The past three weeks of the course have proved compelling and relevant to my role as a first grade teacher. This year I have a very emotionally dynamic group of students. The idea that positive climates in the classroom create a dynamic that allows the release dopamine which, in turn, strengthens the cognitive process. WOW! I am telling all who will listen (at school and a conference I attended this weekend) about this. I knew on a basic level, that of course a stressed child isn’t one that can learn. However, the discussion of cortisol vs. dopamine really was eye opening. It’s even more important for me to try to keep our classroom humming in a positive happy way because they will truly learn better!
As a result our discussions regarding the physical environment, I changed A LOT in my room. The children changed the table arrangement from groupings to a line of tables along our L shaped room- I wouldn’t have thought to do this, I would have thought they would have preferred working together in groups, yet this is what they chose and they love it! It’s opened up our meeting area space as well, so it’s a win-win!
The idea of novelty was another concept that my colleagues are sick of me talking about at school! Changing our bulletin boards, adding more exciting pictures to our “I see, I think, I wonder” display has boosted our unit interest significantly. The students are keen to research and find out about that days topics! It’s fantastic!
1 comment:
Hi Allyson,
Bravo! Keep spreading the news about the importance of cognitive & neuroscience research and education to one and all! Some of my friends and colleagues told me that they became interested in the topic because I was so enthusiastic about it. It’s often been said the “best teacher of teachers are other teachers!”
I was tickled to read your comments about your students’ reaction to the desk arrangement. Years ago…I’m talking at least 20 years…I taught in a school where the children were quite rambunctious. We were supposed to keep the desks arranged in “tables” because it was supposed to promote group work. I can’t tell you how many times learning stopped because someone was “looking at” someone else! So we talked about room arrangements and a “U” configuration was decided upon.
We were all happy campers until someone from the “central office” came in and told me I’d have to put the desks back into table formation. I was livid and the kids were upset, too. So we had a discussion and created a “survey form” that showed the desks in various arrangements. Each child checked off their preferred arrangement. “U design” won by a landslide!
I also had a place on the form for comments. The kids responded just as yours did: I can see the teacher and the overhead better. So and So doesn’t bother me anymore. We are a big team. We have more room.
Long story short I shared the “data” with my principal, and she had my back the next time the “central office person” did her rounds. The desks stayed in a U. Of course, for cooperative activities we moved them into tables. Hello…desks are moveable!
Best regards,
Sharon
PS Now I am just being mean….I called the “Central Office “ people “Clickers” because you could always hear them coming….their high spikey heels clicked loudly on the hard hallway surface and let us know they were on the way! :-)
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