465) making the case that practice testing actually makes it easier to remember information.  They looked at the role of mediators (a word or mnemonic that links cues to information to be remembered) in testing and remembering.  What they discovered is that when students learned a mediator to help them remember, then took a pretest, restudied and took the test again, they refined their mediators and performed better on the final test.

In the classroom, this means that when we help students link information they are learning to a specific cue (the mediator), then give them a practice test on the information, let them restudy, and give them the final test, we help them improve their learning and their test scores!  Using mediators is one more tool for students to add to their bag of study skills and learning strategies.  It requires a little forethought on the part of the teacher but the payoff for the student is well worth the effort!

For a quick summary of the study, check out this link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20101014/sc_livescience/sorrykidstestshelpyoulearn;_ylt=A0LEapDqDbhMH0ABhSaWSbYF;_ylu=X3oDMTMwNWcxdXJxBGFzc2V0A2xpdmVzY2llbmNlLzIwMTAxMDE0L3NvcnJ5a2lkc3Rlc3RzaGVscHlvdWxlYXJuBHBvcwMxOQRzZWMDeW5fc3ViY2F0X2xpc3QEc2xrA3NvcnJ5a2lkc3Rlcw–

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In this age of accountability, the “powers that be” sometimes loose sight of the importance of the arts on academics. Researchers from Northwestern University reviewed current research and concluded, “The effect of music training suggests that, akin to physical exercise and its impact on body fitness, music is a resource that tones the brain for auditory fitness.” Musical training enhances neuroplasticity and provides stable scaffolding of meaningful patterns that are important to learning. Children who are musically trained have better vocabulary and reading abilities than those who aren’t. Nina Kraus, Bharath Chandrasekaran, Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11, 599-605 (August 2010)”

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Using a mouse model of Down’s Syndrome, researchers have discovered that just two genes are responsible for the majority of the brain abnormalities their mice.  It is hoped that the findings will help scientists to understand brain defects in humans with Down’s Syndrome and to assist the development of drugs that can be used to treat cognitive impairment in Down’s patients. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=2-genes-linked-to-embryonic-brain-impairment-in-downs-syndrome

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We know sleep is important and getting your adolescents to go to bed and actually sleep is sometimes easier said than done.  I thought this was an interesting article from MIND magazine linking earlier bedtimes to a reduced risk of depression in teens.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=less-sleep-linked-to-blues-in-teens&sc=WR_20100817

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I’m so excited to have this blog up and running!  The blog will be a new learning experience for me…but that’s a good thing because lifelong learning is a pursuit we should all throw ourselves into with abandon.  I’ll be using this space to keep you up-to-date about things that I think are important and useful in the classroom and beyond.  I hope that you’ll feel free to post your thoughts here as well.  I’ve just finished reading two great books.  They are research based and written in an easy-to-read and understand manner.  The first is Brain Rules, by John Medina, Pear Press, 2008, ISBN-10: 0-9797777-0-4.  Dr. Medina is a developmental molecular biologist who teaches at the University Of Washington School Of Medicine and who is the director of the Brain Center for Applied Learning Research at Seattle Pacific University.  His book explores 12 simple principles for “surviving and thriving at work, home, and school.”  Medina does a good job of explaining different types of memory, the effects of stress and sleep on the brain, and the “Jennifer Aniston” neuron!  The book comes with a DVD that includes short video clips from each of the 12 Rules and MP3s from the Brain Rules audio book.  There is also a great website to support and extend the principles in the book.  Check it out at www.brainrules.net.  I can’t wait to weave some of these principles deeper into my keynotes, workshops, and personal life!The second book is Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, by John Ratey, M.D., Little, Brown and Company, 2008, ISBN 978-0-316-11350-2.  This is an encouraging and empowering book for educators, parents, and the general public.  Ratey outlines the success of Naperville School District, just outside of Chicago, which has a physical education program based on fitness and its direct links to student achievement.  This program called PE4life, has been replicated and implemented in other states with the same results…fit kids score higher on standardized and other measures of testing than unfit kids.  Ratey also explore the effects of exercise and fitness on body and brain health throughout life.    I can only hope that teachers, principals, parents and educational powers-that-be-read this book and implement these ideas soon.  As we strive to help students become lifelong learners cognitively, Ratey and the research present a persuasive argument for also teaching students to understand how and why to keep their body fit and the importance of lifelong fitness.  This is a book that should inspire parents and teachers alike to take action and empower our children.I think you will find the ideas in both these books inspirational and easily applicable in the classroom and in your personal life.  If you have a chance to hear either of these two authors speak, take it.  I have heard both of them and enjoyed their presentations very much!  I look forward to reading your thoughts once you’ve read these books.  So, this ends my first entry…please feel free to add your comments and thoughts…have you read a good book, used a great idea in your classroom, do you have a thought to share?  If so, I hope that you will do so here!  We are more powerful together than we are individually.  Let me leave you with this thought…whose brain changes more, the student’s or the teacher’s?

Fondly, Cathy

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