The Transformational Classroom:

How Research in Educational Neuroscience Enhances

Teaching and Learning at St. Andrews
2 T H E C E N T E R F O R T R A N S F O R M A T I V E T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G
T H I N K
D I F F E R E N T L Y
A N D
D E E P L Y
Throughout this
resource, the
following icons
will indicate
important aspects
of each teachers
instructional
practice:
RESEARCH
STRATEGIES
META-COGNITION
TECHNOLOGY
Foreword
DR. MARIALE HARDIMAN,
THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY .......................................................................... 2
Introduction
GLENN WHITMAN .................................................................................................... 4
I. Why Educational Neuroscience and
the CTTL Matter for Your Child
GLENN WHITMAN .................................................................................................... 6
II. Creating Innovators Through Design Thinking
CHARLES C. JAMES AND DR. IAN KELLEHER .......................................................... 8
III. Let Them Play
PEGGY BEST AND DALE KYNOCH.......................................................................... 10
IV. The Connected and Valued Child:
Targeting the Social and Emotional Brain
NATALIE ADAMS AND CHRISTINE LEWIS ............................................................. 12
V. The Centrality of Arts Education
LAUREN COOK AND DR. AMY WOOLEY ................................................................. 14
VI. Developing Global Citizens:
Bringing Purpose to Foreign Language Learning
MARIA DIAZ .......................................................................................................... 16
VII. What Great Homework Looks Like
DAVID BROWN AND DR. IAN KELLEHER ............................................................... 18
VIII. Great Minds Do Not Think Alike:
How Diversity Impacts the Learning Environment
RODNEY GLASGOW AND STACY KINCAID ............................................................ 20
IX. The Roots of Student Success
CAROLYN FORD 02 AND NICOLE HAUSPURG 05.................................................. 22
X. Brain Changer:
How Service Enhances Learning
THE REVEREND PATTY ALEXANDER AND GINGER COBB ..................................... 24
XI. Great Teachers are Great Researchers
DRESDEN KOONS AND AMY HELMS ..................................................................... 26
XII. The iSchool: Smart Technology
for Every Student
ANNE MACDONELL ............................................................................................... 28
XIII. Building Better Athletes
KEVIN MCSHANE AND GLENN WHITMAN ............................................................ 30
XIV. Wh, Fhor Macrs Mos
KAREN KAUFMAN ................................................................................................. 32
XV. Rigor and Assessment in the
21st Century Classroom
GLENN WHITMAN ................................................................................................. 34
XVI. It All Begins in Preschool
MARGY HEMMIG ................................................................................................... 36
Afterword: Great Teaching Today:
Building an Exceptional Faculty and School
ROBERT KOSASKY, HEAD OF SCHOOL ................................................................... 38
Endnotes ......................................................................................................... 40
The Transformational Classroom:
How Research in Educational Neuroscience Enhances
Teaching and Learning at St. Andrews
2 T H E C E N T E R F O R T R A N S F O R M A T I V E T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G
Foreword
3
Mariale Hardi-
man, EdD is the
Assistant Dean
for Urban School
Partnerships and
Clinical Professor
of Education at
The Johns Hopkins
University School
of Education. She
also led the School
of Education as
interim dean from
January through
September 2010.
Hardiman is
the co-founder
and director of
The Johns Hop-
kins University School of Educations
Neuro-Education Initiative. This cross-
disciplinary program brings to educators
relevant research from the brain sciences
to inform teaching and learning through
regional conferences, national summits,
a professional development series, and a
graduaic IcvcI ccriihcaic in Mind, Brain,
and Teaching. Her research and publica-
tions focus on enhancing educational
practices through techniques that foster
innovation and creative problem-solving
for all students.
popularization of research from the brain sciencesincluding
neuroscience, cognitive science, and psychologyhas sparked
incrcs fron profcssionals fron nuliplc hclos cagcr o usc rcscarch hnoings o inforn
their practice. From the legal profession to advertising, research on human thought
and learning is challenging professionals to formulate strategies, practices, and policies
consiscn vih hc lacs scicnihc hnoings on lrain srucurc, funcion, ano hunan
cogniion. Novhcrc is hc applicaion of his rcscarch norc inporan han in hc hclo
of education, where the emerging science of learning, also known as neuroeducation
or educational neuroscience, is beginning to take root in schools across the nation. In
increasing numbers, insightful educators are looking to the science of learning to under-
stand how children think and learn, and how this knowledge can improve educational
outcomes for every child.
As I work with schools across the country, there is no question that St. Andrews
Episcopal School and its Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning is a sterling
example of how educators are informing the teaching and learning process through
research-based practices. These practices encompass every aspect of the educational ex-
perience including how we approach the learning environment, how we plan instruction
to promote mastery of skills and concepts, how we assure that students are engaged in
higher-order thinking and creative problem-solving, and how we use the arts and technol-
ogy to maximize each childs learning potential.
Thoughtful leadership, robust teacher training, and a community ready to embrace
innovaivc hinking shapcs a school ino hc kino of coucaional cnvironncn ohcrco a
St. Andrews. And yet, beyond merely embracing research-based best practices to
enhance their own school, the leadership and faculty of St. Andrews are eager to share
their expertise with other educators, including those in public and private institutions
both locally and nationally. Moreover, St. Andrews is on the forefront of not only practic-
ing but also advancing this knowledge by engaging in research and discovery that has
hc pocnial o inforn hcir ovn caching praciccs as vcll as hc cnirc hclo of couca-
tion. Our research team at the Johns Hopkins University Neuro-Education Initiative
was pleased to join forces with the Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning,
to conduct an original research study in the Spring of 2012 and we hope to continue to
aovancc hc hclo of coucaional ncuroscicncc hrough our collaloraivc chors.
Education of our nations students in the 21st century will require this type of alli-
ance, where school communities and institutions of higher education work together to
learn the best ways to bring all children to their full potential.
Mariale Hardiman, Ed.D.
The Johns Hopkins University School of Education
Assistant Dean, Urban School Partnerships
Clinical Professor of Education
Co-Founder and Director of the Neuro-Education Initiative
The
The Johns Hopkins University School of Education
4 T H E C E N T E R F O R T R A N S F O R M A T I V E T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G
Introduction
5
Imagine
a school where 100 percent of its teachers and academic
leaders are committed to applying innovative research in
educational neuroscience to enhance learning for every student.
Inaginc a school fron prcschool hrough 12h graoc ha hinks oihcrcnl, ano occpl, alou hov cach
students mind learns.
That school exists.
Since 2007, a key initiative of St. Andrews Episcopal School has been to connect the burgeoning knowledge
about how learning happens and how the mind works to enhance every teachers instructional practices.
This initiative, which advances St. Andrews mission to know and inspire each child in an inclusive
community dedicated to exceptional teaching, learning, and service, led to the creation of the Center for
Transformative Teaching and Learning (www.thecttl.org) in 2011.
The CTTL places research from the leading educational neuroscientists in the country, from schools such as
Johns Hopkins, Harvard, Stanford and the University of Virginia, into the hands of every St. Andrews teacher.
What does this mean for your child?
It means whether he or she is beginning their academic journey in the Lower School or taking the most
challenging set of Advanced Placement courses in the Upper School, they are getting an education that is
infornco l, hc lcs scicnihc rcscarch on hov hc lrain lcarns. For cxanplc, cachcrs usc rcscarch o cnhancc
cach suocn's ncnor, l, provioing norc frcqucn ano oihcrcniaco asscssncns, ano cachcrs ocsign classcs
with an understanding of student attention spans.
It means your son or daughter will have teachers, at every grade level, with expertise in knowing how the
mind learns and how to help every student meet their potential.
I ncans ha ,our chilo vill lcconc a norc conhocn, inocpcnocn, sclfavarc, prcparco ano happ, lcarncr
because of the partnership they enter into with each of their teachers. The CTTL trains and educates teachers; the
lcnchciarics of hcir knovlcogc ano raining arc hc suocns.
Connecting the science of learning to the classroom has informed and transformed teaching at St. Andrews.
Suocns arc consiscnl, askco o rchcc on hcir lcarning (ncacogniion) in agc appropriac va,s. I has lco o
a new report card in the Lower School and deepened focus on the social and emotional learning of each student
through the Responsive Classroom in the Lower and Intermediate Schools. It also has led St. Andrews to develop
original research projects with The Johns Hopkins Universitys School of Education and School of Medicine.
The experience and expertise of St. Andrews PS-12 teachers generated a model partnership with Teach For
America, whose corps members are being mentored by St. Andrews teachers on how to design a challenging but
supportive classroom.
S. Anorcv's connincn o connccing coucaional ncuroscicncc o hc classroon is rchccco in hc lrcaoh
of programs that have been transformed by research in education, developmental psychology, and neuroscience.
What follows in this publication are snapshots into areas of the school that have applied research to validate,
improve, or transform programs that have evolved from intuition but have been enhanced by science. The
authors of the snapshots are St. Andrews teachers or coaches and in each case, they are leaders and constant
learners in their individual area of focus. The snapshots also show how deeply St. Andrews faculty thinks about
curriculum and programming to prepare students for every step of their academic journey. The growth-mindset
of a St. Andrews teacher is second to none.
All students deserve an education that is shaped by how much we know about how the mind learns. Every St.
Andrews student receives that education.
Glenn Whitman
gwhitman@saes.org
Director, The Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning
W
hat is learning?
I have struggled
answering that question
ever since I began my
teaching career. That seemingly simple
question always leads to a second one:
Where does learning happen for each
individual student?
The initial response by educators to the
second question might be the classroom.
One colleague responded Everywhere?
Regardless of where students learn, it
is impossible to do so without the organ of
learning, the brain.
Connecting the science of learning
how the brain worksto instructional
practices for all studentsneeds to be part
of an, ncasurc of ochning a 21s ccnur,
school or an exceptional teacher. That is
vh, Lr. Marialc Haroinan's ochniion
of learning in her recent book, The Brain
Targeted Teaching Model, resonated with
me. Learning is a neuro-physiological phe-
nomenon that occurs through biochemical
processes in the brain and the growth and
reorganization of neural connections.
1
This ochniion ahrns hc ncco for cach-
ers to understand how the brain works
and the importance of empowering all
students with this information.
An ovcrsinplihco lu valuallc cqua-
tion for learning comes from one of my
favorite educators, Tracey Tokuhama-Espi-
nosa: Attention + Memory = Learning.
Attention and Memory are two of the
eight neurodevelopmental constructs that
100% of St. Andrews preschool through
grade twelve teachers have foundational
training in (The others are Spatial Or-
dering, Temporal Sequential Ordering,
Language, Neuromotor Functions, Social
Cognition and Higher Order Cognition).
But who is responsible for maintaining a
students attention and memory?
I voulo arguc ha fron hc hrs oa,
of class, students and their teachers enter
into a learning partnership. Far too often
teachers blame the students for poor atten-
ion ano chor in ncnorizing infornaion.
However, as Parker Palmer once declared
in The Courage to Teach, When I ask
teachers to name the biggest obstacle to
good teaching, the answer I most often
hear is my studentsCriticizing the client
is the conventional defense in any em-
battled profession and these stereotypes
conveniently relieve us of any responsi-
bility for our students problems-or their
resolution.
2
Fortunately, St. Andrews teachers take
personal responsibility to collaborate with
their students to address their learning
strengths and weaknesses. So what strate-
gies do teachers use to enhance student
attention and memory?
Critical to maintaining student atten-
tion, what Dr. Hardiman calls, The portal
to learning, is how a teacher designs his
or her class period. As research shows, stu-
dents brains have peaks and valleys over
a typical class (in the case of St. Andrews,
classes are either 40 or 80 minutes long).
Why Educational
Neuroscience and
the CTTL Matter for
Your Child
GLENN WHITMAN
6 T H E C E N T E R F O R T R A N S F O R M A T I V E T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G
7
What students will remember most is
vha is inrooucco hrs in a class pcrioo
followed by what is introduced last. How
one times a learning episode is called the
prinac,rcasoning chcc.
