Really cool contest for my musically talented students:
Make Your Own Instrument and WIN PRIZES!

I’ve been reading this really cool book written by Eric Jensen titled Teaching with the brain in mind. Here are a few things I’ve learned so far that blew my, well, that blew my mind.

1. The number of neurons and glia, also known as interneurons, in the human brain may vary by BILLIONS from one person to the next. These neurons and glia determine how the brain grows, functions, and learns. (Can you say differentiation?!)

2. Not really news to all, but the brain is constantly changing. What’s cool to note is that we can actually change our OWN brains depending on our experiences and our own actions! (WOW! Guess that means that we are what we do and live! We can retrain our brains to be what we want them to be. Hmmm...so you CAN become a reader, if you read! Does that mean that practice makes perfect? ...if we practice our math, we’ll get better, ahem, or become mathematicians?)

3. The brain not only loses brain cells, but is also grows them in a process called neurogenesis. This process of “pruning” and regrowth means that our brains become specialized in certain areas. Musicians, for example, have thicker areas of the brain that are responsible for music than non-musicians. In essence, musicians grow cells that are specialized in music!

4. Our environments and actions can influence brain cell growth. It’s logical, then, to find that stress inhibits growth whereas exercise stimulates it. (Nice! I know what I’m doing tonight!! I wonder if that elliptical machine still works?)

According to Jensen, “the brain is a dynamic, opportunistic, pattern-forming, self-organized system of systems.” He also states that, “every student in your classroom has the capacity for change.”

Don’t give up on them! Keep encouraging them! Their brains WILL change. They CAN learn.

Ok...I’m going to pick my book back up. I’ve just GOT to read some more.

How do I write learning objectives?

Below are several links I have found while searching this topic. Please examine them for yourself. Clearly, there are multiple models of objective writing, but most involve determining what you want students to KNOW and be able to DO. Objectives MUST contain measurable verbs (see Bloom’s taxonomy). If you find your objective is not measurable, you must revise it. Be careful when using the SOLs as your objectives. Some of the SOLs are written with unmeasurable verbs.

1. washington.edu
2. deakin.edu
3. (My Favorite) park.edu
4. glencoe
5. suite101
6. gmu.edu
7. (I like this one, too.) psu.edu

Based on the SOLs and their Frameworks of Essential Knowledge for your content, you should be able to write and, most importantly, convey to your students clear learning objectives. Incorporating Bloom’s taxonomy into your objective writing will automatically differentiate them, but you must also differentiate your lessons based upon a learner’s readiness, interest, and capability. Keep gender and cultural characteristics in mind, too, and you will have an engaged student. It’s all about giving them choices.

Why the NEED for learning objectives?

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“Well, that depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where,” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
~Lewis Carroll, Alices’s Adventures in Wonderland

Examine the sites below to obtain understanding of the importance of learning objectives in various areas of life...not necessarily education:

1. temple.edu
2. associatedcontent
3. astd.org
4. super-solutions.com
5. naukrihub.com

Obviously, objectives are important because they tell the student where they need to be when all is said and done.

IMPORTANT TO NOTE: OBJECTIVES MUST BE COMMUNICATED TO STUDENTS. (Otherwise, how would you know if they truly know where they need to go?)

***** Just For You *****
Blooms_Revised_Taxonomy.pdf

Virginia Department of Education SOL Links:

English
English SOLs

Math
Math SOLs

Science
Science SOLs

Social Studies
Social Studies SOLs

Fine Arts
Fine Art SOLs

Foreign Language
Foreign Language SOLs

Computer Technology
Computer Technology SOLs

Health
Health SOLs

Physical Education
Physical Education SOLs