Author Archives: Rebecca Gotlieb

One of the most effective ways to enhance students’ learning is by clarifying what the students should know and modeling how they can come to know those things. John Almarode, a former K-12 teacher and current associate professor at James Madison University, and Kara Vandas, a teacher, author, and educational consultant, recently published Clarity for Learning: Five Essential Practices that Empower Students and Teachers. Those five practices for promoting clarity in the classroom include: 1) crafting learning intention and success criteria; 2) co-constructing those criteria with learners; 3) offering opportunities for students to demonstrate comprehension; 4) giving and receiving feedback about students’ learning; and 5) collaborating with students and other educators to continue to improve teaching and learning.

Almarode and Vandas argue that, when classroom decisions are made with intentionality to promote learning, students should be able to identify what they are learning, why they are learning it, and how they will know that they have learned it. The authors are clear in their writing to promote teachers’ learning. For example, they begin each chapter with a statement of what readers can learn from it. They include guiding questions, reflection exercises, and detailed real-world models of successful clarity interventions.

Almarode and Vandas explain there are multiple ways that teachers are commonly unclear. They may craft learning experiences that are disconnected from the learning outcomes or where a fun activity takes precedence over the larger message the activity is intended to communicate. Teachers may use strategies that are poorly aligned with students’ needs. They may fail to monitor students’ learning or fail to use assessment data to inform how to modify their teaching or enhance their students’ learning.

The first step to gaining clarity is explicating what students are expected to learn. These learning intentions should be communicated to students in age-appropriate language. Doing so may make students more willing to engage with the learning process and develop a greater sense of ownership of their learning. Teachers should also help students monitor their progress and the effectiveness of their learning strategies, appreciate why that progress matters, and understand what else they might learn next. Modeling, demonstrating expectations for success, or offering examples, are effective way of providing clarity. Apprenticeships can make the thinking process visible while gradually and with practice and reflection bestowing more responsibility on the student. As students progress, the initial expectations of what they should learn and how they will demonstrate learning will need to be modified.

Giving students purposefully designed opportunities, whether formal or informal, to demonstrate their learning and make visible their thinking is an important tool for teaching with clarity. These opportunities to demonstrate learning should draw on students’ personal experiences, offer options of different ways to demonstrate learning, feel important to the students, and matter for a purpose beyond a good grade. They should be an authentic, engaging, active learning experience and a safe place to make mistakes. These opportunities to demonstrate learning help teachers see the learning experience from their students’ perspective. Indeed, students, perhaps more than anyone else, can provide teachers with insights into how to enhance the students’ learning.

Almarode and Vandas show that feedback is an important part of the learning process for teachers and students. To be most effective, feedback should be given in a timely manner, it should explicate what needs to be improved, and it should be delivered in a constructive tone. Too much feedback can stymie students. Teachers should recognize that students provide one another extensive feedback. Teachers can become involved in this process to make that feedback most helpful for students’ learning.

Although teachers are the final actors creating clarity in the classroom, that clarity is most likely to be achieved—and learning accelerated—when students, teachers, and school leaders all collaborate. Teachers can reflect about their teaching practices, look for signs of a lack of clarity, discuss with their colleagues about how to support learning, and request help and feedback from school leadership about the clarity of their teaching.

Almarode and Vandas offer a clear and compelling guide for educators to promote clarity in the classroom. With the school year starting soon, this book can help teachers set themselves up for a year of effective teaching.

Almarode, J., & Vandas, K. (2018). Clarity for learning: Five essential practices that empower students and teachers. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Andrew C. Watson, the editor of Learning and the Brain Blog, long-time teacher at some of the country’s most prestigious schools, and consultant to educators around the world, recently released his second book in the Learning Brain series. While the first book in the series focused on working memory and attention and the final book in the series will focus on long-term memory, Learning Grows: The Science of Motivation for the Classroom Teacher focuses on growth mindsets and stereotype threat. Watson synthesizes the vast research on these two topics in a comprehensive and comprehensible manner. He recognizes that teachers are experts in motivating others. As such, he offers helpful, innovative, research-backed motivation strategies that teachers might employ to reduce the impact of societal stereotypes on students’ performance and help students learn to try harder after setbacks.

Interestingly, psychologists have found that moderate difficulty when initially learning a topic can lead to greater understanding and better long-term retention. Unfortunately, some students, regardless of intelligence, do not respond to difficulty by becoming eager to work hard and learn more; instead, some students feel embarrassed or angry when learning feels difficult, and they may give up. Since the 1970s Carol Dweck has been examining students’ explanations of difficulty and the implications for effort and success in school. She and others have found that students who believe that intelligence can increase with effort are likely to work harder. Ultimately, they perform better in school than students who believe abilities are fixed. Watson explains that neuroscientific evidence has corroborated the existence of growth and fixed mindsets by demonstrating that while people with growth mindsets activate areas of the brain that support cognitive processing when they are learning after mistakes, people with fixed mindsets activate error detection areas.