Dr. David Sousa points out in many of
his books, including How the Brain Learns,
that novelty is key to student attention, as
is the ability for students to make an emo-
tional connection to the curriculum and to
hno ncaning of vha hc, arc suo,ing o
their own lives. Merely changing a rooms
set up and decorations has implications
for student attention. As pointed out
in The Brain Targeted Teaching Model,
Children exposed to bland, unchanging
environments become stimulus adapted
and appear to seek out their own novel
stimulation, often leading to nonoptimal
behavior.
3
Lighting, smell, order and
beauty have also been shown to correlate
to attention. For years this has been the
intuition of exceptional teachers. Now,
rcscarch conhrns ha inuiion.
The Attention + Memory = Learning
equation also provides insight into why
students who cram for assessments, and
even earn As after an all-nighter, cannot
derive answers to those same test ques-
tions a week or two later. Dr. Tokuhama-
Espinosa points out, While the students
managed to keep enough dates, facts, and
formulas in their head to pass the test,
this knowledge never made it to long-
term declarative memory, it was never truly
learned at all (only memorized in the short
term).
4
Regarding memory, practice is key.
St. Andrews teachers recognize that
students need more frequent opportunities
to practice recalling what they know while
recognizing what they have yet to learn.
The challenge for all teachers is how to
help students to get foundational knowl-
edge and skills to stick. At St. Andrews,
the increased use of formative assessments
is a direct result of our teachers training
in educational neuroscience. Providing
students more opportunities to design
projects or to integrate the arts into knowl-
edge or a skill demonstration is happening
in the Lower, Intermediate, Middle and
Upper Schools. One of my favorite recall
tasks for students are Exit Tickets that
can be a single question on the content
of hc oa, or a ncacogniion (rchccion)
moment at the close of class. This provides
teachers instant data on student learning
while students mine their memory for
information.
The work of Dr. Hardiman and
TokihanaFspinosa ahrn hc nission of
the CTTL for St. Andrews teachers and
students: To promote innovative, research-
driven teaching that develops each
students potential as a learner. Their work
also highlights one of the challenges those
individuals and groups who are committed
to this work face. Too often work that falls
under the various titles of brain-based,
brain-informed, and brain-targeted
is lclicvco o lc of grcacs lcnch o
struggling learners, those who historically
might be called learning disabled, learn-
ing challenged, or learning vulnerable.
Such thinking is short sighted and fails
to recognize the importance of research in
educational neuroscience for ALL students.
It seems that too many parents do not
want to believe what teachers intuitively
know, that every student needs help and
guidance to meet their peak potential. A
parent of an Advanced Placement History
student once said to me, What can the
CTTL do for my child, he is already getting
all As? This question came at a time in
the school year when hundreds of thou-
sands of students are gearing up for AP
cxans or for hnal cxans in hcir courscs.
These cumulative assessments of learning
place intense demands on each individu-
als mind and a large amount of stress that
research shows inhibits optimal learning.
My response to this AP students parent
came in the form of a question. What
if I told you that research in educational
neuroscience could potentially reduce
the number of hours your son spends
studying? This question would peak any
parents interest. I quickly shared research
into multi-tasking and how the research
challenges the current way most students
study. Additionally, we talked about the
importance of active versus passive study-
ing and how sleep is both for resting and
learning.
So as you observe your child studying
for AP exams, or any other form of assess-
ment, you too can support him or her by
providing research-backed advice. When I
ask high school students to describe their
study environments, I learn that they are
often at their desks within arms length of
the ability to access their e-mail, Facebook,
or phone. In addition, they are often listen-
ing to music. Intuitively we all believe that
this is not a constructive learning environ-
ment though students always conclude
that they learn better by listening to music.
Research in educational neuroscience
challenges the assumptions of the students
and reinforces what our parental intuition
tells us. Task-switching, checking e-mail,
Twitter and Facebook, increases study
time and limits a students ability to imbed
material into their long-term memory. So
instruct your son or daughter to discon-
ncc ano hno or csallish a suo, locaion
away from a computer. Turn their cell
phonc oh. If hc, insis on liscning o
music, tell them it has to be music without
words (such as classical music).
Thc hclo of coucaional ncuroscicncc
is young as it converges developmental
psychology, cognitive science and educa-
ion." Whilc sonc of is iniial hnoings
merely support what educators intuitively
have believed, or that which can be proved
by behavioral science, it is also challeng-
ing many assumptions and providing new
insight into best educational practices.
21st Century teachers have to be
smarter, more agile, willing to change, and
have a vastly enhanced growth mindset
relative to even just a few years ago. More-
over, they must have an understanding of
how the brain learns in order to maximize
the potential of every student.
This is the focus of the work of the
Center for Transformative Teaching and
Lcarning ano hc chicf lcnchciarics of his
work are St. Andrews students.
WEB EXTRA!
See an AP and nal exam
studying resource created
for SAES students.
Glenn Whitman
(gwhitman@saes.org) is the Dean of Studies
and Director of the Center for Transformative
Teaching and Learning (www.thecttl.org).
Educational Neuroscience
Neuroscience:
Brain and its
Functioning
Education:
Teacher
Training and
Individual
Learning
Developmental
Psychology: Mind
and Behavior
Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, Mind, Brain, and Educa-
tion Science: A Comprehensive Guide to the New Brain-
Based Teaching (New York: W.W. Norton, 2010) 5.
I
nnovation is creativity with a purpose.
A basic human impulse is a desire to
shape our world in new waysto serve
our needs and give back to the world in
which we live.
The St. Andrews science program is
explicitly designed to enhance innova-
tive thought. As Tony Wagner says in his
book of the same name, we are Creating
Innovators. We do this by teaching design:
human-centered problem identifying
and problem solving. As we design and
innovate, the human brain can become
engaged and energized to understand what
we cant see, build what we havent seen,
and conceive of what we will one day see.
It is one of the mindful journeys that our
students are on. Innovation, Wagner ar-
gues, is a skill that can be taught, must be
taught, but sadly is a rare unicorn. So what
does it look like when in happens?
For St. Andrews students, imaginative
thinking is freedom.
The challenge given the class is to cre-
ate an electric board game that includes a
buzzer. To start his game, Bobby used an
olo plasic vasc ano hano orillco ovcr hf,
holes to accommodate sticks. The sticks
supported marbles on top. During play, as
sticks are removed, marbles fall into the
vase, hitting a pressure pad at the bottom
made of foil and a spring. This triggered a
buzzer in a circuit that Bobby wired. The
game sits atop a board where students
advance their playing pieces depending on
their success at avoiding falling marbles.
Bobby used graphic design skills that he
learned earlier in the year to create the
engaging, sophisticated looking board.
Think of the all the skills Bobby used
to be successful. Think beyond the obvious
application of science and art. Think about
what it was in this project that really chal-
lenged a talented, straight A student? And
what made him happily put in the time to
get it right?
Bobby was reveling in a world of innova-
tion. Design thinking, the means by which
we get to innovation, creates powerful expe-
riences. The larger question is, Why does it
create those powerful experiences?
Students use a relevant toolkit of 21st
century skills to solve problems that at
Creating Innovators
Through Design
Thinking
CHARLES C. JAMES AND DR. IAN KELLEHER
8 T H E C E N T E R F O R T R A N S F O R M A T I V E T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G
9
hrs na, havc sccnco insurnounallc.
Creativity, collaboration, critical thinking,
communication in diverse media, agility,
gritthis is just the beginning of the list.
We can imagine a graduate of St. Andrews
one day in the working world, part of a
multidisciplinary team, collaborating to
hno crcaivc soluions o prollcns ha
span traditional academic boundaries.
Does that sound familiar? What skills
would they need to be successful? It is the
mission of St. Andrews to prepare them
with these skills, but also to instill a mind-
sc ano conhocncc o rclish his fuurc.
Design work does this.
Tiering the design program, from
kindergarten to twelfth grade, gives the
students a succession of small successes
ha grovs hcir conhocncc, ha luilos
and bolsters their toolkit of skills. And
even better, this work is fun.
The problems St. Andrews students
tackle are relevant, clever, intriguing,
sometimes whimsicalthey are wonderful
hooks that draw students in, and this helps
too. By creating novel contexts for solving
prollcns, fun has lccn pu hrnl, ino
the heart of the project, a proud banner
in the sea of Road to Nowhere schooling
that seems to dominate contemporary US
education.
Dont be misled, design projects are
hard work, but they are an intellectual ad-
venture full of passion and joy. Students
delight in the wonder of new ideas and
they take risks because that is part of the
fun. As teachers we often know the answer
to the problem we are asking to be solved.
On the next level down, we dont know the
answer to the problem. In design think-
ing, we dont even know what the actual
question we need to pose is, let alone what
the answer is.
Transformative experiences occur when
we respect the students talents enough to
begin a project like this. This is hard work.
But it is empowering work. Coupled to the
toolkit of 21st century skills is a mindset
that they can identify problems, that they
can solve problems. And they will. This
becomes part of who they are. Innovation
can be taught. Creativity can be taught.
I akcs scaholoing a sinplc, hcxillc,
powerful design thinking process that stu-
dents see again and again as they progress
through St. Andrews. This is a transforma-
tive mindset.
The act of innovation crosses academic
boundaries and allows leaps in creativ-
ity. Think about Bobbys project. Or take
suocns in hfh graoc, ocsigning ano
constructing air rockets. They learn about
trajectory, compression, output of energy,
scale, and momentum. Instead of learning
being disjointed, concepts are combined
and thereby completed. Is the subject
mathematics or space science? Educational
ncuroscicncc clls us ha suocns lcnch
from instruction that does not restrict ideas
to conceptual deserts stranded by textbooks
and standardized tests. And science is nour-
ished and animated by the expressive side
that the arts, humanities and mathematics
complete. Design work provides this rich
environment for learning.
So design work is challenging and
engaging and powerful and transforma-
tive. This sounds good. But the beautiful
thing is that it is also supported by the
latest research on the learning mind. For
example, all students learn best when the
learning is in multiple ways. The diversity
ano oihcrcnncss of nino skills involvco
in design thinking means that every stu-
dent gets challenged in unexpected ways
ano cvcr, suocn hnos a va, o lcvcragc
their personal, unique set of skills against
novel challenges. A sense of play, rapid
feedbackfeedback that doesnt give the
students the answer but rather prompts
hc suocns o hno hc soluion hcn-
selves, problems that intrigue and engage,
environments and activities that inspire a
sense of novelty. These are all ways that
current mind science tells us help students
learn, and are all genuinely and passion-
ately at the heart of design work.
What did Bobby learn in his science
class? Communication, interpersonal skills,
materials management, time planning, cre-
ativity, problem solving, resiliency, tenac-
ity, gritthe set of mind skills demanded
to be successful in design work reads more
like those needed to be successful in real-
world employment than those demanded
l, hll in hc lulllc nuliplc choicc css.
So we talk about these skills with the
students. We help them realize that they
have these skills; we help them realize
they are important, things to be nurtured
and celebrated. A structured design and in-
novation program which tiers skills and de-
mands from grade to grade gives students
a succession of small successesbuilding
hcir conhocncc so hc, scc hcnsclvcs as
creative problem solvers. The cumulative
chcc, ,car on ,car, is ha having his skill
sc, lcing allc o conhocnl, acklc prol-
lems where the answer, or maybe even the
real question, is unknown, just feels normal
to them. It is a remarkable talent to instill
in students, but it doesnt feel remarkable
to them. They have a toolbox to tackle the
world. It is immensely empowering. It is
transformative teaching.
WEB EXTRA!
Listen to a student-teacher
conversation about an
Intermediate School design
project.
Charles James (cjames@saes.org) teaches
Intermediate, Middle and Upper School science
and Dr. Ian Kelleher (ikelleher@saes.org) is the
Head of the Science Department.
