At best, it was an unlikely proposition – a 40-minute presentation on the neuroscience of learning at a conference on computer education for IT providers. Nothing about this conference made sense. Neuroscience and IT seemed strange bed-fellows as I started up the escalator to the fourth floor in search of Room 404.
The capacity of the rooms on the fourth floor was forty seats. But as I approached the top of the escalator, I saw that there was a long line (way more than forty) snaking back towards me from the door with the number clearly visible.
It didn’t dawn on me until weeks later that, as I was surveying my impending audience, I was in fact taking the first tentative steps outside of the protected world of my ivory tower in academia to face the raw vestiges of front-line challenges in inner-city schools.
“Which room are you lining up for?” I asked the first person that blocked my way forward from the escalator.
“404,” was the terse response. “Neuroscience of Learning.” He said the two words Neuroscience and Learning as if they were a thing together.
“I thought this was an IT conference,” there was a ring of protestation in my voice. “Why would IT people want to know about learning and the brain?”
“We are looking for solutions to the incredibly insidious discipline issues that accompanied technology into schools. In the past, assistant principals who dispensed In-School Suspensions and occasionally Out of School Suspensions so that our roles were not affected dealt with discipline issues. But now that the students have iPads, Chrome books, and other tech gadgets for textbooks and cloud computing we are front and center in the discipline wars. We are not happy. In a short few months, our lives have been adversely impacted. Kids are destroying the equipment, pulling delete keys off, losing them in Mcdonald’s, throwing them at other kids, leaving them on the bus and such. It’s a hot mess.”
“And you think you will find the answer in this workshop – the Neuroscience of Learning?”
He looked away when he heard his name called and moved quickly ahead to a friend who was holding a seat for him. Not a little disheveled, I decided then and there to adjust my talk to include some examples of what to do to prevent children from engaging in disruptive anti-social actions when confronted with boredom, amygdala hijack, or apathy.
I had to step over the legs of eager individuals who were by now planted in every available crevice beyond the 40 seats that could be unearthed in room 404. I knew that my opening remarks would have to garner their utmost attention and that the remainder of the talk would have to solve the many whimsical issues that plagued most schools today.
“If you believe what I say is true – and you should – you will NEVER again have to manhandle or punish a wayward errant child in your schools.”
And that is how the very beginnings of the Brain Based Classroom were born. Today, we offer live and virtual trainings to thousands of teachers around the world. We have published The Brain Based Classroom and most recently, The Brain Based Classroom Workbook. The power of neuroscience AND learning together is growing — all because of your curiosity and desire to make the learning environment a better place for ALL children.
Want to bring a brain-based approach to your classroom, school, or another learning environment? The Brain Based Classroom Workbook is the best place to start. Order your copy now!