Creating a positive learning environment

[PeterPan]

I'm coming across a few things and I thought people might like to discuss them.

https://www.additudemag.com/webinar/an-educators-guide-to-teaching-students-with-adhd/ Schultz has a webinar here and a free powerpoint that pairs with his book Nowhere to Hide: Why Kids with ADHD and LD Hate School and What We Can Do About It  His basic jist seems to be reduce stress and focus on competence. In the powerpoint he sites trauma research showing that stress activates the middle of the brain (ie. stress breeds more stress) and moves energy AWAY from the prefrontal cortex that would promote EF, higher level thinking, etc. This makes me wonder what we can do to actively tap in and activate that pre-frontal cortex. Games? I'm sure it's terribly obvious, but I don't know what the answer is. It seems like doing that might, in its own way, balance out the brain and reduce stress by improving coping skills. We have our CBT stuff, but what about just doing more with the pre-frontal cortex to improve coping? Makes sense to me, and there ought to be a way to do this with games and fun stuff.

https://ideas.ted.com/try-these-two-smart-techniques-to-help-you-master-your-emotions/?utm_campaign=social&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_content=ideas-blog&utm_term=social-science This is a ted talk with article, and the lady has written a book How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain Her jist is reframe your emotions, which really seems on that same path of competency and problem solving. The book is new so I'm waiting for a copy from the library.

Mathematical Mindsets: Unleashing Students' Potential through Creative Math, Inspiring Messages and Innovative Teaching  I know this isn't emotions, but he's going at it in that same way of finding new ways to build competence and reduce stress, only this time with mathematics. Mindset Mathematics: Visualizing and Investigating Big Ideas, Grade 3  He has a new workbook coming out at the end of the month and the 4th and 5th gr workbooks are already available. He seems to be setting up the idea that we could explore advanced mathematical concepts (beyond basic numeracy) without numbers. This is stellar and so in the vein of what should be good for bright kids with SLDs. Very psyched to try it. Our library is slammed with holds for this book, so apparently it's a hot topic.

 

[Guest]

7 hours ago, PeterPan said:

Mathematical Mindsets: Unleashing Students' Potential through Creative Math, Inspiring Messages and Innovative Teaching  I know this isn't emotions, but he's going at it in that same way of finding new ways to build competence and reduce stress, only this time with mathematics.

 

I did look at Jo Boaler's (she is female) book several years ago and passed on it. Besides the fact that Singapore Math has much easier strategies for mental math (did not go farther than the preview pages), she shows a shape on pages 43-44 and describes that shape as a hexagon. She is taking the literal translation of the word "hexagon" in Greek, where as for a shape to be called a hexagon it has to follow certain rules, otherwise it is classified as a polygon. I passed on that one! The book is actually based on the growth mindset and, as a concept, it does not interest me. Our schoolroom is loaded with math manipulatives (among other resources) and we find math in everything in our daily life and out in the world. That is how I prefer to inspire the love of math in my children.

[Guest]

Also, it falls under the inquiry-based math concept, which has been an ongoing problem here in Canada and still is in some provinces.

https://globalnews.ca/news/4200010/doug-ford-discovery-math-ontario-election/

I am not trying to tell you what to do, PeterPan. Just pointing some things out, for you and others reading, to look into.

[Guest]

10 hours ago, PeterPan said:

We have our CBT stuff, but what about just doing more with the pre-frontal cortex to improve coping?

A link for you:

https://www.neuropsychotherapist.com/prefrontal-cortex/

And a quote from it. 

Quote

• The left and right halves of the prefrontal cortex appear to become more interconnected in response to consistent aerobic exercise.
• Practicing mindfulness can enhance prefrontal activation, which is correlated with increased well-being and reduced anxiety.

I also use mindfulness for perfectionism induced stress, along with other CBT strategies and cognitive approaches. 

Another interesting read:

Face It — People with ADHD Are Wired Differently

https://www.additudemag.com/current-research-on-adhd-breakdown-of-the-adhd-brain/

And a quote:

Quote

There are activities that can increase the brain’s effectiveness. Meditation, for example, changes the brain in important ways. Researchers worked with people who’d never meditated before (ADHD was not accounted for as a variable), and put one group through an eight-week mindfulness-based stress-reduction program. The primary difference was in the posterior cingulate, which is involved in mind wandering and self-awareness. Another notable change was in the left hippocampus, which assists in learning, cognition, memory, and emotional regulation. Subsequent studies applied this research using ADHD participants, and similar changes were noticed.

