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The life and work of Marian Diamond

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My Love Affair With the Brain: The Life and Science of Dr. Marian Diamond  (clip)

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Want a better brain?  Meet Dr. Marian Diamond … in a film about brains, the passion and battleground of scientific discovery, Albert Einstein’s brain tissue, YouTube, women in science, and love. 

• EMMY AWARD NOMINATION Outstanding Science Documentary of 2017
• BEST SCIENCE FILM OF 2017 - AAAS/Kavli Gold Medal, Science Journalism Awards
• BEST SCIENCE FILMs OF 2017 - Science Books & Film year-end list
• BEST EDUCATIONAL film of 2017, Pariscience Festival International du Films Scientifique, Prix ADAV
• Best in Festival – Audience Award, RiverRun International Film Festival, Winston-Salem, NC,
• Best in Festival – American Psychological Association film festival
• Best Documentary – Indigo Moon film festival
• Best Documentary – High Falls Film Festival, NY
• Best Documentary, Audience Award, Durango Film Festival
• Audience Favorite Award – Mill Valley Film Festival, CA

LENGTH 56:40
NARRATOR: Mayim Bialik

DESCRIPTION (courtesy of doxafestival.ca/film/brain)

How can you not fall in love with a woman who carries around a preserved human brain inside a giant flowery hat box? Meet Dr. Marian Diamond, renowned academic and research scientist, and prepare to be smitten.
Catherine Ryan and Gary Weimberg’s film follows this remarkable woman over a 5-year period and introduces the viewer to both her many scientific accomplishments and the warm, funny, and thoroughly charming woman herself, who describes her 60-year career researching the human brain as “pure joy.
As one of the founders of modern neuroscience, it’s no exaggeration to say that Dr. Diamond changed science, and society at large in dramatic ways over the course of her career. Her groundbreaking work is all the more remarkable because it began during an era when so few women entered science at all. Shouted at from the back of the conference hall by noteworthy male academics as she presented her research, and disparaged in the scientific journals of a more conservative era, Dr. Diamond simply did the work and followed where her curiosity led her, bringing about a paradigm shift (or two) in the process. As she points out, in order to get to the answers that matter, you have to start by asking the right questions.

ANOTHER DESCRIPTION (courtesy of Mill Valley Film Festival):

"Meet Dr. Marian Diamond as she pulls a human brain out of a hatbox and lovingly enumerates its astonishing qualities. A mad scientist? Quite the opposite. In this energetic documentary, Dr. Diamond is revealed as one of the great minds—one of the founders, in fact—of modern neuroscience. If her name isn’t yet as familiar as that of Marie Curie, it will be: Dr. Diamond’s unprecedented work includes theorizing and proving previously unimagined brain capabilities, analyzing Albert Einstein’s preserved brain, and building a scientific and academic career that broke barriers for women in science. Much like the old adage about Ginger Rogers doing it all backwards and in heels, Dr. Diamond achieved every success with steely determination behind astonishing positivity, warmth, and magnetism. Watch this to learn about an amazing woman, a brilliant scientist, a fascinating branch of scientific research, and about the core element that fuels great achievement in all endeavors: love."

REVIEWS:
" ... utterly charming, inspiring documentary ..." Stark Insider, California
"... delightful ..." San Jose Mercury News
" ... utterly fascinating ..." Vancouvers’s “Georgia Straight”
“ …a tweeedy celebrity of cyberspace …” New York Times

QUOTES
"… a must see for every student, teacher, parent, community member, and higher education teacher prep program!”
PEGGY BROOKINS, President and CEO, National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

“Marian Diamond is to the brain like Julia Childs is to French cooking. Celebrated, beloved, one of the most popular teachers in the world brings you her passion about the brain. The perfect brain owners manual…”
MARILYN BANCEL, Exploratorium Science Museum, Director of Development, (retired)

“My Love Affair with the Brain” reveals the soul of science through the remarkable life of Marian Diamond. Her passion to explore the brain, her keen insights into how it responds to our experiences, and her drive to share her enchantment and discoveries with a n


This is a 6 minute clip, from the opening of the PBS program with accompanying documentary web series.

For more info:  http://lunaproductions.com/marian-diamond/

or contact:
gary@lunaproductions.com

video file: _v14 wEm i.p

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A framework for using SEL in school

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Orienting Educators to SEL Through Videos

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Orienting Educators to SEL Through Videos

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*for teachers to view--not students.

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Social and Emotional Learning

Check out each of these distinctive videos that show educators, parents, and school leaders what social-emotional learning looks like in action in the classroom.

In my work with SEL in schools for nearly four decades, I have always said that I never have to "sell" SEL; I only have to "show" it. Once educators see it in action, and especially once they experience kids' reactions to SEL, they almost always understand its value and begin down the road to transforming their classrooms and/or schools.

