Reflection #1

Reflect on how the use of a pedagogical framework like the Brain-Targeted Teaching Model might be useful to you in whatever educational setting you work. How can you use this framework to organize, interpret, and incorporate neuro- and cognitive science research into your practice?

As I have had the opportunity to read and learn more about the Brain-Targeted Teaching Model over the past few weeks, I have become intrigued about this framework in the educational setting. As I have developed knowledge about each target, I have found myself thinking about how I could apply it in my own classroom presently. For example, when I read about BT-1(Setting the Emotional Climate), I went to work the next day finding myself contemplating how I am currently addressing this target as well as other ways I could improve my instruction using these tenets. I also feel optimistic about this model because there are so many ways to implement the various targets in my teaching on a continual basis. I noticed that there were some things I was already doing in my classroom and that was encouraging to read about those strategies as well as the research supporting those particular strategies. For instance, I have a Star Student of the Week each week in my classroom. The student that week gets to bring in pictures and hang them up on the door for the rest of the class to see. I have always been able to tell how special the students feel about this. However, I also have the rest of the students write a nice comment or note with a picture to that student.

Sometimes I found myself wondering what the administration would say if they walked in and the students were doing this rather than a writing assignment. Now I feel more confident in the fact that activities like this add value to the learning experience and there is research to prove that out. After all, if the children do not feel safe and self-assured in their learning environment, are they really going to be able to concentrate on what I am trying to teach them or demonstrate understanding of new concepts?

Since the model is based on neuro- and cognitive research, I also feel more certain about the effects it could have on my students’ learning and success in the educational setting. Over the past few years, I have felt frustrated by new educational initiatives that come to the school district or become a time-consuming part of my daily routine. All of the teachers are trained on this new initiative and begin implementing it.  Then within a year, it fades from use and there is something new the following year. How can we be truly effective educators if we are constantly changing what we are doing? I know it is important to evaluate how you are educating your students each year and vary your lessons but continuously altering the underlying fundamentals is not necessarily going to help the teacher or the students. If a teacher does not feel secure in what he or she is doing, then it is going to come across in their teaching and in turn the students are not going to be as successful.

However, with the BTT Model, it provides a framework that teachers can implement in numerous ways within their classroom. I can feel assured that the strategies I am utilizing in my classroom are helping each child be successful. Even if my school is encouraging a specific initiative, I will be able to adapt the concepts of the model to fit into the new framework. For example, even if I am teaching a specific unit for math and I have certain standards to meet, I can still implement BT-3 by using a concept map at the beginning of the unit. I will still be able to meet the standards and provide vocabulary instruction for the unit but I will also be able to go that extra mile with my students by incorporating the arts.

I think for me the framework will also be helpful because I can still apply the model in my own classroom even if my fellow teammates are not supporters of these strategies. For example, I always plan for reading and math with the 3^rd grade team but I can take the ideas that we come up with and add strategies from the model to assist my teaching and my students’ learning. I have already found myself doing this. Last week was a perfect example as I was planning lessons in grammar and writing. My students were learning about adjectives. We read a book about adjectives and watched a short musical video about adjectives. Next, I had them draw a picture of an object that they wanted to describe. They had to write sentences using adjectives to describe the object but they had to keep it a secret. Then, they got to sit in the rocking chair in the front of the room and read their clues. The other students had to listen closely to the clues and then had the opportunity to guess what the object was that was being described. I think in the past I would have been tempted to do an activity that could have been less interesting or creative. However, after learning about the model, I have found myself trying to incorporate it in my classroom little by little as I can. This wasn’t a unit that I implemented it in but even for one lesson, I felt that the idea of adjectives is more concrete in their mind rather than being something difficult to discriminate between adjectives and nouns. This is just one example of how I think I will be able to utilize the model in my classroom.

The model will allow me to expand my classroom offerings and be more unique and creative in my instruction. I will be able to use the strategies for each target that will be most applicable to my students in a given year. I have always realized how diverse my students are, but this model will allow me to implement strategies that will help all of them achieve at a higher level. I want to spend more time focusing on the areas that will help my students the most. I think it is easy to get caught up in grading or paper work that must be done. However, wouldn’t some of this time be better spent enhancing my bulletin boards or planning a hands-on lesson that will allow them to understand the concept to a higher degree?

 I think the Brain-Targeted Teaching Model has opened my eyes to ideas that could help improve my instruction. I can still acquire grades and assess my students even if I don’t give them a paper and pencil assignment. I want to make learning enjoyable for my students so that they will be engaged and attentive. With this model, I will be able to support the strategies I am applying in my classroom with brain research.