Learning Is About Understanding And Changing The Brain

Education has become a world of buzzwords, acronyms, initiatives, and fads.

It's not that these things are bad. In fact, many recent initiatives are worthy the resources they require. Project Based Learning (PBL), Flipped Learning, Blended Learning, Design Thinking, Genius Hour, Personalization, EdTech, Gamification, Breakout Edu, Minecraft Edu and many others are on point. They are clear signs of our collective drive toward progress in making learning better for as many students as possible. They make learning more exciting for students disillusioned with today's system of schooling, and those that thrive, dig the new methods as well.

But, when the new methods are put into life, one fact is often forgotten: Most profound learning happens when a student understands how her brain works and she knows the factors that affect brain development. Armed with this understanding, she can make conscious and informed decisions in her in-school and out-of-school life, and how to best apply her brain while learning and studying.

Unfortunately, teacher prep schools don't instruct soon-to-be teachers on how to teach K-12 students about how the human brain acquires, processes, stores, and recalls information. Not really...

They teach Piaget Stages of Development, which is valuable, but don't emphasize that students need to know the connection between learning and the physical processes that take place in the brain while learning. They teach strategies, but often don't break down what occurs in the brain when they're used, or why they are effective, or which ones are more effective than others.

Let's talk frustration. It happens at school and some of it is unavoidable. But guess what? A lot of it is! For example, some students think they can't learn something simply because they see others learning quicker. They do not understand that some students already have neural connections related to what's taught; a head start of sorts. Thinking you're not as smart but still have to get it is frustrating. It seems unfair to the struggling student and he might give up.

Many students do not know the difference between recall and rereading. Studying the wrong way is frustrating. They spend hours studying. Their understanding remains shaky. They keep forgetting. frustration. Frustration. FRUSTRATION. Only if they knew why rereading is so useless and recall so effective! Here's a post and an Infographic on Recall I made.

Let's talk creativity and innovation. Most students (actually people) believe creativity is something you're born with, but that's not the case at all. Understanding that you can become more creative by doing certain things and guiding your actions toward wiring your brain for creativity will lead to increased creativity. Exercising creativity frequently leads to innovation. It's all about the brain; attitudes, actions, ideations.

Let's talk reinvention. Again, it's all about the brain. To be able to reinvent yourself, you need to know how to (1) learn relatively quickly, but deeply, (2) think critically, (3) generate ideas, and (4) solve problems creatively. Predictions for the future are many and vague, but it makes sense that many careers of today will become obsolete, and new ones will emerge.

This means that specializing in only one field is obsolete and focusing on curricula is more and more preposterous. Though I believe subjects should not be taught in isolation from one another, I'm not saying they're all bad. It's just that schools still put emphases on concepts and topics, and not on universal and transferable skills like the ones I mention above. We lack the right focus.

And, while the new methods of learning grow in number and popularity, giving teachers and students more choices, we need to cancel out the hype noise and think how to maximize their potential. We must use the fundamental principles that govern the human brain to decide the effectiveness of these new ways. And, each decision teachers and administrators make must be driven by this question: How can this tool or strategy be used best to optimize brain development? Otherwise it's just a fad and a buzzword.

Because "Because it's cool" just isn't cool.

We need to help our students become decision makers capable of choosing the most effective way for them to learn. We've tried and failed at it using bad approaches such as Learning Styles Assessments. The learning styles myth has been debunked in the world of higher education more than 5 years ago, yet there are schools that continue wasting resources trying to figure out if their students are Visual, or Auditory, or Reader/Writer, or Tactile types. (By the way, we all learn best using multiple senses.)

In the last decade, using brain scanning technology, we have learned things about the brain that were previously obscured. We can see the formation and thickening of neural connections and the firing of synapses when the brain receives, processes, and stores information. We know what works and what wastes time. We have the ability to choose the most effective learning strategies and to optimize new and old methods of acquiring information to maximize learning. We know, but rarely use, because we're unaware.

To be successful now and in the future, students must know how to maximize their brain powers and how to learn effectively. And learning is something that lasts. So is success. So if you help students succeed in learning, they will learn how to succeed.

You can read all about this in my 2 Crush School books (a series on how to apply brain based learning in school and life) available on Amazon. Jon Harper, a host of the podcast My Bad with over 60,000 downloads per month, said: "Oskar has a way of making the complex seem so simple." I hope you enjoy my books as well and find a way to use them to help your students.

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Back To School: How To Overcome Anxiety And Make Week 1 Memorable

I don't know about you, but I always experience anxiety right before and on the first day back to school. This is year 15 for me and I have to be honest: I always powered through and was back the next day. But what if there's a better way?

I recently listened to Angela Watson's Truth For Teachers Podcast Episode 100 on Overcoming the First Day Teacher Jitters and was gifted a new perspective; a new way of looking at the first day of school.

This post is about my takeaways.

Overcoming Anxiety and Making Week 1 Memorable

First, embrace the what ifs and know that most of us have first day jitters. Then, act on those fears:

1. Re-frame: Angela recommends to turn all the anxiety provoking what ifs into action steps. Instead of thinking: What if they don't like me?, ask yourself: How can I make week 1 memorable? Put your ideas down on paper.

2. Visualize: Think through how your day would go if you were the best teacher ever; a beast at teaching not just the subject, but more importantly students. This is not grandiose; it's a way to connect with that hidden part of you that can and will crush day 1 of school this year.

3. Make It About Them: We all know it's never about us. It's always about serving our students. Think about what the needs of your students. Consider ways you can positively impact their lives on day 1. Make a list of things you can use when the time comes.