But in many instances, this is not easy to accomplish. Most schools are not proximal to other schools implementing high-quality SEL. Also, most schools don't have local experts accessible who can come in to demonstrate lessons effectively.

With my colleagues at CASEL, we created a book, The Educator's Guide to Emotional Intelligence and Academic Achievement: Social-Emotional Learning in the Classroom (Corwin Press), designed to give readers the "feel" of SEL in action. Each chapter in the main section of the book presents an evidence-based SEL curriculum from pre-K to high school.

Each chapter opens with a vignette designed to give the reader a "feel" for SEL lessons, followed by some "do now's" that educators could implement with little background or preparation -- all of which solidify "showing" it to them.

Videos Are A Step Forward

When we developed this guide, videos were not as plentiful as they are now. And so our strategy has changed. We now encourage educators -- and others new to SEL, such as students, other in-school or after-school program staff members, parents, and school board members -- to "see" SEL first via these videos and then try it out in their in-school or after-school settings.

Among a growing selection of excellent videos, we have shown the following as part of our initial orientation to SEL. We say a bit about what SEL is, how it is designed to complement what is happening in schools, and that it never constitutes an "add-on." SEL becomes part of the culture and climate of a school, and is an essential partner to traditional character development approaches, and that SEL skills are essential for academic and life success, in pre-K to grade 12 and higher education contexts and beyond.

Then, we show one of these videos and discuss what viewers notice, such as the empowering nature of the pedagogy, the emphasis on group learning, the approach to skill development, the connection to discipline policies, and, above all, the joy of SEL-infused classrooms:

Video 1: A School District's Initiative for Social and Emotional Learning Pays Off

Video 2: How To Teach Math as a Social Activity

Video 3: Educate the Heart

Video 4: Five Keys to Successful Social and Emotional Learning

Video 5: Smart Hearts: Social and Emotional Learning Overview

Share Your Thoughts

Each of these videos has distinctive strengths. They provide classroom teachers with a really great "look and feel" of SEL with students. Video #2 has been an invaluable tool for showing how SEL can be integrated into academic subject areas. See what you think, and post your reviews of the videos in the comments section below. Please share how you find them to be most useful.

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Orienting Educators to SEL Through Video | Edutopia

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Social and Emotional Learning Check out each of these distinctive videos that show educators, parents, and school leaders what social-emotional learning looks like in action in the classroom. In my work with SEL in schools for nearly four decades, I have always said that I never have to "sell" SEL; I only have to "show" it.

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Read Across America Week Inclusion Lesson Plans

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Read Across America Week Inclusion Lesson Plans

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The literature and lesson plans in this tool kit can be used during our week long celebration of reading.

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Download this 68 page document with appropriate lessons on teaching respect!

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These lesson plans go along with this book.

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😊 🌺 Breath Meditation for Kids 😊 ❤️‍ Mindfulness for Kids

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Quick Sanity Breaks for Mindful (but busy) Teachers

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Quick Sanity Breaks for Mindful (but busy) Teachers

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many articles to support social emotional learning

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Greater Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life

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Based at UC Berkeley, Greater Good reports on groundbreaking research into the roots of compassion, happiness, and altruism.

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This website offers information for parents and teachers regarding issues in mental health.

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Child Mind Institute | Transforming Children’s Lives.

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The Child Mind Institute is an independent nonprofit dedicated to transforming the lives of children struggling with mental health and learning disorders.

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Learn the games on this website and support your students in learning skills that support social emotional learning.

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Need a group game for 30 kindergarteners, indoors, in a pinch? Trying to convince 5th grader boys to stop hogging the ball? We have you covered.

Explore hundreds of games by group size, available space and equipment, appropriate ages, and developmental skills. Our games are designed to keep all kids playing. You will see lots of games where everyone is "it", ground-rules that keep games manageable for recess supervisors, skill-building variations on students' favorite sports, and other adaptations that make games fun and inclusive for everyone.

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Need a group game for 30 kindergarteners, indoors, in a pinch? Trying to convince 5th grader boys to stop hogging the ball? We have you covered. Explore hundreds of games by group size, available space and equipment, appropriate ages, and developmental skills. Our games are designed to keep all kids playing.

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Research findings to support social emotional learning (SEL)

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Research findings to support social emotional learning (SEL)

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Sesame Street and the Committee for Children

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Sesame Street and the Committee for Children

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Here are a series of videos that begin conversations about bullying.

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Sesame Street: Common and Colbie Caillat - "Belly Breathe" with Elmo

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Online dashboard for Social Emotional Learning. Videos and podcasts available for free. Sign up required. Click on image below for a sample.

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You don't have to just meditate

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Did you know that we have certain "happiness chemicals" that are responsible for our good moods? Specifically, the main happy chemicals are serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, endorphins.

