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Adolescence typically describes the years between ages 13 and 19 and can be considered the transitional stage from childhood to adulthood. However, the physical and psychological changes that occur in adolescence can start earlier, during the preteen or "tween" years (ages 9 through 12). Adolescence can be a time of both disorientation and discovery.

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19 Big and Small Classroom Management Techniques

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19 Big and Small Classroom Management Techniques

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Classroom Management Is Not Discipline

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Teachers.Net Gazette October 2005 - HARRY & ROSEMARY WONG: Classroom Management Is Not Discipline - EFFECTIVE TEACHING - Teachers.Net Gazette -

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About Harry and Rosemary Wong... Harry and Rosemary Wong are teachers. Harry is a native of San Francisco and taught middle school and high school science. Rosemary is a native of New Orleans and taught K-8, including working as the school media coordinator and student activity director.

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Jamie Keddie's site with interesting lessons using videos in lessons

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Human beings are creatures of narrative. Stories define us. We use story to entertain, stories to strengthen bonds, stories to persuade, stories to sell, stories to understand the world, stories to communicate. Story and language are inseparable. Why would you ever leave story outside your classroom?

LessonStream is a community of teachers and educators. Together, we explore possibilities for using story to engage students, get them thinking creatively and communicating in English.

LessonStream was founded by Jamie Keddie.

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LessonStream - Engage your students with story

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Human beings are creatures of narrative. Stories define us. We use story to entertain, stories to strengthen bonds, stories to persuade, stories to sell, stories to understand the world, stories to communicate. Story and language are inseparable. Why would you ever leave story outside your classroom? LessonStream is a community of teachers and educators.

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If any sentence were to sum up what it means to be a teenager, it would probably be this line from the classic song 'Teenage Kicks' by The Undertones. This is an age at which everything changes. If we were to put all those learners that we teach on a continuum, we would have young learners at one end and adults at the other. While we would all agree that teenagers lie somewhere in the middle of such a scale, it would nonetheless be difficult to place them exactly, regardless of the criterion.

While young learners are so full of zest that most activities are met with bundles of enthusiasm, adult learners are much more focused on meeting their language goals, while also bringing a wealth of knowledge, skills and experience to the language classroom. Teenagers are clearly different, and this is never clearer than when it comes to trying to motivate them.

Although teens can be as knowledgeable and perceptive as their adult counterparts, they are not usually the most talkative of age groups. Naturally, this can leave us as teachers feeling frustrated and discouraged by their perceived lack of interest. Nevertheless, teens aren't that different and by no means unreachable in terms of motivation. As with any other age group, it's simply a case of finding ways to pique interest. With this in mind, here are three strategies that anyone can use to increase teenage student motivation in the language classroom.
1. Make use of pop culture whenever you can
Perhaps the simplest rule of thumb when teaching teens is the need to consider their interests. Teenagers have their finger on the pulse of current events and will like it when this is used as a springboard for classroom activities. If you're not willing to discuss things such as Lady Gaga's latest album, or any of the Twilight books or films, then you are missing a great opportunity to connect with your teen students. However, proceed with caution.
Things you can easily do wrong

Don't assume that you can be the one to choose. The chances are, your finger is farther off the pulse than you imagine. Think of all those course book references to pop stars and actors that date very quickly... you get the idea.

Don't act as if you enjoy the things they like. If you merely pretend to like so and so's new album, you'll be spotted as a fake immediately: this could negatively affect your relationship with the class, who will assume you're trying too hard!

Times change fast. Just because your teens liked something last year doesn't mean this year's classes will have the same response. Pop culture has a short shelf life; think about this when you invest time and energy in making classroom materials.

How to get it right

Conduct some kind of survey at the start of a course asking about what the students like. Be honest and say that you will try and incorporate their interests into classes during the course.

Allow the students to choose materials based on what they like. Go through this with them before a class when what they've chosen can be related to whatever teaching objective it lends itself to

2. Cater to their skills and exploit their talents
All teens are talented at one thing or another. Indeed, in many cases they will be better than you at a lot of things. Taking the time to get to know a little about your students and discovering what these talents are can bring many rewards to your language classroom. Once again, though, you should tread carefully.
Things you can easily do wrong

Finding out that one of your students is a brilliant singer is one thing. Demanding that this person get up in front of class and sing a song in English is something else. Some teens will enjoy the spotlight, whereas for others this will be their worst nightmare come true. Don't pressurize teenagers to showcase what they can do unless they want to do it.

Don't just assume that someone in class will be good at doing that one thing that is necessary to complete an activity. Base the way you plan classes and activities around the strengths you know they have.

How to get it right

Develop classroom activities that allow for these different skill sets to be utilized naturally. For instance, a poster that displays what students have learned in class that day is great for getting students who are artistically-inclined to contribute a little bit more than they would normally.

Use technology in much the same way: find out who is tech savvy and give them the specific role as 'tech-head' when setting up tasks like PowerPoint presentations, while other learners take on different roles.

3. Utilize video clips in lessons
Videos have always had enormous potential in the language class. Those of us who have been teachers for a while might remember the olden days when it took great effort to wheel in a TV and a VHS or DVD player to the classroom to teach a video lesson based on material that came with the course book. Fortunately, thanks to recent advances in technology, using visual stimuli is much easier - and much more motivating - nowadays. As with the previous points, though, you need to think through what you're doing.
Things you can easily do wrong

As with the use of pop culture, don't assume you should be the one to choose the material. One of the things I love about YouTube is that people are always willing to share the good stuff that they find. The chances are your teenage students are going to watch a video clip during break between classes. If and when they ask you to watch, make use of this opportunity to be introduced to a potential classroom resource!

One forty-minute lesson block does not equal one forty-minute video clip. Never use lesson length as an absolute indicator of how much of a video clip you will be able to watch, nor the amount of time teenage students will watch before their interest starts to wane.

How to get it right

As with their pop culture interests, put the power in their hands. Explain what you will be covering in the upcoming lesson and ask your teens to research YouTube for a short clip on that subject. Trust me: this is homework that doesn't feel like homework.

Length, or rather lack of it, is the key. To keep teens focused on the task, choose short interviews, movie trailers, music videos, or how to videos on YouTube.

If you can, download the video clip beforehand, so that you're not overly reliant on a constant internet connection.

Summing up
Motivating teens need not be an impossible task. By incorporating what they like into what we do, we can start to build the bridges we need to connect with them as language learners.

If you found these suggestions useful, please join me again soon for more ideas on how to keep teens motivated.
Adam Simpson His professional interests include flexibility within the curriculum and the considered use of technology in the classroom. He has given two previous webinars for the TeachingEnglish website: Engaging Generation Y and Encouraging learners to explore language through creative activities He occasionally finds time to blog about his life at www.teachthemenglish.com is a teacher and teacher trainer who currently works at Sabanci University in Istanbul.

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3 techniques for increasing teenage student motivation in the language classroom

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'Teenage dreams, so hard to beat.'If any sentence were to sum up what it means to be a teenager, it would probably be this line from the classic song 'Teenage Kicks' by The Undertones. This is an age at which everything changes.

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Fostering Relationships in the Classroom

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Fostering Relationships in the Classroom

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Fostering Relationships in the Classroom

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Blogger Larry Ferlazzo and fellow teacher Katie Hull Sypnieski, in another excerpt from their book “The ESL/ELL Teacher’s Survival Guide,” share six fun ways to help students develop positive, trusting and enriching classroom relationships.

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The Secret of Working with Children - Carol Read

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The Secret of Working with Children - Carol Read

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The United Kingdom´s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland) Our privacy and copyright statements. Our Freedom of Information Publications Scheme. © British Council, 10 Spring Gardens, London SW1A 2BN, UK.

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The secret of working with children - Carol Read

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The United Kingdom´s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland) Our privacy and copyright statements. Our Freedom of Information Publications Scheme. © British Council, 10 Spring Gardens, London SW1A 2BN, UK.

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Brain Breaks and Focused and Focused-Attention Practices

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Brain Breaks and Focused and Focused-Attention Practices

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Why Students Forget and What You Can Do About It

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Why Students Forget and What You Can Do About It

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Teachers have long known that rote memorization can lead to a superficial grasp of material that is quickly forgotten. But new research in the field of neuroscience is starting to shed light on the ways that brains are wired to forget-highlighting the importance of strategies to retain knowledge and make learning stick.

In a recent article published in the journal Neuron, neurobiologists Blake Richards and Paul Frankland challenge the predominant view of memory, which holds that forgetting is a process of loss-the gradual washing away of critical information despite our best efforts to retain it. According to Richards and Frankland, the goal of memory is not just to store information accurately but to "optimize decision-making" in chaotic, quickly changing environments. In this model of cognition, forgetting is an evolutionary strategy, a purposeful process that runs in the background of memory, evaluating and discarding information that doesn't promote the survival of the species.

"From this perspective, forgetting is not necessarily a failure of memory," explain Richards and Frankland in the study. "Rather, it may represent an investment in a more optimal mnemonic strategy."

The Forgetting Curve

We often think of memories as books in a library, filed away and accessed when needed. But they're actually more like spiderwebs, strands of recollection distributed across millions of connected neurons. When we learn something new-when a teacher delivers a fresh lesson to a student, for example-the material is encoded across these neural networks, converting the experience into a memory.