For teachers one important implication of this work is that feedback educators give students shapes how they interpret future successes and struggles. When we provide feedback about students’ learning strategies and effort, rather than about innate qualities of them as students (e.g., when we praise with verbs rather than nouns), we signal that learning is a process and with dedication students can continue to achieve higher levels of success regardless of their current skills. Watson encourages teachers to normalize the experience of struggle in school by, for example, discussing previous students’, famous people’s, or the students’ own previous struggles and ultimate successes.

Watson says that we should minimize the consequences of both correct and incorrect answers to questions. Teachers might even acknowledge that they have made a mistake by wasting students’ time if they ask the students to do work that the students can complete flawlessly. Grading policies can also signal a growth mindset classroom culture. Watson recommends policies such as allowing students to set their own deadlines and revise graded work for credit, emphasizing feedback more than grades, and weighting later assignments more heavily than earlier ones. Additionally, exposing students to the idea that they can contribute to the development of new knowledge shows them that people at every stage need to be learners and that knowledge is dynamic.

While an individual’s mindsets can shape his performance in school, so too can his perception of the beliefs of others about his ability to perform. Claude Steele coined the term “stereotype threat” in the mid-1990s to describe how making salient a stereotype-relevant part of an individual’s identity, during a difficult task, in a domain that the individual cares about, can cause the person to perform worse on the task. The fear of confirming the stereotype can make the individual hypervigilant, stressed, and distracted, and it can reduce his working memory.

Watson highlights research that has shown that reducing the salience of stereotyped identities, highlighting non-stereotyped or positively-stereotyped aspects of identity, affirming one’s values and sense of belonging, and reattributing feelings of stress to external sources (rather than doubts about others’ perceptions of oneself) can reduce stereotype threat effects. Additionally, teachers can reduce stereotype threat effects during testing by reframing tests as opportunities to learn, structuring tests to start with sections where students have strengths, and prefacing critical feedback with a message of hope about the teachers’ belief in the students’ ability to improve.

The Learning Brain series is an approachable, practical, and informative series for expert and novice teachers alike. It is likely to help all educators better understand and reflect on their practices so that they can grow in their ability to serve students.

Watson, A.C. (2019). Learning Grows: The Science of Motivation for the Classroom Teacher. New York, NY: Rowman & Littlefield.

Barbara Oakley, Terrence Sejnowski, and Alistair McConville have authored a students’ guide to learning. The book, Learning How to Learn: How to Succeed in School Without Spending All Your Time Studying – A Guide for Kids and Teens, is written in a way that is easily accessible to young people and full of helpful learning tips that are supported by neuroscience. It includes pictures illustrated by Oliver Young, vivid metaphors, comprehension questions, and chapter summaries to make the ideas stick. Learning How to Learn is essential for middle- or high-school libraries and would make an ideal gift to young people who are seeking to improve their performance in school.

Oakley and Sejnowski are the co-creators of the largest online course also titled “Learning How to Learn.” Oakley is a professor of engineering at Oakland University in Rochester Michigan. Sejnowski is a neuroscientist, Howard Hughes Medical investigator and professor at the Salk Institute and the University of California, San Diego.

Fittingly, at the outset, the authors explain that one helpful learning strategy is previewing what you will read. They suggest being an active reader by taking notes and asking and answering questions while reading.

Oakley, et. al. explain that there is a network in the brain that supports focused thinking and a separate network that supports diffuse thinking. Typically, we do not engage these two networks simultaneously, but both are important. As such, we need to focus intently on our work sometimes and reward ourselves with opportunities to engage the diffuse-thinking network at other times. Procrastinating can interfere with high quality learning because we run out of time to study. The Pomodoro Technique, in which one eliminates distractions, sets a timer for 25 minutes, focuses intently on one task for that whole time, and then rewards oneself with a diffuse thinking task (like exercise), can be effective for combatting procrastination. The authors suggest also starting with the tasks you least want to do and setting a time to stop working for the day to promote focus while working.

The authors explain that brain cells or “neurons” and the paths of communication between them form our thoughts. The more we activate these paths of communication the stronger they become and the better we learn.  They explain that our working memory capacity—the ideas we hold in mind at one time—is limited, but our long-term memory ability is unlimited. Our goal should be to move information efficiently from working memory to long-term memory. As such, the authors suggest that rather than studying by merely rereading, we should actively pull ideas out from the to-be-learned material. We can use songs, metaphors, and analogies to help form connections between ideas and support long-term memory. We should clarify ideas that we do not understand by asking for help or searching the internet. To remember ideas we should pay attention when absorbing information, avoid tricking ourselves into thinking we know material that we do not (i.e., do not look at the answers at the back of the book), and construct visual representations of ideas. We should also avoid multi-tasking, which dampens our working memory ability. The authors suggest other helpful strategies such as varying the places you study, relying on multiple senses to reinforce learning, and journaling about what you have learned and what you still need to study.