P
lay is critical to the social, emotional
and intellectual development of
every child. When children play
they are engaged in the purest
expression of their humanity, the truest
expression of their individuality.
1
Roam
the halls and playgrounds of St. Andrews
Lower School and realize that when you see
children together creating and imagining,
they are not just playing, they are learning.
At a time when so many school are
reducing opportunities for play and recess,
St. Andrews is doing just the opposite for
its preschool through 3rd grade students.
Play is an integral part of the curriculum
because we have intuitively known for
years that play sparks learning.
Now research supports that intuition.
When we talk about play, we are de-
scribing those moments when the control
of learning transfers from the teacher to
the students. When children are role-play-
ing oihcrcn occupaions or pla,ing gancs
to help their numeracy, the childrens
interactions, language and thinking are
being observed by the teacher. Playtime
is safe, yet unstructured time, in which
students get to develop both their intel-
lectual quotient (IQ) but more importantly,
what Daniel Goleman calls, their emotional
quotient (EQ).
Lets Play! are magic words when a
young child hears them. To a child it says,
You are fun, You are my friend, You
are interested in me, and I like you. Play
promotes key 21st century skills includ-
ing, collaboration, critical thinking, and
problem solving.
Ask any parent and they will agree that
children need to play. Few adults would
disagree that when we are at play is when
our brains are most alive. Neuroscientists
and developmental psychologists, from
every point of the compass know that play
is a profound biological process and lies
at the core of creativity and innovation.
2
Research by Gwen Dewar Ph.D., found
that play and exploration trigger the secre-
tion of brain-derived neurotrophic factor,
or BDNF, a substance that is essential for
the growth of brain cells. Her studies
show that play opportunities improve
memory and stimulate the growth of the
cerebral cortex. Several studies revealed
that children pay more attention to aca-
demics after they have had recess. When
playing, their interest is self-directed, and
they are motivated to solve problems
Let Them Play
PEGGY BEST AND DALE KYNOCH
Lets Play! are magic
words when a young
child hears them. To
a child it says, You
are fun, You are
my friend, You are
interested in me, and
I like you.
10 T H E C E N T E R F O R T R A N S F O R M A T I V E T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G
11
from the social and physical world that
are important to them. Imagination and
social play also supports the development
of attention, self-control and cooperative
learning skills.
From our observations as preschool and
8ro graoc cachcrs, hc lcnchs of pla, arc
many.
When children play, they are more con-
cerned with the process than the product.
Thc, cxpcrincn ano lcconc norc hcx-
ible in thinking and problem solving.
When children play, they free them-
selves from external rules and may gener-
ate rules of their own, many times leading
them to negotiation.
When children play, their own unique
lcarning prohlc is ocvclopco ano valuco.
One of the best ways for children to express
themselves is through creative play. Play is
vital to learning, as shown in the research of
Kathy Hirsh-Pasek.
3
In observing Pre-K chil-
dren while building a bridge with blocks,
they were engaged, paying attention, and
controlling themselves as they collaborated,
thus developing their focus and self-control.
As they used blocks to represent a truck
or car, they created symbolic representa-
tions, thus developing their ability to make
cognitive connections. When the bridge fell
down, they needed to rebuild it so it would
not collapse thus developing their critical
thinking and resiliency.
According to Stuart Brown, the founder
of National Instititue for Play (www.
nifplay.org), play is the childs way of com-
ing to terms with personal experiences in,
and knowledge of, the world.
4
Researchers,
such as Daniel Willingham, acknowledge
that when children become emotionally
connected to learning events, such as play,
i is lcnchcial o ncnor,.
5

So what does play look like at
St. Andrews?
Play is integral in all aspects of early
education. In the Responsive Classroom

(RC) setting (see Chapter IV), educators
strive to meet students need for a sense
of lclonging, signihcancc ano funhc
guiding principles of the program. Inside
the classroom, elementary-aged children
hno hc fun in acaocnic choicc ano ganc
playing.
In parallel, outside play at recess and
break time also cultivates a childs desire
for free choice, personal responsibility and
relationship building. Educational theorist
Lev Vygotsky developed the zone of
proximal development, a level of cognitive
ocvclopncn ha is inhucncco l, aouls
and other childrens interactions with a
spccihc chilo. Accoroing o V,gosk,, 'In
play the child always behaves beyond his
average age, above his daily behavior; in
play it is as though he were a head taller
than himself. As in the focus of magnify-
ing glass, play contains all developmental
tendencies in a condensed form and in
itself a major source of development.
6
Vygotsky followers believe that a
childs developmental growth is directly
inhucncco l, hosc arouno hin or hcr.
Educators are seen more as facilitators,
and the greatest growth comes from the
give and take of everyday academic and
social interactions with peers. Students
views and abilities are stretched from
observing, copying and integrating the
social, emotional and academic skills of
their classmates.
When you ask a typical elementary-
aged student his or her favorite part of the
day, often the answer is lunch or recess.
While many educators may lament that
response, the response actually highlights
the paramount importance of unstructured
time and play in a childs day.
So, as educators, and for you as the
reader, what does this all mean?
What it means for us is a desire to get
out of your childs way, so children can
play with ideas as well as each other. At
S. Anorcv's vc ohcr choicc in acaocn-
ics, to allow children a chance to play and
have fun. We also recognize that home-
work should be limited so that your child
can rest, regroup and get ready to tackle
the social, emotional and academic work
planned for the next day.
But only after they played their hearts
out at home.
WEB EXTRA!
See how research is
informing teaching and
learning at St. Andrews
Lower School.
Peggy Best (pbest@saes.org) teaches Pre-
Kindergarten and is Preschool Curriculum
Coordinator and Dale Kynoch (dkynoch@saes.
org) teaches 3rd grade and is Elementary
Curriculum Coordinator.
When children play, they
free themselves from
external rules and may
generate rules of their
own, many times leading
them to negotiation.
F
eeling valued socially. Feeling emo-
tionally connected. A student who
experiences both those feelings is
better able to use his or her whole
mind to maximize learning potential. That
raises one very important question:
How does your childs school care for
his or her social and emotional needs?
The Responsive Classroom

approach
to teaching and learning is used at
St. Andrews from preschool through sixth
grade, and it has transformed how students
feel about themselves as individuals and as
members of our community.
Several years ago, a father of one of
my students made it clear to me that the
only thing he cared about was his childs
academic standing. He put no stock in
whether his child had any friends or could
function as a contributing member of the
class. At the time, I had only recently been
introduced to the Responsive Classroom
approach
1
and while I believed on an intui-
tive level that academic and social success
are interconnected, I was not able to
articulate the research that supported the
important role social and emotional skills
played in the ongoing academic success
of a developing child.
2
What I would have
directed this parent to is the Responsive
tlassroon Fhcac, Suo, ha shovs vhcn
the Responsive Classroom is faithfully
implemented, the approach correlated
with a substantial rise-a roughly 20-point
gain on average-on state standardized test
scores in reading and math.
3
Many years later, I often think of that
conversation and wish that I could have
the opportunity to share with that father
the clarity I have obtained, through experi-
ence and study, in this important area of
teaching and learning.
Responsive teaching practices are built
on the fundamental belief that along with
a childs need for shelter, food, sleep, and
familial love, each growing person is also
driven by the need to belong, to feel that
their presence is important, and to par-
ticipate in playful, engaging experiences.
4

Responsive teachers also believe that social
skills are like any of the other content
areas, such as reading, math, and the arts,
and as such, need to be explicitly taught,
learned and practiced for children to reach
their full potential.
Walking into a responsive classroom on
an, givcn oa,, ,ou vill scc hc oircc chcc
of these central principles in a myriad of
ways. From the teachers choice of words,
to active modeling of expectations, to col-
laborative grouping, to options for academ-
ic choice, and the obviously student-owned
approach to classroom rules of conduct.
5
Responsive teachers begin each day
with a community meeting with the
intention of developing a strong sense of
lclonging ano signihcancc. This is accon-
plished by ensuring that every students
voicc is hcaro ano honorco vihin hc hrs
few moments of each school day through
opportunities to share his or her ideas and
experiences with their learning community.
The Connected
and Valued Child:
Targeting the Social
and Emotional Brain
CHRISTINE LEWIS
12 T H E C E N T E R F O R T R A N S F O R M A T I V E T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G
13
Perhaps one of the most tangible out-
comes from this approach came during the
2011-2012 school year when our fourth-
graoc class hao a oihcul nio,car changc,
twins who had both been key members of
our classroom community were moving
away. You might be asking, How would
such a move impact the learning environ-
ment for the students who remained in
the class?
Using the routine of sharing in our
morning meeting, children talked about
their wishes for the twins in such a way
that both the twins and their classmates
felt better about the change. The structure
of sharing allovco chilorcn o hno conncc-
tions with others while sharing things that
concerned them. This is not something
that fourth-graders would typically feel
comfortable doing!
Another central purpose of our social
and emotional curriculum is the creation
of self-regulation in children. Establishing
a democratic classroom that addresses the
developmental social and emotional needs
of our students is fundamental to the
Responsive Classroom CARES approach.
Cooperation, Assertion, Responsibility,
Empathy, and Self Regulation are the core
qualities that we actively seek to nurture
within our students every day
of school. It is truly inspir-
ing to observe our children
ohcr an auhcnic apolog, of acion in a
clear, calm, and empathetic manner after
having discussed the impact of hurtful
actions and brainstormed ways we can
hx sonconc's hur fcclings. Thcsc hunan
skills may seem far removed from the
execution of algebra; however, in order to
achieve the complicated abstract mental
processes necessary for success in math, or
indeed any academic discipline, a growing
child requires healthy social connection,
a belief that their presence matters, and
conhocncc in hcir ovn alili, o nanagc
the emotional ups and downs that we all
experience when exploring new territory.
6
Rchccion is also a kc, clcncn in a
responsive classroom; the end of each day is
celebrated with a short community gather-
ing where we actively think back over our
day together. These moments of acknowl-
edgement have a profoundly positive
inhucncc o suppor our chilorcn in hcir
chors o unocrsano hcir ovn srcnghs
and challenges as learners. It also serves to
reinforce strategies for regulating their own
behavioral responses. A favorite of mine is
the Compliment Circle,
7
where students
randomly take a card saying You helped
someone today or You took a learning risk
today and choose someone within their
class to give it to. I saw the power of this
activity in the life of a child who worked
daily on impulse control challenges when
a classmate gave him a card that said You
showed kindness today. The child receiving
the card was so taken aback by a classmate
noticing his kind act that he began to view
hinsclf oihcrcnl, ano founo ncv noiva-
tion to redirect his energy in positive ways.
The results were not short-lived but contin-
uco o fucl his chors ovaro sclfconrol
throughout the year. This is valuable work
not only for the well-being of our students,
but also because we know that the ability to
exercise self-control is a strong predictor of
academic success.
8
The Responsive classroom approach
reaches far beyond the old perception of
social and emotional curriculums pro-
ducing nice kids in a warm and fuzzy
environment. It allows us to build intel-
ligent guidelines for school and to develop
classroom practices that are informed by
current neuroscience
9
and are relevant to
the children of the 21st Century.
The teachers and administration at
S. Anorcv's unocrsano. Suhcc i o sa,
that the teachers and administration at
St. Andrews understand the importance of
social cognition as integral to the process of
learning for every child. The commitment
to this truth has enriched the relationships
within the faculty, powered the direction of
administrative decisions, and led to happy,
self-directing children, who relish their aca-
demic successes and believe in their ability
to overcome their academic challenges.
WEB EXTRA!
See Responsive Classroom
in action during an
Opening meeting.
Natalie Adams (nadams@
saes.org) is Head of the Intermediate School
and Christine Lewis is a 1st grade teacher and
a Responsive Classroom

facilitator.