Forgetting is almost immediately the nemesis of memory, as psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered in the 1880s. Ebbinghaus pioneered landmark research in the field of retention and learning, observing what he called the forgetting curve, a measure of how much we forget over time. In his experiments, he discovered that without any reinforcement or connections to prior knowledge, information is quickly forgotten-roughly 56 percent in one hour, 66 percent after a day, and 75 percent after six days.

So what can be done to preserve the hard work of teaching? After all, evolutionary imperatives-which prune our memories of extraneous information-don't always neatly align with the requirements of curriculum or the demands of the Information Age. Learning the times tables doesn't avail when running from lions, in other words, but in the modern world that knowledge has more than proved its mettle.

The Persistence of Memory

The same neural circuitry appears to be involved in forgetting and remembering. If that is properly understood, students and teachers can adopt strategies to reduce memory leaks and reinforce learning.

MIT neuroscientists, led by Richard Cho, explain the mechanisms for synaptic strengthening in a 2015 article, also published in Neuron. When neurons are frequently fired, synaptic connections are strengthened; the opposite is true for neurons that are rarely fired. Known as synaptic plasticity, this explains why some memories persist while others fade away. Repeatedly accessing a stored but fading memory-like a rule of geometry or a crucial historical fact-rekindles the neural network that contains the memory and encodes it more deeply.

Researchers have also learned that not all new memories are created equal. For example, here are two sets of letters to remember:

For readers of English, the second set of letters is more memorable-the more connections neurons have to other neurons, the stronger the memory. The seven letters in NPFXOSK appear random and disjointed, while ORANGES benefits from its existing, deeply encoded linguistic context. The word oranges also invokes sensory memory, from the image of an orange to its smell, and perhaps even conjures other memories of oranges in your kitchen or growing on a tree. You remember by layering new memories on the crumbling foundations of older ones.

5 Teacher Strategies

When students learn a new piece of information, they make new synaptic connections. Two scientifically based ways to help them retain learning is by making as many connections as possible-typically to other concepts, thus widening the "spiderweb" of neural connections-but also by accessing the memory repeatedly over time.

Which explains why the following learning strategies, all tied to research conducted within the past five years, are so effective:

1. Peer-to-peer explanations: When students explain what they've learned to peers, fading memories are reactivated, strengthened, and consolidated. This strategy not only increases retention but also encourages active learning (Sekeres et al., 2016).

2. The spacing effect: Instead of covering a topic and then moving on, revisit key ideas throughout the school year. Research shows that students perform better academically when given multiple opportunities to review learned material. For example, teachers can quickly incorporate a brief review of what was covered several weeks earlier into ongoing lessons, or use homework to re-expose students to previous concepts (Carpenter et al., 2012; Kang, 2016).

3. Frequent practice tests: Akin to regularly reviewing material, giving frequent practice tests can boost long-term retention and, as a bonus, help protect against stress, which often impairs memory performance. Practice tests can be low stakes and ungraded, such as a quick pop quiz at the start of a lesson or a trivia quiz on Kahoot, a popular online game-based learning platform. Breaking down one large high-stakes test into smaller tests over several months is an effective approach (Adesope, Trevisan, & Sundararajan, 2017; Butler, 2010; Karpicke, 2016).

4. Interleave concepts: Instead of grouping similar problems together, mix them up. Solving problems involves identifying the correct strategy to use and then executing the strategy. When similar problems are grouped together, students don't have to think about what strategies to use-they automatically apply the same solution over and over. Interleaving forces students to think on their feet, and encodes learning more deeply (Rohrer, 2012; Rohrer, Dedrick, & Stershic, 2015).

5. Combine text with images: It's often easier to remember information that's been presented in different ways, especially if visual aids can help organize information. For example, pairing a list of countries occupied by German forces during World War II with a map of German military expansion can reinforce that lesson. It's easier to remember what's been read and seen, instead of either one alone (Carney & Levin, 2002; Bui & McDaniel, 2015).

So even though forgetting starts as soon as learning happens-as Ebbinghaus's experiments demonstrate-research shows that there are simple and effective strategies to help make learning stick.

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Why Students Forget-and What You Can Do About It

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Teachers have long known that rote memorization can lead to a superficial grasp of material that is quickly forgotten. But new research in the field of neuroscience is starting to shed light on the ways that brains are wired to forget-highlighting the importance of strategies to retain knowledge and make learning stick.

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Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education

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16 Ways to Activate the Reticular Activating System in the Classroom

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16 Ways to Activate the Reticular Activating System in the Classroom

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16 Ways to Activate the Reticular Activating System in the Classroom – Gifted Guru

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The Neuroscience Between Stress and Learning

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The Neuroscience Between Stress and Learning

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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5 Fun Physical Activities to Get Your ESL Class Moving and Grooving

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5 Fun Physical Activities to Get Your ESL Class Moving and Grooving

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Have you ever had a class of elementary students who sat perfectly still?

Young students who used quiet voices and stayed completely concentrated on a single task?

Probably not.

Anyone who has taught a class of elementary school students for more than a day knows how difficult it is to keep students in their seats and focused on the lesson.
But instead of getting frustrated with the kids' energy, we should use that excitement for an educational activity.
When students don't release their natural energy, they become bored and distracted-they stare out the window, doodle, make paper airplanes or even run around the room. This can tire any teacher's patience.

Studies have shown that students learn better when they have more physical activity during the school day.

So let's couple that physical activity with English for an epic ESL class full of ESL activities that your students will absolutely love!

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere.Click here to get a copy. (Download)

Benefits of Physical Activities in ESL Classes

When you incorporate physical activities in your ESL class, you will provide your students with an outlet for all their energy that other teachers don't allow them to release. A short period of exercise will make students more willing to sit still for another 10 to 15 minutes while you give your lesson. Just think, three to five minutes of physical activity that incorporates language can give you 15 minutes of quiet, organized class time.

And your students will use their language skills during and after the physical activity, increasing the total time spent learning. During physical activities in class, you will give students instructions-they will have to listen to participate in the activity. There will also be a spoken component to the activity to add to their language skills. In some cases, you can incorporate reading activities, thus including three of the four skills students need to use to learn English.

Because of the correlation between the English words and the physical response, the students will recognize words and phrases more easily. With a word as simple as "wave," you can get your students to listen, speak or act depending on the prompt.

Most importantly, using these physical activities in an ESL class will create a fun atmosphere for the students. Students who find a class fun are more likely to be attentive during lessons and retain the information better. It can also turn you into a more popular teacher at school.

Individual vs. Full Class Physical Activities for ESL Class

When incorporating physical activities into your ESL class, you can either do full class activities where everyone's participating, or have an individual do one of the activities. Individual activities will be a little more difficult for some classes, especially larger ones. You have to know when you can use them and how to maintain control of the other students while one student is performing the activity.

Singling out one student to perform an action in front the class (though it's easier and less embarrassing to have the student do it in front of his/her desk) is usually best reserved for a warm-up, introduction or review lesson.

If you're just introducing new vocabulary to be acted out, you may want to call on the better students who are more likely to already know the words and actions. You may, however, just choose a more outgoing student who wouldn't mind being moved around by the teacher as a demonstration. During a review, you can call on the struggling students to help reinforce the concepts.

But the best way to allow students to expend all of their excess energy in class is through activities that involve the entire class at the same time. These types of activities can depend on the number of students, size of the classroom and layout of the classroom. As you grow more comfortable in your space, you will know which activities will work and how to organize them in the space you have. FluentU's interactive videos are also a good source for full-class activities.

Think of it as a theater project-you are the director and you have to work with what you're given. You want a grand production, but you're provided with a small empty space and talent that may be a little rough around the edges.

For the best results, we're equipping you with five full-class activities below-which are sure to both delight students and improve English at the same time.

1. Teach verbs through motion

This is when you can teach verbs to the entire class. If you're teaching actions that can be performed in a small space, this is a perfect opportunity to get your students to act them out.

So after teaching your students words such as "jump" or "throw," you can ask your students to show you what these words mean. As you watch your students perform these actions, you can also see who knows what to do immediately and which students need to follow the rest of class-now you'll know who needs more help understanding vocabulary.

If you're using words that require a level of interpretation and imagination, such as "dance," you could have a bit more fun. Students love to show off in some of the most ridiculous ways-they'll appreciate seeing you laugh when their dance style is absurd (let them go, they can learn to dance when they're older).

This is also an opportunity for you to return to childhood games that require physical activity. You can teach your students parts of the body and actions through a game of Simon Says.

2. Reading and acting verb competition

A variation of this first activity could be done in teams. Using the competitive nature of the students, you can determine which group of students can best perform each action and arbitrarily award points depending on performance and overall behavior.

This basic game should have only two teams, no matter the size of the class. The game itself should only take 10 to 15 minutes.

1. Hold up a word or phrase for one team to read without showing the other.

2. When the first team correctly reads the word or phrase, the other team will have to act it out.

3. You can award a point for the team correctly reading and another for the team correctly acting it out.

You can also reverse the activity by playing charades and having the opposing team guess the action.

Another variation of the game includes showing the first team a picture that portrays an action and have a student from the team write the word or phrase on the board. The second team would then act out the word or phrase. Have fun trying these out and see what works best with your students!

3. Acting out dialogues

In smaller groups, especially with students who are a little beyond beginners, you can use short dialogues for students to act out. It can be a fairly simple dialogue, such as "Where is the library?" or "May I borrow a pencil?"