Oakley, et. al. advocate for involvement in clubs or activities that relate to your interest and spending time with people who can stimulate your thinking. They also explain that learning about topics that are very different from one’s interest can actually improve one’s understanding in the domain of interest. New subjects or skills may not feel fun at first, but with dedicated effort they may become enjoyable.

The authors mention the importance of getting sufficient sleep, exercising regularly, and eating a healthy diet.

They offer test-taking tips. For example, they suggest breathing deeply and reframing anxious feelings during testing as feelings of excitement about the opportunity to show what you know.  They suggest starting a test by glancing at the hardest problems so that you can passively think about those challenging questions while working on simpler ones.

The authors conclude on an optimistic note. Just because a student has been performing poorly in school does not mean he or she will always struggle. Having a positive attitude about learning, especially when paired with knowledge about ways to learn effectively, can carry a student far.  Appreciating that learning is an empowering experience and that it is a privilege that many young people do not have can help students make the most of their learning.

Oakley, B., Sejnowski, T., & McConville, A. (2018). Learning How to Learn: How to Succeed in School Without Spending All Your Time Studying.New York, NY: Tarcher Perigee.

Where is your mobile phone right now?  How much time have you spent on it today? Could you stand to be without it? In Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked, Adam Alter, New York University Stern School of Business associate professor and New York Times bestselling author, discusses the large and increasing rate of behavioral addictions (especially to technology). He examines why behaviors become addictive and what we can do to reduce addiction. About half of the population in the developed world is addicted to something, and for the majority of these people it is a behavior. These addictions stop people from engaging with important and healthy activities. However, because they are largely produced by environmental circumstances, we can change our environments to curb these addictions. Irresistible is an informative read for educators and parents who are worried about young people who are unable to put down their phones or video games, and for people who themselves may be part of the pandemic of behavioral addiction.

Behaviors become addictive when they involve small, concrete, quantifiable goals that are slightly beyond reach, increasing task-difficulty, and positive feedback that occurs in unpredictable increments. Noticing improvements in performance, wishing to resolve something that is unresolved, and engaging in social comparisons can also make a behavior addictive. Many modern online games, social media websites, and even email have these elements to them.  Addiction is being deeply attached to these experiences, even though the rewards are out-weighed by long-term damage.  Addictions are different from obsessions or compulsions in that addictions are pleasurable to pursue, whereas obsessions and compulsions are unpleasant not to pursue. Eventually people with an addiction may come to dislike the substance or behavior they are addicted to because of the adverse consequences it has on their life, but they may still want or crave the substance or behavior. The dopaminergic system in the brain is involved in this feeling of wanting.

While the American Psychological Association recognizes that it is not only substances that can be addictive, it still has not officially recognized some addictions such as to exercise, love, or smartphones.  Further, some people oppose the idea that behaviors can be addictive or that if close to half the population suffers from addiction, it can really be an illness. Alter shows that each of these ideas is false and argues that under certain conditions any of us could become addicts.

The adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” applies to behavioral addiction.  The best way to stem the rising tide of addiction is to stop addictions from forming.  Parents should limit their kids, especially young kids, screen time. They should attempt to draw connections between the content on-screen and experiences in the child’s life.  These steps may stem the media-induced decline in children’s ability to read emotions, interact with others, and develop robust attentional and memory abilities.

For people who are already addicted, they must first realize that their addiction is a problem. Cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational interviewing can help make an individual aware of the costs and benefits of his/her addictive behavior, so that the individual can decide for himself that he is motivated to change. The riskiest environment for addicts is one with cues that remind them of the link between certain behaviors and desirable outcomes. The riskiest time in an addict’s recovery is when things are going well for the first time after hitting rock-bottom.  Will-power alone is unlikely to be enough to break an addiction. Instead, understanding why the addiction was rewarding and addressing that, or replacing it with a healthier alternative is more likely to be effective.  Redesigning one’s environment to limit access to temptations, blunting the extent to which unavoidable temptations are tempting, or instituting systems of punishment when one engages in a bad habit, can be effective.  We are all more likely to act in desirable ways if doing so is fun and easy.  Gamification, in which an experience is turned into a game so that the experience in and of itself is rewarding, can be an effective way to promote learning and engagement with other desirable behaviors.

By raising awareness of just how wide-spread and likely to increase behavioral addiction is and by offering steps to address behavioral addiction, Alter offers insights that can help our society be healthier, happier, and more productive.

