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Amazing Brain Science: Great Brain Reads
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By Debra Christopher, MSM
New research is giving us some powerful and creative ways to understand what our brains are doing (along with the brains of our students, trainees, clients, patients and colleagues). The principles of neuroscience can help us make a healthy difference in people’s lives.
Here are some of the books we’re reading right now that contribute to better understanding of how brains work. Highly recommended!
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It's Brain Awareness Week!
By Debra Christopher, MSM | March 16, 2015
Director, Professional Learning Systems, ETR
What’s all the buzz about the brain?
The brain is our personal 3-pound universe. This small but powerful mass of neurons in your head allows you to read these words, comprehend their meaning, and, if you choose, integrate the meaning into long-term memory.
You may even decide to take some kind of action based on the content. Or, at any point in time, you may choose to scroll past this segment, even this entire column, if there is no cognitive “hook” for you.
All this in a matter of seconds. Astounding!
It’s Poetry!
As poet Emily Dickenson (1830-1886) wrote:
The Brain is wider than the Sky
For put them side by side!
The one the other will contain
With ease, and You beside.
The Brain is deeper than the sea!
For hold them - Blue to Blue
The one the other will absorb!
As Sponges, Buckets do.
The wonder and mysteries of the brain are being uncovered at an impressive rate, partially due to new imaging techniques available to scientists. Today, educational neuroscience (Mind, Brain and Education) is a flourishing field. Educators, in tandem with scientists, explore findings from cognitive and developmental science to discover the basis for learning, memory and motivation.
Embrace These Discoveries
As educators and professional developers, we have an obligation to identify and embrace these discoveries and apply them, with rigor, to our practice. This exciting field is taking us all through a dynamic, ongoing process of learning.
For more information about Brain Awareness Week and links to daily events, check out the Dana Foundation BAW web page.
And stay tuned to our ongoing Learning Matters and Amazing Brain Science columns, where we not only share the best of what we’re learning, but offer tips about how to apply it immediately to your work.
We will also suggest some strategies for keeping your own fine brain in tip-top working order.
Stay tuned…
Debra Christopher, MSM, is Director of Professional Learning Systems at ETR. Contact her at debra.christopher@etr.org.