These should be dialogues that students have read before, so they're more familiar with the phrases and actions associated with them. There usually won't be as much movement here as you would have with the previous two activities, but there's still enough such that the students aren't stuck in their seats for an entire class period.

You can call two students at time (sometimes three or four depending on the dialogue) to the front of the room. Provide them with a prompt to begin the dialogue (i.e. ask one another for directions or about each other's hobbies). If it's a dialogue that involves props, such as "May I borrow a ...?," it may help reinforce the vocabulary by forcing the students to pick the correct item for the dialogue.

4. Twister variations

Everyone loves Twister, but it's not something you can play with an entire class. There are, however, variations that can be used in class to get the students moving and thinking.

You can use anything from colors and shapes to words and phrases that you place on the floor (use laminated versions and tape them to the floor so they don't slide around). Make them large enough or make multiples so every student has an opportunity when playing.

You or a chosen student calls out the word/color/shape/etc. and the class rushes to step on or place a hand on that card stuck to the floor. You can also show a color or shape and have the students find the matching word on the floor.

Note: You should not actually turn this into a traditional game of Twister as it could lead to more problems with students pushing and hurting each other.

5. Jump to the front

This game works with groups of three to five students at a time. You can break your class into teams and award points based on the results of each round.

As with other games, you can hold up a picture and have the students say or write the corresponding word or phrase. The first student to answer correctly gets to jump a space ahead (three or four answers should win the round). At each jump forward, there should be a card that the student must pick up and read.

If the student reads it correctly, he or she stays in that spot for the next question. If the student reads it incorrectly, he or she must jump back. Replace the card if the student gets it incorrect.

This simple game also keeps other students paying attention because they must behave to join in the game for subsequent rounds.

No matter how you include movement in your classroom, it will improve the overall performance and behavior of your students. They will make connections between English words/phrases and actions, while expending enough energy to sit still during the rest of the lesson.

The creation of a fun classroom atmosphere will also encourage students to pay attention and learn more, so add some movement to your ESL class today!

And One More Thing...

If you're looking for creative ways to teach English, then you'll love using FluentU in your classroom!

It's got a huge collection of authentic English videos that people in the English-speaking world actually watch regularly. There are tons of great choices there when you're looking for songs for in-class activities.

You'll find music videos, musical numbers from cinema and theater, kids' singalongs, commercial jingles and much, much more.

On FluentU, all the videos are sorted by skill level and are carefully annotated for students.

Words come with example sentences and definitions. Students will be able to add them to their own vocabulary lists, and even see how the words are used in other videos.

For example, if a student taps on the word "searching," they'll see this:

Plus, these great videos are all accompanied by interactive features and active learning tools for students, like multimedia flashcards and fun games like "fill in the blank."

It's perfect for in-class activities, group projects and solo homework assignments. Not to mention, it's guaranteed to get your students excited about learning English!

Sign up for a free trial and bring FluentU to your classroom today.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere.Click here to get a copy. (Download)

If you liked this post, something tells me that you'll love FluentU, the best way to teach English with real-world videos.
Bring English immersion to your classroom!

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5 Fun Physical Activities to Get Your ESL Class Moving and Grooving

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Have you ever had a class of elementary students who sat perfectly still? Young students who used quiet voices and stayed completely concentrated on a single task? Probably not. Anyone who has taught a class of elementary school students for more than a day knows how difficult it is to keep students in their seats and focused on the lesson.

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The Neuroanatomical Transformation of the Teenage Brain

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The Neuroanatomical Transformation of the Teenage Brain

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The Neuroanatomical Transformation of the Teenage Brain: Jill Bolte Taylor at TEDxYouth@Indianapolis

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HOW TO ESTABLISH A POSITIVE CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT IN MIDDLE SCHOOL

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HOW TO ESTABLISH A POSITIVE CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT IN MIDDLE SCHOOL

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Welcome to ELA Buffet where you’ll find bitesize lessons your students will eat up! Here you’ll find ELA lessons and resources for middle and high school.

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Classroom Management vs. Classroom Culture

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Classroom Management vs. Classroom Culture

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Article with video, graphic, and links

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27 Attention-Getters For Quieting A Noisy Classroom

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27 Attention-Getters For Quieting A Noisy Classroom

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27 Attention-Getters For Quieting A Noisy Classroom

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There are a lot of kids and only one of you. When you need your students quiet, focused and ready to learn, you better have a plan to get there. And it doesn’t hurt to bring your sense of humor. We asked our Facebook community and Reddit to share their favorite attention grabbers. These are our 27 favorites.

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Various topics with links to articles

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New Teachers: Fundamentals of Classroom Management

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Resources for developing routines, fostering classroom community, managing disruptions, and building student relationships.

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Positive narration and other strategies - summary at end

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Discussion and Supporting Materials

Thought starters

1. How do students react when Ms. V redirects them with a whisper?

2. Do you see a difference when she tries positive narration?

3. What advice would you give Ms. V to continue improving her practice?

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New Teacher Survival Guide: Classroom Management

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Ms. Vreeland is a new teacher working to improve the management of her classroom. She shares a video of her class with management expert Jackie Ancess. Mrs. V takes what she's learned and tries it out in her class. Watch the before and after.

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Great website for short films and ideas - use search or categories on the side bar

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Create games for assessments in class

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Kahoot! | Learning games | Make learning awesome!

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Kahoot! is a game-based learning platform that brings engagement and fun to 1+ billion players every year at school, at work, and at home.

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Tool to make video lessons

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Easily create beautiful interactive video lessons for your students you can integrate right into your LMS. Track students' progress with hassle-free analytics as you flip your classroom!

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The prefrontal cortex is where the highest cognitive and emotional control networks are being constructed, especially during the school years. These networks are what neurologists call executive functions.

The networks of the executive functions direct the complex mental processes that you see emerging as students grow. Executive functions can be thought of as the skills that would make a corporate executive successful, abilities that allow them to:

Organize

Prioritize

Communicate effectively

Accurately interpret validity and value of information

Make long-range plans to achieve goals

Assess risk

Solve problems creatively

Innovate

These networks do not reach full effectiveness until early adulthood. When well nurtured by use, executive functions ultimately guide the brain's abilities to:

Manage emotional stability

Control impulses

Plan

Respond productively to corrective feedback

Learn from mistakes

Remain resilient to setbacks

Reflect thoughtfully before making decisions and choices.

Early adolescence (ages 10-12) is a good time to build students' skills of organizing and prioritizing information and time management. The opportunities you provide to guide them in using these executive functions also provide the activation to strengthen these networks when they are at peak neuroplastic responsiveness. As a result of this strengthening, your students will build more skills en route to becoming self-directed learners.

Helping Students Organize Themselves

Successful organization is needed for preparing and completing most activities related to school. The development of this executive function becomes even more critical as the responsibilities and requirements of school and extracurricular activities increase each year. Using strategies that increase student awareness of these skills and providing guided opportunities to use them will help adolescents build the brainpower that they need.

Start by promoting student awareness of their existing organizing skills. Ask questions such as:

How do you sort your music on playlists?

How do you organize your files on your computer?

Also, ask questions about familiar things that are already organized systematically, such as:

How is the content of this book organized into chapters?

What organization do you see in the periodic table of elements or in dividing plants and animals into classifications such as kingdoms, genus, and species?

Other Strategies

1. Teacher Modeling and Discussion

Model your systems of organization (filing, recording progress, how you set up the classroom, etc.). Draw students' attention to the organizational strategies that you use during instruction.

2. Clear Instructions

Initially, when providing organizational strategies, emphasize them both verbally and in writing. Give students clear instructions for procedures, projects, or class transitions as you model organizational structure.

3. Student Modeling

Assign selected students to model the procedures that you've described, such as the right way and the wrong way to organize their class groups during collaborative work time.

4. Checking for Understanding

Stop between segments of complex or multi-step instructions, allowing students to organize their thoughts and ask questions. Ask students to repeat back their understanding of the instructions so that they can respond to your feedback and reorganize appropriately.

5. Gradual Release of Responsibility

Throughout the year, plan a gradual decrease in the scaffolding that you provide for student organization of time and goals. For example, back away from giving them your timeline schedule for parts of a book report or project, let them plan and write their own timelines, and revise these as you help them monitor their progress.

6. Feedback

Observe student progress and setbacks and provide feedback with opportunities for them to revise their organizational systems.

The Case for Investing in Executive Functions

As the caretaker of your students' brains during the years of rapid prefrontal cortex development, the opportunities that you provide for them to use these critical neural networks are precious gifts. The tools and skills that you help them build will empower them to achieve their highest potential now, and will increase their satisfaction and success as they inherit the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.

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Brain Development and Adolescent Growth Spurts

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The prefrontal cortex is where the highest cognitive and emotional control networks are being constructed, especially during the school years. These networks are what neurologists call executive functions. The networks of the executive functions direct the complex mental processes that you see emerging as students grow.

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How to Use

1. Ask students' opinions

Allow students time to brainstorm problems that they face in class and at school.  This can be done individually, with small groups, or through a classroom survey.  For example, students may state that they suffer from bullying, classroom disruptions, or disrespectful behavior.

2. Ask for students' ideas

Once the problems have been outlined, the students and teacher collaborate to create solutions. As groups bring up solutions, ask a student to write them on the board or a poster.  Use positive language when possible. This gives students a clearer idea of how they should react to problems they encounter, which is more effective than only telling them how they should not behave.

