Brain Matters: Translating Research Into Classroom Practice

By Patricia Wolfe

Book Overview

Everyone agrees that what we do in schools should be based on what we know about how the brain learns. Until recently, however, we have had few clues to unlock the secrets of the brain. Now, research from the neurosciences has greatly improved our understanding of the learning process, and we have a much more solid foundation on which to base educational decisions.

In this completely revised and updated second edition, Patricia Wolfe clarifies how we can effectively match teaching practice with brain functioning. Encompassing the most recent and relevant research and knowledge, this edition also includes three entirely new chapters that examine brain development from birth through adolescence and identify the impact of exercise, sleep, nutrition, and technology on the brain.

Brain Matters begins with a "mini-textbook" on brain anatomy and physiology, bringing the biology of the brain into context with teaching and learning. Wolfe describes how the brain encodes, manipulates, and stores information, and she proposes implications that recent research has for practice--why meaning is essential for attention, how emotion can enhance or impede learning, and how different types of rehearsal are necessary for different types of learning.

Finally, Wolfe introduces and examines practical classroom applications and brain-compatible teaching strategies that take advantage of simulations, projects, problem-based learning, graphic organizers, music, active engagement, and mnemonics. These strategies are accompanied by actual classroom scenarios--spanning the content areas and grade levels from lower elementary to high school&mdashthat help teachers connect theory with practice.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416610677
• ISBN13: 9781416610670
• Release Date: September 2010
• Publisher: ASCD
• Length: 247 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Clear and Concise

I bought this book for a class on Neurological disorders to go hand in hand with another book whose language supposedly ins't in layman's term. This book is very clear and concise regarding all the functions of the brain, its pathway, the baby brain through adulthood, and all of the neurological disorders.

PRACTICAL ADVICE TO MAKE CLASSROOM CONNECTIONS

Patricia Wolfe offers both theoretical and practical advice for teachers who want to make a difference in the lives of their students. The book is readable and memorable for any level of teaching. I have personally used many of the suggestions proposed in this book in a high school setting and it has had a profound effect on teacher (me) and students who are able to apply many of the skills of learning/memory to other classess. If there is a negative side, it is the large number of students who now wish to take courses from teachers who use brain-compatible teaching techniques.