I am participating this weekend in a conference on Learning and the Brain. Actually multi-tasking with my iPad as I listen to lectures that tell us that the human brain was not designed for sitting hours on end to absorb information. We were designed of course to be active hunters and gathers, outside, interacting with our environment. Interesting. Conclusion: schools and classrooms are not the ideal environment for learning.
Each day we are discovering more and more information about how the brain operates, and as one presenter here said, we are learning that “each brain is wired differently.” And that differentiated instruction is really critical to engage the many unique brains in our classrooms.
What are the implications for uniform, common core state standards? And for leadership?One implication is that the more we can differentiate, then the higher the odds that we will further learning for each student with his or her unique brains. What should leaders do?