3. Summarize students' ideas

Facilitate a class discussion to gather feedback from the students before moving on to the next step. Emphasize that it is important for the Classroom Contract to include rules that students believe in and that they will adhere to as individuals and as a group. Ensure that the list contains all behavioral objectives you deem necessary. If not, guide the students to add any behavior goals that they originally missed while brainstorming. Additionally, have students think about what could be removed from the list.

4. Turn ideas into rules

Create a poster or anchor chart to display the finalized rules. The rules will likely include guidelines such as: hands and feet to yourself, actively listen to the speaker, be kind, be respectful, etc.

5. Sign the contract

To create ultimate student ownership, allow time for each student to sign his or her name to the completed contact. The teacher should sign the contract as well. Place the contract in a prominent position in the classroom.

6. Review the contract

Hold intermittent Classroom Contract discussion sessions. Ask students to assess progress and determine if any contract amendments should be made.

When to Use

Use the Classroom Contract at any time during a lesson to encourage structure and desirable behavior, specifically:
• At the beginning of the school year
• When students are not following the agreed-upon rules
• Before beginning a new activity or unit
• Upon returning from a long break

Variations

Team Social Contracts

Small groups of students can use the same process as noted above to create a Team Social Contract.  This would work well during group activities or when assigning new table groups.

Individual Social Contracts

If the Classroom Contract is working for most students but not for specific individuals, create an individual contract for students who need one. This contract will not be shared with the entire class. It will allow the individual student to be held directly accountable for their actions and behavioral decisions.

Print This Tool

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The Classroom Contract serves as a collaboratively created framework for behavior expectations in the classroom. Students and teacher work together to design an agreement for classroom norms, rules and consequences. To achieve ultimate student ownership, contracts should be developed and agreed upon by all class members.

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3 ideas and also see link for parking lot

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Setting cell phone expectations early is key to accessing the learning potential of these devices and minimizing the distraction factor.

©Shutterstock.com/Syda Productions

Ten is now the average age when children receive their first cell phones, and those phones quickly find their way into classrooms. While cell phones have extraordinary potential for leveraging learning, they can quickly become a hindrance in the classroom, diverting attention away from learning. How can teachers harness the learning potential of students' phones while also keeping them from being a distraction?

I have learned that rather than trying to be reactive, the best defense when it comes to cell phones is a well-planned offense. Teachers who implement a proactive management plan developed in collaboration with the students at the beginning of the school year may have fewer issues as student cell phone ownership increases throughout the year.

The first few weeks of the school year often focus on creating classroom routines, and thus are a perfect time to set up cell phone expectations. Teachers can help their students develop a positive mobile mental health in the first weeks of school by discussing their ideas on cell phone use, setting up a stoplight management system, and establishing a class contract.

Opening the Conversation

Part of teaching digital citizenship is knowing where your students are in their understanding of privacy, safety, etiquette, identity, empathy, and security online. Build a digital citizenship curriculum that includes mobile device use. Talk to your students about their cell phone use (and share your own experiences). You may be surprised at how little they have these conversations with adults.

What do you like to do on your cell phone and why? (If they don't have one, what would they like to do?)

What are the most popular apps and websites you use?

What do you think are inappropriate ways that cell phones have been used?

What is poor cell phone etiquette? Why?

How can cell phones help you learn?

How can cell phones distract from your learning?

How do you feel about your cell phone and the activities you do on your phone?

What should teachers know about your cell phone use that you worry we do not understand?

Do you know how to use your cell phone to gather information, to collaborate on academic projects, to evaluate websites?

How can we work together to create a positive mobile mental health?

Before assuming you understand why, how, and when students interact with cell phones, find out from them. Ask your students questions such as:

Using a Stoplight Management Approach

The stoplight management approach allows teachers some flexibility to use cell phones when the situation warrants, but also to keep cell phones from becoming a diversion from the learning. This is how it works:

Post a red button on the classroom door: Students know when they enter that cell phones should be put in their off location. The devices will not be used that day. The teacher should decide on the off location-the upper right-hand corner of the desk and turned face down, or away in backpacks, or in pocket holders on the teacher's desk- the cell phone parking lot.

Post a yellow button on the classroom door: Students know their cell phones should be on silent (vibrate) and placed face down in the upper right-hand corner of their desk. They will be using them in class, but not the whole time. Having the phones in plain sight-a bit out of reach and turned over-allows the teacher to easily scan the room to see who doesn't have their device where it should be. It also makes it difficult for students to quickly peek at their text messages because they'd have to turn the phone over and move it from its correct position-which is more difficult than when cell phones are hidden under desks.

Post a green button on the classroom door: Students know they should have their phones turned on (either silenced or set on vibrate) and placed face up in ready position to use throughout the class.

Establishing a Class Contract

Ask your students to help you develop social norms for what is and is not appropriate cell phone use during green and yellow button times. Should they be allowed to go on their social media networks during class? Why or why not? Talk to them about what to do with their devices in different social scenarios in the classroom. Ask them to brainstorm consequences and write them into a class contract. Send the contract home for parents to read and sign with their children, so everyone is on the same page. After a couple of months, revisit the contract with your students to see if any amendments are needed.

If you take the time in the first week of school to establish a management system and a social contract and to open up dialogue about student cell phone use, expectations are clear. As more cell phones enter the classroom throughout the year, the students immediately know where to place them and when and how they can use them. In addition, the community is focused on a safe, healthy use of cell phones, rather than being distracted by them.

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Setting cell phone expectations early is key to accessing the learning potential of these devices and minimizing the distraction factor.

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5 Classroom Management Tips To Silence A Noisy Class

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Every teacher has ‘the class from hell’ that just won’t settle down. Rob Johanson suggests 5 tips to help you get silence from the worst…

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27 Meaningful (and Fun) Ways to Use Technology

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27 Meaningful (and Fun) Ways to Use Technology

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A Cavalcade of Inspiring Ideas for Kicking up Learning and Enhancing Engagement in Your Classroom!

There are enough ideas, resources, and (mostly) free tools here to keep you exploring and learning all year long. Have at it!

1. Get Your Students Creating

There is just no limit to the way that students can use the endless free resources available on the Web to create! You probably also have other creative applications on the computers or devices in your classroom, library, or computer lab. For lots of creative of ideas, check out this list of " 60 Things Students Can Create To Demonstrate What They Know " from our friends at TeachThought.com.

2. Get Real Time Feedback

If there are devices at your student's disposal, using them to let students provide real time feedback has never been easier. In fact, your students don't even need devices (have you heard about Plickers?)! Check out these " Top 5 Student Response Systems that Work on Multiple Platforms" to learn more about the excellent free tools that teachers are using every day to gather feedback or give brief quizzes, etc. If your students don't have devices at their disposal, check out how you can use free Plickers instead!

3. Collaborate

Collaboration is a vital 21st century skill, and collaborating via the web with your students can be free and easy! Here's a nice set of tools and ideas for using them, to help get you started: " 8 EdTech Hacks: A Cheat Sheet for Interactive Classroom Collaboration ".

4. Augment Reality

2015 was an awesome year for Augmented Reality tools for the classroom. Here are " 9 Amazing Augmented Reality Apps for Teaching and Learning". This article offers videos showing how some teachers and students are using these types of apps. Then find even more AR apps for the classroom here!

5. Gamify It

We've all heard the buzz about "gamification". How can you take advantage of this concept with your students? One fun way is to create a PowerPoint Jeopardy game relevant to the content you teach. Here are some templates and ideas for using them. Another popular game that is taking the classroom by storm is Minecraft - they even have an education-dedicated site and resources over at MinecraftEDU.com.

6. Meet Your Maker

The Maker Movement and Maker Spaces got a lot of attention over the last year, and deservedly so ... when students create, they learn! Here's a fun way to give maker education a try in your classroom, from Jackie Gerstein. Learn more in her article, " Reflecting on the Making Process ".

7. Make it ... in 3D!

If you have a 3D printer in your school, or maybe one in a nearby library, you can consider printing something in 3D - your students will probably be amazed (mine were)! What can you print that can help fit into what you are teaching? This list of 21 Cool Things Teachers and Students Have Built With 3D Printers will probably give you some ideas. Just keep in mind that if you are not already familiar with 3D printing, you're going to need some help from someone who is.

8. Create Collaboratively

One of the funnest ways to use collaborative tools in the classroom is to create with them! Google Drive is a hugely popular free solution that allows you and your students to collaborate on the creation of documents, worksheets, presentations, and more. Or try a collaborative interactive whiteboard like Twiddla or one of the many other IWBs in this article (be sure to check the comments for lots of additional suggestions from readers). These are just a few of the possibilities for creative collaboration in the classroom!

9. Let Them Choose

Giving students choices can be a significant motivator (check out Larry Ferlazzo's, " The Power of Choice ", to learn more about this vital aspect of student engagement). When you are selecting tools and ways to utilize them, but sure to offer choices. Offer a selection of topics, approaches, apps, and techniques when creating assignments and projects, and students are sure to feel more involved and take more ownership of their learning.

10. Enhance Their Writing Skills

The Web is full of tools, resources, and ideas that can give your students opportunities to develop their writing skills. One of my favorite techniques is Crystal Kirch's WSQ technique, which is a great way to help ensure that students engage with learning content, and it also gets them writing. Here are some additional student writing tools, apps, and techniques for further exploration.