According to psychologist Dr. Joseph Cilona, "Happiness chemicals are the substances in our brains called neurotransmitters that influence things like mood, motivation, intimacy, productivity, feelings of wellbeing, trust, and connection with others."

"These neurotransmitters have a huge impact on our overall feelings of wellbeing, pleasure, and mood. Low levels of these important substances in our brains are associated with things like low mood and depression, pain, loneliness, stress, anxiety, and difficulty feeling motivated."

The good news is, all of these chemicals can be boosted using natural habits and activities. Below we go over 11 surprising ways to get your brain to release more happiness chemicals.

1) Eat some dark chocolate

Dark chocolate help boost the production of "feel-good" chemicals called endorphins. Endorphins lead to feelings of euphoria, the exact same kind that joggers get from a "runner's high". They reduce pain and the effects of stress.

Consuming chocolate has also been found to increase dopamine levels, which is known for being crucial in motivation. Stick with dark chocolate at least 70 percent cocoa or higher, eat it regularly (about 2-3 times a week), and consume around 1.5 to 2 ounces for best results.

2) Make music

Even if you don't consider yourself a musician, making music, whether it's simply tapping drum sounds on your desk, or singing your favorite tune, can help promote the release of endorphins, which can improve your positive mood and ability to deal with pain.

3) Create a checklist

Every time we achieve a goal, no matter how small, dopamine is released. By keeping a small to-do list you'll release dopamine each time you check something off. You'll also get more stuff done!

4) Look at old photos

Looking at old photos can remind of the happy times in your life, which can immediately increase serotonin levels. However, viewing photos that remind you of something negative has the opposite effect.

5) Stand up straight

Assuming a strong posture, even for as little as 2 minutes, has been shown to increase confidence levels and decrease stress hormones like cortisol, which works directly against neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine.

6) Eat some hot peppers

Yes, spicy food actually gives you some type of rush. When you eat something hot, the body responds by thinking the heat is pain, and proceeds to send out a rush of endorphins to block the heat, which could give you a happiness rush, or even reduce feelings of pain in other areas of the body.

7) Take a walk outside

Sunlight, greenery, and water are all associated with significant increases in serotonin levels. If you're walking, try to make it as vigorous as possible and do it for at least 20 minutes.

8) Watch a funny video

Laughter helps to release endorphins. So when you're feeling a bit down, put on something that you find funny!

9) Go to a museum

There's a reason so many people fall in love with classic masterpieces. Viewing art that you find beautiful releases a surge of dopamine in the brain, increasing feelings of pleasure.

10) Massage

Massages don't just make your body feel good, but studies have shown that they also help increase levels of dopamine and decrease the stress hormone cortisol.

11) Do a group workout

Just doing exercise by itself is a great way to release endorphins as well as boot serontonin and dopamine. But you can benefit even more by doing a group workout. Research shows that people who worked out with others showed increase pain tolerance, which means more endorphins were released.
If you haven't already, check out our new eBook on the Art of Resilience: Mental Toughness Secrets of 22 Extraordinary People. We critically analyze 22 extraordinary people to find what traits they have in common and we then equip you with 10 resilience-building tools that you can start using today-in your personal or professional life. Check it out here. Since you're here...
... we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading Ideapod than ever before, but advertising revenues across the media landscape are falling fast. You see, it takes literally hundreds of hours (and thousands of dollars) per month to create our articles and maintain the spaces online where the community comes together to find inspiration.

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For a limited time, if you sign up for the free 30 day trial you'll get immediate access to our brand new eBook The 7 Most Powerful Articles Published by Ideapod, with an Introduction by Justin Brown, Ideapod Co-Founder.

It takes only 1 minute to join, and you can cancel anytime. You'll be making a huge difference. Thank you.

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Hack your happy chemicals: 11 surprising ways to get your brain to release endorphins, serotonin and dopamine

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Did you know that we have certain "happiness chemicals" that are responsible for our good moods? Specifically, the main happy chemicals are serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, endorphins. According to psychologist Dr. Joseph Cilona, "Happiness chemicals are the substances in our brains called neurotransmitters that influence things like mood, motivation, intimacy, productivity, feelings of wellbeing, trust, and connection with others."

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Social Emotional Learning Through Ballroom Dancing

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Social Emotional Learning Through Ballroom Dancing

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Proven Steps to a Better Classroom

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Proven steps to a better classroom | Tatiana Lingos-Webb | TEDxYouth@BeaconStreet

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Watch this group of high school students discuss literacy and SEL.

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Daily Advisory: Building Social, Emotional & Academic Skills

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Students can have a positive influence in their community.

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Benefit mindset takes the strong seeds of self-belief and self-improvement that growth mindset sows and brings them to fruition in ways that enhance not only one's own life but the lives of others as well. According to benefit mindset theorist Ash Buchanan, it is "a purpose-driven mindset that is redefining success from being the best in the world, to being the best for the world." Examining how our attitudes and actions affect others leads us to make conscious and conscientious decisions based on mutual advantage.

