The Impact of Brain-based Learning Processes

Participants learn about The PLN research-based frameworks of The Five Reading, Writing, and Talking Processes and The Four Lenses of Learning against the backdrop of brain biology with the goal of understanding the positive effects of research-based best literacy practices for all learners across the curriculum. Discussions and collaborative, collegial lesson planning incorporate an understanding of the impact of brain biology which affects all learning including metacognition, self-help strategies, communication, and relationships. Participants experience engaging PLN strategies in a Before-During-After framework as they participate in comprehensive discussions about how the biology of the brain is impacted by (and impacts) student learning and social-emotional wellness for all students.

Assignments include classroom try-outs, professional readings, reflective journals about the readings and try-outs and a final project that integrates brain biology and literacy-rich best practices into a comprehensive curriculum unit for immediate use with their students. Participants receive a copy of "The Plainer Truths of Teaching, Learning and Literacy" by Morton Botel and Lara Paparo and they need to purchase the following text: Brain-Based Learning: Teaching the Way Students Really Learn, 3rd edition, by Eric Jensen.