Reflection #2- Explorations in MBT

I am thrilled about the Mind, Brain, and Teaching cohort! Our readings and discussions have added new life and purpose to my craft. I have benefited from focusing on one Brain Target each week as the pacing affords me the opportunity to thoughtfully and purposefully model my instructional practices to reflect what I’ve learned.

When I committed to creating a positive emotional climate and reduced stressful aspects of our learning environment my students’ learning improved and they were noticeably calmer (Hardiman, 2003, p. 25). Making use of natural lighting and changing to full-spectrum bulbs helped reduce glare on the glass doors of our bookshelves and eliminated a form of visual distraction, drawing the eye to the engaging books behind, and appealing to the attention system (Hardiman, 2003, p. 42). My students immediately noticed the books and began requesting reading time more frequently.

It is my responsibility to help my learners experience all of life’s wonders. I took a hint from a sweet potato that began to sprout in our culinary learning space and thought about what my students could learn from growing a plant. I sketched out a concept map to help organize my ideas for a botany unit. Taking advantage of a novel and authentic learning experience captured my students’ attention and sparked their curiosity for further learning. Also, by helping my students form an emotional attachment to their sweet potato vine I hopefully increased their retention for what we learned during our botany unit (Hardiman, 2003, p. 56). 

Reflection #1- Explorations in MBT

Three weeks have passed and I am enjoying working nightly reading about current brain research and dreaming of ideas for implementation with my team. I have put brain research to practice with my children by positively nurturing the plasticity of their brains and providing them with a learning environment that is enriching and engaging (Hardiman, 2003, p. 13). I frequently alter their environment to maintain interest, use natural lighting, and light an apple cinnamon scented candle to increase mental alertness (Hardiman, 2003,p. 43). 

I have crafted Montessori tradition (Posner & Rothbart, 2007, p. 118) lessons that follow the Brain-Targeted Teaching Model (Hardiman, 2003) and match my children’s temperaments and interests as enabling them to decide what they want to learn gives them feelings of control (Posner & Rothbart, 2007, p. 23). In contrast to the theory of localization, I attempt to stimulate the entire brain of my children as building memory is based on the functionality of the entire brain, not one particular area (Posner & Rothbart, 2007, p. 26). 

A child’s white matter increases during the early years of development and it is theorized that MRI’s may help us learn about specific areas of the brain and when specific skills can be most efficiently taught to children (Posner & Rothbard, 2007, p. 42). This knowledge would make it possible for me to develop age-skill-specific curricula for my children and understand which skills should be taught and when they should be taught. This is an exciting and encouraging thought!

Reflecting and Looking Ahead: Post 1

What an experience! The world has given us a wonderful opportunity to learn together about the connection between the mind, brain, and teaching. I have made many connections with my team and fellow cohort members from around the globe. I expect that our combined experiences and the information we gather from our coursework will provide us with new thinking about how to work with learners in our classroom. I hope to become a skilled and understanding educator as well as a resource for others in my field that may be interested in the current research on the connection between the brain and learning. I would also like to gain insight into the mental development of my own children and learn from their experiences.

Enrolling in the online Mind, Brain, and Teaching cohort afforded me my first online learning experience. I have found the individual and whole group activities easiest for my schedule, and am looking forward to becoming a stronger small team group member. I was surprised that each member of my team lives in a different state or country. Coordinating chat sessions and team time that works for everyone’s schedule will require flexibility and strong communication between group members.

I still need support making sure that I am writing in APA style. Prior to submitting assignments I will need to refer to the APA resources posted for our reading tasks during week one of the online training experience. Writing in APA format does not come naturally at the moment and I hope to become a stronger writer by the end of our courses.