11. Video It

Creating video can be so much fun for students, it incorporates an array of skills, and it has never been easier! I love the Student Showcase we do each fall at the Teaching and Learning with the iPad Conference in Raleigh, NC, where young students are always demonstrating the awesome movies they've made with iMovie. I vividly recall the first time I saw some of these back in 2013, from Fuquay Varina Elementary School school students. Here is one of these movies, from students Sekou, Camren, and Colin. I also watched professional quality newscasts, and short movies, created by Franklin Academy high school students. Several of these well-spoken students demonstrated some of the equipment and tools that they used to create this content in this presentation.

12. Go Global

We can now bring the world into our classroom with such ease! Try a virtual field trip, like these from the Nature Conservatory, or explore the world with EarthCam. Bring remote guests into your classroom with Skype, or participate in a Google Hangout with Connected Classrooms. The possibilities are limitless!

13. Go Mobile

Students can now learn via mobile devices in ways never before possible. They can also use those mobile devices to do so many fun educational things in and out of the classroom! Consider trying a geocaching assignment, for example. The article, " R U Engaging Your Students? Strategies and Tools for the Texting Generation ", offers a broad set of additional ideas for putting those mobile devices to use.

14. Animate it

Applications like GoAnimate, Voki, and Tellagami can be used by teachers and by students to create fun animated presentations. Students can have a blast using tools like these for assignments and projects without even realizing that they are developing writing skills and digital literacy. These platforms can also enable students to "present" without having to stand up on in front of a group, which can help younger students in particular gain skills and confidence without being overwhelmed by public speaking.

15. Get Your Groups On

Group activities help to build the vital 21st century collaboration, communication, and teamwork skills increasingly sought in today's schools and work places. Create group projects that let students use different talents and assume different rules. Split up responsibility for researching, designing, creating, documenting, and presenting. Partner students to create and critique each others' work. Try some of these " 7 Tools Students Can Use to Manage Group Projects " to teach students how to coordinate group efforts. Group work can take many forms, and tech tools can play a role in many of those activities.

16. Flip It

The Flipped Classroom is a powerful teaching and learning construct that has been made possible largely by digital technologies. Create a digital lesson, or use some of the amazing content that is already available online, and give the flip a try (just be sure to plan for how you will use the class time that you free up, which is what it is ultimately all about)! Check out this three part series of articles to get a good overview of the flipped classroom from published experts.

17. Improve Student Reading Comprehension

Tools like Newsela are brilliant examples of the powerful role education technology can play in facilitating reading comprehension (which is more of a challenge than ever, given today's students' love for video). Check out this article, " Literacy in the Digital Age: Five Sites With High-Quality Informational Text ", to learn about a handful of tools similar to Newsela.

18. Make it a Project

Project Based Learning does not have to incorporate technology, but tech can readily play a role in PBL. Of course, it is also important to understand the difference between projects, per se, and true PBL. This quote from the TeachThought article, " The Difference Between Projects And Project-Based Learning ", says it well: "While project-based learning (PBL) also features projects, in PBL the focus is more on the process of learning and learner-peer-content interaction that the end-product itself."

19. Present it

Developing and delivering presentations is a common element in many of today's Higher Education classrooms, and they are finding their way into high schools and even lower grades, as K-12 schools further embrace 21st century skills. While Powerpoint remains widely popular, there are a growing number of alternative tools finding a place in both academia and the business world. One of those is PowToon (I'm a fan!), and they have shared 9 other alternatives in their article, " 10 Best Powerpoint Alternatives" (if you get a pop up encouraging you to try a free account, just look for the "x" to click on to return to the article).

20. Try a Webquest!

Have you tried a Webquest yet? Webquest.org explains, "A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all the information that learners work with comes from the web." Zunal.com is a site that has a bunch of WebQuests, perfect for exploring and learning more! I have to admit, this is pretty new to me. When I write an article like this, I am always looking to learn new things too, and while most of these ideas are off the top of my head based on things I am already aware of, this was a new one! Can't wait to give it a shot.

21. Comics and Cartooning

I came away from the 2014 Teaching and Learning with the iPad conference with two huge takeways ... the power of Digital Storytelling (thank you Kathy Schrock ... more on this below), and an appreciation and awareness of the existence of good free comics and cartoon apps (thank you Emily Wierszewski!). Check out " Dozens of Ways to Use Comics and Cartoons in the Classroom" and " 20 Free Tools for Making Comics and Cartoons for Teaching and Learning" for everything you ever needed to know about the topic but were afraid to ask! (After you look those over, check out the video for my original song, Lotto Dust, to see how I had a blast creating a video using Pixton and some other tools!).

22. Code it

Yes, we're fans of coding as a learning tool. Unfortunately, many teachers may be functioning under a few misconceptions about what coding entails. The fact is, coding constructs can be fun and probably a lot simpler than you might have imagined. One of the most popular uses of coding in the classroom these days is coding small robotic devices, and it is very popular in young grades because it is not very hard and it's fun! This article from Vicki Davis's Cool Cat Teacher site, " Top Tips for Teaching With Robots (Using Spero) ", provides a good introduction to using one of these products in the classroom.

23. Set up a 'Back Channel'

Ever had a student who was totally reluctant to participate in classroom conversations? Of course you have (you've probably had dozens or even hundreds of them). One fun way to leverage tech in the classroom is to create a "back channel" where all of your students, even those reluctant to speak up in class, can participate in the dialogue around a subject. Twitter is a very popular tool for doing this. "MaggieV" explains how in this post on her "School 2.0 in South Africa" blog.

24. Tell a Story

Kathy Schrock is an original. She was one of the first edtech bloggers to rise to popularity, and it's no surprise since she really knows her stuff! I thoroughly enjoyed her Keynote presentation at TLIPAD 2014, and wrote this article about it: " The Power of Digital Storytelling, With Kathy Schrock (plus a Zillion Resources!)". I often reach back to these resources for inspiration for lesson content, and as a reference when I am writing articles for the site here. There are a wealth of insights in that article, and Kathy's Digital Storytelling web page provides many tools and resources that both students and teachers can use to incorporate digital story telling into classroom work.

25. Reinforce it with an Exit Ticket Activity

The "Exit Ticket" is a great opportunity to help students begin to reinforce learning. There are many tech tools that are great for creating Exit Ticket activities. TeachThought offers these " 10 Smart Tools For Digital Exit Slips ".

26. Sharing is Caring

As long as you have their permission, sharing student work can be very exciting for students, parents, and teachers! Just think of the artwork hanging in the halls of K-12 schools all over the world. The digital equivalent of this can be accomplished through school web sites, teacher web pages, and other online means. One related tool that is gaining increased exposure in both K-12 and higher ed is the Digital Portfolio. In 2015, K-12 eportofilio app SeeSaw earned a lot of notice. To my way of thinking, in higher education it should be a requirement for students to share their best work and use it to bolster their employment opportunities.

27. App Smash it!

Have you App Smashed yet? You probably have and may not even have realized it! For example, if you create content in one app and then modify or distribute it in another, this is a form of App Smashing. And you know it sounds like fun - you can just envision student's eyes lighting up when you say the phrase right?! "App Smashing!". Here are " 6 Amazing Apps Smash Examples to Inspire Creativity ", from ThingLink.

Well, there you have it - 27 powerful ideas for integrating technology into lessons, assignments, projects, etc., in fun, meaningful ways. And if these tools and ideas aren't enough to keep you busy exploring and having fun with your students throughout the year, be sure to stop back regularly for more great ideas, tools, and resources!

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27 Meaningful (and Fun) Ways to Use Technology for Teaching and Learning

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There are enough ideas, resources, and (mostly) free tools here to keep you exploring and learning all year long. Have at it! There is just no limit to the way that students can use the endless free resources available on the Web to create!

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Recorded Webinar

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Classroom Management Basics [RELO Andes Webinar]

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Lots of lesson ideas using video

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Good for homework/self-study

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LyricsTraining is the new way to learn English and other languages through music and the lyrics of your favourite songs

Improve and practise your listening skills with the best music videos. Fill in the gaps to the lyrics as you listen and sing Karaoke to your favourites

Thousands of teachers, all over the world, are already using LyricsTraining to teach languages and motivate their students through this unique immersion process

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Learn Languages with Music Videos, Lyrics and Karaoke!

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Enjoy learning languages for free playing with the music videos and filling in the lyrics of your favorite songs: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Dutch, Turkish and more.

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Also see lesson plan example using it: http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/talking-poetry-with-blabberize-30913.html

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How Teenagers' Brains Are Actually Wired Differently

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Thanks to the wonders of neuroplasticity, adolescents are primed to improve their performance in school-and beyond. Here's how to help.

Adolescence is an exciting time as teenagers become increasingly independent, begin to look forward to their lives beyond high school, and undergo many physical, emotional, and cognitive changes. In that last category, teenagers can learn to take charge of their developing brains and steer their thinking in positive and productive directions toward future college and career success.

The brain's prefrontal cortex, which functions as the control center for executive functions such as planning, goal setting, decision making, and problem solving, undergoes significant changes during the teenage years. In an NPR interview, Laurence Steinberg, author of Age of Opportunity: Lessons From the New Science of Adolescence, notes that ages 12 to 25 are a period of extraordinary neuroplasticity. "Science suggests that it's important for kids to be challenged and exposed to novelty in order to facilitate healthy development of brain systems that are important for things like self-regulation," Steinberg says.