An Intermediate School Perspective
NATALIE ADAMS
MANY OF US RESPONSIVE CLASSROOM believers have known for years that
children are happy and successful when they participate in classrooms using
Responsive Classroom; classrooms with daily Morning Meetings, Academic
Choice, and teachers who use conscious and careful Teacher Language. Now
there is data to support these observations.
For the past three years, Professor Sara Rimm Kaufman from the University
of Virginias Curry School of Education has been studying the efcacy of Respon-
sive Classroom. The research focused on a correlation between the Responsive
Classroom programs impact on student-teacher interactions as well as math
test gains. This study, which found that frequent use of the approachs strate-
gies was correlated with higher math achievement
1
gave us data that con-
dently supports the link between academic and social-emotional learning.
When I rst learned about Professor Rimm Kaufmans study, one of the parts
that I found the most intriguing is how she evaluated the degree to which Respon-
sive Classroom practices were used within schools and classrooms. After talking
with her at a conference, Professor Rimm Kaufman shared with me the survey
manual that she used to measure delity to the Responsive Classroom approach.
One major focus of the survey, and one I really love, is how it encourages
teachers to self-evaluate and incorporate that self-reection, along
with classroom observation, to measure teachers use of Responsive
Classroom. I am planning this year to bring in elements of the study for
my own observation and evaluation of our teachers in the Intermediate
School division.
Since St. Andrews Episcopal School values reection in conjunction
with observation, these new measures are a natural extension of the
work that we already do. In my mind, this is a case of research inform-
ing practice in the most uid and natural way (see Chapter XI).
A
t St. Andrews, arts integration
operates on a continuum. At
one end of the spectrum, arts
education makes connections in
hc lrain, profounol, ahccing lcarning
ability in all other areas. On the other end,
the arts promote creativity and expres-
sion, and when integrated into academic
disciplines, create deeper, more meaning-
ful learning experiences.
Without music, life would not be
fair.Unknown grafti artist
He came for a shadow visit as a poten-
tial incoming ninth grader. St. Andrews
is known for its award-winning Jazz Band
and the incorporation of pop styles into the
nusic progran, so i sccnco likc a gooo h
for this young guitarist. He was quiet, and
alnos sullcn, lu I ohcrco hin a guiar. Hc
oion' rcao nusic, ano lookco hogc, ano
uncomfortable during that part of Guitar
class. However, when we began working
on improvisation, he perked up and agreed
to take a turn. He played a blues solo with
such depth of expression and musical vir-
tuosity that everyone noticed. I shook his
hand after class and said that I hoped he
would choose St. Andrews. He did.
A hrs, hc srugglco vih rcaoing
music. He partnered with another guitarist
and they took turns, one playing while
hc ohcr novco a hngcr along hc pagc
in time with the music. He practiced
reading music, and his ear told him when
he was getting it right. Eventually, he was
interpreting the notes with such great
expression that he became one of the most
respected musicians in the school.
Despite his popularity, he always made
time for practice, and this required him
to be disciplined about his time. He was
rewarded for his practice by playing well,
and truly enjoying Jazz Band rehearsals. He
was always early for Jazz Band and it is no
coincidence that he began to enjoy getting
assignments for other classes done early.
Four years later, when he graduated
with honors, having been accepted to ev-
ery college to which he applied, I received
a heartfelt letter from his mother express-
ing how much music had transformed
his life and contributed to his improved
academic performance and happiness.
What is it that helped this boy suc-
ceed? What is the magical element in mu-
sic education that unlocked his potential?
Play. We play music.
The Centrality of
Arts Education
LAUREN COOK AND DR. AMY WOOLEY
14 T H E C E N T E R F O R T R A N S F O R M A T I V E T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G
15
I challenge you to go an entire 24 hours
without encountering music. Music is a
corc hlcr ha connccs cvcr,hing arouno
us, and touches us on a deeply human
level. In the last decade, there has been an
explosion of research indicating that musi-
cal training connects everything in the hu-
man brain, making us smarter in all areas,
and even raising measurable IQ.
1
There
are several explanations for this, including
musics direct connection to both math
and language,
2
its use of memory, its social
elements, and perhaps the most ephem-
eral, but important element: pleasure
reward.
3
Children learn better when they
are having fun.
4

Playing music, especially including musi-
cal literacy and improvisation as we do at
S. Anorcv's, has hc uniquc chcc of 'ligh-
ing up most areas of the brain more than
any other activity. It is this whole brain
chcc, conlinco vih hc clcncn of 'pla,,"
that accounts for the magical music advan-
tage for students like ours at St. Andrews.
AMY WOOLEY
Art is a way for me to use my
imagination and create a whole
new world, however I want.
St. Andrews Student
Arts education, whether in a perform-
ing art (as described by Dr. Wooley),
or in the visual arts, is a vital component
in our work to provide enriching and ful-
hlling cxpcricnccs for cvcr, chilo a
S. Anorcv's. Rcccn scicncc conhrns vha
art teachers have long observedevery
student can improve their critical think-
ing and learning skills through art and
studio-based experiences.
5
Better yet, these
skills not only make for more meaningful
and satisfying art, but are transferrable
to all kinds of disciplines and educational
challenges.
Our visual arts faculty designs units of
studio based art that tap the special visual
and spatial aptitudes described in Howard
Gardners groundbreaking work Frames
of Mind.
6
The units are also designed to
nururc spccihc agcappropriac capaci-
ties of our students, both cognitive and
emotional. Were you to peek in on any of
our classes, you might see examples of the
following types of learning in action:
Kindergarteners at morning meet-
ing discussing if the illustrator of The
Hungry Caterpillar really liked bugs; or
painting students comparing their own
work to an impressionist master during
class. Some even return to their paint-
ings to add dabs of acrylic, improv-
ing on their work. These students are
developing empathy and appreciation
for diverse viewpoints, making new con-
ncci|ons onJ cxjcr|cnc|nq vIy rc[cc-
tion matters in learning and creativity.
A hrs graocr rcalizing his lrush nus
be cleaned in water before choosing
a new paint color; or an 11th grader
planning hcr hrs, sccono ano hiro
prints for the etching press. These
are examples of les-
sons that reinforce
vital procedural
knowledge and
skills.
A third grader
asking permission
to use purple for
his robot draw-
ing; a sixth grader
discussing her
decision to use a
warm or cool color
scheme for her self
portrait; or an Up-
per School student
doing multiple
story boards for
a public service
video. These are examples of growth
toward open-ended inquiry that rewards
multiple approaches to problem-solving
and draws on personal creativity and
voice.
A ceramics student pulling a wheel-
thrown pot up high and beyond its
material capacity to stand, watching it
collapse into failure before her, and
immediately gathering up the clay
for another try. This is an example of
the power of studio-based learning,
where the student is encouraged to
take informed risks with materials and
processes, directly interact with new
media and to persist until she reaches
her studio goal.
Pcrhaps nos signihcan, srong ar co-
ucation doesnt just allow for, but requires
students to personally invest in their work.
Students are asked to identify and develop
their personal voice in uniquely creative
ways. Once again, new research has been
conhrning vha ar cachcrs havc long
knownpersonal and emotional con-
nections to ones studio work makes for
deeper learning and better art. This applies
to every student, from early childhood
through the rest of his or her life.
But much more is happening through
art at St. Andrews. Every week students
come charging into my studio classroom,
bursting with ideas about an art project
they are doing for one of their academic
courses. Imagine two young hands gestur-
ing energetically in this memorable, and
typical encounter:
I want to use really bright colors
because American settlers going west
had big hopes and dreams for a new
start. Or maybe I could paint myself
on the wagon and a sunrisea sunrise
would be good to show a new begin-
ning. But if I was a settler I would have
to be strong, very strong to survive all
those challenges, so Ill use thick strong
lines. Ms. Cook, do you have any glue? I
want to start right now. What do you
think?
These students are highly-motivated
learners because their teachers are invit-
ing them to make creative and personally
meaningful choices in how they express
these ideas
Dr. Wooley notes connections to math
and language skills. Studies now not only
conhrn ha arsinfusco curriculun hclps
the brain consolidate information, but it
also helps embed knowledge into the long-
term memory, making it easier to retrieve
and apply.
7
The arts open more cognitive win-
dows through which students can see and
cxplorc, rcain, rccall, ano hnall,, appl,
ideas and knowledge on any subject. The
art faculty at St. Andrews is re-inspired
as coucaional ncuroscicncc conhrns ano
continues to reveal the power of a strong
visual arts education, and of integrating all
the arts in every classroom.
LAUREN COOK
WEB EXTRA!
Listen to students talk
about being artists.
Lauren Cook (lcook@
saes.org) is Head of the
Visual Arts Department and Dr. Amy Wooley
(awooley@saes.org) teaches Intermediate,
Middle and Upper School music.
F
rom intelligence and cognitive
proccssing chccs
1
to social intel-
ligence and empathy, research shows
that learning a second language has
a postive impact on the brain. Not only
does it expand a students understanding
of the world but it makes their brain more
plastic
2
ano hcxillc
3
and more capable of
processing information and conceptualiz-
ing learning. The question that we pose at
St. Andrews and that guides our practice
and professional conversations is then:
How can we best teach to the developing
lrain so ha our suocns lcnch fron
research in linguistic and neuroscience?
World Languages (French, Latin, and
Spanish) at St. Andrews are taught with
a communicative-based curriculum that
emphasizes the three modes of commu-
nication. Our students learn to interpret
what they read and hear, to connect and
exchange ideas with others, and to present
their own point of view. They do all three
in their second language and in a cultur-
ally responsible way. We are preparing
young people to enter a social and profes-
sional world where they will be ready to
funcion, hucnl, ano rcspccfull,, in onc
of several foreign languages.
At the instructional level, language
unis arc organizco arouno a hnal proouc.
Students are challenged to engage in a task
that mimics real life. The task provides a
social context in which the learner has to
use the studied language. These contextu-
alized tasks go from basic functions, like
making a puppet character in the Lower
School. In the Middle School, students
select a movie and purchase a theater
ticket. Eventually, there are more complex
projects with multiple steps, such as pro-
ducing a public service announcement on
a spccihc opic in hc Uppcr School.
Why do we think this is the best ap-
proach to teaching languages in school?
Because this approach recognizes and
honors recent research in linguistics, devel-
opmental psychology and neuroscience by
creating a brain-compatible environment
that provides relevance and authenticity to
the learning process.
Both Dr. Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa
Developing Global
Citizens: Bringing
Purpose to Foreign
Language Learning
MARIA R. DIAZ
At the instructional level, language units are
organized around a nal product. Students are
challenged to engage in a task that mimics real
life. The task provides a social context in which the
learner has to use the studied language.
16 T H E C E N T E R F O R T R A N S F O R M A T I V E T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G
17
and Dr. David Sousa
4
, in their work on
brain-compatible classrooms, highlight the
following equation: Attention + Memory
= Learning. Sousa goes on to explain
that it is sense and meaning that appear
to be the primary criteria the brain uses
in deciding what to encode to long-term
memory.
5
When students learn a lan-
guage by realizing an act, by completing a
task, they are engaged in something that
makes sense, that is meaningful to them.
In fact, students can explain what they are
doing in language class in such a way that
is understood by non-language teachers!
They might say: In French we are design-
ing our dream bedroom and telling every-
one about it! The learning that occurs
unocr hcsc prcniscs is iocnihallc ano
signihcan. Rccnion occurs lccausc hc
learning is relevant to the student needs.
Furthermore, this approach promotes
engagement, curiosity, and especially at-
tention: this is not boring. Our students
understand where they are heading in the
instruction sequence; they get it!
You might be wondering at this point
about the role of grammar in our language
classes. Dont we need it? What happened
to the subjunctive? To the prepositions?
Grammar, in fact, is a crucial compo-
nent of our classrooms, but it has ceded
its protagonist role as the goal of instruc-
tion, to meaning and communication. It
remains essential because accuracy in the
way we express ourselves guarantees com-
munication and transfer of meaning. But
hov oo vc cach grannar in his oihcrcn
paradigm?
