Brain-Based Teaching With Adolescent Learning in Mind

Finally, a concrete resource for teaching adolescents the way they learn best! Teachers of teens will not be particularly surprised by the latest research showing that the frontal lobe, affecting reasoning and decision-making skills, is not fully developed in an adolescent′s brain. These educators know how challenging it is to provide students with a strong understanding of content as well as the necessary social and emotional skills for productivity, social contribution, and intellectual habits for learning. In this second edition of Brain-Based Teaching With Adolescent Learning in Mind, Glenda Crawford shows you the newest research available on adolescent brain development and provides a structure for connecting the research to students′ social, emotional, and cognitive needs. Crawford also presents how-to strategies for motivating teens with inquiry, relevance, and collaboration, as well as links to relevant Web sites. This indispensable handbook includes Adolescent-Centered Teaching (ACT) models in each chapter and sample standards-based content lessons and scenarios. Students will become progressively self-directed as teachers learn to use a framework that demonstrates ways to: Communicate essential content understandings Engage students with strategies for inquiry Promote metacognitive development, social cognition, self-regulation, and assessment Motivate students with authentic events, problems, and questions Support the transfer of learning to comparable and extended experiences Integrate technology into instruction to improve students′ learning experiences Classroom educators, teacher leaders, and preservice instructors will find lesson examples that can be easily differentiated for students with varying backgrounds, levels of English proficiency, prior knowledge, abilities, and interests.

Table of Contents:
Preface Acknowledgments About the Author 1. Understanding the Adolescent Learner: The Developing Brain 2. Getting and Keeping Their Attention 3. Creating a Community of Learners 4. Teaching for Thinking and Understanding 5. Deepening Content and Promoting Transfer References Index

About the Author :
Glenda Beamon Crawford’s experiences with young adolescent learners span nearly thirty years. She has taught in grades 4–12 and currently coordinates the middle grades program at Elon University, where she is a professor of teacher education. She has authored three books, including Managing the Adolescent Classroom and Sparking the Thinking of Students, Ages 10–14, as well as articles on structuring classrooms for adolescent thinking and learning. She consults and presents regularly at state, national, and international conferences. Her research and teaching honors include the 2002 North Carolina Award for Outstanding Contribution to Gifted Education, the North Carolina ASCD Outstanding Research Award, and the Teacher of the Year Award.

Review :
“This is an excellent book that should be of great interest to secondary teachers. The use of the ACT examples add considerable clarity to the concepts being advanced.” "I found myself highlighting a great deal of this book. The text is relevant, real, and worthy of quoting to others to ensure that they truly understand how the adolescent learner processes information and through what type of activities they learn best and are most motivated by.” "The book presents a broad and coherent framework that builds connections across a broad range of theories of adolescent learning and development. The curriculum ideas, questions to prompt teachers′ self-reflection, and scaffolds to guide curriculum development all offer tangible tools to teacher educators and leaders in professional development efforts."