Our brains make up about 2% of our body weight, but they use 20% of our oxygen. Mental effort is expensive, so our brains only work when something is important, and it believes it has a high probability of success. As a result, a preview is incredibly important if we want our students to pay … [Read more...] about What Does Preview Mean in the Classroom
Learning Using Brain Science
Writing to Learn
How do we get our students to remember what they learn in class? Sometimes it feels like our lessons go in one ear and out the other. The key to improving information retention is reflection. If we want our students to remember something, we have to give them time to consolidate it within their … [Read more...] about Writing to Learn
Lesson Planning the Smart Way
I can vividly remember sitting at my desk on Wednesday afternoon, the only day I had time for lesson planning, and feeling so overwhelmed that I did nothing. My problem was I didn’t have a system. Every week I felt like I was starting from scratch. Of course, it didn’t help that our school district … [Read more...] about Lesson Planning the Smart Way
How to Get Good Grades in School
If you are like most students, you want to get good grade, but you don't know how. School feels overwhelming, and you don't know where to start. You might even wonder if it is too late. Rest easy! This blog post is going to tell you everything you need to know about how to get good grades in … [Read more...] about How to Get Good Grades in School
How to Turn a Reading Passage into a Lesson Plan
I know a lot of you are using my science reading passages in your classroom. They are a helpful resource because students learn the whole story on a science topic, and students can work independently. Unfortunately, a reading passage is not a lesson plan. Today, I am going to share how you … [Read more...] about How to Turn a Reading Passage into a Lesson Plan
How to Feel Safe in the Classroom
If we want our students to learn, then we have to teach them how to feel safe. We can't learn when we don't feel safe because we can't think when we don't feel safe. The Brain Science Behind How to Feel Safe Let's explore what happens in our bodies when we face a threat. Information … [Read more...] about How to Feel Safe in the Classroom