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What are the most significant stories/explanations about the brain in connection to teaching?   The most important concept for me is the idea of “co-constructive conversation”.  During the last 2 weeks I gained new understandings of myself, and others (including my students).  By being willing to listen,without judgment, to others allowed me to make connections to previous knowledge and come to a deeper understanding.  By being willing to share some of my thoughts I, hopefully, allow others to reach new understandings.   This process is very liberating to the “soul” as well.  The soul (or whatever term you want to use) wants to climb to the highest peak of understanding.  By engaging in this type of conversation, you are not only climbing, but you are helping others to climb with you.

How to incorporating co-constructive conversation in my classroom?  While the need to teach “x” amount of information in “y” amount of time is a very real limit, I need to mindfully set time to have co-construction conversation with the students.  I also need to be as “present” during these conversations as possible.  Very often my mind is filled with so many thoughts (do lesson plans, update roll book, write in agendas’, etc.), that I don’t always pay attention to the children.  For this process to have optimal benefits, I need to minimize inside distractions. 

What does Paul do to facilitate learning? Co-constructive dialogue?  open-ended transactional inquiry?  What could he do better?  This summer the way Paul handled this institute, learning, co-constructive dialogue and inquiry, were happening at the same time, for a sizable portion of the time (around 70-80%).  He did this by setting up a general topic and allowed others to voice their thoughts without any type of censoring.  Paul was no longer the “leader’ or “authority” of the group.  He became one of us.  There was great freedom given and it was amazing how a conversation evolved.  Somehow the topic was addressed, but the true learning came from the process.