 

[PeterPan]

14 hours ago, Moved On said:

it falls under the inquiry-based math concept,

That's why I want to add it to our math time, as a supplement. 

12 hours ago, Moved On said:

use mindfulness for perfectionism induced stress

Haha, alas we have little perfectionism-induced stress here, lol. But yes, mindfulness we're up on. I was thinking there ought to be games, other types of ways to target that part of the brain. The source linked the pre-frontal cortex and higher level thinking, so then doing things that involve that type of thinking ought to stimulate the pre-frontal cortex.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, PeterPan said:

The source linked the pre-frontal cortex and higher level thinking, so then doing things that involve that type of thinking ought to stimulate the pre-frontal cortex.

I took a bit of a look at the book. I tried to see chapter 7 where he describes his De-Stress approach but there aren't enough pages to get an idea. I have been totally swamped lately and was unable to look into everything in your post. I just posted about things I have already looked into. I'll save the thought to look into at a later date though.

[Guest]

PeterPan, one book you could look at is, How the Brain Influences Behavior by David A. Sousa. It does not go in the direction you seem to be attempting to go in but you will find some common ground between what the author of the book you linked (Nowhere to Hide) is saying and how Sousa explains the effects of the Brain on behavior. It talks about the feeling of happiness and how that is affected by the brain(some people are more naturally happy than others), and also the importance of the teacher in creating that feeling of happiness in the child, which links to many positive effects in the brain and ultimately learning. It might help give you some ideas on strategies. I'm just giving you a very brief oversimplified glimpse. You can see previews on Amazon. It is a bit pricey though, so check your library if it interests you. I have a collection of Sousa's books as ebooks, but it might not be what you are looking for (you and I don't usually agree on approach and resources ?) which is why I am suggesting checking your library.

I sincerely hope you find what you are looking for,

M

[Pegs]

I'll be following this thread and looking our for ideas.

With DS' anxiety recently being through the roof, we've stripped our homeschool back to high input, low output subjects. We're in a bit of a holding pattern until he gets back from a visit with his other parent and then starts meds for anxiety. Fortunately the psychiatrist comes highly recommended by the local ASD community. We have our first appt at the end of the month. 

[PeterPan]

3 hours ago, Pegs said:

I'll be following this thread and looking our for ideas.

With DS' anxiety recently being through the roof, we've stripped our homeschool back to high input, low output subjects. We're in a bit of a holding pattern until he gets back from a visit with his other parent and then starts meds for anxiety. Fortunately the psychiatrist comes highly recommended by the local ASD community. We have our first appt at the end of the month. 

That really makes sense that getting the body part under control could help. We had brought in a behaviorist, used so many approaches (OT, Zones, etc.) trying to get things under control. It's like everyone had a theory and none of the approaches were actually getting us to the calm place we wanted to be. We finally ran genetics (just the cheap 23andme), got back his VDR defect and TPH2, started him on vitamin D and 5HTP, and he's seriously calm ALL DAY LONG. All that off the charts had a physical explanation, a treatable explanation. And I'm not anti-med, because they're shaking the stick another way too. We were just able to find the underlying explanation and treat that. And we've been doing it all ourselves, but I finally found mention of a practice that specializes in autism that is running genetics to inform care. Hoping to call them today. 

Anyways, you can look in to the TPH2 gene and see what you think. I think there's probably more going on, but definitely getting that under control got us a long way. Our behaviorist had put it that meds (of some kind) would help him be able to RECEIVE the good instruction he was getting. He was hearing lots of strategies, but he couldn't actually use them. His body was just too overwhelming for him to control. Now he's at a place where we can hopefully get the cognitive strategies to work a bit better. 

And if none of that fits, then just say I'm agreeing with you that getting down the one side lets all the other pieces work better. We can be positive all we want, but it's really hard when the kid is sitting there flipping out. Getting the body under control makes it MUCH easier to bring in these CBT-type approaches, definitely.

[Guest]

Pegs, I'm sorry to hear your little boy is still struggling with anxiety and it wasn't just a temporary thing! You have been on my mind, but I didn't want to bump the old thread in case you preferred not to. I hope all works out for the best and that you can also find the coping strategies that work for your boy.

Best wishes,

M

[Pegs]

Thanks M.  

[drjuliadc]

Games to stimulate prefrontal cortex: chess, checkers, Mother May I, Simon Says. Any game where you have to think a few steps ahead, or any game where you have to inhibit your natural impulse to do something and do the opposite.

