Begin with the Brain: Orchestrating the Learner-Centered Classroom

This is a surprisingly useful book. I wish all teachers and teachers-to-be can benefit from it. For busy teachers who don't have the luxury to read up on so many diverse sources, you get a good distillation of their applications."Don't smile until Christmas!" is the conventional wisdom. Martha's first suggestion is to SMILE. Chapter 1, "From Fear to Flow" highlights the importance of safe environment and "relaxed alertness" for learning and quotes the eight components of FLOW.Many "good ideas" marked by the icon of a light bulb, sensible quotes and summaries, questions that challenge our assumptions are given throughout the book. Each chapter starts with a cartoon and a brief summary of "Begin with the Brain" principle. E.g. Ch. 3 on "Patterns and Procedures: Organizing Systems for Orderliness" begins with the following statements. "The brain innately seeks to detect familiar and useful patterns in its environment. These patterns give a context to what otherwise might be interpreted as meaningless. These meaningful patterns, when practiced, become wired in the brain as programs." Then the author goes on to make applications, refining distinctions such as setting standards rather than imposing rules, the need for procedures and routines rather than discipline... and provides tools for teachers. Martha does not cover the anatomy and fucntions of the brain. But we get both good brain-compatible, democratic, student-centred principles and support for developing relevant skills without getting into polemics. I trust teachers will appreciate the challenge to one's thinking and practice and all the help given here. When well assimilated, we are all taught not only good principles and practices for teaching and learning, but also for living.