NewsUpper SchoolStudent LifeFaculty/StaffPre-K to 8Academics
Lower School teachers get ‘attuned’
Jun 23, 2005 3:09 PM
By Tannika King - Faculty
For the last two years, Lower School faculty members have made a steadfast commitment to learning about the brain, how it learns, and what teaching strategies work best to ensure optimal learning in their classrooms. They have attended workshops, read books and articles, and participated in discussions about the brain, which has led to a number of “brain friendly” curriculum adjustments.
In June, three Lower School teachers – Beth Smith (pre-k), Gayle Monk (first grade) and Charla Brewster (third grade) – joined Principal Mark Tayloe in Atlanta for a rigorous, week-long brain-based learning course called Schools Attuned®, which Tayloe says will enhance the School’s ability to work with its students even more. Teachers from three Atlanta Schools – Pace, Holy Innocents’ and Greater Atlanta Christian – also attended the workshop.
“Schools Attuned is the best professional development experience I have ever had, and our teachers and I really look forward to putting into practice some of the strategies we learned,” said Tayloe. “Learning about the brain and how it learns has got to be about the most fascinating aspect of education today, and I can’t wait for more of our teachers to have this experience.”
First developed in 1987, the Schools Attuned program was launched as a year-round professional development program in 2000. More than 24,000 educators in the U.S. and Canada have participated in the program to date, and according to Tayloe, is the premier brain-based learning opportunity for teachers in the country.
The Schools Attuned Program provides K-12 educators with a framework and tools to understand and manage differences in learning in the regular classroom. Teachers across the nation are flocking to this program to gain new insight into the inner workings of their students’ brains.
There are practically infinite ways in which a student’s brain can be “wired.” Therefore teachers must be equipped with a variety of methods to reach their students. The program helps teachers understand how the brain is “wired,” various ways that students learn, patterns of students’ differences in learning and how students’ passions and strengths can be used to overcome weaknesses within the regular classroom.
The program also equips general classroom teachers to make the best instructional decisions to ensure that each student can find academic and social success. When implemented within schools, this program enriches the way all children are educated. Schools Attuned has been featured in Newsweek, USA Today, Teacher Magazine, Scholastic Instructor and on television’s Oprah and Today Show programs.
The Schools Attuned program is based on the pioneering work of Dr. Mel Levine, director of the Clinical Center for the Study of Development and Learning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Levine, who co-founded All Kinds of Minds with financier Charles Schwab, is also the author of the best-selling books, A Mind at a Time, The Myth of Laziness, and Ready or Not, Here Life Comes. All Kinds of Minds is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping students who struggle with learning measurably improve their success in school and life.
In June, three Lower School teachers – Beth Smith (pre-k), Gayle Monk (first grade) and Charla Brewster (third grade) – joined Principal Mark Tayloe in Atlanta for a rigorous, week-long brain-based learning course called Schools Attuned®, which Tayloe says will enhance the School’s ability to work with its students even more. Teachers from three Atlanta Schools – Pace, Holy Innocents’ and Greater Atlanta Christian – also attended the workshop.
“Schools Attuned is the best professional development experience I have ever had, and our teachers and I really look forward to putting into practice some of the strategies we learned,” said Tayloe. “Learning about the brain and how it learns has got to be about the most fascinating aspect of education today, and I can’t wait for more of our teachers to have this experience.”
First developed in 1987, the Schools Attuned program was launched as a year-round professional development program in 2000. More than 24,000 educators in the U.S. and Canada have participated in the program to date, and according to Tayloe, is the premier brain-based learning opportunity for teachers in the country.
The Schools Attuned Program provides K-12 educators with a framework and tools to understand and manage differences in learning in the regular classroom. Teachers across the nation are flocking to this program to gain new insight into the inner workings of their students’ brains.
There are practically infinite ways in which a student’s brain can be “wired.” Therefore teachers must be equipped with a variety of methods to reach their students. The program helps teachers understand how the brain is “wired,” various ways that students learn, patterns of students’ differences in learning and how students’ passions and strengths can be used to overcome weaknesses within the regular classroom.
The program also equips general classroom teachers to make the best instructional decisions to ensure that each student can find academic and social success. When implemented within schools, this program enriches the way all children are educated. Schools Attuned has been featured in Newsweek, USA Today, Teacher Magazine, Scholastic Instructor and on television’s Oprah and Today Show programs.
The Schools Attuned program is based on the pioneering work of Dr. Mel Levine, director of the Clinical Center for the Study of Development and Learning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Levine, who co-founded All Kinds of Minds with financier Charles Schwab, is also the author of the best-selling books, A Mind at a Time, The Myth of Laziness, and Ready or Not, Here Life Comes. All Kinds of Minds is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping students who struggle with learning measurably improve their success in school and life.
