Paul’s Brain & Behavior X3

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Paul’s Brain & Behavior X3

X1 First time taking Brain & Behavior, I thought I would get information about dysfunctional students and how their brains worked. On the first day in a warm, crowded room with uncomfortable seats, I was somewhat irritated with being told to think about lines of poetry from Emily Dickenson.

Not a real fan of poetry, I was hoping we’d soon move on to something that would help me understand my teenage audience while teaching science. However, we continued to discuss how we perceive the world. Soon we were into boxes of arrows and no one was mentioning classrooms or teaching. I was not seeing the apparent connections to my practice. Regardless, as the course continued there were items that I had never thought about before and other information that was fascinating.

Though the course was engaging, much of the 2 weeks passed me by in terms of classroom application. I felt that I had learned but not connected to the target.

X2  Second time with the course I was ready for the array and poised to integrate. I was blown off my chair by the third day in regard to the relevance of the information. The old stuff that I took in was still there and got stirred up in a flurry of excitement over the arrival of new understandings. My brain was joyous! I wanted to know more each day. I felt a little like Helen Keller at the pump. Although the material had changed somewhat I had been primed for the Discovery. Best of all were the participants who constantly voiced new questions or applications that I’d yet to consider. My brain was happy dancing every day. This was the most wonderful class that my old and newly formed neurons had ever encountered. At the end of two weeks I was ready to employ strategies within my practice that tested classroom culture. My plan was to look for the bellwether(s) and use techniques to influence student engagement.

X3 This year I am flying solo and ready to land in a new but relevant area that creates  a learning environment condusive to not only the culture of each class but to individual needs as well. I am integrating Paul’s information in a way that advances my research construction. Having built the framework to receive the Brain & Behavior course content, I can now use it efficiently and productively.