We map a task to elicit the use of the
grammar concept while focusing on mean-
ing ano forn. If hc projcc's hnal proouc
is to produce a weather report, we pose the
following question: what are the language
points that the students need to master in
order to accomplish this task? Grammar
is to the service of authentic, real world
communication.
This last point leads us to contemplate
the ways in which we assess our language
students. At St. Andrews we do not give
raoiional hnal cxans in languagcs. Wc
organize instead performance assess-
ments, which are real indicators of what
our students will be asked to do in their
lives outside school. They are, at their
essence, problems or scenarios that mimic
situations from the real world. Students
and teachers, in partnership, remark and
oiscuss hc olscrvallc lcvcl of prohcicnc,,
or better said, What is the student able
to do in the foreign language and with
what degree of accuracy and complexity?
Throughout the year, our students are
asked to consider their own progress and
map out their resulting objectives in an
cxcrcisc of rchccion ha faciliacs hcir
own learning.
The following ways to present curricu-
lum constitute brain-compatible practices:
performances, authentic problems, simula-
tions, using technology, projects, scenarios,
and concept building, among others. Our
program endorses these practices while it
engages students in the discovery of anoth-
er language. At the same time, it grows the
self-awareness and empowerment of those
who are capable of functioning in another
cultural context that they understand and
respect.
WEB EXTRA
Listen to students and
teachers reect on their
performance assessments
in Foreign Language.
Maria Diaz (mdiaz@saes.org) is Head of the
Language Department.
H
ow would you recognize a school
that assigns great homework?
Would you choose the one that kept
students busy for the most hours
at night? That seems ridiculous, doesnt it?
And yet families and schools in the Wash-
ington, D.C., area seem to falsely equate
hours of homework with academic rigor.
What we should all be focusing on
instead is this question: What is great
homework?
First, lets address the question of
whether we should have homework at all.
As a professional learning community,
the St. Andrews faculty read The End
of Homework by Etta Kralovec and John
Buell a few years ago. The research on the
instructional value of homework is still un-
folding. There is reasonable agreement that
in elementary grades reading is the best
assignment. Older students appear to gain
sonc lcnch for hc hrs hour or vo ano
then additional time yields little result. But
we also know, from our research into how
minds learn best, that the type of work
teachers assign really matters, too.
At St. Andrews the students have
homework. Several teachers have conduct-
ed action research of their own to discover
if suocns lcnch. B, caching vihou
assigning homework and then teaching
while assigning a reasonable amount of re-
hccivc or rcinforcing qucsions, vc noco
a positive correlation with homework. But
we need to get the type of homework right.
Do so and we give our students the means
and motivation to focus on their academics
beyond the school day.
Give great homework and we get engage-
ment that extends learning; do homework
wrong and disengagement reigns supreme
and performance spirals downward. Engage-
ncn is kc, o chccivc lcarning, vih ruc
engagement anything is possible.
Do you remember ever getting that
assignment that so engrossed you that you
suddenly noticed it was late at night and
,ou hao no ioca hov all hosc hours hcv
by? What inspired you? Did you ever get a
packc of hllinhcllank vorkshccs ha
made your heart sink? Meaning, relevancy
or novelty lead to assignments that, even
if they dont inspire that night-owl fervor,
create engagement and thus learning. For
example, an upper school philosophy teach-
er uses a short paragraph by Nietzsche
with a brief paragraph response that starts
What Great
Homework Looks
Like
DAVID BROWN AND DR. IAN KELLEHER
18 T H E C E N T E R F O R T R A N S F O R M A T I V E T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G
19
with the students feeling comfortable but
which ultimately shocks themthis is the
hook; a 15 minute assignment that takes
the class to a higher level of discussion and
thought. But this is just part of the story at
St. Andrews. We can dig deeper; what is
great homework?
It begins with understanding how
student minds learn besta little research
in this area makes you realize that teachers
can both reduce the time students spend on
homework AND increase student learning.
Some strategies are teacher driven.
For example, research shows that tasks
that involve synopsis and recalllike a
hvcninuc sunnar, cssa, of hc oa,'s
classhelp students consolidate material
in their memory. The same is true of meta-
cognitive tasks that demand students to
rchcc on hov hc, arc lcarning. Suocns
also vork o rchnc assignncns ha hc,
have received carefully structured teacher
feedback onjust enough to help them
step forward, not too much to give the
game away.
1
Gcing his scaholoing righ
creates real engagement with the ideas and,
research shows, helps student performance.
Another example involves chunking.
The latest brain research tells us that most
teenagers can hold, and this may surprise
you, just three things in their active work-
ing memory at once. People get around this
by chunkingwe group bits of informa-
tion into larger chunks so the brain thinks
they are processing just one thing.
Creating great homework includes
crafting assignments that deliberately cre-
ate the chunking you want. This includes
memorizing factual knowledge because it
frees up limited space in a students active
working memory for higher order think-
ing. This is an chccivc, incchcicn va,
of increasing student performance, using
time outside of class, to increase what a
student can do in class.
The goal with all these assignments is
quality of work, not quantity of time spent.
Students recognize when they are being
given quality tasks for homeworkthey are
good at distinguishing real work from busy
work and when they are being given tasks
that have meaning for them. The kind of
tasks that move their learning forward.
One type of homework that has been
rccciving incrcasco acnion is hc hippco
classroom that has been inspired by re-
sources such as Khan Academy and Learn-
zillon
2
. One Upper School math teacher
vho has lccn cxpcrincning vih 'hip-
ping the traditional classroom model said,
I record my daily lesson and post it to the
Internet for the students to watch at home.
In class, the students spend time work-
ing prollcns. Thc lcnchs arc vofolo,
the students can watch the video multiple
times to ensure they have understood it
and in class, they can ask me questions and
get the necessary support while practicing
with the concepts and skills.
Other strategies are institutional. For
example, the St. Andrews schedule is
designed so that two days a week students
take half their classes for twice as long.
This is good for many reasonsa huge one
being that it reduces the amount of task
switching students have to do. Students
feel they do better work on the assignments
they have, and this positive feedback also
hclps as i foscrs cngagcncn ano conh-
dence. St. Andrews also makes sure that
the conversation of what is great homework
is an ongoing research topic that teachers
are driving forward through the sharing of
best practices based on brain research (see
Chapter XI). One outcome of such research
is that students who are not enrolled in
Advanced Placement classes will not have
homework over extended school breaks.
One important strategy is training stu-
dents how to do homework. For example,
research tells us that task switching (going
from the 10th math problem to Facebook
or Twitter then returning to the homework)
inhibits memory consolidation. Research
also suggests that music at the right beat
with no words, might help some tasksbut
not things related to memory storage. We
often coach our students to avoid listen-
ing to music when studying so that their
whole brain can be engaged in what they
are trying to have stick in their memory.
Getting students to resist these behaviors
is not an easy task, it goes against habit for
many. To help with this, we make sure it is
part of a much larger ongoing discussion
with students about metacognition and
sclf rchccion. Mioolc ano Uppcr School
students read articles such as, What You
Should Know About Your Brain. Why do
this? Because as the articles author, Dr.
Judy Willis states, Teaching students the
mechanism behind how the brain operates,
and teaching them approaches they can use
o vork ha ncchanisn norc chccivcl,,
helps students believe they can create a
more intelligent, creative, and powerful
brain.
3
Students should know, and be
honest about, what works for them as the
individual learner they are. Metacognition,
sclfrchccion ano cxploring sracgics arc
deeply ingrained parts of the St. Andrews
student experience. It is how we do school.
The best thing is, this works for all
students. Everyone, no matter how strong
a suocn, lcnchs fron hc S. Anorcv's
facultys attention to great homework. Bet-
ter assignments lead to better learning. A
stronger set of study skills enhance student
performance and potentially allow them to
sleep more. And we know from research
that sleep is critical to learning as it aids in
memory consolidation as well as playing a
critical role in immune function, metabo-
lism, and attitude.
4
Think of Sis,phushc hgurc fron
Greek Mythology condemned to roll the
boulder to the top of a hill only to see it
roll back downas a metaphor for more
traditional approaches to homework. And
as he climbs, he calls out, academic rigor
equates with the size of the homework
pile. So at St. Andrews we proudly say,
yes, our homework is indeed easierif
by easier you mean that it reduces the
Sisyphus mindset, where students feel
doomed to spend eternity pushing a
boulder of disinterest up a mountain of
worksheets and busy work. And it does so
precisely because it is anything but trivial.
It is purposeful; it is thoughtful; it is based
on how we know minds learn. But it goes
beyond this, we are also training habits of
mind, habits that our students will take
with them to whatever college they attend
or profession they choose. This is the
heart of St. Andrews desire to assign great
homework: a mindfulness towards work
that advances learning.

WEB EXTRA!
Listen to students talk
about homework at
St. Andrews.
David Brown is Head of
Upper School (dbrown@saes.org) and Dr. Ian
Kelleher (ikelleher@saes.org) is Head of the
Science Department.
Give great homework
and we get engagement
that extends learning;
do homework wrong
and disengagement
reigns supreme and
performance spirals
downward.
Learning is not only a cognitive and
social experience, but also an iden-
tity experience.
1
E
very student is on an identity jour-
nc,, onc ha has signihcan inplica-
tions for an individuals learning.
It is often an intense journey full
of emotion and resilience building, which
taps into brain function in myriad ways.
E.J., a senior at St. Andrews, thinks
huge thoughts every day. He loves to ana-
lyze the U.S. military-industrial complex
from all sides, using evidence and reason
from his diligent reading. E.J. has deep
levels of cognitive reasoning, but at times
gets slightly derailed in his ability to
capture those meaty ideas in writing. He is
also an African-American student of some
hnancial ncans, vho is sriving o hgurc
out his place in a predominately white,
ahucn inocpcnocn school. Whilc hc is
trying to organize his writing, his brain is
also working on some big questions: Who
am I? Who can I be in this school? Who is
having an experience similar to mine? Am
I oihcrcn, ano oocs i nacr`" Lcspic
lcing ahallc ano charisnaic, his journc,
to understand the many components of his
identity, as a learner and a social being, can
be challenging.
Those who work in education know
the importance of doing right by students
whose identity journeys are particularly
challenging. Diversity programs at schools
often center on those students whose
identities need shoring up, and building
awareness in the community about the
richness a diverse community can bring to
the learning experience. At St. Andrews,
we strive to do that and more by system-
atically considering the impact of identity
formation on learning, leadership, and
community building.
A few years ago, teachers at
St. Andrews underwent training in
educational neuroscience. Many of our
colleagues at St. Andrews thought, this
is a great diversity tool! We can now more
precisely describe each childs strengths
and weaknesses and work to maximize
their potential. We can avoid falling into
racial, class or other stereotypes to describe
a students learning or excuse low teacher
expectations. But we also questioned,
should a students identity matter in the
context of learning potential?
Brain rcscarch acuall, conhrns our
hypothesis that it ALL matters. We know
there is an interdependence of cognition
and emotion in the brain. Our ability to
bring information into the thinking areas
of the brain can be derailed by emotional
srcss. A ncar consan hov o hc lrain
of stress-produced cortisol causes the brain
to focus solely on physical survival, rather
than higher order cognition.
2
Educational
institutions should recognize this impor-
tant cognitive phenomenon and work to
niigac hc chccs. Sinilarl,, knoving
the power of emotion in learning, we as
educators should look for ways to maxi-
mize students emotional connection to
academic content.
We are a very diverse campus at
St. Andrews, but like most independent
Great Minds Do Not
Think Alike: How
Diversity Impacts the
Learning Environment
RODNEY GLASGOW AND STACY KINCAID
20 T H E C E N T E R F O R T R A N S F O R M A T I V E T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G
21
schools we have a majority group that is
mostly white, Christian, and of consider-
able means. This creates various minority
groups on campus. In our work, we strive
to separate the existence of a majority
group from the presence of a dominant
culture.
