PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS, NOVEMBER 19

(By advance registration only. Most workshops are applicable to all grades. Select one of five. Add $25 if not also attending the conference.)
8:30 AM - 12:40 PM Cost Per Person: $185

1. Best Brain Practices and Instructional Design

Part I: Designing Teaching and Constructing Learning:
Instructional Design for the Learning Brain
This workshop presents the cognitive processes that empower learning, from sensory experience to memory construction and application of new understandings. Methods for engaging students in the thinking that constructs learning will be shared, and participants will experience instructional design based on such methods.
Kevin D. Washburn, EdD, Executive Director, Clerestory Learning; author, Architecture of Learning: Design Your Teaching for How the Brain Learns (2010)

Part II: Best Practices: Preparing the Minds for Eventual Assessment
Before students can be assessed, they must first learn the material. This workshop will focus on activities where we use mind/brain principles of learning to develop and share information about teaching strategies for the initial acquisition key knowledge and skills. We will first demonstrate a series of mind/brain principles that are crucial in creating memories. In addition to developing your own personalized strategy, one of the significant benefits of this workshop is getting a copy of everyone’s ideas. The examples we develop are edited, provided with commentary, and then emailed to participants after the workshop
Jeb Schenck, PhD, Adjunct Professor, University of Wyoming, middle and high school biology teacher; memory researcher; author, Teaching the Brain, Best Ideas and Best Practice (2009)

2. A Neuropsychology Perspective on Memory and Classroom Learning

This presentation will present a neuropsychological perspective on the development and use of cognitive processes involved in what we commonly call “memory,” including the initial registration, manipulation, storage, and retrieval of information. The involvement of memory processes in classroom instruction will be discussed along with appropriate interventions and classroom accommodations for students thought to have memory problems.
George McCloskey PhD, Professor and Director, School Psychology Research, Dept. of Psychology, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine; author, Essentials of Executive Function Assessment (2010)

3. Teaching to the Teen Brain: Strategies and Challenges

Part I: Creating a Brain-Friendly Learning SYSTEM for Teenagers
This session will present tested procedure, materials, and resources for building a culture of effective brain-friendly learning in any middle or high school. It merges the principles of quality management (continuous improvement) in the classroom with a practical and comprehensive model of brain-based teaching that goes far beyond a narrow approach on one topic like learning styles.
Ronald J. Fitzgerald, EdD, former Superintendent-Director, Minuteman Regional Technical School District; Adjunct Professor, University of Massachusetts and Boston University; author, Brain-Friendly Learning: A Powerful Handbook for Teenagers (2009)

Part II: Teaching Teens in an Age of Distraction
This talk will examine the role of temperament, relationships, and cultural distractions in the development of adolescent identity, sense of self and teen teaching.
Thomas J. Cottle, PhD, Professor of Education, School of Education, Boston University; sociologist and licensed clinical psychologist; author, Mind Fields: Adolescent Consciousness in a Culture of Distraction (2001)

4. Executive Function: No Mind Left Behind

Part I: Building the Eight Pillars of Capable Young Minds
This workshop will explain the role of executive function to a person’s performance and emotional wellbeing. Dr. Cox will describe how executive function helps children to navigate important developmental hurdles, both social and academic. Special emphasis is placed on the role of working memory, self-monitoring, and cognitive flexibility, and their contribution to productivity and self-confidence. Guidance in assessing the eight pillars of executive function in children of all ages will be provided. Strategies for building and coaching each of these pillars will be highlighted. This program is intended to provide skills, which can be immediately applied to teaching, counseling, and related concerns.
Adam J. Cox, PhD, Licensed and Board-certified Clinical Psychologist; author, No Mind Left Behind: Understanding and Fostering Executive Control--The Eight Essential Brain Skills Every Child Needs to Thrive (2008)

Part II: Transforming Executive Function Potential into Classroom Achievement Using Process-Based Strategies
In an attempt to instill organization, independence and efficiency in students, teachers often employ several methods for classroom teaching. However, not all of these methods promote development of metacognitive abilities or advancement of executive functions. This presentation will introduce a three-prong approach of incorporating Executive Function strategies in a school-wide setting, including metacognitive training that involves education regarding one’s own approach to learning by disseminating fundamental facts about attention, memory and brain neuropsychology; classroom modifications that enhance acquisition and retention of executive procedures that are non-transparent to most of the students; and executive function strategies related to self-correction and problem solving that can aid student’s self-assessment and self-correction process. The hands-on nature of this workshop will leave attendees with practical strategies that can be put in practice the next day.
Sucheta A. Kamath, MA (In linguistics and Speech-Language), BC-NCD, CCC-SLP, Director/Founder, Cerebral Matters; former Cognitive Rehabilitation Specialist, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School; Developer of “Organizing Your Brain At School: (ORYBAS) - Curriculum Based Strategies to Enhance Executive Functions/Management Skills in School Aged Children” which she piloted in the Fall of 2007

5. Dyslexia: Connecting Reading, Education and Cognitive Science

This workshop will highlight cutting-edge advances in neuroscientific findings related to reading development and dyslexia. In addition to describing research on practices for identifying and characterizing readers informed by cognitive neuroscience and educational work, the workshop will also describe how reading interventions impact both the brain and behavior.
John D.E. Gabrieli, PhD, Professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences; Co-Director, Clinical Research Center; Associate Director, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Joanna A. Christodoulou, PhD, Research Fellow, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Lab., Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

6. Neuroscience 101: The Frontier of the Brain and Learning

In the last few years, scientists have been making incredible breakthroughs in understanding how this seemingly inscrutable mass of cells called the brain actually works. Professor John Stein will walk educators through the current understanding of the anatomy of the brain and then examine what the latest science has uncovered about the brain’s principal role in learning, thinking and memory.
John J. Stein, PhD, Professor of Biology; Senior Lecturer, Department of Neuroscience; Faculty, Institute for Brain Science, Brown University; co-author, Neuroscience: An Introduction (2006)

EVENTS

MIT “BRAIN SCAN” TOUR: SEE THE BRAIN IN ACTION

THURSDAY NOV. 18 at 3:00 PM and 4:00 PM
FRIDAY, NOV. 19 at 10:00 and 11:00 AM
Cost per Person: $120
Sponsored by the ATHINOULA A. MARTINOS IMAGING CENTER, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Take this unique opportunity to see an fMRI brain scan in action. Call 781-449-4010 ext. 101 for information and to register for a tour. One person from each tour will be selected by MIT to have their brain scanned.

NETWORKING LUNCHES
SATURDAY, NOV. 20 from 12:45-1:45 PM
SUNDAY, NOV. 21 from 12:45 – 1:45 PM
Cost per Person: $29.50
Meet and dine with colleagues at this special networking lunch at the MIT Faculty Club. Advance registration required on the registration form.

“MEETING OF THE MINDS” – Wine & Cheese Reception
FRIDAY, NOV. 19 from 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM — Free & Open to All Attendees
Enjoy this opportunity to meet other attendees and some of the nation’s brightest minds.
Sponsored by THE DANA ALLIANCE FOR BRAIN INITIATIVES
Advance registration required on the registration form.

CONFERENCE POSTER SESSIONS
Proposal deadline October 15, 2010
Call 917-405-0412. Submit a summary of your poster session for review to Info@LearningAndTheBrain.com.

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