The Adolescent Brain and Neuroscience

 Cerebral cortex

Cerebral cortex, or cerebrum, is the outermost layer of the human brain and is generally associated with many, higher-order, brain functions such as perception, memory, association, and thought Cerebral Cortex | Education, Society, & the K-12 Learner. (2020). It is not only the largest part of the brain that is associated with the control of physical action, but is also considered to be the ultimate information processing center in the brain. In other words, the cerebral cortex is what determines intelligence, personality, motor function, planning and organization, language processing, and many more. 

Being an ELA teacher, I could safely say that most activities I conduct in the classroom are aimed at the student's cerebral cortex. For example, activities that aim to stimulate students memory or association capabilities are all processed in the cerebral cortex. Furthermore, instructional techniques, like scaffolding, inherently depend on the cerebral cortex to bring about necessary information from memory. Evidently, the simplest activities that require the most basic skills like reading and thinking, motor functions like speech and movement all take place in the cerebrum. 

Hippocampus

On the other hand, we find the Hippocampus to be a small, two-part, curved formation inside the temporal lobe in the human brain. Besides its association with the formation of new memories, it is also involved with learning and emotions. The hippocampus could be damaged due to disease or injury. Persons with hippocampus damage can experience loss of memory, or the ability to make new memories Thomas, D. (2020). In other words, all long term memory depends on the hippocampus. It is also involved in the detection of new events, places, and stimuli. 

In that, we see that no new learning of any type would take place without the help of the hippocampus. It consolidates new memories from short-term memory into long-term memory. God forbid, if any student would to hurt that part of their brain they would not be able to register any new events, in general. 

Researchers have found an equally important role for the hippocampus: feeding information to brain areas responsible for learning. "It is really important to think of the brain as an interconnected structure, with different parts that work together to produce our impressive mental feats" Arizona State University. (2019).

References

1. Schunk, D. H. (2012). Learning theories: An educational perspective (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.  
2. Cerebral Cortex | Education, Society, & the K-12 Learner. (2020). Retrieved 4 October 2020, from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/teachereducationx92x1/chapter/cerebral-cortex/
3. Thomas, D. (2020). Don't Let Your Hippocampus Stop You From Being A Successful Investor. Retrieved 4 October 2020, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2018/05/10/dont-let-your-hippocampus-stop-you-from-being-a-successful-investor/#1ba34c532694
4. Arizona State University. (2019). More than just memories: A new role for the hippocampus during learning: Study shows how the hippocampus provides information to other brain areas during learning. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 4, 2020 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190306081704.htm

Learning Domains

 Education is the process of imparting knowledge and bringing about desirable changes in the learner's behavior. Classroom instructions and activities are the gate way to the process of education. Accordingly, teachers of all subjects plan the objectives of any particular instruction, aka instructional objectives. In other words, instructional objectives refer to the goals of each instructional session. Leaning and/or teaching outcomes are usually based around instructional objectives.

The classification of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives includes three domains: The cognitive domain which is knowledge related, the affective domain which is feelings related, and the psycho-motor domain which is action related. All three domains are interconnected and interdependent. In other words, every educational activity is supposed to address at least one of these domains. However, for the sake of brevity, will only reflect on some of the preferred instructional activities related to the cognitive domain.

At the lowest level of the cognitive domain, we find the ability to recalling knowledge followed by understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating is at the top level of the classification. Teachers know that they have to come up with instructional activities that address the exploration and stimulation of these domains.

One of the basic questions facing educators has always been “Where do we begin in seeking to improve human thinking?” (Houghton, 2004). Depending on the scope of the new knowledge whether it is factual, conceptual, procedural, or meta-cognitive, I try to utilize the adequate tools for formative assessment of my gr.12 students. In other words, I try to use the right prompts that correspond with both, the type of knowledge and the cognitive process dimension. For example, in order to check the student's ability to recall factual information I would use the prompt "list".However, if I wanted to test his memory of a conceptual knowledge I would use the prompt "describe". Similarly, if I wanted to test students understanding of a procedural knowledge I would use the prompt "predict", as opposed to the prompt "construct" if I wanted to test their meta-cognitive capabilities. I make point of having the activity challenge revolve around answering said prompts. In my experience, using the correct prompt is key to realizing learning and/or instructional objectives.