Teaching empathy is only a first step. As schools and colleges increasingly require evidence of student service and leadership, we can transform what may begin as extracurricular obligations into enthusiastic, everyday acts of altruism. Without explicit examples and frequent feedback, however, students may be unclear about how to turn their mindsets into action.

Here are four ways teachers can inspire their students to act in ways that break down the divisions between me and we, as students simultaneously become an asset to themselves, to others, and to this planet we share.

Encouraging Inclusion: No Student Eats Alone

Implement a school-wide program to ensure that every student feels welcomed and accepted. Recruit established groups of friends in each grade level to roam the campus looking for classmates who are alone, especially during lunch and recess. These Friendship Ambassadors should invite isolated or withdrawn students to eat or play with them beginning the next day.

After any necessary introductions are made, the Friendship Ambassadors hand out written invitations to lonely students in their grade. These invitations include the ambassadors' names, where they gather during break times, and some of their common interests. This way, hesitant students have an entire day to prepare for joining a new peer group, rather than immediately being coaxed into an unfamiliar social situation.

If an invited student does not meet up with the group the next day, the ambassadors return with a warm reminder that he or she has an open invitation to hang out with them. When every student finds a sense of place and belonging, the resulting shift in school culture is remarkable.

Providing Peer Support: The Benefit of My Experience

Enlist your students from the previous school year to become academic assistants for your current students. Don't choose just your hotshots, because every former student-even those who weren't quite successful last year-has some expertise about how to achieve in your class. Allow every student to share their strengths, and even your once less-than-stellar students will take their mentorship roles seriously.

Right along with the students they are coaching, the peer tutors also benefit from this academic help: Confidence and capabilities increase for both the givers and receivers of this classroom insider advice.

Empowering Change Makers: Students Acting Locally

Ask your students to identify aspects of your classroom and the school as a whole that would benefit from an alteration or addition. Possibilities include shifting to flexible seating, planning and carrying out a library makeover, starting a recycling program, providing peer mediation, planting a garden, providing nutritious meals and snacks, planning school spirit activities, and starting new clubs or a school newspaper.

Allowing students to propose, plan, and enact change teaches them that they can be agents of improvement.

Emphasizing the Positive: Everyday Heroes Report

Create a structured routine where students write and read aloud news reports that exclusively feature noble deeds they have witnessed on campus. Students ask permission to use the names of those whose honorable acts they wish to share and also ask for the humanitarians' comments. If permission is not given, these stories can be reported without using names.

These short narratives can be read to your class or read over the PA during morning announcements. This is a wonderful way to begin each day and sets a precedent for further acts of kindness. Presenting young people with reliable role models is crucial, and appreciating the good deeds of others is yet another way of extending the impact of a benefit mindset.

Acting with a benefit mindset is not something students put on one Saturday a month for two hours as a grudging act of service-it is a way of being, a way of well-being, that yields powerful results inside and outside of the classroom.

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Exploring the Benefit Mindset | Edutopia

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Benefit mindset takes the strong seeds of self-belief and self-improvement that growth mindset sows and brings them to fruition in ways that enhance not only one's own life but the lives of others as well. According to benefit mindset theorist Ash Buchanan, it is "a purpose-driven mindset that is redefining success from being the best in the world, to being the best for the world."

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At the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, we envision all children and adults as self-aware, caring, responsible, engaged, and lifelong learners who work together to achieve their goals and create a more inclusive, just world. How? Through a commitment to SEL.

What We Do

The "C" in CASEL stands for "Collaborative": It's both who we are and how we work. We've formed a community-spanning classrooms to statehouses-to make social and emotional learning (SEL) part of a high-quality and equitable education for all.

Learn more about our mission and work

The "Together for SEL" pledge

How We Started

From the seed of an idea in 1994, we have brought together a multidisciplinary network that includes researchers, educators, practitioners, and child advocates across the country who are passionately committed to SEL for all students.

Learn more about our history

Join the Team

Are you driven by CASEL's mission to make SEL part of all students' education? We're always looking for talented people to join our team.

Our platform is made possible by:

This site uses cookies to improve your experience and help CASEL understand how our site is being used. By continuing to use our site, you consent to the use of cookies. Review our Privacy Policy for more information.

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At the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, we envision all children and adults as self-aware, caring, responsible, engaged, and lifelong learners who work together to achieve their goals and create a more inclusive, just world. How? Through a commitment to SEL.

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A simple but useful website with 6 beginning lessons for teachers to start their own mindful journey.

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Very useful website with activities and resources for teachers, parents, and students.

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David Harper, author of A to Z of Mindfulness for Christians, discusses the need for pauses in a busy schedule, and how mindfulness groups can welcome both agnostics and people of faith.