June 6, 2012

Sheetal Sehgal
Sheila Sullivan

During class on June 6, we opened with a “frontloading” activity to precede our
reading of the book Educating Esmé. This activity required us to react to a number of
statements about teaching (specifically with regard to closing the achievement gap), and
we engaged in a lively discussion about a number of the statements.

We then spoke about (and viewed a PowerPoint slideshow about) a Terry Gross
podcast on NPR about technology’s impact on developing brains. One key point taken
from this portion of class was that our brains need a certain amount of “downtime”,
and when we do not allow ourselves to cease multitasking and simply reacting to our
immediate surroundings, we could face lasting negative neurological implications. We
have become a society of multitaskers, but it is important to remember that we can
typically only focus fully on one task at a time. At this time, we also discussed the
brain’s frontal lobe – the portion of the brain that develops last and dictates our capacity
for decision-making.

Next, we viewed a TED video about brain mapping which involved a visual of an
actual brain. We then learned more about the brain through a PowerPoint presentation.
When we learn new skills or concepts, new synapses form in our brains. Thus, learning
changes the structure of the brain.

The rest of our consisted of the following two presentations:

Presentation 1: “Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences”
Multiple intelligences highlight the notion that there is more than one way to
solve a problem or be creative. A brief synopsis of the multiple intelligences:
• Verbal/Linguistic
- think in words
- benefit from a print rich environment
• Bodily/Kinestic
- use bodies effectively
- can be exceptional in fine/gross motor
• Visual/Spatial
- think in pictures
• Interpersonal
- enjoys group work
• Intrapersonal
- shy and introvert
- strong opinions and wisdom
- need time and privacy to do work
• Musical
- show sensitivity to music and sound
- study better with music in the background
• Naturalist
- more in tune with nature
- sensitive to changes in environment
- enjoys sorting and categorizing
• Logical/Mathematical
- explores patterns and experiments
• Existential Learner
- predisposition to ponder death, life, etc
- preliminary – can’t pinpoint a corresponding biological part of
brain

If a teacher keeps these different learning styles in mind, it would lead to more accessible
and meaningful lesson plans/assessments and validate learning’s multiple forms. GIVE A
LEARNING STYLES SURVEY TO YOUR STUDENTS!

Presentation 2: “Kohlberg’s Moral Stages”
1. Avoid Punishment
2. Self-Interest
a. “I’ll do your work if I can play video games”
3. Good Boy Attitude
4. Law & Order Morality
a. Subway train entry/exit etiquette
5. Social Contract
a. Occupy Wall Street
6. Principle
a. Gandhi, Martin Luther King
b. Duty to justice, disobedience

Awareness of where are students fall in these stages has direct implications for how we
approach behavior management in our classrooms.

We've found an interesting video about young people and multitasking that serves as a nice follow-up to our discussion about technology and the brain.