Our diversity work builds on a campus
culture that has various frames of refer-
ence, as cultural anthropologist John Ogbu
would say, in which our dominant culture
is based on shared values that cross the hu-
man experience and are not limited to any
onc culurc. This is rchccco in our honor
codes insistence upon respect, equality,
honesty, and trustuniversal attributes
that ask us to be good human beings, with-
out regard to race, gender, religion, sexual
orientation, etc. Through that, we aim to
prevent the status problem that can come
from an individuals feeling that his or her
culture is outside of the norm, which often
leads to an oppositional experience that
can hinder learning. The four concepts of
honesty, trust, respect and equality become
our common cultural ground that allows
us to celebrate accomplishments as well as
rchcc on ransgrcssions in a nanncr ha
is accessible to all.
What can happen when the culture of a
suocn's school oihcrs signihcanl, fron
the students home culture? Ogbus work
also rcfcrcnccs ahccivc oissonancc, or hc
concept that minority group members who
decide to participate in activities or be-
haviors that are perceived to be associated
primarily with the dominant group experi-
ence an emotional push and pull between
their native and their target cultures, often
manifesting in feelings of betrayal or du-
plicity.
3
At St. Andrews, we aim to lessen
hc ahccivc oissonancc ha coulo occur
for students whose home cultures may not
be as closely aligned with the perceived
culture at our school.
Through our advisor program, we
solidify the partnership between school
and home, thereby chipping away at the
feeling that school culture and home
culture are mutually exclusive or worlds
apart. The more that we bring the whole
fanil, ino our chors o coucac ,oung
people, the tighter the web of support that
children need to be successful. Our student
ahni, groups, hc Jcvish tulurc tlul,
Black Student Alliance, the Gay Straight
Alliance (GSA), Arabic Culture Club,
Diversity Club, and Gospel Choir provide
a space at school where home culture can
lc nururco. Ahni, groups ohcr a lrcak
from integration fatigue while providing
a strong message to students that we sup-
port the internal integration of their full
selves into our community.
We know through research that cogni-
ion ano cnoion arc hrn parncrs. Wh,
does that compel us to create inclusive
school environments? Because, when we
dont feel safe, or supported, when our
brains are dealing with processing the
complicated (and often survivalist) reac-
tions that can come from a heightened
sense of emotion, there is simply less brain
power available to lay the track for learn-
ing and retention.
The presence of our GSA stands as an
example of our understanding of this im-
portant relationship. The Gay, Lesbian and
Straight Education Network (GLSEN) 2009
National School Climate Survey reports
that nearly 30% of LGBT students missed
either a class or an entire day of school
in a given month and that students who
were victims of homophobic harassment
in schools underperformed compared to
those who were not victimized.
4
GLSEN
also ohcrs ha schools vih an ani
bullying policy that explicitly admonishes
against homophobic and sexist words and
actions leads to a more proactively safe
environment for LGBT students.
St. Andrews has such a policy that stands
alongside our day-to-day work on anti-ho-
mophobia. The safe space of the GSA, and
the inclusivity modeled in our policies and
practices, allow our LGBT students and
their allies to come to class with a mind
more focused on the classroom than the
hallways, giving them a more level cogni-
ivc pla,ing hclo.
What we have always done well at
St. Andrews is to know our students
from every angle. Since we incorporated a
research-based approach to teaching and
learning, we now factor in a students iden-
tity journey into our analysis and strategies
to help him or her reach their learning
potential. We are able to pinpoint the most
critical areas of cognitive weakness in chil-
orcn, ano nolilizc chors o aoorcss hosc
vulnerabilities. Our PS-12th grade level
discussions about a student involve teachers
describing a childs active working memory
along with observations about how issues
of identity may be impacting their learning.
Tcachcrs in cvcr, oivision hno va,s of
providing connection, safety, and an under-
standing of social norms, as explained by
Christine Lewis in Chapter Four.
Resilience is another interesting
component of brain activity and identity.
The ability to bounce back from setbacks
is essential to many biological and well-
functioning social systems. Resilience is
the key to biological evolution, successful
govcrnncn lcaocrship, as vcll as proh
driven companies. The key to sustaining
such organisms and institutions, is their
ability to withstand the inevitable shocks
to the system.
5
Similarly, the human brain
is wired for, and seeks out resilience.
When asked how we summarize
the work we do at St. Andrews around
identity and diversity, we like to refer to
Beverly Tatums research around creating
inclusive environments in her book, Can
We Talk About Race?.
6
An institution must
ahrn iocni,, culivac lcaocrship, ano
build community to become truly inclu-
sive. At St. Andrews, we take that frame-
work one step further to argue that an
inclusive school must support every childs
important journey toward understanding
themselves as learners and people.
WEB EXTRA!
Listen to teachers and
students talk about
diversity at St. Andrews.
Rodney Glasgow
(rglasgow@saes.org) is Head of Middle School
and Stacy Kincaid (skincaid@saes.org) is
Director of Diversity.
I
n 2002, I graduated from St. Andrews
and went to Duke University on a soc-
cer scholarship. The majority of people
who attend Duke come from schools
like St. Andrews. However, in my fresh-
man year writing seminar I was paired
with a girl who was not as fortunate. We
had to turn in a paper as a pair. We each
ook a sal a oihcrcn sccions. Whcn shc
sent me her part, it was immediately clear
to me that she did not experience the rigor
and instruction that I had from attending
St. Andrews in middle and high school.
Her sentences were run-ons, her writing
was unclear; there was no structure. She
was not able to write clearly and logically, a
skill that I learned early on and completely
took for granted. It was at this moment,
that I realized the exceptional quality of
the education I received in those formative
7-12 grade years. Essentially, St. Andrews
gave me the foundation to be successful at
Duke academically by providing me with
an exceptional education and teaching me
how I learn best.
St. Andrews allowed me to discover
my learning strengths, and allowed my
friends to do the same. It is a place where
all types of learners can develop. I left high
school as a successful learner and with
the knowledge of how I learn best. That
resulted in a continuous desire to learn and
develop. This is a desire I still have today,
and has been at the forefront of my career
decisions.
The quality of my high school education
motivated me to join Teach For America
after getting my undergraduate degree. In
college, I realized how important educa-
tion is to a persons success. Some of my
peers, who were not as fortunate as I was,
were at an academic disadvantage at Duke.
Despite that, they were likely going to be
successful in their chosen careers because
they earned a college degree from an excep-
tional university. It really troubled me that
some children would be at a disadvantage
in high school if they didnt have a good
middle school education, and behind in
middle school if they didnt have a good
elementary school education.
Would these children ever even make it
to college? It didnt seem right that because
n, parcns vcrc hnanciall, allc o scno
me to an academically rigorous school, and
others parents are not, I got a better educa-
tion that allowed me to get into Duke and
thrive. I joined Teach For America because
The Roots of Student
Success
CAROLYN FORD (CLASS OF 2002) AND NICOLE HAUSPURG (CLASS OF 2005)
St. Andrews allowed
me to discover my
learning strengths, and
allowed my friends
to do the same. It is a
place where all types
of learners can develop.
I left high school as a
successful learner and
with the knowledge of
how I learn best.
22 T H E C E N T E R F O R T R A N S F O R M A T I V E T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G
23
I believe that a great education is a civil
right, and an equalizer.
After teaching I continued my educa-
tion and earned an MBA. In my post-
MBA position, I learn and develop each
daysomething that is necessary for my
carccra ninosc ha I hrs ocvclopco
while at St. Andrews.
CAROLYN FORD 02
I
remember what I hear. This type of
learning is rare. Studies show that
people remember only 10% of what
they hear, 30% of what they read, but
80% of what they see.
1
I fall ino ha hrs
cacgor,. Spccihcall,, I rcncnlcr voiccs.
These voices are a common thread connect-
ing each step of my educational journey.
It was at St. Andrews that I began to
truly listen to these voices and in doing so
lcarnco ha hc criical oihcrcncc lcvccn
a degree and an education is measured by
how we act upon what we learn. I continue
o lcnch fron S. Anorcv's nission o
know and inspire each child, for it helped
cultivate, support and encourage my own
unique learning style. This learning style
of listening to the voices around me can be
summarized in an education equation of
sorts: knowledge + inspiration = positive
change.
Thc hrs voiccs I cncouncrco a
St. Andrews were inside the classroom.
Confronted by a break to my dominant
arm in middle school, one of my teachers
suggested I take notes and tests with a tape
recorder. He quelled my fears of receiving
special treatment by explaining that my
education was not just for me, but for those
I would impact in the future. In contrast to
an anticipated decline in grades, my newly
acquired auditory study skills propelled me
into a new place academically. I not only
learned how I learned best, but I came to
love what I learned. Compounded with this
newfound understanding of my learning
style, I was encouraged by my teachers to
listen closely, think critically, and respond
creatively to issues and questions that arose
in the classroom. In classes that I gravitat-
ed towards, as well as those I struggled in,
I found my teachers patient and willing to
help me better understand. I am grateful to
those voices, for now I recognize how the
St. Andrews faculty used theirs to inspire
students to better understand the world
around us.
The second type of voices St. Andrews
encouraged me to listen to were those
outside the classroom. My most memo-
rable classes were those that bridged the
lessons in my books with people and
events outside of the classroom. The Oral
History Project encouraged me to absorb
the words of civil rights activists and
social justice trailblazersthe voices of
Americans who had lived lives of knowl-
edge translated into action. The Race &
Culture class featured service learning and
exchange between students of not only
oihcrcn schools, lu oihcrcn conincns,
and broadened my perspective by introduc-
ing me to voices of courage, social change
and hope that I carry with me to this day.
Service opportunities, such as the Senior
Project, helped humanize issues and tools
I learned about in class and put them in a
modern day context. This way of learning
continually emphasized that knowing is not
enough but coupled with inspiration, it
is a catalyst to contribute positively to the
wider community.
Finally, St. Andrews encouraged me
to listen to voices beyond the classroom.
In college, I was well prepared to listen
critically and respond constructively to
the voices around me through classes,
extracurricular activities and direct service.
On a volunteer trip for Hurricane relief my
freshman year in college, a classmate and I
were motivated by the voices of survivors.
We put together a campus organization
providing women students a space to add
their voice to the political dialogue. After
graouaion, a an incrnaional nonproh,
I learned to listen to and advocate for the
voices of women human rights survivors
and activists from around the world.
Now in law school, I am determined to
become a better advocateto use my voice
to amplify the voices of those who can only
whisper.
Above all, St. Andrews taught me how
to listen. While the auditory learner in me
prefers listening to speaking, beginning at
St. Andrews, listening to voices galvanized
nc o hno ano usc n, ovn. In ooing so,
St. Andrews bridged the gap between
knowledge and action, through inspiration.
In this way, I learned that the substance of
what I learn and process through which I
learn it are inextricably connected; know-
ing is about the substance of what I learn,
and being inspired is how I seek to trans-
late this knowledge into positive change.
NICOLE HAUSPURG 05
WEB EXTRA!
Read more St. Andrews
alumni success stories.
Carolyn Ford 02 earned an
undergraduate degree from
Duke, and after serving in Teach For America,
has earned an M.B.A. from Dukes Fuqua School
of Business. She now works for The Boston
Consulting Group. Nicole Hauspurg 05 earned
an undergraduate degree from Georgetown
University, and after working for the nonprot
Vital Voices Global Partnership, is now a
student at Boston College Law School.
Above all, St. Andrews
taught me how to listen.
While the auditory
learner in me prefers
listening to speaking,
beginning at
St. Andrews, listening
to voices galvanized me
to nd and use my own.
In doing so, St. Andrews
bridged the gap between
knowledge and action,
through inspiration.
A
s an Episcopal school, service to
others is encoded in St. Andrews
DNA. It is part and parcel of who
we are, included in our mission
statement, and incorporated into curricu-
lum and community life alike.
