As we go into the summer, a huge ‘thank you’ goes to teachers, students and parents. To the students, you’ve practiced focus and attention and this is no easy feat. It takes hard work to build and exercise an efficient brain. To our parents, you ensured your children had a good night’s sleep and a great breakfast. These are all incredibly important for the exercise process to be successful. To our teachers, you continually refined your practices to bring the best environments together to achieve optimum learning. And all of this is built on the foundation of “connectedness”. It is a partnership that makes this work, and YOU MATTER in this journey together.
Some things to consider as we head into the warm summer months:
- Relaxation is important to brain development and solidification of neuronal pathways as much as focused exercise. Do something different – it makes the brain happy.
- Go to the library and grab books just for pleasure (short ones, tall ones, ones with lots of pictures, ones that teach something new or weird)
- Some sites that offer ebook reading:
Unite for Library (early literacy) http://www.uniteforliteracy.com/
We Give Books http://www.wegivebooks.org/books
- Create something – this uses different parts of the brain (they like working together).
Recently published from MIT neuroscience lab, is research on how the brain uses synchronization to form new communication circuits. (Synchronized Brain Waves Enable Rapid Learning) What I find interesting is what happens when the brain runs out of memory space when using rote memorization. Many students that struggle with reading use sheer power of memorization as their only strategy. This is only effective until they reach their limit. The research suggests that category formation between regions offers a way beyond rote memorization. I’m seeing a connection to why we practice forming categories while learning. Something to ponder… What do you think?
