response to "Becoming a 'Wiz' at Brain-Based Teaching" presentation

I really like how you guys stepped outside of the book and found websites to supplement the points and to give us more examples. I wrote down/tagged many of the resources you offered us, and the activities were fun and engaging. I particularly liked the color activity; using it will force students to step outside and look at themselves in a different light, in a more holistic sense.

The need for a safe and supportive environment was reiterated a few times throughout the presentation; this was effective. Adolescents are susceptible mood changes and their egos are fragile; a supportive environment is necessary in the classroom to maximize learning. You delved deep into memory --what it is, what it means, and most importantly, how to make productive use of it with out students. Again, your resources will help later when the facts you gave and points you made may be forgotten. I thought it would have been useful for you to address specific ways to make concepts and content more significant; you spoke of the importance of sense and significance, but didn't shed any light on how to go about actually making the content significant.

I really liked that a couple of pages have a "review" at the end of the page that listed the big ideas and overarching concepts of the chapter; it fit in well with the steps the author gives for moving information from sensory memory to long-term memory. The last page reviewed the prominent themes in the book, which was a helpful in tying everything together. Great presentation.