Refernces
1.
Forehand, M. . (2010) Emerging Perspectives on Learning, Teaching, and Technology, Global Text, Michael Orey. (Chapter 3). Retrieved from https://textbookequity.org/Textbooks/Orey_Emergin_Perspectives_Learning.pdf

Barriers to Learning That Teachers May Overlook

 Based on child development theory, the Association for Curriculum Development and Supervision developed five tenets which underpin every student's rights to be healthy, safe, engaged, supported and challenged Slade, S. & Griffith, D. (2013) . Though educational theories that support a "whole-child" education have been around for years, many education systems concentrate on a tiny sliver rof students cognitive abilities and development. Thus, we see emphasis on transmitting content knowledge that is usually memorized by students and called upon in the same form it was recieved. Subjects like science, math, and arts usually dominate curricula. Understandably, not all teachers take into consideration the emotional and cognitive abilities of their individual students when they start a course. However, a "whole-child" education involves more than acquiring inert knowledge in any of these subjects. A whole-child approach to learning involves the development of students physical and mental health, social and emotional development, cognitive development, identity development, and academic development, as Whole Child Approach to Education, (2018) denoted. 

Based on their backgrounds and socioeconomic status, students bring different levels of skills related to attention, perception, and memory to the classroom. According to Data and Statistics About ADHD | CDC, (2016), the estimated number of children ever diagnosed with ADHD, according to a national 2016 parent survey is 6.1 million (9.4%). Many other students have ADHD, or similar disease, but have never been diagnosed. These students are more likely to have issues with behavior, academics, and overall learning. These are also the same students who need differentiation the most. 

Many teachers who are bound by heavy curricula and head of department guidelines to prepare students to sit for their finals, may not have the time to pay attention to individual students needs, let alone students with special needs. These educators forget that the classroom is a major developmental context for cognitive development. Even busy teachers can promote this by structuring a cognitively stimulating learning environment that is student centered.
In conclusion, be it an undiagnosed student with special needs, a busy teacher, or otherwise, many students with special needs are not getting the cognitive attention they deserve and the ACDS announced in 2007.






References
1.
Whole Child Approach to Education. (2018). Retrieved 11 October 2020, from https://chanzuckerberg.com/blog/explore-the-whole-child-approach-to-education/
2.
Slade, S. & Griffith, D. (2013). A whole child approach to student success. KEDI Journal of Educational Policy. 21-35. From https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287320346_A_whole_child_approach_to_student_success#:~:text=A%20whole%20child%20approach%20to%20education%20is%20one%20which%20focuses,child%20to%20fulfill%20their%20potential.
3.
Data and Statistics About ADHD | CDC. (2016). Retrieved 11 October 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/data.html

443 words

Teaching and Technology

 Teachers have many functions and play many roles in the classroom that go beyond mere teaching or intellectual abilities. Teaching requires the acquisition and development of many complementary skills that are essential to instruction but not necessarily intellectual. The role of the teacher in the 21st century has developed beyond imparting knowledge. Teachers are not subject matter experts but rather qualified facilitators who carry out the mission of implementing a curriculum effectively. Technology has evolved from subject to be studied into a tool that is used to facilitate learning and instruction. Technology has become part of the educational process, but too often it is separate and not integrated into the learning experience Starr, L. (2016, May 10).

In my opinion, neither resisting being taught to use technology on the grounds that a teacher's role is more intellectual than technical or technological, nor adopting it as a personal preference is an answer to the use of technology in the classroom. Evidently, technology has become a major part in almost every field and education is no different. Embedding technology effectively into learning and assessment activities enhances the delivery of all types of curricula Smith, R., Killen, C., & Knight, S., (2013, September 9). The use of media and online resources has become an almost integrated part of education in the 21st century and this is not expected to change anytime soon. Most teachers today have grown without depending on technology as heavily as today's students do.

Teachers who refuse to learn how to incorporate technology into their instruction are essentially falling behind and will continue to do so. Technology is in constant state of development that is sometimes overwhelming to some teachers, especially the ones with old school habits or mentality. In my opinion,the incorporation of technology in education saves the teacher and the students a lot of time and effort. Furthermore, technology has made an incredible amount of knowledge available to all via a few mouse clicks. Teachers opposing the use technology in this time and age are effectively making their own instructional process and the students learning process much harder than it is supposed to be.

