Kathie Nunley's Educator's Newsletter
---Mid-January 2005 Edition--- (current subscribers: 14,167)
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News and updates to http://brains.org and Kathie Nunley's
Layered Curriculum (tm) Site for Educators: http://help4teachers.com

Newsletter subscription available at: http://help4teachers.com/newsletter.htm
UNSUBSCRIBE information/link at the bottom of this newsletter

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SECTION ONE: Teaching Tips -
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Teaching Tip #1: A "fortune teller" makes a unique vocabulary guide.
Susan Ekstrom (no city)
[before you all email to ask, I think she refers to what has also been
called a "cootie catcher" or those things we made as kids where
you fold the paper in by the corners, flip it, fold again and you make a little
fortune teller used with the thumb and forefinger of each hand]

Teaching Tip #2: The "name card method" for questions. Put all student's
names on cards. Pose the question. Have kids think, pair up, share, then pull a
card with a student's name to answer the question aloud.
Robin Johnson, Shirland School, IL

Teaching Tip # 3: Group students by different stickers when you hand papers
back to them. This way students are already in groups and there is no arguing
or left out students. Brenda Paquin, South Beloit High School, IL

Send your favorite teaching tip to:
kathie@brains.org

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SECTION TWO: Hot Topics
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HOT TOPIC #1. As you may be aware, the prefrontal cortex is associated with
working memory - your ability to "hold" items while working on them and associated
tasks. Researchers in London have found that different perceptual conditions may
involve different regions of the prefrontal cortex. The researchers were watching the activity
in the left and right rostral prefrontal cortex (RPFC) while people had to listen to speech
and make decisions about the semantics and syllabic construction of the words they heard.
If the speech they heard was very clear, the left RPFC was very active. If the speech was
degraded, or muffled, then the activity lessened in the left RPFC and increased in the
right RPFC. So working memory may be strengthened or weakened based on the
monitoring demands we put on it. Sharp, D, Scott, S, & Wise, R. (2004). Cerebral
Cortex, Vol 14(1), 1-10.

HOT TOPIC #2: Another interesting piece of research on working memory, this time
from Boston. Researchers used fMRI scans to examine which neural circuits were
involved in processing visual information in working memory versus auditory information
versus both. No surprise to find that working memory is not as efficient in processing
dual modes (auditory and visual together) as it is when handling just one. But, while
most of the neural regions involved for the individual tasks were also involved in the
dual processing task, there were actually NEW neural regions involved in the dual
task that were not seen in either of the individual tasks. At least 4 regions were
additionally involved when a person has to process both visual and auditory information
at the same time. These new areas then could cause some of the cross modal
working memory problems we see in students. Yoo, S Paralkar, G & Panych, L. (2004)
Journal of Neuroscience. Vol 24(6), 613-631.

Read more Hot Topics at the websites!

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SECTION THREE: What's new at the Websites
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**** New Layered Curriculum Units - Lots!
From Jon Stern:
Work and Energy (H. S. physics)
Middle School Ratio and Proportion
New York State Government (4th grade)
Aboriginal Art (2nd grade)

From Fred Goerisch:
Newton's Laws of Motion Science
Letter recognition (kindergarten)

From Heather Clayton:
Aboriginal Peoples and European Explorers (grade 6)
Designing Your Future (grade 11)

Read all the samples of Layered Curriculum at: http://help4teachers.com/samples.htm


**** New at the BRAINS.org Shop
Brains.org now offers many of our recommended books on teaching, learning
and the brain. Our big sellers this month are "Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites"
and Robert Sylwester's brand new, "How to Explain a Brain." We also carry the
2nd edition of Layered Curriculum and the workbook as well as A Student's Brain-
all at a discounted price. http://brains.org/store/general/pg1.htm
Books and video training kits are generally shipped within 2 business days.
You can fax your school PO to us at 208-979-0678.

**** New Layered Curriculum Trainers:
Welcome to Heather Clayton in Ontario Canada, Jon Stern in New Paltz, NY and
Fred Goerisch in Las Vegas, NV. They join our other trainers and are available
for regional and local workshops and support in Layered Curriculum. You can
read about all our trainers at: http://help4teachers.com/trainers.htm

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SECTION FOUR: Kathie's Email
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(this section contains email questions I get which are of such common interest
or frequently asked that I post them for all to read. I am however removing names
for obvious reasons. They may be edited for space).

