The Developing Adolescent and Creating a Positive Learning Environment

This session was more about the developing adolescent than creating a positive learning environment. Having read The Teenage Brain, a lot of the information shared was not new to me. One interesting take away - an MRI of a brain after eating sugar is similar to an MRI of a brain on drugs (I think it was heroin). The few examples of creating a positive learning environment included incorporating movement and allowing for interaction. I was hoping to take away ideas on how to get students who are hesitant to join groups and participate more involved.

Comments

Positive Classroom

I was struck by the importance of creating a positive environment for my students. One presenter showed a picture of a woman who had a fearful expression on her face. Most of the teachers in the room said she looked afraid; however, the presenter said 8/10 middle school students thought the teacher was angry. We need to be careful how we express ourselves in front of our students, knowing that they misread some of our thoughts.

A middle school principal's dream come true...

I am so grateful that we were able to take nearly our entire faculty to AMLE, and so proud of our staff for making the day a dream come true for me! We started the day with a near perfect bus ride into Philadelphia, our driver, (Daraan DeShields), gracefully maneuvered our bus to the main entrance of the Philadelphia Convention Center. He was awesome! He started our day by greeting us with a smile, letting us know his expectations for the bus, and also letting us know he would do everything in his power to ensure our trip was comfortable and safe. From that moment, I knew it was going to be a great day. Daraan obviously buys into our vision of creating a school that teaches kids to love school. He even played the radio for us. Thank you Daraan! I think all would agree that individually we each got more out of some sessions than we did other sessions. For me Dr. Monte Selby's session on teacher morale and motivation was the most impactful for me. Monte is one of most entertain...

Giving Kids Opportunities to Re-do and Retest

I found this session to be one of the more thought provoking ones that I attended that day. Often I look at assessments from two very different angles--one as a teacher, and the other as a parent. The teacher in me has traditionally thought that tests/assessments, and projects should be the culmination of learning--showing off what a student has gleaned from the instruction. On the other hand, as a parent, I have often wished that my child were given more time to prepare, reflect upon, and learn the material. The "snapshot" of how my child performed on one assessment doesn't always indicate learning or mastery, and this is unfortunate. I'm trying hard to reconcile how to offer this option within the confines of a middle school where many of our high school courses are subject to definitive prerequisites. I believe that the ability to show mastery is what is in the best interest of the kids. However, part of me feels that it is unfair to ...

Patton @ AMLE 2017

Search This Blog