1. They have the capacity to become functionally smarter. By their early teens, many youths have already formed an image of themselves as intellectually capable-or not. It's important to emphasize for students in the latter group that past school performance need not be a predictor of future outcomes, if they are willing to persist in the hard work that may be required when learning gets challenging.

2. Success in school is largely determined by the learning strategies students employ, and not by some innate talent for academics. Students across the continuum of current performance can learn and improve effective problem-solving and study skills to nudge their grades in a positive direction.

The potential that comes from neuroplasticity-the capacity to change the structure and function of the brain through learning-provides the foundation for two crucial messages for middle and high school students:

Tools for Self-Directed Learning

As they progress through middle and high school, students are expected to take on increasing responsibility for their learning, with more out-of-class assignments that require independent research, reading for understanding, and wider application of classroom lessons. Our new book, Teaching Students to Drive Their Brains: Metacognitive Strategies, Activities, and Lesson Ideas, suggests that learning and applying strategies to "explain it to your brain" can help students improve their study habits. We note some of those strategies here.

Creating diagrams, pictures, and symbols to represent key ideas as they take notes;

Summarizing passages in their own words (some students might enjoy the challenge of capturing the essence of an assignment in a tweet); and

Searching for cues about the most important content. For textbook assignments, students can go back and review features like key terms, subtitles, and informational graphics after their first reading to reinforce crucial facts. When reading fiction or poetry, identifying literary devices such as metaphors and symbols can help uncover deeper meaning.

Don't just read-learn. There can be a huge difference between reading the words on the page and learning from them. To think through the ideas in a reading assignment and improve recall of what they have read, students might benefit from:

Consider the source. Like the reading strategies included here, a careful consideration of the credibility of sources, especially online ones, that students consult and cite in their research projects is a learning strategy that will serve them well throughout their lives. Is the information presented fact or opinion? Is the objective of this resource to inform, to influence, or to entertain? Are the authors and/or the sources cited reputable and qualified to discuss this topic? Making these kinds of judgments is a crucial executive function for students to develop. In his book The Adolescent Brain: Reaching for Autonomy, Robert Sylwester identifies this careful approach to vetting information sources as one of the "intuitive, logical, and predictive capabilities that will enhance the resolution of . . . emerging vocational challenges."

Create, then edit. Two common problems in academic writing are getting stalled out early on in writing the introduction and failing to edit the first draft carefully. Guide students to begin productively by putting in writing the information they want to convey without worrying about how they will word the first paragraph. That task will be much easier once they have laid out all the content they have gathered. And remind them to allow time to edit their papers not once, but twice, before turning them in.

Make a schedule-and stick to it. Planning and organizing are versatile executive functions that students will use in every subject and in their personal lives as well. For independent study projects, guide your students to develop a step-by-step process, to set dates to complete each step, and to build in extra time for unexpected issues, such as the need to conduct another round of research.

Read ahead to stay ahead. Encourage students to finish every reading assignment by reading a few pages ahead. This strategy can help improve understanding and recall by showing students how the information presented in one chapter is applied and expanded on in the next.

Become metacognitive about which study skills work best for you. Students will likely find that some of these strategies are more effective for them than others. Encourage them to try different strategies and to assess which ones get the best results for them. Some students may learn better in study groups, some by creating elaborate graphics to explore and connect the concepts they are studying, and some by reading and explaining the content aloud to themselves, to give just a few examples.

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The Teenage Brain Is Wired to Learn-So Make Sure Your Students Know It

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Thanks to the wonders of neuroplasticity, adolescents are primed to improve their performance in school-and beyond. Here's how to help.

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Brain changes that take place during adolescence form the basis for improved regulation of attention, emotion, memory and behavior.

When parents of pre-teens gather together in a workshop, the common concern expressed is that they won't know how to handle their children "when their hormones go crazy." This raging hormone narrative defines the way adolescence is talked about around the world.

But what has become clear in the last 15 years of research into the nature of this important developmental period between childhood dependency and adult responsibility is that this common story is actually a myth. Hormones don't rage; they rise. And yes, these rising hormones influence brain development and behavior. But the major shifts in these second dozen years of life appear to be much more about brain remodeling than about chemicals released into the bloodstream.

In fact, it's becoming clear that the remodeling of the brain can be shaped by an adolescent's mind - what he or she does with attention, awarenessand intention. Understanding the brain's changes can actually create a more accurate view of the changes that occur during this period.

In the first phase of adolescence, pruning of the brain's circuitry means that the brain will be carving down some of its connections and even some of its neurons. What pruning does is allow the brain to begin to become more specialized as it differentiates regions into more refined circuits.

In the second phase of adolescence, remaining neural networks become faster and more coordinated as myelin sheath - a fatty, protective layer - coats neural connections, a process called mylenation.

This means that the brain is not only becoming differentiated, but it's also becoming linked, making the brain more integrated. Such neural integration is the basis for improved regulation of attention, emotion, memory and behavior.

The overall result of this brain remodeling is increased neural integration, which is the basis of well-being. Adolescents can learn mind-focusing techniques that enhance that integration. One of these practices would be my Wheel of Awareness practice, which is designed to differentiate and link aspects of consciousness and support well-being; it's free and can be practiced anywhere and anytime.

Adolescents face certain challenges and opportunities that accompany these core brain changes during this time. Based on research to date, here is what I describe as the ESSENCE of these changes:

ES - Emotional Spark: This is the increased emotional intensity that marks the adolescent period. The downside of this emotionality includes mood swings, irritability and feelings that are hard to understand and control. The upside is a passion that's vitally important to have a full life.

SE - Social Engagement: Adolescents are driven to connect with their peers, rather than their parents. The downside of social engagement is that a teen may be vulnerable to peer pressure and do immoral things to gain acceptance. The upside is that adolescents are learning social skills they'll use for the rest of their lives to stay connected with others, which promotes well-being.

N - Novelty-seeking: Teens are driven to explore new things. Changes occur in the reward circuitry of the adolescent brain combined with something called "hyper-rational thinking," in which the risks of a choice are minimized. The downside is that when teens take risks those can lead to serious and sometimes fatal consequences. The upside is that the brain changes may help adolescents find the courage to try something new.

CE - Creative Exploration: This is the way adolescents push back against the status quo and question authority, wondering how things could be different, rather than simply soaking in how things are. The downside is disorientation, disillusionment and despair, as the first dozen years of blissful innocence give way to a realization that the world can be a disappointing place. The upside is an improved imagination and the capacity and drive to envision a world of possibilities.

In many ways, the ESSENCE of adolescence reveals both the risks and benefits of this period of life. If one sees how so many major contributions to art, music, technology and science emerge from the minds of adolescents, from people in their second dozen years of life, we can see that the hope for solving some of the world's greatest and most challenging problems may rest with adolescents. How we support the passion of the emotional spark, the connection of social engagement, the courage of novelty and the imagination of creative exploration can shape the future of humanity on earth.

Interestingly, recent studies of adult neuroplasticity reveal that the same changes that make up the ESSENCE of adolescence hold the keys to staying healthy throughout one's lifespan and to keeping our brains vital as we age. That goes from keeping that emotional spark or passion alive in your life to maintaining social engagement, trying new things and creatively exploring your world.

Adolescents are our hope for the future, and, believe it or not, have an essence that is our best hope for a full, healthy life as we age. But it's imperative that we take a more nuanced view of the emotional ups and downs they go through as their brains change during this pivotal development period. In fact, we might have something to learn from the essence of these changes. One student I was speaking with at a workshop at his school speculated, regarding why some adults harbor such animus toward teens, "They are jealous of what we have that they may have lost." What an insightful reflection from a "raging hormonal" mind.

10 Ways to Broach the Subject of Sex With Your Teen

Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., Contributor

Daniel J. Siegel, M.D. is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and... Read more Daniel J. Siegel, M.D. is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and the founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA. He is also the executive director of the Mindsight Institute, which focuses on the development of mindsight, teaching insight, empathy and integration in individuals, families and communities.

Dr. Siegel has published extensively for both the professional and lay audiences, including writing blogs and articles for Time Magazine, Parenting Today, Thrive Global, Psychology Today, Neuropsychotherapist Magazine and the Psychiatric Times. His five New York Times bestsellers are: "Aware: The Science and Practice of Presence," "Mind: A Journey to the Heart of Being Human," "Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain" and two books with Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D: "The Whole-Brain Child" and "No-Drama Discipline." His other books include: "The Developing Mind" (Second Edition), "The Pocket Guide to Interpersonal Neurobiology," "Mindsight," "The Mindful Brain," "The Mindful Therapist" and "The Yes Brain" (also with Payne Bryson). Dr. Siegel also serves as the Founding Editor for the Norton Professional Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology, which contains over 70 textbooks.

You can learn more at drdansiegel.com.

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Brain changes that take place during adolescence form the basis for improved regulation of attention, emotion, memory and behavior. When parents of pre-teens gather together in a workshop, the common concern expressed is that they won't know how to handle their children "when their hormones go crazy."

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Teenagers also aren't very good at reading emotion on others' faces. In addition to the obvious physical signs of adolescence, teens and 'tweens are undergoing a major neurological overhaul, which is why that perennial teen mumble "I don't know" may be closer to the truth than we'd realized.