Dear Kathie,
I am a 4th year teacher who just started Layered Curriculum this school
year. I love this system, and have quite a few students who are gaining
by leaps and bounds. However, I am encountering a number of problems,
such as some students that are unwilling to recognize the responsibility,
parents who are up-in-arms because their children are not as successful
as they'd like, a once-supportive principal who now seems to be caving
in to parents (though he has yet to accept my invitation to view my classroom.)
I am concerned that my principal will ask me to stop using Layered Curriculum,
and I will have to comply. I am also concerned that I am becoming the
scapegoat for those students who, seemingly, refuse to jump on board, and
their parents who support them. Do you have any advice?
Thanks, - a teacher in the mid-west.

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Dear Teacher-in the midwest,

Don't panic. You are not as alone as you feel right now. In fact we have several
districts in your area successfully using Layered Curriculum and I'm going to pass
some names along to you for moral support.

My general rule of thumb is that when Layered Curriculum is running as it should -
everyone is happy - teachers, students, administrators, and parents. If someone is
not happy, then we have a problem somewhere.

What specifically is making some of your students and parents uncomfortable? Do they
feel it is too much work? Too hard? Too easy? Not enough structure? These are
common concerns and easily fixed.

I would look at the complaints and try to address them by modifying the units. If some of
your kids are having a hard time pacing themselves, add more structure. You can start
Layered Curriculum in what looks like a very traditional classroom with a lot of whole
class instruction and then ease off from there as the kids are more comfortable. You may
want to "back up" a bit and start from a more traditional looking format.

Make sure you have enough assignments for your lower functioning children and
enough for your highest functioning students. Keep each layer fairly attainable by
most students.

I'm sure you can easily "tweak" what you're doing right now so that you have everyone on
board - that's the goal. I'd love to see what you're doing and I hope you share some
of your units.

Let me know how things go. Best of luck,
Kathie
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Hi Kathie-
I attended one of your workshops this fall. I was so impressed with your knowledge
and ability to explain concepts, that for those like me are often difficult to absorb.
I am beginning to suspect that my 11 year old son may have ADD. Can you guide
me as to the proper steps in trying to diagnose this accurately? I know you
talked about brain scans. I just don't feel comfortable securing a diagnosis
based on teacher checklists. If you can provide me with some pearls of wisdom,
I'd be much obliged :-) Thank you for your time. A parent/ teacher.

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Hi P/T,

The way ADD is usually diagnosed starts with those behavioral checklists for
teachers and parents (like you refer to). If there are enough observable behaviors
to suspect ADD, then a doctor usually prescribes a trial medication.
It's the standard, "treat it and see if it goes away". Funny thing though - despite
how uncomfortable many of us are with that process, there's been a lot of research
showing that that is actually a very effective way to diagnose it. When they do follow-up
studies using more elaborate (and expensive) scanning techniques to verify the
diagnosis, the "treat it and see if it goes away" method is almost foolproof. I think that's why it
continues to be the way it's done.

Find a doctor or psychologist that you're comfortable with and look at some of the
other options too - you want to rule out other things that also look like ADD.
Best of luck, Kathie

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SECTION FIVE: Workshops/calendar schedule/misc
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My good wishes on this Martin Luther King Jr week-end. For those of us in the US
we celebrate our diversity this week-end. As we celebrate our differences let us
also remember our similarities - our thoughts, prayers and aide goes
to our fellow humans in southeast Asia and other places around the world that have
been struck with natural disasters this past month.

I have a busy month planned. This Wednesday I'm off to Whitby, Ontario, just
outside Toronto for 2 days with the Durham District teachers. The following week
I'll be back up there in Ottawa and then a visit down to Fredonia, NY.

I've got a lot of exciting workshops scheduled for this winter/spring and I'm
looking forward to meeting and working with so many of you.

You can check my calendar to see when I'll be in your region by visiting:
http://help4teachers.com/calendar.htm

If you have any questions, concerns, tips, lesson plans or suggestions please
email me: kathie@brains.org

As usual, my best to you and yours,

Kathie
=================================================
Dr. Kathie F. Nunley
http://help4teachers.com
http://brains.org
Layered Curriculum (tm) - because every student deserves a special education (tm)
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Workshop information is available at the website
http://help4teachers.com/workshops.htm
or
call: 603-249-9521
email: kathie@brains.org
Brains.org and Help4Teachers is located at:
54 Ponemah Road
Amherst, NH 03031
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- posted by Kathie @ 6:24 AM