In conclusion, technology has grown to be an enabling factor in the 21st century education. Technology is indeed the sign of our times.

References

1.
Starr, L. (2016, May 10). Integrating Technology in the Classroom: It Takes More Than Just Having Computers. Education World. Retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech146.shtml
2.
Smith, R., Killen, C., & Knight, S., (2013, September 9). Using technology to improve curriculum design. Retrieved from https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/using-technology-to-improve-curriculum-design

Teaching philosophy

 Upon reflecting on my, on-the-ground, approach to classroom management, lesson planning, and instructional style, I found that I was unsparingly, and unknowingly, using what is called Cognitive-Behavioral Strategies or CBS. "CBS has its roots in psychiatry and was proven to help many people get over  a number of clinically proven conditions such as OCD, anxiety and social phobia Cognitive-behavioral Strategies in the Classroom", (2014) . For example, I always encourage students to use their inner-dialogue to observe, analyse, and modify their own behaviors. At the same time, I make a point of using plenty of tangible, sensory, and psychological rewards as reinforcers i.e. tokens, totems, smiley faces and star stickers, tiny sweets, genuine smile or nod, public praise of a job well-done, etc.. which is a kind of a melange between Behavioral and Cognitive theories.

My philosophy 

Classroom management

I found that my philosophy had its roots in my desire for my teenage daughters to receive from their educators what I provide for my students. This may sound selfish and/or self centered but in fact, it is not. I know that I have to deliver a certain standard of quality regardless of what my own family receives and I agree and accept this responsibility. However, I use this as part of one's own motivation to deliver quality standards and help develop the student as a whole, instead of merely focusing on delivering an SAT or ELA session. 

Lesson planning

In terms of academia, this has helped me construct suitable exercises and activities with the abilities of my slowest student in mind i.e. how new information is presented, the desired outcome of exercises, possible obstacles that might face some students. In terms of behavior, CBS helps teachers empathize more with the students at times when they become emotionally agitated and self restraint is key. 

Instructional style

As a rule, I try to keep instructional time at minimum to give more chance to students to do their work uninterrupted and for me to observe their performance and behavior. When instructing, I try to build or relate previous knowledge to the topic at hand. This helps establish common grounds and some sort of agreement or buy-in early on in the lesson where I could scaffold and move forward. I also tend to incorporate humor and/or inside jokes adequately to break the sometimes rigid material. Sometimes during instruction, I suddenly pause and seem to look for someone to finish my sentence to encourage engagement and to retain attention.

Conclusion

The reason I opted to write this brief comment after I had already finished crafting a mind map was that I wanted to further explain my stance more clearly. Personally, I believe that we are all students in the school of life till the last day of school. In other words, I actively look for the lesson in every situation, planned or unplanned, whether to learn from it myself or to point it out to at least one student. When I started this course I knew there was a lot to learn but did not actually realize how ignorant one is. Besides Behavioral and Cognitive theories, there is a more recent theory that was at play without being fully aware of it. 

References

1. Cognitive-behavioral Strategies in the Classroom. (2014). Retrieved 17 September 2020, from https://education.ufl.edu/behavior-management-resource-guide/2014/07/14/cognitive-behavioral-strategies-in-the-classroom/

Taking Ownership of curricular innovation

 

"..one of the consequences of our approach to reform is that the curriculum gets narrowed as school district policies make it clear that what is to be tested is what is to be taught" Eisner, (eds.) p.299.    

   I teach ELA and SAT/ACT prep. in various international schools- IB, IGCSE, and American- in Cairo, Egypt. In almost all of these schools, I was specifically asked by management to focus on preparing students for their finals i.e. SAT, ACT, or APs. When a department head is available s/he usually picks the lessons that address said finals. This meant that lessons that are not relevant to the finals have, in the eyes of school management, less value in class than others. For example, in my last school, I was specifically asked to include SAT exercises in every ELA session. Consequently, the lesson plan for a literature session, for example, must include set time for said exercises, significantly reducing the time allotted for literature. 

