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Uncommon Sense Teaching: Practical Insights in Brain Science to Help Students Learn by Barbara Oakley, Beth Rogowsky, and Terrence Sejnowsk
t explains how the brain works when it learns. It also offers lots of practical real world advice for teachers and learners of all ages. No school professional development library should be without it.

1. Building Memory: How Students Fool Themselves into Thinking They’re Learning

• Information in working memory generally goes away when we stop thinking about it. This can fool students into thinking they really know something. What they need to do is right after they have encountered new information, they should see if they can retrieve it from long-term memory. Retrieval practice is one of the best techniques for strengthening new information in long-term memory. The more times you retrieve something the stronger your memory of it will be. Students should jot notes about what they just learned and compare their notes with other students. Retrieving information from previous days or weeks is called spaced repetition, which further strengthens long-term memory.

2. Teaching Inclusively: The Importance of Working Memory

• Not all students have the same amount of working memory. For those with less, it’s vital to build their long-term memory, which will make the short-term memory they have more efficient. Working memory increases over time until children reach the age of about 14. Engaging students’ interests makes learning more effective while stress gets in the way.
• Slower learners can benefit from reteaching, giving them more time to practice, giving them outlines to take notes on, and breaking things down into simpler steps. For faster learners go beyond factual questions, have them work together, increase the complexity of assignments, have extra activities for them to do, and let them devise their own activities. This helps you differentiate your teaching. In all cases, active practice should break up teacher talk.

3. Active Learning: The Declarative Pathway

• Research shows that active learning is much more effective than simply listening to an expert. Note that not all hands-on activities are considered to be active learning. Active Learning engages students in the process of learning through activities and/or discussions in class. It emphasizes higher-order thinking and often involves group work. The foundation for conceptual understanding and creative thinking is the storage of basic facts and procedures in long-term memory. Note-taking and retrieval practice facilitate this process.
• Long-term memories are stored in the neocortex, which is the big front and top of your brain. The process is facilitated by the hippocampus, which is composed of two small bean-shaped pieces at the base. It acts as an index while the connections of neurons that store memories are being made. Retrieving recently stored memories serves to help consolidate the information. Much of this consolidation occurs while we are sleeping. Brief breaks of even less than a minute can help students make sense of new material. Index links from the hippocampus dissolve after a while, which is why cramming the night before doesn’t work as there is no time for consolidation.
• Frequent formative assessments, low-stakes tests, homework, and exercises can all help with retrieval. Daily physical exercise of an hour or more helps with the formation of neuron connections. Be sure to tap into prior knowledge. Use the think-pair-share method when teaching. Students will find that working in pairs or groups of three or four is more effective than larger-sized groups. If possible, pick a shy person from a group with the right answer (or a good answer) to present to the class.

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Relocating: Helping Your Children Learn in a New Environment by Amanda Winstead offers great advice for parents who have to move. It’s now easy for children, but here are some things to ease the pain. Thanks. Amanda.

Introduction

• Moving can be the beginning of a new adventure. It can be a chance to start fresh. It can also be an opportunity to expand your network of friends and colleagues. Moving to a new location holds all sorts of potential — it is what you make of it.
• Unfortunately, many kids don’t see moving in that light. For many, the idea of moving to a new place is terrifying. It is taking them away from something they know and are comfortable with and putting them into a completely new situation. This means a new bedroom, a new school, and new friends. Starting over is enough to make any child struggle.
• Thankfully, there is a lot parents can do to help make the transition a bit easier. Helping children adapt quickly and successfully to their new home and life is key to keeping kids on the right track. Taking the time to help them work through the emotions associated with such a large change can also help everyone in the family begin to adapt to a new home.

Preparing for a Big Move

• Perhaps one of the most important things you can do as a parent to help your child adjust to a big move and a new school is to start the conversation early. Just like adults, children need time to process the idea of a big change in their lives. Surprising them with something like that and not allowing time for the news to really sink in is asking for trouble and anxiety in your kid.
• Moving is stressful — there’s no doubt about that — but kids are extremely perceptive when it comes to your emotional well-being. If you want them to have a positive attitude about the move, you must do as well. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you avoid talking about the things that make them nervous or that will be hard, but it does mean trying to focus on the things that won’t change such as still having recess or a packed lunch and the benefits of moving like choosing their own bedroom.
• As with most adults, the core of a child’s fear about moving tends to be related to a lack of control in the situation. Do your best to give them whatever control you can and help them feel involved in the decision-making process. This can be as simple as letting them choose how they decorate their new bedroom or picking out their backpack and extracurricular activities. It can also mean getting them involved with packing their things and deciding if there are toys or clothing they don’t want to take with them to the new place.

