What’s not to love about the last day of school? It’s really just the beginning of the focus on your learning!
Mary-Dean Barringer, CEO, All Kinds of Minds
While you've been busy winding down the school year — or for you year-round educators and parents, preparing for intercession — we've been putting the finishing touches on the newest additions to our programs at All Kinds of Minds.
Here's what you'll find:
We will continue to offer our nationally recognized five-day course, Schools Attuned to All Kinds of Minds. Learn about the eight neurodevelopment constructs and explore how to use this knowledge to pinpoint and address learning breakdowns. Gain knowledge to help build a "learning expertise" team within your school. Two different tracks address implementation at the elementary and secondary school levels.
We've developed our new three-day course, Teaching All Kinds of Minds. Participants become more aware of their own learning styles, and how those styles influence their efficacy with different learners. Next-day activities and tools for classroom implementation illustrate how strengths and weaknesses within various areas of brain function affect student performance. For those of you ready to jump right in, register for a special session this July at our national headquarters in Durham, North Carolina!
Click here to learn more and register.
Understanding Learning and Learners, our new one-day "exploring level" workshop. This course was developed for communities and schools interested in learning more about our groundbreaking approach. School administrators and educators learn to understand how students learn and how this knowledge can help teachers more effectively manage diverse learning needs among their students.
More than a dozen modules are included in our new Tools for Learning Success Catalog. Designed to help educators and schools deepen and implement their knowledge about the science of learning and its applications, these modules address such topics as lesson analysis, parent engagement in student learning, and Response to Intervention (RtI).
And that's not all…
All Kinds of Minds will also introduce its first online professional development for educators in September. These online modules will offer self-paced opportunities to develop understanding of various neurodevelopmental constructs and their relevance in the classroom. Audiences are previewing the Online Language Module as we speak — we look forward to their feedback and offering it to a broader audience later this year. Stay tuned for your personal invitation to learn more about language!
Whew! That sort of felt like an end-of-the-year-field-day/trip-to-the-zoo/last-day-of-school-picnic! It's been a busy season, gearing up for all of your professional development and continuing education credit needs. We hope this ‘unbundling’ of our programs meets you right where you are — in your classroom, at a professional development day in your school or online in the comfort of your home. If you have questions about how our programs can work for your school, classroom or students, don't hesitate to call! 1-888-956-4637, ext. 2135.
Summer Reading Recommendations:
I can't escape searching for my favorite themes in my professional life when I pick up pleasure reading. I love books about the quirky, unique children and learners All Kinds of Minds strives to support. The retrospection of teachers on their work--in either memoir or fiction--inspires me. And each summer, I try to find a non-fiction book that offers me a fresh perspective on how to make learning and education relevant for all students.
Here's what's on my nightstand!:
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
Written for children, it is an engaging tale of how "all kinds of minds" must collaborate in a secret mission that only the most intelligent and resourceful children could complete. Take the tests along with the children, and engage in a familiar blend of "kid power, clues and adventure".
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout and
Ms. Hempel Chronicles by Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum
Both of these are award-winning books told from the perspective of teachers. Olive Kitteridge, this year's Pulitzer Prize winner, is a retired school teacher who lives in small town Maine, deploring changes in the world and not always recognizing the changes that matter. The town of Crosby, Maine and its citizens are seen through Olive in a profoundly moving collection of 13, interwoven narratives. Ms. Hempel Chronicles, short listed for the National Book Award, are told by Beatrice Hempel, confounded by all the "newness" in her life: new to teaching, new to her school, newly engaged, newly bereft of her devoted father. Whether at the beginning of your life or toward the end of your life--context, perspective and your own life experiences color the meaning we make.
Shop Class and Soul Craft by Matthew Chapman
As we all participate in high school graduations--and are bombarded by the messages that success in school means ready and bound for college, this is a most refreshing argument for the need to restore the honor of manual trades as a life worth pursuing. At All Kinds of Minds, we know that students need to match their strengths and affinities to work for the best shot at satisfication. Yet so often, students who pursue a route that does not include college are treated as lesser citizens, and less intelligent. Matthew Chapman, credentialled from prestigious universities and prior policy think tank employee, leaves it all behind to pursue a career in mechanics that satisfies both his soul and sense of accomplishment. It's an alternative vision much needed in this economic climate. Not everyone needs to go to college, but everyone needs to find meaning in their work.
Congratulations to our Schools of Distinction!
In this edition, we're featuring Lausanne Collegiate School in Memphis, Tennessee, one of the first Schools of Distinction. Lausanne has been working with All Kinds of Minds since 2003. Since the inception of the school in 1926, the faculty and staff have been committed "to understanding differences in learning and helping struggling students achieve success in the classroom." Alumni from the school have gone forward with the curiosity, confidence and courage they need for life’s journey.
We are fortunate to have added Lausanne's retired Associate Head of School, Mary Keife Hyland, to our facilitator cadre. After many years of involvement with the science of learning as an educator and administrator, Keife was invited to participate in the Facilitator Development Academy at our national office this past in April. You can read more about Keife and her passion for education in the upcoming issue of the alumni publication, Lausanne Magazine. Who says teachers never retire?!
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To learn more about our Schools of Distinction program, visit our website and submit your application. This prestigious award recognizes schools from around the world who have embraced All Kinds of Minds' vision that when schools teach to how minds are wired to learn, every student can find success in school and life. Become a part of this distinguished group today!
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Summer Homework: Play Games!
Whether it's summer break for traditional schedules or intercession for year-round schools, the time away from school can be as learning-focused as it is fun. The right game can allow kids to strengthen various neurodevelopmental functions in a fun way!
We have gathered some of our favorites, noting the primary construct (and in some cases function) required to play the game. Of course, most activities tap into more than one component of learning, so we've noted additional constructs in use when playing the game. This is not an exhaustive list of neurodevelopmental connections, just the unique ones. (Any game involving manipulation of game pieces or the rolling of dice would tap into fine motor ability. In the same way, playing with a partner or a group involves functions of social cognition.)
Brain functions can get stronger with practice and experience. Why not make those experiences fun by encouraging your students to play games during their break from school!
To review the Neurodevelopmental Framework, click here.
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