Tag Archives: neuroscience

“It’s Good for the Brain!”: The Perils of Pollution, the Benefits of Blueberries

When I talk with teachers about psychology and neuroscience research, I frequently get a question in this shape: “I’ve heard that X is really good for the brain. Is that really true?” In this sentence, X might be blueberries. It might



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The Goldilocks Map by Andrew Watson

The Goldilocks Map: A Classroom Teacher’s Quest to Evaluate ‘Brain-Based’ Teaching Advice is an entertaining and eye-opening conversation that seeks to help the reader develop a way of thinking that is sorely missing in today’s discourse around teaching and the



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Understanding Adolescents: Emotion, Reason, and the Brain

Kurt Fischer — who helped create Learning and the Brain, and the entire field of Mind, Brain, and Education — used to say: “when it comes to the brain, we’re all still in kindergarten.” He meant: the brain is so



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Two New Ways of Thinking About Memory

In our classroom work, we teachers focus on learning; in their research, psychologists and neuroscientists often focus on memory. We have, in other words, different frameworks for talking about the same topic. When I find one review article that provides TWO fresh ways



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Have I Been Spectacularly Wrong for Years? New Research on Handwriting and Learning

Long-timer readers know my weakness. I’m usually an easy-going guy. But if you want to see me frantic with frustration, tell me about the superiority of handwriting for taking notes. Here’s the story. Back in 2014, two Princeton researchers did



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The Neuroscience of Retrieval Practice

We know THAT retrieval practice helps students learn. It would be really cool to know what difference it makes in the brain. Well, we’re starting to learn… Continue reading →



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Good Morning, I love You: Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Practice to Rewire Your Brain for Calm, Clarity, and Joy by Shauna Shapiro

Shauna Shapiro, expert in mindfulness and compassion, recently authored Good Morning, I love You: Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Practice to Rewire Your Brain for Calm, Clarity, and Joy. In this book she draws on both scientific evidence and ancient wisdom to



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“How We Learn”: Wise Teaching Guidance from a Really Brainy Guy

How We Learn, by Stanislas Dehaene, offers a rich and fascinating look at human brains, their ways of learning, and the best ways to teach them. Continue reading →



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What Students Want to Know about Brains and Learning, Part II

High school students have questions. We have (some) answers. Continue reading →



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“How You Got to Be So Smart”: The Evolution of our Brains

Evolution of the Learning Brain: or How You Got to Be So Smart, by Paul Howard-Jones, offers an evolutionary history of learning itself. Both richly scientific and fun to read, it gives teachers a helpful, fresh perspective on our work in classrooms and schools. Continue reading →



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