Making the Time to Make it Home

• If you can choose where you are moving, it will be worth taking the opportunity to look into the quality of the schools in the area. It may come as a surprise, but children are frequently more successful in school districts that have a smaller number of students. Smaller towns rather than big metro areas can provide more one-on-one interaction opportunities between students and teachers because the classroom sizes are typically smaller.
• To help relieve some of the anxiety associated with going to a new school, try to take some of the mystery out of it before the first day. Take your children to explore the school, the playground, and what their walk home from school will be like if you’re close enough for that. Likewise, set up a meeting with teachers and school administration staff. Anything that helps the new location feel more familiar to your child and gives them an idea of what to expect will be a benefit on the first day.
• As your child starts their new school, it is valuable to stay involved and assess how things are going. Set aside time after school every day to see how their day went and listen closely to the things they have to say. Ask questions to keep them talking. If there are opportunities, see if they are interested in inviting some of the new kids they’ve met for a playdate which can help facilitate them making new friends.

Other Moving Opportunities

• Depending upon the age of your child, there may be an abundance of other ways to help them get involved. For instance, maybe you are moving to a new area where there are more types of extracurricular activities outside of school than there were previously. For instance, maybe the nearby city pool has a swim team they can get involved in or the library has a children’s book club. Although some of these activities aren’t directly tied to the school, they can help your children settle into the new place and make friends more quickly.
• Some older students may want to opt out of doing the new school thing altogether. If you feel that it would be a good fit for your child, you could look into e-learning. Doing school online can open up several opportunities to take different or more challenging courses than what is offered at the new school. Of course, going online isn’t for every student — it is important to evaluate whether or not your high school-aged child would be successful or flounder in this environment before making that decision.
• Moving to a new area and starting your child in a new school can be hard on everyone. Helping your children adjust is an important step in successfully adapting to a new school. Doing things such as giving them time to prepare, showing them around the school before the first day, and helping them get involved in activities can make a huge difference.

Amanda Winstead

• Amanda is a freelance writer out of Portland focusing on many topics including educational technology. Along with writing she enjoys traveling, reading, working out, and going to concerts. If you want to follow her writing journey, or even just say hi you can find her on Twitter.

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Medical Binder Printables to Keep Your Health Records Organized by Cristina Thorson offers forms you can use to keep track of your medical information so you can easily share it with your physicians rather than just talking about how you feel and neglecting what you can’t remember. Thanks, Cristina.

Introduction

• Whether you’re suffering from a chronic condition, wanting to keep your health information in order, or are somewhere in between, keeping a medical binder on hand can be beneficial. Having a medical binder not only helps you stay more organized, but it can also act as the single source of truth in case of an emergency.
• Thinking about possible “what-ifs” is never fun to do, but making sure you’re prepared for emergencies can make a worst-case scenario a little easier to manage. Use the medical binder printables to start putting together your own health binder. It might save your life one day.

Basic Health Information Sheet

• On a basic health information sheet, you should include the standard information that you might need to receive medical treatment. Usually, when you go in for an appointment, the healthcare clinic will need to have this information on file before you receive treatment.
• The information needed is your full name, emergency contact information, allergies, date of birth, blood type, and any immunization records. Keeping this information up to date and on file can save time if you decide to transfer doctors, or if you start going to a specialized healthcare professional.

Medication Tracker

• According to WebMD, about half the American population takes an average of four prescription pills. Some medications have conflicting effects which can have deadly consequences. If you keep track of your own medications, it will make it easier for doctors to ensure that they won’t prescribe anything that will have adverse effects on your health.
• Documenting your own medications can also help you and your doctor figure out what has worked in the past, and what hasn’t. It can help you avoid repeating medications, especially if you work with a new doctor or you haven’t been to a medical professional in a while.

• Keeping track of your blood pressure can save you a world of problems. Hypertension (or high blood pressure) has damaging effects over time, and many are unaware that they even have it. To record your own blood pressure, you should purchase a home blood pressure monitor.
• It’s best to avoid caffeine and exercise at least 30 minutes before you measure, and try to measure at the same time every day. Self-monitoring is actually recommended by the American Heart Association for people with high blood pressure treatments. Even though home monitoring isn’t an adequate substitute for visits, it can be helpful when healthcare professionals are trying to gauge the effectiveness of their treatments.



• It’s useful to be aware of your own medical conditions before a big life transition, like moving homes, leaving for college, or even planning for retirement. The temporary instability during these time periods may cause medical conditions to flare up. These changes may also influence your healthcare provider or the access to healthcare that you receive.
• Start surveying the information in advance of these changes so you’re not overwhelmed during the transitionary period. Make sure your information is up-to-date and easily understood. Many use their smartwatches or their phones to log health information, but you could also try an alternative tracking method, like our printable sheets.

Cristina Thorson

• Cristina is a part-time content writing intern at Siege and a full-time student at Boston University. She enjoys exploring new pockets of cities, culture, and cat websites (as well as alliterative expressions). In her spare time, she can be found reading books, commenting on movies, and writing anything from advertising copy to feminist satire.

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