In keeping with the teachings of most
major religious traditions, we understand
ourselves to be called by God to love our
neighborswhich is to say, the neighbors
we know and the neighbors we have yet
to meet. This means genuinely caring for
and about other people, providing for
hcir nccos as appropriac, ano ohcring a
compassionate, empathetic ear whenever
possible. While a life shaped by service is
rarcl, 'cas," or 'conforallc," hc lcnchs
of service can be life-changing.
In addition to contributing to our
Episcopal identity, service is essential to
St. Andrews mission because it leads to
growth. We all know this intuitively. At its
core, service invites us to redirect our gaze
cvcn if onl, lrich,ava, fron our
own interests and desires. This, in turn,
cannot help but expand our worldview. We
understand this at St. Andrews, which is
why, from our youngest children raising
money to buy goats for our sister school
in Haiti, to our 12th graders devoting
60 hours to in-depth community service
before graduation, every student has
multiple opportunities over the course of
his or her school career to grow through
serving others.
What is particularly exciting for us as
educators is to hear students articulate
their experiences with serviceincluding
both the joys and the challenges. Upon
returning from a service trip in downtown
Washingon, an cighh graocr ohcrco hc
folloving rchccion in thapcl.
Unlike the other service sites I had
worked at previously, I was interacting
face-to-face with the needy community
of the D.C. area. Originally I had wanted
to work in the kitchen. I had purposely
intended not to interact with these
people. Luckily for me, though I didnt
know it at the time, the opportunity
passed for me to participate in the food
preparation. Instead I got to experience
something that many people never get to
do. I got to meet and talk directly with
people in need.
This students shift, from concern over
contact with these people to embrac-
ing with enthusiasm the opportunity to
meet and talk with folks in need, points
to a fairly dramatic sea-change in rela-
tively short order. These connections are
transformative. As they start to imagine
themselves in the shoes of the other, stu-
ocns hcx hcir cnpah, ano conpassion
muscles in newand perhaps altogether
surprisingways.
But what does all of this have to do
with neuroscience? How does serving oth-
ers shape not only students character but
also their malleable brains?
I urns ou ha hc chccs of scrvicc
on brain development are myriad. Re-
nowned psychologist Daniel Goleman, who
is perhaps best known for his work with
emotional intelligence, has collaborated
in recent years with the Dalai Lama, him-
Brain Changer:
How Service
Enhances Learning
THE REVEREND PATRICIA PHANEUF ALEXANDER
24 T H E C E N T E R F O R T R A N S F O R M A T I V E T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G
25
self a dedicated student of neuroscience.
By studying the brain scans of Buddhist
monks during meditations designed to
promote feelings of compassion, Goleman
discovered what he refers to as a brain
shift when compassion is generated.
Goleman concludes that, The very act of
concern for others well-beingcreates a
greater state of well-being within oneself.
1

tlcarl, Golcnan's hnoings havc
important implications for schools, where
students regularly do battle with feelings
of stress and fear. When the amygdala, the
emotional center in the brain, is assaulted
by fear or stress, both short-term memory
retention and higher-order cognition are
impacted negatively.
2
But studies show
that the converse is also true: When the
anterior cingulate, the structure in the
brain associated with empathy, is active,
attention, working memory, motivation,
and many other executive functions are
improved.
3
This underscores the value of
placing students in situations in which
they have an opportunity to experience
feelings of empathy
and compassion for
others. By develop-
ing caring rela-
tionships through
service, students
rcap signihcan
ncurocoucaional lcnchs ha inpac
their own learning.
In addition to shaping students ability
to empathize with others, service learning
also has been shown to stimulate the brain
simply by virtue of its nature and design.
We know that exposure to novel condi-
tions and stimulisuch as the student
who couldnt hide in the kitchenhelps
the brain to grow in new ways.
4
As well,
service learning provides a context in
which students can make connections
between content learned in the classroom
and its application in real-life.
So how do we, as parents and educa-
ors, lcvcragc hcsc nan, lrainlcnchcial
chccs of scrvicc lcarning for our ovn
students? To begin, we can support our
young peoples enthusiasm for service by
providing opportunities to participate in
up-close-and-personal, face-to-face experi-
ences that will enable them to build up
their compassion muscles. In addition, and
perhaps even more importantly, we must
give students a chance to rc[cci on their
experiences in order to mine them for
what theyve learned. Research literature
lcars ou hc inporancc of rchccion as
the transformative link between the ac-
tion of serving and the ideas and under-
standing of learning.
5
A S. Anorcv's, facul, ohcr such nca-
cognitive moments in which students are
asked to think about what and how they
learn, all the time. Whether it is through
journal exercises or class discussions, infor-
mal bus ride conversations or Chapel talks,
students are challenged regularly to inter-
pret and extract meaning from their service
of others. This provides an opportunity to
acknowledge any preconceived stereotypes
or reservations they might have harbored,
as well as to claim their own struggles to
make peace with a world still marked by
social and economic
disparity.
St. Andrews
students are
groomed for service
from a very young
age, and they love
it. The fact that
it also helps to
improve their sense
of well-being, their
social cognition,
their higher-order
cognition, and their
problem-solving
skills is icing on the
cake.
6
Perhaps we
need not let them
know how good it
is for them, lest it
somehow diminish the appeal. The brain-
lasco lcnchs of scrvicc can rcnain our
little secret!
WEB EXTRA!
Listen to St. Andrews
students and teachers talk
about their service work
in Haiti at the National
Association of Episcopal
Schools Conference.
Patricia Alexander (palexander@saes.org)
is Chaplain to the Middle and Upper Schools
and Head of the Philosophy and Religion
Department. Ginger Cobb (gcobb@saes.org) is
Assistant Head of the Upper School and Co-
Director of Service Learning.
What Service Looks Like in the
9th Grade Classroom
GINGER COBB
FOR THE PAST SEVEN YEARS, St. Andrews 9th grade Service Learning students
have discovered rst hand the issues of homelessness. By having a meal and
a conversation at Loaves and Fishes with local homeless men, women, and
children; by selling newspapers for their assigned vendor from Street Sense; by
chopping carrots at DC Central Kitchen; by boxing canned goods for Capital Area
Food Bank; and by gleaning food for local shelters.
One student in the Service Learning class remarked, I wasnt sure what to
expect from our rst service learning trip, but I knew I needed to be open-minded
and step out of my comfort zone. Going into the Samaritan Ministrys ofce
helped me see how helpful and effective they can really be. I also benetted from
hearing the real, true-life stories of some of the participants. Its amazing to me to
see how much Samaritan Ministry can do for the homeless.
Another student said the rst thing I think of when I see a homeless person is
odd. I dont want to talk to them. When we went to Loaves and Fishes, I talked to
a man who was homeless, but he acted like a normal person, just like me.
In Mary Helen Immordino-Yang and Antonio Damasios article, We Feel,
Therefore We Learn: The Relevance of Affective and Social Neuroscience to Edu-
cation, the authors state, As recent advances in the neurobiology of emotions
reveal, in the real world, cognition functions in the service of life-regulating
goals, implemented by emotional machinery. As educators
have long known, it is simply not enough for students to
master knowledge and logical reasoning skills in the tradi-
tional academic sense. They must be able to choose among
and recruit these skills and knowledge usefully outside of
the structured context of a school or laboratory.
1
At St. Andrews, we believe that our service learning pro-
gram provides our students with the crucial opportunities to
go outside of the structured environment of the classroom
and learn about themselves and others in meaningful and
powerful ways.
T
eacher researchresearch that
teachers perform in their class-
rooms and with their students
has always been a problematic
concept in academic circles. Many believe
that you can choose to be a teacher or a
researcher, but not both. No Child Left
Behind has reinforced this dichotomy, with
high-stakes, standards-based testing de-
crnining funoing ano ochning acaocnic
achievement.
At St. Andrews, we believe that such
educational trends make what we do every
day with students and teachers that much
more essential. Teachers here do not mere-
ly consume the knowledge that researchers
such as Mariale Hardiman, Daniel Willing-
ham, and dd Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa
produce, but instead actively construct
their own. The best teachers, whether they
work with preschoolers or AP students, de-
hnc hcnsclvcs in his va,. Thcir hinking
is predicated on the principle that teachers
are researchers, constantly looking for
ways to improve the learning environment
they design for their students.
With the recent emphasis on educa-
tional neuroscienceof developmental
psychology, neuroscience, and cognitive
sciencethe idea of teacher as researcher
has become an even more reciprocal one at
St. Andrews. The more a teacher research-
es how the mind works, the better she is
able to implement strategies to enhance
teaching and learning in the classroom.
This, in turn, compels the teacher also to be
researching within his classroom, testing
hypotheses in current research, and build-
ing theories of his own through application
and analysis. Thus the tension between
teacher and researcher becomes one of
symbiotic partnership.
This rchccivc aiuoc is hc hallnark
of exceptional teaching and learning at
St. Andrews. Decisions we make about
how and what to teach are generated
organically from current research and
from classroom experiences. We know that
our teachers are the authorities on their
classrooms and with their studentsand
should be valued and encouraged to see
themselves as such.
But how does this happen?
We are constantly using research to
validate, inform, and enhance our pro-
gran ano curriculun o h our suocns
ano classroons. This rchccs our lclicf
that what makes teaching and learning
exceptional is that it embraces research
as a means by which to further profes-
sionalize our educational practice. From
afternoon sessions to week-long national
conferences, teachers are constantly seek-
ing opportunities to learn beyond the walls
of St. Andrews. This also includes our
burgeoning association with The Johns
Hopkins School of Education and partner-
ship with Teach For America, wherein we
have had the opportunity to train, mentor
and partner with hundreds of local public
school teachers and develop our excep-
tional school visits program. Additionally,
many teachers use their summer months
to deepen their professional practice
through our grant programs and through
sunncr rcaoing. All of his forihcs a
Great Teachers are
Great Researchers
DRESDEN KOONS
26 T H E C E N T E R F O R T R A N S F O R M A T I V E T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G
27
culurc of rchccivc pracicc ano cviocncc
based methodology.
Decisions we make about how and what
to teach are also generated from our own
oail, rchccions. Onc such va, involvcs
the creation and maintenance of student
lcarning prohlcs, or SLPs. Bcginning as
early as Kindergarten, teachers partner
with colleagues, parents, and students to
luilo inoivioualizco lcarning prohlcs ha
highlight each students neurodevelopmen-
al srcnghs, grovh arcas, ano ahniics
and thus live our mission of knowing and
inspiring cach chilo." Thcsc prohlcs arc no
static, either. They grow and change with
our students each year, just as every child
grows and changes each year.
SLPs illuminate our institutional belief
that the research
we perform as
teachers should
not happen
in classroom
silos but instead
through think-
ing and learn-
ing together.
We have a
professional
responsibility
to collaborate
in myriad ways.
From our in-
service days to our opening and closing
employee meetings to weekly divisional
meetings, we constantly learn from each
other, troubleshoot together, and adapt
strategies to strengthen learning across
classrooms, grade levels, and disciplines.
Ano vho lcnchs fron all of his` Thc
answer is simple: our students do.
Thus, as St. Andrews teachers, we
have become even more metacognitive
about how we teach and learn and, in so
doing, better support our students and
each other. Its the same goal we instill in
our students: to understand themselves
as learners so that they are their own best
advocates moving forward. St. Andrews
commitment to the belief of teacher as
researcher thus encourages the possibility
of transformation and renewal for every
teacher, just as it does for every student.
WEB EXTRA!
See how research informs
and transforms teaching
and learning at
St. Andrews Lower School.
Amy Helms (ahelms@saes.org) teaches
4th grade and Dresden Koons (dkoons@saes.org)
is Head of Lower School.
Finding the Right Recipe:
How to Cook for Every Student
AMY HELMS
IT HAS BECOME A CLICH TO SAY that in the information age, students must
learn to express themselves in order to be successful. We know kids need founda-
tional writing skills but, year after year, students struggle with writing. That was
exactly the case last year in my fth-grade class.
