I had the privilege of attending an excellent professional development training at the statewide in-service day on Friday, October 12th. It is not very often that a presenter actually models what they are teaching, but that was the case with Marcia Tate. Marcia highly engaged a group of 130 educators at an all day session, called Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites. Throughout the eight-hour session, we learned 20 strategies to engage the brain in high level learning, and we practiced 16 of those strategies. We never went more than 20 minutes without an activity. It was fabulous. If you ever get a chance to see Marcia live, I highly recommend it. If you can apply just a few of her techniques, the experience will change how you teach. Your students will learn more, be more successful, and behavior problems will be rare to non-existent.
The top twenty ways to engage the brain are:
1. Writing
2. Storytelling
3. Mnemonic Devices
4. Visuals
5. Movement
6. Role Play
7. Visualization
8. Metaphor, analogy, simile
9. Reciprocal teaching (co-teaching, cooperative learning)
10. Music (music changes moods, a math/music connection exists, music helps memory)
11. Graphic organizers
12. Drawing
13. Humor
14. Discussion
15. Games
16. Project-based instruction
17. Field Trips
18. Manipulatives
19. Technology
20. Work-Study
