Please post your answer as a COMMENT to this blog post.
After completing the online session two and all of the homework, please return to this post and answer the Essential Question for Session Two by posting a comment to this blog entry.
"What kinds of teaching strategies must be added to bring the balance of Right and Left mode in the classroom?"
Keep the 4mat wheel nearby! Have a whole brain model handy to refer to. Post the multiple intelligences in the classroom so you can remember to use as many of them as possible. Keep a multi-sensory sticky note by the computer you type lesson plans on. Practice and perfect lesson planning to involve whole brain activities relevant to subject matter.
ReplyDeleteI think teachers should be the students for a day and teach each other. That way they can give honest feedback on if they are teaching in a whole brain, multi-sensory kinda way.
Personally, I think learning about multi-sensory, multiple intelligences and brain research should be a given first. It is what true professional development at the highest level should encompass. Then I think teachers should be allowed to collaborate and teach the teacher more. Sharing strategies and ideas that work in their class room.
My thought is to make sure all of our teachers are trained to use 4mat. Then I realized that they all are!! BUT I think the next step would be to have a greater level of accountability. What that looks like to me is...Districts holding their Principals responsible for implementing 4mat and a commitment to continuous training, workshops and online professional development. Once Principals are held accountable they will hold their teachers accountable with new standards for lesson plans and implementation in the classroom daily. Principals will be more active in teacher support thru training and providing resources that will be needed in each particular classroom. Principals will support a school wide culture that involves using more whole brain methods that are multi-sensory and include multiple intelligences. Students are taught about these theories and information is applied to them personally. The culture of respecting diversity and teaching around the cycle must come from the top down and leadership must be educated and encouraged from the District or Conference level as well.
Wanda, good luck with your efforts to get leadership to actually lead. I'm struggling with a chair of our department at the university where I teach who won't lead because to say that the department requires XYZ assignment conflicts with academic freedom.
DeleteI also was interested in your comment about MI theory. I try to use that in my research methods class. We have a lot of athletes in communication (they all want to be sports reporters--and are often bodily- kinesthetic) and boy are they happy when they get to sort note cards into piles or when I make them play with standard deviation/skew etc. by standing in a line and moving to see different things.
The cycle is important also MI, Peer coaching is also excellent, and of course, super idea from Tracy ( I think it is Tracey} example of standard deviation.
DeleteThat is a tough one, to get the principals on board.
DeleteIn schools where they are involved, great progress happens.
I am working on new activities for a communication theories class.
ReplyDeleteFor each chapter I do a handout where students have to, among other things, draw a theory and mind-map a theory or the chapter. Students hate that sheet. I think I need to explain why I'm using it and maybe the 4MAT cycle is the way to do it.
I have, occasionally in the past, had students draw the theory-- usually with leadership theories that don't really have a diagram already. I should expand that to more theories.
I could also ask students to develop a metaphor for the theory, or find/create music that reflects the theory, and tell a story or write poetry showing the theory.
I think I should have students mind-map more too.
My issue is time. It's the depth vs breadth issue all over again. I already only talk about only two of the four theories for each aspect of communication (interpersonal, organizational, mediated, etc.)
Are they able to do that? Marvelous. Metaphors are golden for understanding the real meaning of concepts. These strategies are times well spent.
DeleteThe above is from Lora =)
DeleteLora says.....
DeleteAnd yes, they can.... but it always takes three times as long as I have allotted for it (lol)
I believe that a teacher must first experience what she teaches on some level. With that being said, I really didn’t learn how to teach from a whole-brain perspective until I was exposed to Shurley English my senior year in college. It has forever retrained my brain in regard to lesson planning and curriculum development in my ELA classes. I understand that all new teachers may not experience this introduction to whole brain learning until later in their careers. This is why 4MAT is so important. I also believe that other methods such as diversity in relating to multiple learning styles as well as multi-sensory styles is equally as important. Finally, I believe that it is so important to create whole-brained learning experiences for our teachers during professional development as well as making sure our principal are also educated in whole-brained theory and research so that they can help create a school-wide culture.
ReplyDeleteYes, teachers must first experience what they teach, how else can they move students into learning that touches their hearts? The teacher who is skilled in analysis as well as feeling and deep listening is truly a gift to the world.
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