Rhythm games on Wii Fit.

Any app that requires timing.

If a child plays piano, Joy Tunes has Simply Piano and Piano Maestro apps that incorporate timing with feedback into piano playing.  

Playing piano stimulates the prefrontal cortex and probably playing any instrument does, but I don’t play one. My kids play piano so I only have personal experience in seeing how timing plays a roll with that instrument.

Playground jump rope games, hand clapping games. Hackysack. Dribbling a basketball. Catching a ball. Tennis.

You can indirectly stimulate the frontal lobes by stimulating the cerebellum and parietal lobes. “The back of the brain feeds the front of the brain.” I’m not thinking of any games that stimulate them off the top of my head though. I know lots of things to stimulate them, but not games.

[PeterPan]

Thanks, that's a helpful list!

[Kanin]

I've been following this topic with interest. Creating a positive learning environment is so important to me - but I've never gone as far as to research parts of the brain and their functions, as far as reducing stress, etc. That's a really great idea. 

In my class this year, I had a bunch of kids that had a bit of a rough time last year. My #1 goal was for everyone to be HAPPY and non-stressed. I didn't make things ultra fun or anything, but I did make sure that stress levels were low. If I saw signs of stress, I backed off. Switched topics, made things easier for the next question, added extra scaffolding, etc. With schoolwork, I didn't do "errorless" learning, because making mistakes is valuable (and being able to deal with mistakes is valuable too!), but I did make sure there was a very high success to failure ratio.

Even though I find the "growth mindset" mania a little annoying, I do appreciate a reminder that failure can lead to learning. I actually hate making mistakes and feeling embarrassed in front of people, so it felt a little contrived for me to talk about how great failure is, but I did make an effort to talk about it positively. We watched a lot of Magic School Bus in which Miss Frizzle is constantly saying, Take Chances, Make mistakes! About halfway through the year, I heard kids saying that when they made mistakes. I also heard kids say, "Oh man, I made a mistake. Oh well!" And this was a serious win for kids that might have shut down or freaked out at any error at the beginning of the year.

I talked a lot with the kids about how making mistakes is normal, and how doing hard things and failing at them is better than only trying easy things. I almost talked myself into it! Lol.

I wonder if kids, being younger and more malleable, are actually receptive to these ideas. Can they really come to believe that making mistakes is valuable? Even if a kid is able to just handle making mistakes, even if they still think it's unpleasant... that's a win. And really, you just have to make mistakes to learn, and teachers and parents have to let kids make mistakes, just in daily life... if you spill something, you have to figure out what to do about it. If you can't find something, you have to figure out another thing that can serve the same function. When kids were ready, I would purposefully set them a task that I knew would frustrate them... but VERY, very mildly frustrate. That's the "zone of proximal development" and all that.

Sometimes I would accidentally set a task that was just a smidge TOO hard.... and then I felt bad about it.

PeterPan, I really want to look at that book you mentioned at the top. I think stress is the #1 thing that makes kids unable to learn. Once a kid is even MILDLY anxious, in my opinion, their performance goes down, and their ability to learn is just gone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PeterPan]

Mainer, I love your Miss Frizzle quote!!! Love what you're doing in your class.

Well I started reading the Mathematical Mindsets book last night, and it's VERY thought provoking. So far I've only gotten through the intro and the first couple chapters, where she lays out her thesis and why it ought to work. Haven't really gotten to the nitty gritty of the HOW yet. I will tell you I cheated and looked in the middle and there's this picture of a teacher discussing with the class member actions in the groups and what they LIKE and what they DON'T LIKE, and that alone I thought was brilliant and worth the price of the book. (I didn't buy it, lol.) Seriously, there's so much in group collaboration that is just obvious or expected, and here they're actually using math as a way to TEACH group collaboration. I thought that was really important, because of course social skills for our kids are WAY more important than the actual math even.

I thought her take that kids could do a lot more than they are was pretty challenging. She deeply challenges the assumption that math ability is innate, something you have or don't have. And I don't feel like I have to be all bandwagon and totally buying that to say that I like the extension that therefore my ds could go FARTHER THAN HIS LABELS IMPLY. Considering his labels are contradictory, I really liked this idea that she could quantify what it would take to go farther, as far as he can. I know that a very traditional route is worthless for my ds anyway, because it only emphasizes what he CAN'T do, not what he can.