What this means for teachers, says Philp, is that they must be both patient and persistent. The point at which teenagers tend to withdraw and ask to be left alone is exactly when it's most important to engage them.

Below, Edutopia.org discusses Philp's conclusions with him.

What is the first thing teachers need to know about the brains of their teenage students?

I think one of the things middle school teachers need to recognize is the incapability of consistency from most kids. The kids will come in one day loving you, and then the next day, with no warning, you are the total enemy.

For young teachers, this is really hard on their developing confidence. You're searching for assurance that you're doing OK, but the inconsistency with which kids treat you is really disarming. So, middle school teachers need to recognize that this is the outward manifestation of a brain that is undergoing profound changes.

Teachers often make assumptions that their directions have gotten through. But the disconnect is that the student often doesn't get it. His or her interpretation is really different.

One of the standard things I talk to teachers about in my work is that when a kid gets in trouble, the teacher will ask, "Why did you do that?" Kids will almost always say, "I don't know," and maybe that's more accurate than we thought. When teachers understand some of the rudiments of how the brain is changing, they have a lot more patience with kids.

There are so many things going on with kids -- the physical and emotional changes, sexual development, all of those things are being undertaken by a brain that isn't capable of functioning like an adult brain. A lot of kids will look at any time they have to be quizzed about how they feel, or their reasons for doing something, as a demand for introspection. That's what teachers are asking for, and parents, too. So the teenager's response is, "Leave me alone. I don't feel like thinking about this."

That sounds discouraging, as if there's nothing to do with teenagers but sit back and wait until their brains are developed enough that they can act like human beings.

We've made some assumptions about the teenage brain, but we're looking at a tremendous curve here; I'm amazed at how many kids function awfully well and do use pretty good judgment. And one has to look at it and ask, "OK, is that environmentally controlled? Is it something we can instill in others?" That's the encouraging part of this research. We're beginning to realize that, experientially, the brain is really influenced by its environment.

At about age 12, 13, 14, the brain goes through a major pruning, much as it did around age two or three. Many of the neurons have two choices, if you will: They can develop into a neural network threaded together as a result of experience, or they're pruned away.

So, in other words, if you develop a skill at a young age, you're likely to retain that ability, whereas if you don't, that skill may be much harder to develop.

Yes. Unless teenagers put together those neural networks, they may never develop successful relationships with academics, with skills of all sorts. So, if the kid is sitting in front of a TV all day and not getting experiences, acquiring skills, we have a more serious problem than anyone had realized. Probably, we've only started to realize this in the last seven or eight years.

That suggests that we need to engage teenagers, not just let them grow up on their own.

Often, we let them go and we don't want anything to do with them. But what we've known for a long time is that if we let kids do their own things, they'll first seek out adult role models, but if those are not available for them, they'll seek out teen role models.

And this is the time when, characteristically, we've given up. Parents don't attend middle school and high school events like they did in elementary school. Kids want their privacy, and a lot of parents capitulate to that. And we're looking at probably the most important developmental time for the brain.

Recently, we've seen some wonderful character-development programs, like Developmental Assets. Those programs tend to be based on behavioral studies, but I see, over the next few years, that those behaviorally based programs will be fortified by research on the adolescent brain.

What does a teenage brain need in order to learn?

In order to make any progress, a child's brain has a list of priorities. At the survival rate, kids are not learning anything. For a kid walking through South Central Los Angeles to get to Locke High School, for instance, just getting there is a real concern. In the big herding high schools where they have 2,500 or 3,000 students, many of their emotional needs are not being met.

And the brain, in order for learning and thinking to occur, must fulfill those two categories first: You've got to survive, and you've got to have your emotional needs met. And good teachers have always known this. When you walk into a good classroom, you see a comfortable, pleasant place, a place where people are welcome.

Once a classroom is safe and comfortable, what can teachers do to engage their students?

When I do my workshops, one thing I try to get across is that kids can listen only for a short time -- probably 15 minutes max, maybe 20. And you've got to find innovative ways to change the psychological state of your learners about every 20 minutes: Get them up on their feet, change the environment using music, have them interact with each other.

I encourage teachers with a variety of strategies. For instance, how can you use music effectively in the class in order to make it an emotionally welcome place? A lot of teachers use music, but the nuances of how to use it are really important. I see more teachers saying, "I can learn to control the physiological state of my learners much more by using music at the right time."

So, for instance, maybe you should play something calming when they come into the classroom, like maybe classical music?

That's the perception most people have, that you should have music playing when kids come in. But you would also want to have playlists for other kinds of music, too. When kids come in to the class, you probably want to use music with an upbeat to it, 80 beats per minute or something. Other times, you'd want to use music in transition, between activities, or when you're writing in journals, maybe 50-60 BPM.

I'm a fan of public radio, and I'm amazed at how well they can integrate little pieces of music. So I try to encourage teachers to use emotional songs when they're doing readings. You remember the Ken Burns documentary The Civil War? There's a musical theme running through it, a resounding, beautiful melodic piece. It would be a great piece of music to play in the background along with a reading of Civil War letters.

And a lot of teachers don't realize how easy this is today. With laptops, iTunes, and inexpensive speakers, it's easier than ever to use music in the classroom.

What you're advocating is a real departure from the let-me-lecture-to-you-for-45-minutes approach to teaching.

I think that's the single most important thing I want to give to teachers: Sure, your students may be giving you eye contact, but that doesn't mean you're engaging them.

Amy Standen is a former contributing editor to Edutopia. She reports on science and the environment for KQED-FM, in San Francisco.

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Teenagers also aren't very good at reading emotion on others' faces. In addition to the obvious physical signs of adolescence, teens and 'tweens are undergoing a major neurological overhaul, which is why that perennial teen mumble "I don't know" may be closer to the truth than we'd realized.

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Teenagers: Speaking: Why teenagers avoid using English

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Teenagers: Speaking: Why teenagers avoid using English

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Teenagers: Speaking: Why teenagers avoid using English

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Reasons why teenagers may be reluctant to speak English in class and solutions to help students overcome this problem.

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The Essential 5: A Starting Point for Kagan Cooperative Learning

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The Essential 5: A Starting Point for Kagan Cooperative Learning

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Kagan’s FREE Articles - Research & Rationale - Research proves effectiveness of Kagan Structures.

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Kagan specializes in staff development and educational resources for teachers. Visit our online store, magazine and message board � the leading authority on cooperative learning, classroom discipline and multiple intelligences.

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Plato's advice against force-feeding in education

A few thousand years ago, in 360 B.C., Plato advised against force-feeding facts to students.

"Elements of instruction...should be presented to the mind in childhood; not, however, under any notion of forcing education. A freeman ought not to be a slave in the acquisition of knowledge of any kind. Bodily exercise, when compulsory, does no harm to the body; but knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind."

We now have science of learning research to support these recommendations to avoid forced instruction and provide children with the best environment and experiences for joyful learning. We have come to literally see how stress and curiosity edits which sensory information is given entry to our neural networks and where the input ends up.

Social, emotional, hormonal, and nutritional influences are overtaking the attribution of intelligence to primarily genetic factors. Neuroplasticity research reveals that intelligence can be changed and guides us to educational and parenting strategies promote positive changes.

In this post, combining my background as a neurologist and classroom teacher, I'll share my strategies to help parents and teachers get information "admitted" through the brain's attention system.

RAS: the gatekeeper of attention in the brain

Getting into the brain is like getting into an exclusive nightclub where only the glamorous few are selected. Once inside, another gatekeeper, stress, determines what makes the cut to enter the upper VIP lounge in the prefrontal cortex-that valuable 13% of cerebral architecture where our highest cognition and emotional reflection takes place.

The brain evolved to promote the survival of the animal and the species. That means giving priority to potential threat. Every second, of the millions of bits of sensory information from the eyes, ears, internal organs, skin, muscles, taste and smell receptors that are at the entry gate, only a few thousand make the cut. The system that determines what gets in-what the brain attends to-is the Reticular Activating System, or RAS. This primitive network of cells in the lower brainstem, through which all sensory input must pass to reach any higher regions of the brain, is essentially the same in your dog, cat, child, and you.

The RAS favours intake of sights, sounds, smells, and tactile sensations that are most critical to survival of the animal and species. Priority goes to changes in an animal or human's environment, particularly to change appraised as threatening. When threat is perceived, the RAS automatically selects related sensory input and directs it to the lower brain where the involuntary response is not to think, but to react-fight, flight, or freeze.

The RAS is a virtual editor that grants attention and admission to a small fraction of all the sights, sounds, and tactile sensations available at any moment. This survival-directed filter is critical for animals in the wild, but as it has not changed significantly as man evolved, and the implications for the classroom or with children in the home are significant.

When under threat, the brain prioritises survival

When children's brains perceive threat (e.g. punishment or embarrassment in front of classmates for not doing homework, fear that they will be picked last for a team game, or anxiety that they will make an obvious error because they are not fluent in English) the RAS lets in only what is perceived as relevant to the threat. Unless the perception of threat is reduced, the brain persists in doing its primary job-protecting the human or animal from harm. The neural activity on scans during fear, sadness, anger or other stressful emotions is evident in the lower brain. In this stressed state "attention" is not under our control and the brain activity on scans drops way down in the prefrontal cortex. That higher, reflective, cognitive region of the brain does not receive the sensory input determined irrelevant to survival. The day's lesson does fall on deaf ears.