Alter, A. (2017). Irresistible: The rise of addictive technology and the business of keeping us hooked. New York, NY: Penguin.

One of the most complex unsolved mysteries in science is how the brain produces consciousness.  The study of brain disorders not only helps us understand and treat those conditions; it also renders insights into questions about human consciousness, sense of self, and creativity.  It can help us appreciate both our individuality and our shared humanity. Eric R. Kandel, Columbia University professor, Howard Hughes Medical Institute senior investigator and Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine, advances these beliefs in his book The Disordered Mind: What Unusual Brains Tell Us About Ourselves. Kandel, who also authored The Age of Insight, reviews the latest research on autism, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, addiction, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease to illuminate the factors that contribute to these diseases, how the diseases are experienced, possible points of intervention, and what these diseases reveal about our social, emotional, decision-making, memory, kinesthetic, and creative abilities more generally.

Kandel commences with a brief overview of the history of psychiatry and neurology and modern tools for studying the brain and disordered behavior. He emphasizes that genes and environment interact to disrupt neural circuitry, resulting in disordered minds.  Brain disorders can be caused by over or under active brain circuits or ineffective communication within the brain because of injury, altered synaptic connections, or developmentally inappropriate patterns of brain connection.

Kandel contends that we are inherently social; typical development cannot proceed in isolation. Yet, autism is a disorder related to difficulty connecting with people and understanding others’ minds. The so called “social brain,” which includes the inferior temporal cortex, amygdala, temporoparietal junction, and other regions, may be disrupted in autism. Autism spectrum disorders, like several other brain disorders, have a strong genetic basis and may come about in part because of age-related mutations in fathers’ sperm.

We are not only social beings but also emotional. Indeed, emotions, or states of readiness in our brain in response to our surroundings, play a critical role in our everyday lives and in our constructions of our sense of self.  One in every three Americans will experience anxiety at least once in their life, and about 8% will experience post-traumatic stress disorder. Depression is a mood disorder that affects about 5% of people and is characterized by feelings of extreme sadness, hopelessness and worthlessness and by a lack of energy.  Although it can be cruelly stereotyped as such, depression is not a personal or moral weakness. Kandel explains how the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, ketamine, cognitive behavioral theory, and brain stimulation can all be used, under different conditions and in different combinations, to treat depression. These disorders are teaching us about where emotions arise in the brain (i.e., in areas including the hypothalamus, amygdala, striatum, and prefrontal cortex), how the brain and body engage in bidirectional communication, and how emotions impact behavior, decision-making, and morality.

Several brain disorders are caused by dopamine imbalances. Schizophrenia is a neurodevelopmental disorder related to excessive dopamine. It affects 1% of the population by disrupting thinking, behavior, memory, and sense of self starting in late adolescence.  Whereas depression results primarily from functional abnormalities in the brain, schizophrenia results primarily from anatomical abnormalities. Unfortunately, most currently available treatments for schizophrenia address only the symptoms related to disordered thoughts and not the symptoms like lack of motivation. Fortunately, preemptive therapy for people at risk for developing schizophrenia is promising.  Parkinson’s disease, a motor disorder associated with tremors at rest and slow movement, is caused by defective protein folding that causes dopamine producing neurons in the brain’s substantia nigra to die. Addiction is another chronic disease in which dopamine is involved. Medications that help people forget the pleasure of an addictive substance can help treat addiction. Unfortunately, even though drug overdose is a leading cause of death for people under 50, there has been minimal investment in drugs to treat addiction, Kandel laments.

Although memory abilities can be disrupted in several of the disorders Kandel reviews, in dementia memory loss is the primary symptom. Alzheimer’s disease is fundamentally different from age-related memory decline. It is causes by protein misfolding, causing toxic clumps that create neurofibrillary tangles. Our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease, including genetic and health risk factors for developing it, has increased rapidly.

Synthesizing his review of these disorders, Kandel offers insights into our understanding of creativity and consciousness. Creativity has a biological basis in the brain and the capacity for creativity is universal (i.e., not dependent on mental disorders). By reviewing the art of people with various brain disorders Kandel suggests that some of the elements that are important for creativity are perseverance, collaboration, mind-wandering, and combining unrelated elements. As Sigmund Freud argued, unconscious mental work impacts conscious thinking. Disordered minds are revealing that our decisions emerge from our unconscious thoughts, more than from our conscious thoughts.

Kandel concludes with a powerful prediction—that neurology and psychiatry will merge soon into one discipline that examines how genes and environment lead to individual differences in brains and behavior. This field could move us to personalizing medical treatment such that we may be able to prevent the diseases of the brain and mind.

Kandel, E.R. (2018). The Disordered Mind: What Unusual Brains Tell Us About Ourselves.New York, NY: Farrar, Strous, and Giroux.