Unfortunately for us, she lays it back at the foot of the teacher, saying you can't can it and box it and sell it, that it's actually dependent on the teacher. That means this magic isn't easily accessible or something for ALL. But if you're like where's the lamp, what do I rub, I wanna be magical, it looks like she's going there in the coming chapters. We'll see.

[Kanin]

PeterPan, I’m a fan of Jo Boaler as well. There’s a pretty active FB group centered around it called Youcubed. You may want to check it out ? The Youcubed website has lots of activities, and many, many, many of them are “low floor, high ceiling,” meaning they can be as simple or as complex as the child makes them. 

Another fantastic resource is Math4Love, makers of the popular game Prime Climb. Their free lessons just blow my mind. https://mathforlove.com/lesson-plan/

I’d say definitely take your DS and just go wild with growth mindset! 

[Jennifer-72]

We love Prime Climb here!

OP, we did the Big Life Journal with ds this past year and found it awesome for ds.  He has always struggled with making mistakes and we have tried several ways over the years to help him with that with varying degrees of success.  The journal really seemed to finally help him turn the corner with that.

https://biglifejournal.com/

[Guest]

On 7/17/2018 at 7:28 AM, Mainer said:

Even though I find the "growth mindset" mania a little annoying, I do appreciate a reminder that failure can lead to learning. I actually hate making mistakes and feeling embarrassed in front of people, so it felt a little contrived for me to talk about how great failure is, but I did make an effort to talk about it positively. We watched a lot of Magic School Bus in which Miss Frizzle is constantly saying, Take Chances, Make mistakes! About halfway through the year, I heard kids saying that when they made mistakes. I also heard kids say, "Oh man, I made a mistake. Oh well!" And this was a serious win for kids that might have shut down or freaked out at any error at the beginning of the year.

I talked a lot with the kids about how making mistakes is normal, and how doing hard things and failing at them is better than only trying easy things. I almost talked myself into it! Lol.

I wonder if kids, being younger and more malleable, are actually receptive to these ideas. Can they really come to believe that making mistakes is valuable? Even if a kid is able to just handle making mistakes, even if they still think it's unpleasant... that's a win. And really, you just have to make mistakes to learn, and teachers and parents have to let kids make mistakes, just in daily life... if you spill something, you have to figure out what to do about it. If you can't find something, you have to figure out another thing that can serve the same function. When kids were ready, I would purposefully set them a task that I knew would frustrate them... but VERY, very mildly frustrate. That's the "zone of proximal development" and all that.

I'm sure the mantras can be useful in a classroom setting as a temporary fix, however, true perfectionism has deeper roots and can often lead to generalized anxiety. CBT deals with that by helping to cognitively reframe past disappointments, negative experiences, or faulty perceptions. It is specific to the individual and their personal experiences, because it is therapy.

When I approach it with my kids it is with this mind-set, and it's been very effective for us.

[Guest]

For future reference:

- Study finds popular 'growth mindset' educational interventions aren't very effective (May 22, 2018 - Science Daily)

Source: Michigan State University

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180522114523.htm

[Kanin]

13 hours ago, Moved On said:

I'm sure the mantras can be useful in a classroom setting as a temporary fix, however, true perfectionism has deeper roots and can often lead to generalized anxiety. CBT deals with that by helping to cognitively reframe past disappointments, negative experiences, or faulty perceptions. It is specific to the individual and their personal experiences, because it is therapy.

When I approach it with my kids it is with this mind-set, and it's been very effective for us.

Yeah, I see what you mean here. Although possibly helpful, it's like a band-aid on deeper issues that probably aren't fixable by a classroom teacher.

I see perfectionism as my DH's biggest challenge. He thinks that having a PhD is not that special, that plenty of people have one, and that he probably doesn't know as much as most other people. Sometimes I wonder if he'd have been better off never getting into academia, because it only increased his self-criticism. He has friends that work at Google-like companies making big bucks, and he compares himself to them. 

[Guest]

Mainer, perfectionism is not always the bad guy. One can learn to channel it into positive things. Different way of thinking!

[PeterPan]

I was fascinated by the picture on page 136 (figure 7.11) where the teacher is discussing preferred group work behaviors with her class. I think maybe there's a lot more to what's going on here that is good, and I'm excited to dig into the book. So far I've only read the intro and chapters 1 and 2, where she lays out her thesis that our culture is too stuck on math being something you can or can't do. I think she also acknowledges a narrow sliver (5%?) that just flat have disabilities, and of course that's where ds would be. But really, I'm fascinated by this idea of working without limits, making collaboration intentional, etc. It really speaks to skills people on the spectrum need.

