Kathie Nunley's Educator's Newsletter
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Dr Kathie Nunley's Educator's Newsletter
---Mid-January '10 Edition--- (current subscribers: 21,518)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
News and updates to Kathie Nunley's Layered Curriculum® Sites for Educators:
http://Help4Teachers.com
http://brains.org
You can subscribe to this newsletter at:
http://help4teachers.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--------SECTION ONE: TEACHING TIPS ------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Teacher Tip # 1: Use a can opener to cut off the top of a Diet Pepsi can.
The heavy weighted bottom of the can now makes this a good pencil holder.
Student tip from Souhegan HS, Amherst, NH.
Teacher Tip # 2: My math program is very "hands on" so I take pictures of
the students engaged in the learning task and print them off. Each student
then glues it in their Math Learning Journal and writes / draws a reflection
about what they learned. Carlie Fisher, Lethbridge, AB.
Send your favorite teaching tip to me at Kathie@brains.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
------SECTION TWO: HOT TOPICS in Neuro & Educational Psychology------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HOT TOPIC # 1: As promised, a bit of research on the "aging brain".....
Many women are aware of the cognitive decline and poor spatial memory that
correlates with menopause. The research as to whether or not hormone
treatments help prevent the cognitive decline have been mixed. New research
now indicates that may be due to a short window of opportunity for hormone
treatment to begin. Tracking the hippocampus and amygdala volume of women
pre and post menopause, researchers found that women who began hormone
treatment at the time of menopause or shortly thereafter ended up with larger
hippocampus volumes than those women who began later, after the so-called
"critical period." The results were independent of age, years of education and
duration of hormone treatment. However, the larger hippocampal volumes did
not necessarily translate into improved spatial memory performance. More
research to come. Erickson, K. et al (2010). "A cross-sectional study of hormone
treatment and hippocampal volume in postmenopausal women: Evidence for a
limited window of opportunity." Neuropsychology. Vol 24(1), 68-76.
HOT TOPIC #2: Researchers studying the visuomotor process development
in preterm babies as they grow, discovered some surprises about non preterm
children as well. It's been established that preterm children often have poor
visuomotor and visuospatial skills as they grow. Tracking preterm and
non preterm children for 11 years, researchers found that the development of
preterm children's skills are not delayed, just different. They also found that in
non preterm children there is a regression in movement control around 8 years
of age (maybe we should rethink what we introduce to children in school during
this time period??) This regression was interestingly NOT found in preterm
children. However they do continue to have less efficient and less accurate
visuomotor skills throughout childhood (at least until age 11).
Van Braeckel, K. (2010). "Difference rather than delay in development of
elementary visuomotor processes in children born preterm without cerebral
palsy: A quasi-longitudinal study." Neuropsychology. Vol 24(1), 90-100.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
------SECTION THREE: WEB UPDATES------
at HELP4TEACHERS.COM and BRAINS.ORG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
=====================
FROM THE BOOKSHOP
===> Layered Curriculum® Text and Workbook Sets. (special pricing) are
always available at the either help4teachers.com or the brains.org shop:
We appreciate your business. http://www.brains.org/store
===>We've added a deluxe version of the individual Layered Curriculum®
study kit. Available at: http://help4teachers.com/
FROM OUR YouTube CHANNEL
=>We now have 23 videos posted at our YouTube Channel. We took a couple
weeks off for the holiday, but we are shooting several new ones this week
and should have those start posting this weekend.
Here are the links to our 2 "Most Watched Videos"
#15-"Improving your Child's IQ (birth-2)"
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.youtube.com/
Layered Curriculum right from the homepage of both websites
or access the channel at: http://youtube.com/brainsorg
You can also get daily Teaching tips and "follow" me at:
http://twitter.com/
------SECTION FOUR: KATHIE'S EMAIL-----
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Dr Nunley: I am searching for resources for what I think is known
as "math dyscalculia" and/or neurologically based reasons for why young
children have trouble learning and retaining math concepts and/or arithmetic.
I have been looking on the net for this and have not really found much, but it
could be a matter of semantics. If you could reply or refer me on it would be
greatly appreciated. I am looking for a community of educators who are
applying this knowledge practically. Many thanks! Anne S. Salem, MA
==============================
Hi Anne,
The term is simply dyscalculia (no need for the "math" in front as that's
implied). There are many sites online dedicated to helping people who have
the challenge, but if you are looking for research in the field, I would look at the
Journal of Educational Psychology for educational research and APA's journal
"Neuropsychology" for the neurological research on the topic. Look for research
around visuospatial problems in Working Memory. Best of luck, - Kathie
Send your questions to me at kathie@brains.org or write me a note on our
facebook page: http://facebook.com/layered.
------SECTION FIVE: WORKSHOPS / SCHEDULE / MISC CHAT------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While I know many of us have been watching and offering financial support
for the people of Haiti, I hope everyone also took some time this holiday
weekend to appreciate the diversity in our world. Enjoy and celebrate our
differences!
I'm enjoying my month "off the road" in snowy New England. I just posted
a photo of our snow day here in New Hampshire on our Facebook page:
http://facebook.com/layered.
Layered Curriculum® workshops in the making for Illinois, Ontario, and Ohio
for Spring and Fall of this year. If you want to join us, check out the details
on the calendar page:http://help4teachers.com/
If you are interested in hosting a workshop at your school, I still have a couple of
workshop dates open in May and one in June and the fall calendar has several openings.
visit: http://help4teachers.com/
As always, my best to yours for a wonderful New Year.
Kathie
==============================
Workshop information is available at the website
http://help4teachers.com/
Email: kathie@brains.org
Brains.org and Help4Teachers is located at:
54 Ponemah Road
Amherst, NH 03031
Layered Curriculum® is a trademark developed by and registered
to Dr. Kathie F Nunley. Usage information available at:
http://help4teachers.com/
You are receiving this newsletter because you requested to be on my
mailing list by entering your email address at one of the two websites.
I NEVER share or sell my newsletter list, nor is it used for any other
purpose other than this bi-monthly newsletter. Should you need to be
removed from the list, or need to CHANGE your email address, you
can do so by simply clicking this link:
http://s1.seffylists.com:81/
Layered Curriculum® . . . because every child deserves a special education (tm)