   This orientation is usually communicated, directly or indirectly, to teachers and students who start to intentionally neglect all other educational aspects that do not relate to the final tests. This means that non-core subjects like, Arts and PE, become neglected as they do not contribute to the final score. On one hand, teachers start to plan their lessons and activities around "training" students on taking the finals as opposed to "preparing" them to be life long learners. 

"..issues including dramatic demographic changes, policy changes, globalization, emerging technologies, and concerns surrounding refugees and immigration remain challenging for both school settings and teacher educators" (Hasan, A. et al., 2017). 

   This is exceptionally true in Egypt as the fees for international education have risen dramatically due to high demand from families who want the best education for their children. Consequently, this shifts the emphasis from wholesome education to mere training which, in turn, raises many questions about schooling real emphasis Smith, M. K. (2005). In the teachers' lounge, most of our conversations used to revolve around coming tests and how to prepare students for them. I should also mention here that teachers showed almost the same level worry about finals as much as the students themselves or their parents. 

   The reason for this, in my opinion, is multilayered: school districts emphasize only the role of common core; schools usually concentrate on students final results as an indicator to their success as an educational establishment which in turn means more applicants in the future and thus, more profit; teachers tend to follow school policy by orienting each lesson to serve the final test; students, in turn, regard all that is irrelevant to the final test as unimportant and unnecessary; parents are for the most part concerned with the graduation of their children rather than their development. 

    In my opinion, there is a need to make students cognitive development as important as their scores on their final tests. This should start with the policy makers. In other words, school districts should communicate, to all stakeholders, that curricular innovation alone is neither enough nor does it stop at the curriculum itself but transcends it to reflect educators own synthesization of it. Stakeholders in this situation are school management, educators, parents/guardians, and students. Said stakeholders should also strive to self educate about the underlying principles and/or theory behind curricular innovation in order to be able to see a clearer goal, each on his turf. 

References

 Eisner, E.  What does it mean to say a school is doing well?.  In Flinders, D. J., &   Thornton, S. J. (Eds.), The Curriculum Studies Reader, Fourth Edition (pp.297-305). New York, NY: Routledge. Retrieved from: https://chrisdavidcampbell.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/eisener-2001.pdf

Hasan, A. et al (2017)  Meeting the Challenges of Curriculum and Instruction in School Settings in the United States.  Journal of Social Studies Education Research. retrieved from  https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1162276.pdf

Smith, M. K. (2005) ‘Elliot W. Eisner, connoisseurship, criticism and the art of education’, The encyclopedia of pedagogy and informal education, www.infed.org/thinkers/eisner.htm

Jerick T., (2015), Curriculum development curriculum issues, concerns and responses. Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/JerickTeodoro1/curriculum-development-curriculum-issues-concerns-and-responses-49630682

On Effective Learning Environments

I attended a French Jesuit school in Cairo, Egypt and I currently teach ELA and SAT/ACT prep. courses. I have been teaching/training for almost 15 years and have taught national and international curricula.

Oxford's Language Dictionary concisely defines learning as "the acquisition of knowledge and/or skills through study, experience, or being taught" and I believe this definition is applicable to all learners regardless of their diversity. Generally speaking, I have experienced, in one capacity or another, many of the challenges that could hinder the learning process. The causes of these challenges were sometimes management or student related and most of the times were teacher related. It is up to the teacher to construct an adequate learning environment conducive to effective learning. Further development of said environment has virtually no limits but it always has to start at the same place, the teacher's intention. In other words, it is the teacher who decides to choose a teacher-centered or a student-centered instructional approach. It is up to the teacher to choose to enrich the learning experience with engaging activities and look for and recognize different types of learners as well as their educational and developmental needs.

Factors like constructing adequate classroom design, setting the rules with students and reaching an agreement on academic and behavioral expectations, utilizing effective communication techniques, and being prepared and resilient are some of the key elements that affect students' learning process and are all in the hands of the teacher. A teacher's preparedness starts by learning different learning theorem to gain an understanding of the stages of the learning process as well as the factors that directly affect it. For example, understanding the Neuroscience behind learning will give the teacher an insight on how information and emotions are processed in a student's mind.

In conclusion, I believe that it is the teacher who has the responsibility and the power to construct, manage, and maintain an effective learning environment.