I haven't started reading the Nowhere to Hide book yet. We sort of fell into watching ALF, if you can imagine. The Mathematical Mindsets is such a fast read, I think I should be able to get back to it and read a couple more chapters tonight so I can actually have something substantive to say. I was just amazed by that picture. I don't think Boaler's stuff has to be the ONLY thing people are doing, and it's absurd to imply any good teacher would use ONLY one strategy. Obviously people are going to have a lot of tools in their toolbox and create a mix that gets their student where he needs to be. That's the whole point of CUSTOM and taking RESPONSIBILITY for what we do. But I think if the Boaler book *only* contributed information on how to work collaboratively, that could be incredibly valuable. I think there will be a lot more.

Oh, I did start looking through the Youcubed and Math4Love. The M4L looks a lot like RB, maybe just more complex or with less in-between steps. But still, definitely looks like good stuff. I want to look at their paid ($99) curriculum levels more to see if any of them would fit ds. Their tiny dots game would address the issue of rigidity I see with him with the way he interacts with the RB Dots, so I definitely want to dig more. 

5 hours ago, Mainer said:

I see perfectionism as my DH's biggest challenge. He thinks that having a PhD is not that special, that plenty of people have one, and that he probably doesn't know as much as most other people. Sometimes I wonder if he'd have been better off never getting into academia, because it only increased his self-criticism. He has friends that work at Google-like companies making big bucks, and he compares himself to them. 

Interesting. My ds is on the spectrum, so his big issue is self-regulation, staying calm. Perfectionism is less of an issue. To me, the group collaboration, slowing down, working together, that's all great stuff because it's addressing his weak areas and helping him learn how to stay calm while tackling hard things. If your dh wants that higher paycheck, why not just leave? I mean, if he has the skill, he could solve his problem, lol.

[Kanin]

1 hour ago, PeterPan said:

I was fascinated by the picture on page 136 (figure 7.11) where the teacher is discussing preferred group work behaviors with her class. I think maybe there's a lot more to what's going on here that is good, and I'm excited to dig into the book. So far I've only read the intro and chapters 1 and 2, where she lays out her thesis that our culture is too stuck on math being something you can or can't do. I think she also acknowledges a narrow sliver (5%?) that just flat have disabilities, and of course that's where ds would be. But really, I'm fascinated by this idea of working without limits, making collaboration intentional, etc. It really speaks to skills people on the spectrum need.

I haven't started reading the Nowhere to Hide book yet. We sort of fell into watching ALF, if you can imagine. The Mathematical Mindsets is such a fast read, I think I should be able to get back to it and read a couple more chapters tonight so I can actually have something substantive to say. I was just amazed by that picture. I don't think Boaler's stuff has to be the ONLY thing people are doing, and it's absurd to imply any good teacher would use ONLY one strategy. Obviously people are going to have a lot of tools in their toolbox and create a mix that gets their student where he needs to be. That's the whole point of CUSTOM and taking RESPONSIBILITY for what we do. But I think if the Boaler book *only* contributed information on how to work collaboratively, that could be incredibly valuable. I think there will be a lot more.

Oh, I did start looking through the Youcubed and Math4Love. The M4L looks a lot like RB, maybe just more complex or with less in-between steps. But still, definitely looks like good stuff. I want to look at their paid ($99) curriculum levels more to see if any of them would fit ds. Their tiny dots game would address the issue of rigidity I see with him with the way he interacts with the RB Dots, so I definitely want to dig more. 

Interesting. My ds is on the spectrum, so his big issue is self-regulation, staying calm. Perfectionism is less of an issue. To me, the group collaboration, slowing down, working together, that's all great stuff because it's addressing his weak areas and helping him learn how to stay calm while tackling hard things. If your dh wants that higher paycheck, why not just leave? I mean, if he has the skill, he could solve his problem, lol.

I love the idea of teaching collaboration as well. I always think it’s madness to toss kids into a cooperative situation and expect that they can all thrive.

DH is leaving academia. Yeah! Let’s hope it goes well ? 

[Kanin]

6 hours ago, Moved On said:

Mainer, perfectionism is not always the bad guy. One can learn to channel it into positive things. Different way of thinking!

I think so, too. I’ve seen it be an incredible strength and also a weakness. Just need to keep it controlled ?