When students are criticised for not paying attention to the lesson it doesn't mean they are inattentive. Their RAS is paying attention to (letting in) sensory input, just not the sensory input their teachers think is important.

One of the great gifts of neuroimaging research is information about which sensory input gets through the RAS when threat is not perceived. When not under high stress alert, the RAS is particularly receptive to novelty and change that arouse curiosity. That is the key to the gate-the brain seeks input about the new, the unexpected, the colourful, musical, moving, aromatic sensations that are available when perceived or imagined threat is not blocking the way. When students are curious about something, they seek an explanation. This motivates them to persevere in seeking the information they now want to learn-what they need to be taught.

Curiosity in the classroom - what teachers can do

Knowing about the RAS means we can promote classroom communities where students feel safe, where they can count on the adults in charge to enforce the rules that protect their bodies, property and feelings from classmates whom they perceive as threats. Our increasing knowledge of what gains access through the RAS, once threat is reduced, offers clues to strategies that promote attentive focus to lessons in school and at home.

You can build novelty into teaching new information. Changes in voice, appearance, marking key points in color, variation in font size, hats, movement, lessons outdoors, music, curious photos, unexpected objects get the RAS attentive to admit the accompanying sensory input of lessons that relates to the curious sensory input!

Advertising a coming unit with curiosity-provoking posters or adding clues or puzzle pieces each day invests curiosity as children predict what lesson might be coming and the RAS is primed to "select" the sensory input of that lesson when it is revealed. Playing a song when students enter the room can also promote curiosity and hence focus, if they know that there will be a link between some words in the song and something in the lesson. If a teacher, or parent helping with homework, walks backwards before a lesson about negative numbers, the RAS is primed by curiosity to follow along when a number line is unrolled on the floor to start instruction about negative numbers. Even a suspenseful pause in your speech before saying something particularly important builds anticipation as the students wonder what you will say or do next.

To further alert the RAS, increase curiosity, and the subsequent memory of the information (learning) that explains the curious phenomenon, have children make predictions. The predictions can be written down, shared with a partner, or held up on individual white boards at any point during a lesson. Don't break the participation or curiosity confirming or denying a prediction. Instead, maintain the interest by responding with a nod of acknowledgment or a "thank you" so the other students will continue to predict. The brain learns based on a system of predictions and feedback as neuroplasticity strengthens neural networks used to make correct predictions and it corrects memory networks used to make incorrect predictions-this is why timely corrective feedback is important so those faulty circuits can be replaced with accurate information.

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A version of this article has appeared on Pyschology Today.

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Want children to pay attention? Stimulate their curiosity

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A few thousand years ago, in 360 B.C., Plato advised against force-feeding facts to students. "Elements of instruction...should be presented to the mind in childhood; not, however, under any notion of forcing education. A freeman ought not to be a slave in the acquisition of knowledge of any kind.

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Name Adjectives Activity

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The Greatest Hits of TPR: 6 Classic ESL Activities That Elicit Total Physical Response

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The Greatest Hits of TPR: 6 Classic ESL Activities That Elicit Total Physical Response

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Some ideas to practice language with teens

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Watch the video of our six tips then if you have more ideas to share, leave them below.

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As your students move through adolescence, their brains are going through a dynamic change from chaos to clarity. These developmental changes have profound implications for how you'll be able to guide students during these transformative years.

Brain Remodeling: Chaos to Clarity

The brain first goes through a rapid maturation phase in the months before and after birth, and a second maturation phase throughout later childhood and adolescence. During this second phase of increased brain growth, the prefrontal cortex is the site of the brain's most active reorganization and growth. Before building your understanding of what is taking place in the prefrontal cortex during its adolescent growth spurt, let's explore what is housed in this late-developing part of the brain.

The prefrontal cortex is where the highest cognitive and emotional control networks are being constructed, especially during the school years. These networks are what neurologists call executive functions.

The networks of the executive functions direct the complex mental processes that you see emerging as students grow. Executive functions can be thought of as the skills that would make a corporate executive successful, abilities that allow them to:

Organize

Prioritize

Communicate effectively

Accurately interpret validity and value of information

Make long-range plans to achieve goals

Assess risk

Solve problems creatively

Innovate

These networks do not reach full effectiveness until early adulthood. When well nurtured by use, executive functions ultimately guide the brain's abilities to:

Manage emotional stability

Control impulses

Plan

Respond productively to corrective feedback

Learn from mistakes

Remain resilient to setbacks

Reflect thoughtfully before making decisions and choices.

Early adolescence (ages 10-12) is a good time to build students' skills of organizing and prioritizing information and time management. The opportunities you provide to guide them in using these executive functions also provide the activation to strengthen these networks when they are at peak neuroplastic responsiveness. As a result of this strengthening, your students will build more skills en route to becoming self-directed learners.

Helping Students Organize Themselves

Successful organization is needed for preparing and completing most activities related to school. The development of this executive function becomes even more critical as the responsibilities and requirements of school and extracurricular activities increase each year. Using strategies that increase student awareness of these skills and providing guided opportunities to use them will help adolescents build the brainpower that they need.

Start by promoting student awareness of their existing organizing skills. Ask questions such as:

How do you sort your music on playlists?

How do you organize your files on your computer?

Also, ask questions about familiar things that are already organized systematically, such as:

How is the content of this book organized into chapters?

What organization do you see in the periodic table of elements or in dividing plants and animals into classifications such as kingdoms, genus, and species?

Other Strategies

1. Teacher Modeling and Discussion

Model your systems of organization (filing, recording progress, how you set up the classroom, etc.). Draw students' attention to the organizational strategies that you use during instruction.

2. Clear Instructions

Initially, when providing organizational strategies, emphasize them both verbally and in writing. Give students clear instructions for procedures, projects, or class transitions as you model organizational structure.

3. Student Modeling

Assign selected students to model the procedures that you've described, such as the right way and the wrong way to organize their class groups during collaborative work time.

4. Checking for Understanding

Stop between segments of complex or multi-step instructions, allowing students to organize their thoughts and ask questions. Ask students to repeat back their understanding of the instructions so that they can respond to your feedback and reorganize appropriately.

5. Gradual Release of Responsibility

Throughout the year, plan a gradual decrease in the scaffolding that you provide for student organization of time and goals. For example, back away from giving them your timeline schedule for parts of a book report or project, let them plan and write their own timelines, and revise these as you help them monitor their progress.

6. Feedback

Observe student progress and setbacks and provide feedback with opportunities for them to revise their organizational systems.

The Case for Investing in Executive Functions

As the caretaker of your students' brains during the years of rapid prefrontal cortex development, the opportunities that you provide for them to use these critical neural networks are precious gifts. The tools and skills that you help them build will empower them to achieve their highest potential now, and will increase their satisfaction and success as they inherit the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century.

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This piece was originally published on

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Teaching teenagers to organise themselves

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As your students move through adolescence, their brains are going through a dynamic change from chaos to clarity. These developmental changes have profound implications for how you'll be able to guide students during these transformative years. The brain first goes through a rapid maturation phase in the months before and after birth, and a second maturation phase throughout later childhood and adolescence.

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OVERVIEW

The jigsaw classroom is a research-based cooperative learning technique invented and developed in the early 1970s by Elliot Aronson and his students at the University of Texas and the University of California. Since 1971, thousands of classrooms have used jigsaw with great success.

The jigsaw classroom has a four-decade track record of successfully reducing racial conflict and increasing positive educational outcomes such as improved test performance, reduced absenteeism, and greater liking for school.

Just as in a jigsaw puzzle, each piece - each student's part - is essential for the completion and full understanding of the final product.

If each student's part is essential, then each student is essential; and that is precisely what makes this strategy so effective.

JIGSAW IN 10 EASY STEPS

The jigsaw classroom is very simple to use. If you're a teacher, just follow these steps:

STEP SEVEN

Bring the students back into their jigsaw groups.

STEP EIGHT

Ask each student to present her or his segment to the group.

Encourage others in the group to ask questions for clarification.

STEP NINE

Float from group to group, observing the process.

If any group is having trouble (e.g., a member is dominating or disruptive), make an appropriate intervention. Eventually, it's best for the group leader to handle this task. Leaders can be trained by whispering an instruction on how to intervene, until the leader gets the hang of it.

STEP TEN

At the end of the session, give a quiz on the material.

Students quickly come to realize that these sessions are not just fun and games but really count.

ABOUT ELLIOT ARONSON

Elliot Aronson is currently Professor Emeritus at the University of California in Santa Cruz. He has long-standing research interests in social influence and attitude change, cognitive dissonance, research methodology, and interpersonal attraction. Professor Aronson's experiments are aimed both at testing theory and at improving the human condition by influencing people to change dysfunctional attitudes and behaviors.

Professor Aronson received his B.A. from Brandeis University in 1954, his M.A. from Wesleyan University in 1956, and his Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford University in 1959. He has taught at Harvard University, the University of Minnesota, the University of Texas, and the University of California. In 1999, he won the American Psychological Association's Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, making him the only psychologist to have won APA's highest awards in all three major academic categories: distinguished writing (1973), distinguished teaching (1980), and distinguished research (1999).

MORE ABOUT
ELLIOT ARONSON

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The jigsaw technique is a cooperative learning approach that reduces racial conflict among school children, promotes better learning, improves student motivation, and increases enjoyment of the learning experience.