4. Believe: Believe in your students and their ability and desire to be their best selves. Expect it, rather than fearing what ifs. Believe in yourself as their guide. You're their teacher for a reason.

I loved how Angela normalized the the first day jitters and compared the anxiety to what many other professionals, such as speakers, experience before and when they have to present to a room full of adults. Turns out, teachers can use the same strategies to deal with anxiety in their classroom. I highly recommend listening to the entire episode here.

Re-frame and crush the first day of school. Do it in your head first. Then, kill it in the classroom.

This will be your best year ever. Believe it. See it. Make it happen.

You have the power to change lives. Use it often.

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Why Lifelong Learning Is More Important Than School

If you're a house owner and an educator, you understand why summer is the house project season.

My wife and I have owned a house for 2 years now. We were first time buyers in May 2015; rookies unaware of what goes into OWNING A HOUSE. I am not all that handy, though I fixed a clothes dryer once, so we did not get a fixer upper. We got a home that's done.

Or so we thought...

Aside from a bunch of minor cosmetic things, you simply don't notice before signing on the dotted line and taking part in the American Dream, there are some major things we must address. This summer, we built walls.

Walls? You playing Trump now? asked Sean Thom, a good friend and soon to be an Ed Leader turned Politician.

Not quite. For one, I built 2 walls. Second, they are designed to support not divide. The only similarity between my walls and the ones Trump wants to build is that I couldn't get Mexico or anyone else to pay for them. Trying not to reach the level of ludicrousness our POTUS so often exhibits, I bought the materials and did the work myself. Actually, I did some of the work myself. Most of it, specifically the brick-laying and mortaring, was done by my father-in-law. Dude's got mad skillz.

I know, you're probably like: What kind of a vacation scam are you running here Oskar?!?! I mean, did I really invite my in-laws to my home so they can work their assess off helping my wife and I get the house into shape?

Guilty.

The old walls

Notice how they lean and the washed out cement.

Anyway... Leszek, my father-in-law and I tore down the old walls that were in such bad shape that my 3-year-old enjoyed taking pieces of brick out and playing with them for the last couple of years. I mean, the house was built in 1931 and the buttresses (pro name for the walls) looked like they've been "fixed" a few times. But Minnesota winters weren't kind to them... It took Leszek (and me helping with what I could) 4 days to finish the whole project.

As I said before, I am not handy. Leszek most definitely is. We say zlota raczka in Polish, which translates to golden hand. He went to a technical high school in Poland and for years was a helicopter mechanic. When he came to the US in the early 90s, he worked some construction, before becoming a maintenance mechanic in food production plants. Currently, he troubleshoots the production line and makes sure the Affy Tapple machines make top notch caramel and chocolate dipped apples and other sweets.

It's easy to assume my father in law can do anything construction related, because he's worked with his hands all his life. This is why his daughter and my wife has asked him to fix the buttresses for us. This and the fact that the quote we got for the work was only a little less ludicrous than most Trump policies. Bottom line: Leszek was our only hope to get this done.

So when he came to town last week it all began...

Tearing it up...

Breaking stuff is the fun and easy part I found.

Day 2

Right side nearly done and left side torn down.

Sometime before noon on day 3, my next door neighbor came up to talk to us and commended my father-in-law on his excellent work. Leszek simply replied: It's my first time. First time?!?! Are you kidding me? Everyone assumed that he knows precisely what he's doing and out of the blue he says: It's my first time?

Exactly. Mad skillz my friend. Rather, transferable skills. Rather, the calm confidence and the mindset to tell yourself that you have what it takes to learn something new by doing it and doing it very well at 60 years old. My father in law did not go to college, but even a few years from retirement, he knows he can learn anything.

Same thing with technology. Sure, he calls me up asking questions when he has a hard time figuring something out, but i think it's more about the fact that he wants to reach out and see what's going on in our lives here. He also learned that it's smart to ask for help, because that helps and often speeds up your learning.

Final Product

Not bad for a first time, ey?

I really need to ask Leszek how he came to realize all these things. How does he know? How is it that looking at him become a bricklayer and mason for 4 days, I know that he can reinvent himself and do something else should life demand it?

I'm sure he'd be anxious if he lost his current job. However, I know he'd be just fine; maybe better, in a short while. It's because he's committed to lifelong learning and he knows how to learn and pick up new skills.

And this is why we need a shift in education. A shift away from subjects and toward skills. To ensure our students' success, we need to transform the subject specific instruction into learning how to learn and do anything life and work throws at our students.

We need to instill the I can do it, no matter what it is mindset in our students and teach them transferable skills. Rather than telling them you have to learn this or that subject, we should use curricula to propel them toward the universal skills they'll need to perform jobs that don't yet exist. I believe this is the way to empower them to embrace and commit to lifelong learning.

If we don't actively teach skills and how to learn efficiently and effectively, many of our students will struggle in the future.

"Crush School 2: 10 Study Secrets Every High Schooler Should Know" is a book I wrote for this purpose specifically. It's a learning how to learn book, in which I provide classroom examples of how to learn anything effectively and acquire future-ready skills.

Crush School 2 is on sale for $0.99 today until midnight on Amazon Kindle only.

If you do want to help students become lifelong learners, you can equip yourself with a tool that will help you teach how to emphasize building skills and learning how to learn. It will only cost you 99 cents today and you'll be helping Crush School 2 reach bestseller status.

Crush School 2 for Kindle is available at that price by clicking on the button below. Please hurry, because the price goes back up to $4.95 at midnight.

You have the power to change lives. Use it often.

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