{"id":7352,"date":"2023-11-26T08:00:58","date_gmt":"2023-11-26T13:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/braindevs.net\/blog\/blog\/?p=7352"},"modified":"2023-11-24T09:19:30","modified_gmt":"2023-11-24T14:19:30","slug":"guest-post-my-learning-and-the-brain-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/guest-post-my-learning-and-the-brain-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest Post: “My Learning and the Brain Story”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beth Hawks has taught science for 25 years. She now serves as the science department chair at Grace Christian School in Raleigh, North Carolina. A graduate of Orla Roberts University,\u00a0Beth has taught 8th grade Physical Science, Physics, Chemistry, Algebra IB, among other courses.<\/span>\u00a0She frequently provides professional development to colleagues in her role as resident brain enthusiast.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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When I started teaching at my current school twenty-one years ago, one of the \u201careas for improvement\u201d on my year-end evaluation was that I didn’t seek out professional development.\u00a0 I couldn’t disagree.\u00a0 Back then, it never occurred to me to seek it out.\u00a0 Both schools I had previously taught in said, “It is professional development day.\u00a0 Go over there and learn.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Headshot<\/a><\/p>\n

While I read about teaching, I did not attend very many workshops or conferences that took place on school days.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>I hated being out of my classroom, and every teacher knows what a pain it is to develop sub plans.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That all changed when a brochure showed up in my mailbox for the 2018 Learning and the Brain conference.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Teachers get a lot of brochures advertising workshops and conferences from a variety of sources, and we ignore most of them. I was on my way to the recycling bin with this one when a keynote speaker whose book I had just read caught my attention, so I opened the brochure.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>As I looked at the names and credentials of speakers and the topics of sessions, I was impressed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

By the end of that morning\u2019s door duty, I was prepared to beg.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>I said to my administrator, \u201cYou know how I never want to go to anything?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>I\u2019ve never wanted to go to anything more than this!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>They approved my request provided that I would teach my academic team what I had learned upon my return.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Deal.<\/p>\n

What I found when I got to Boston was not just one great speaker, but an incredible collection of researchers, scientists, and educators with deep knowledge.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>More importantly, they were down to earth and transparent, willing to answer questions and talk and follow up with me after the conference because they cared about improving my practice, not just getting a speaking gig.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>I couldn\u2019t get enough of being taught by these experts.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When I returned home, I was given time in a faculty meeting to present about what I had learned.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>I had so much to present, I asked if I could have two.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>It was lovely knowing that what I had learned would benefit classrooms other than my own.<\/p>\n

In 2019, I attended the Boston conference again.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>While the first year had been great, this was the year that I absolutely fell in love with the science of learning.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>From the keynote presentations of Barbara Oakley, David Daniel, David Rose, and Sarah Jayne Blakemore to the sessions of John Almarode and Marcia Tate, I came home with both theory and practical advice that changed my classroom practice dramatically.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n