November 28, 2006

Ten Ways to Promote a Healthy Environment for Learning
   
1.
 Ensure students know they are safe and loved.
   
2. Give the opportunity for social engagement while learning.
   
3. Provide breaks for snacks and water.
   
4. Allow students to participate in their learning rather than being passive observers.
   
5. Provide lots of positive emotional support.
   
6. Offer tasks that are neither too easy nor too difficult for the students.
   
7. Model behaviors you feel are an important part of the classroom environment.
   
8. Present students with choices in the work they do.
   
9. Take into consideration each child’s unique style.
   
10. Don’t forget to laugh!
     

     
Share Your Good News!
   
Tell us how YOU use Incredible Tutor™ to help your students! We love to hear our customers' success stories. And now we have made it even easier to share—click here to fill out our online form!
   
Recipe: King Ranch Chicken
   

Big thanks to Joyce Hays in ESC 9 for sending us this yummy recipe for chilly days.

prep: 35 min. cook: 40 min. other: 5 min.

4 skinned and boned chicken breasts
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium-size green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 (10-ounce) cans diced tomatoes and green chilies
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of chicken soup, undiluted
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas, cut into quarters
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese

Sprinkle chicken with salt and black pepper; place in a lightly greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes or until done: cool.

Coarsely chop chicken.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add bell pepper and onion, and sauté until crisp-tender. Remove from heat, and stir in chicken, tomatoes, and green chilies, and soups.

Place one-third of tortilla quarters in bottom of a light greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish; top with one-third chicken mixture, and sprinkle evenly with 2/3 cup cheese. Repeat layers twice, reserving 2/3 cup Cheddar cheese.

Bake at 325 degrees for 35 minutes; sprinkle with reserved 2/3 cup Cheddar cheese, and bake 5 more minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.
Brain-Based Learning Theory


Brain-based learning, sometimes called brain compatible learning, is a current educational theory that has many educators reconsidering traditional instruction methods. The theory asserts that under the proper circumstances, the brain will learn naturally, without reason to force something that occurs as a matter of course. Providing students with the right environment for the brain to perform what it is designed to do, and being mindful of not creating any roadblocks to the brain’s function of learning, will create a more enriching experience for students.
Based on much of the latest brain research, scientists believe that the human brain works best when it is challenged, when the person feels safe and non-threatened, and when the learning experience is one of immersion verses merely passively observing. Two researchers who have done much work in the field of brain-based learning are Renate and Geoffrey Caine. They have described twelve principles of the brain that they feel are important when considering the connection between how the brain works and the most effective approach to learning. In summary:

•
 The brain is a parallel processor, meaning it can perform several activities at once, like tasting and smelling.
 
•
 Learning engages the whole physiology.
 
•
 The search for meaning is innate.
 
•
 The search for meaning comes through patterning.
 
•
 Emotions are critical to patterning.
 
•
 The brain processes wholes and parts simultaneously.
 
•
 Learning involves both focused attention and peripheral perception.
 
•
 Learning involves both conscious and unconscious processes.
 
•
 We have two types of memory: spatial and rote.
 
•
 We understand best when facts are embedded in natural, spatial memory.
 
•
 Learning is enhanced by challenge and inhibited by threat.
 
•
 Each brain is unique.


Taking into consideration these twelve principles, Caine and Caine developed three circumstances they feel describe the most advantageous environment for learning:

A state of relaxed alertness consists of high challenge combined with low threat. Students who are challenged yet not overwhelmed with an unrealistic degree of difficulty learn much better than students who are not challenged or do not feel anxious about not understanding what is being taught. Providing an experience that allows the student to think through the problem presented at a level at which they can obtain the answer gives the student the best advantage to learning.

The orchestrated immersion of the student results in a complete, holistic experience. The students who use a multi-sensory approach to learning gain more from their experience. Allowing students to participate in hands-on projects that include discussion, group and individual problem solving, and involving real-life learning will offer the optimal opportunity for meaningful learning.

The active processing of experience serves as the basis for making meaning. When students experience learning rather than passively observe the lesson, they create a much more meaningful connection. Giving students a chance to become active participants in their education provides them with an effective method of retaining what they learn.

Many of the ideas promoted through brain-based learning draw from other educational theories--as well as common sense. This unity provides a comfort for many educators who have begun to structure their curriculum and teaching style around these assumptions. As the sciences of neurology and neuropsychology continue to develop in the coming years, it will be interesting to watch the theories asserted in brain-based learning continue to evolve as well.

 

Do some of your students do well in their day to day work and then freeze when it comes test time? Have you seen the anxiety on students' faces when they see the material on the test?

CLICK HERE FOR A SOLUTION.

 
CAST Raffle Winner

Jennifer Anderson of Whitehouse Junior High in Whitehouse, Texas won a Campus Solution Bundle for her school! Thanks to everyone who came out to see us at CAST.
 
 
         
  More Information . . .
  Updates   Check for the latest software updates, including instructions and FAQs.  
  Training   Become an Incredible Tutor™ expert! Many options are available, including free self-paced training!  
  Conferences   Come see us at your next conference for a free demonstration with a Sleek Corporation representative.  
  Contact   We look forward to hearing from you.  
  Tell a Friend   Invite a friend to sign up for the Sleek Corporation eNews.  

© 2006 Sleek Corporation
2404 Rutland Drive, Suite 600
Austin, TX 78758
1-800-337-5335
   
To unsubscribe, reply to this email with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line.