My students parents and I were concerned that, despite the time students
were putting into research and writing, their ideas lacked focus. More discon-
certing, they saw writing as a challenge and a chore.
Like most educators, my initial response was that these children would re-
quire more. More time. More help on assignments. More tutoring.
But what exactly was I going to do with all that more? I could sit down with
them and help them revise our current assignmentbut that was not going to
give them the tools in the short or long-term to
become more procient writers.
What actual techniques could I share that
would help them develop the critical written
expression skills they needed? I spoke with fellow
teachers, researched professional texts for instruc-
tional strategies, and came up with a laundry list
of ideas. They needed better outlines. They needed
to use technology. Better still, they could learn re-
vision strategies. In essence, I had a spice cabinet
of options.
But what was the right kind of seasoning? In
order to move forward, I had to pull something off
the shelf and try it.
I began by teaching them how to use an orga-
nizational ow chart to sequence their work. This worked for some, but not for
everyone. Some students needed a little more seasoning.
Like a researcher (and chef), I observed what was happening and tested pos-
sible solutions. I looked over their work and saw they were missing transition
words. I pulled a group together and taught them how to revise by adding tran-
sitions. Their pieces now had a lot of Therefores and In additions, but the
writing still did not ow smoothly. I turned to colleagues for ideas. Our librarian
suggested I incorporate the use of the learning software, Kidspiration, which,
with the click of a button, transfers a childs outline into a Word document.
This resource helped, as their paragraphs were now sequenced logically and
their ideas were clearly reected in their writing. However, their paragraphs
remained sparse. For some, I had found just the right set of ingredients, for oth-
ers, I would need to keep trying. If there is one thing students hate to do most, it
is to revise their work. Once students are done, they rarely want to go back and
change words, add and subtract lines, orworst of alladd detail. So I intro-
duced the process of oral rehearsal whereby students can say what they are
going to write out loud to a partner before committing it to paper.
Looking back, no one of these strategies was the magic bullet. I did not pull
out the ideal spice in perfect proportion on the rst try. Instead, teacher and
students worked in concert with one another. Some students needed one or two
strategies, and others needed them all. Through each trial, I learned how each
of my fth graders approached the writing process, observing what they were
doing and hypothesizing, theorizing, and testing solutions. Every trial was closer
to the right t. And, pretty soon, I realized that the right tools were going to be
different for each child.
What I have learned as a teacher through processes like this one is that there are
no neat and simple solutions when students encounter difculty in the classroom.
More time. More practice. More technology. Those are quick and easy answers
to complex problems. The real work of helping each child achieve his potential is
messy and requires many false startsbut that is the work, and joy, of teaching.
S
mart use of technology deepens
learning. It allows students to de-
sign, study, research, communicate,
and self-direct their learning in
ways only 21st century technologies allow.
How do we know this? Begin by asking
a teacher. In the words of Judy Kee, our 5th
grade teacher, Brain research shows that
positive interest and appeal really helps
learning. And I think laptops actually bring
a lot of appeal to the students for their
learning. Next, pop into any St. Andrews
classroom. Youre likely to hear snippets of
cch jargon hoaing l,. Wih a lapop in hc
hands of every student, technology use has
evolved from a special event to a natural
part of the learning process. Teachers are
assuming new roles in the classroom, mov-
ing away from the lectern and allowing
students an equal footing to share their
expertise with technology tools and skills,
in a learning partnership.
On the Postoak campus (grades 4-12),
on hc sccono hoor of hc nain luiloing,
youll reach the 7th Grade Life Science
classroom. In the far back corner of a
bright-windowed classroom, Josh is adjust-
ing the camera focus as his partner makes
a tiny move of the cardboard pieces of the
cell cycle they have both helped to design
(see Chapter II). For their stop-motion
animation project, they have shared
the roles of researcher, writer, producer,
director, set designer, camera operator
ano coior. Thc hnal novic is all hcir
creation, to be shared with classmates,
teacher, family, and if they choose, a larger
community through YouTube. When the
credits role, the students take bows for the
fun and comprehensive animated movie
they produced. They are virtually unaware
that they now understand the process of
mitosis well enough to teach it to others.
For assessment purposes, their teacher has
an immediate window into their level of
understanding for this unit.
With professional-level technology tools
to explore, collaborate and create with,
students experience learning on a more
personalized level. Brain research tells us
that emotion acts as a lubricant for learn-
ing as well as a glue to help new ideas stick.
The more a student can recognize the real-
world relevance of classroom content and
make it meaningful personally, the more
deeply engaged that student becomes, both
emotionally and intellectually.
Textbooks and lectures have their
purpose and their place, but alongside
these traditional teaching tools, we now
hno suocncrcaco ools of lcarning
podcasts, stop-motion animations, blogs,
glogs, digital books and music. The list goes
on. Technology is fueling this transforma-
tion where teachers are allowing students
the responsibility to be co-creators of their
own learning, just as they are encouraged
and guided to understand how they learn
best. Placing this responsibility and trust
in students as learning partners raises the
expectation that they will take advantage of
the professional tools to make connections.
Having used stop-motion in his middle
school science project, Josh had a highly
personal experience of learning. Based on
the positive emotion connected with this,
The iSchool:
Smart Technology for
Every Student
ANNE MACDONELL
28 T H E C E N T E R F O R T R A N S F O R M A T I V E T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G
29
he is more likely to take the risk to choose
increasingly creative means to express his
learning through high school, encouraged by
his teachers. Through engagement in mean-
ingful, collaborative learning, Josh becomes
norc conhocn in appl,ing criical hinking
to knowledge and presenting projects in
varied media using 21st century tools.
The power of putting a laptop into
the hands of every student comes from
a combination of teacher willingness to
transform the traditional classroom roles
and student initiative to meet the chal-
lenge of being a partner in learning.
Still, questions remain about how
much technology enhances student
learning as well as what are some of the
drawbacks to deeper technology integra-
tion. Cathy Davidson writes in her book,
Now You See It: How Technology and Brain
Science Will Transform Schools and Busi-
nesses for the 21st Century, Many of our
anxieties about how the new digital tech-
nologies of today are damaging our chil-
dren are based on the old idea of neural
ocvclopncn as hxco, or 'harovirco," ano
on notions of distraction and disruption
as hindrances instead of opportunities for
learning.
1
Davidson believes that concerns about
attention and multi-tasking do not account
for Donald Hebbs theory of learning
ha ahrns lrain plasici,, or vha can
lc sunnarizco as 'Wha hrcs ogchcr,
wires together. Davidson maintains
that the many items clamoring for our
attention represent opportunities for the
lrain o forn ncv ano norc chcicn
patterns, which do not accumulate on top
of previously learned routines but replace
them. This new theory has replaced the
previously accepted educational theory
that knowledge accumulates in a linear
fashion.
2

At St. Andrews, our work on under-
standing the impact of the latest neurosci-
ence research on teaching and learning has
already transformed our classrooms and
our pedagogy. In recent years, as a result
of training, we have moved well out of our
comfort zone as the sage on the stage to
assume new roles facilitating discovery,
creation, critical and independent thinking.
Teaching at St. Andrews is a process
of continuous renewal in a community of
lifelong learners. With the arrival of our
one-to-one laptop
program in 2012,
our teachers are
collaborating to
re-examine, expand
and update their
approach in the
classroom. They
are blending new
digital tools into
a curriculum that
supports the latest
in what we know
about how the
brain learns best.
As they explore
new possibili-
ties for integrat-
ing technology,
faculty members
share what they
have learned across
grade levels. The
encouragement and
inspiration they
derive from work-
ing with supportive
collcagucs ohcr cachcrs a safc cnviron-
ment to take risks with new teaching
methodologies and technologies.
A teacher who understands the neu-
roscience behind the learning process is
key to achieving authentic and measur-
able results when it comes to utilizing
technology. It is also crucial that a teacher
establish learning goals. At St. Andrews,
our faculty are informed by this process
to determine essential questions for each
course, and often for each unit in a course,
as vcll as chccivc asscssncn nchoos.
As they recreate their courses continu-
ally, teachers will each develop a person-
alized technology toolkit comprised of
software, websites, and resources that are
used, to varying degrees, to enhance learn-
ing. Some of these tech tools will be used
across the curriculum and others on an
infrequent or specialized basis.
At St. Andrews, faculty in all divisions
arc naking an chor o cnlracc changc.
Just as the brain rewires itself for greater
chcicnc, vhcn i cncouncrs ncv knovl-
edge, so our teachers are transforming
their methods to create new opportunities
and pathways for learning engagement.
WEB EXTRA!
Listen to Intermediate
School teachers talk about
St. Andrews 1-to-1 laptop
program.
Anne Macdonell (amacdonell@saes.org) is
Director of Academic Technology.
With professional-level
technology tools to
explore, collaborate and
create with, students
experience learning on a
more personalized level.
Brain research tells us
that emotion acts as a
lubricant for learning as
well as a glue to help
new ideas stick.
F
or years we have been trying to help
soccer players understand the proper
technique for passing the ball using
the inside of their foot. We would de-
clare, Heel down, toe up or even go so far
as to hold a players foot and ask them to
lock their ankle as we attempted to press it
down. In the past, it might take weeks or
longcr for hcn o hnall, unocrsano ano
implement what we had been trying to
teach them.
Today, that same exercise takes days,
sometimes even less. That same athlete
gcs visual conhrnaion of hcir cch-
niquegood or badas we record their
passing during a practice using an iPad and
play it back for them on the spot for imme-
diate feedback. The use of this technology
is transformative in that it creates a more
brain friendly learning environment on the
hclo. I is a rcsul of hov nuch norc vc
know about how student athletes learn.
Onc of hc grca opporuniics ahoroco
to teachers is the ability to work with
students both in the classroom and on
hc ahlcic hclo. A S. Anorcv's, a high
school student-athlete spends nearly three
and a half hours per week in the classroom
of each of his or her subjects. A junior
varsity or varsity athletes spends approxi-
mately ten hours training or competing in
hcir spccihc spor.
The responsibilities and skill set of a
coach are similar to those of a teacher.
They nobly pursue providing each of
their student-athletes with the knowl-
cogc, skills ano conhocncc ncccssar, o
ncc hcir pocnial on hc hclo, cour, or
track. Assessments come in the form of
games, matches, practices, competitions,
and relevant statistics. Thus, like teachers,
how coaches deliver technical and tactical
information to the team or individual has
strong implications for personal and col-
lective growth and success. Unfortunately,
most coaches teach their sports in one
predominate, traditional way.
Similar to the classroom, students
bring their unique learning strengths and
weaknesses to the sport in which they
play. More importantly, sports, with their
increased neuromotor demands, provide
a oihcrcn arcna for alcns ha na, lic
dormant in the classroom. But a student
who struggles understanding concepts
delivered orally in class will have the same
prollcn on hc ahlcic hclo.
As recreational, club, and high school
coaches, we have observed that lecture,
model, and drill remain the prevailing way
high school athletes are taught. Dont just
take our word for it. Observe how coaches
interact with their players at halftime
of almost any game and you will see the
predominate coaching style in action. Cer-
tainly, the magnetic board and chalkboard,
as well as technology, can also be found
in many coaches toolbox. We also believe
strongly, that knowledge of how the
brain learns needs to also be part of every
coachs training and communication if
he or she truly wants to get the best from
each student-athlete.
The Center for Transformative Teach-
ing and Learning is helping St. Andrews
coaches recognize that whole class and
Building Better
Athletes
KEVIN MCSHANE AND GLENN WHITMAN
30 T H E C E N T E R F O R T R A N S F O R M A T I V E T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G
31
individual instructional strategies they use
when teaching their students should also
be utilized when coaching their athletes.
toachcs, likc cachcrs, nus oihcrcni-
ate their instruction. Exceptional coaches
deliver information visually, auditorily
(orally), and kinesthetically (VAK). As
coaches of a team sport, we recognize each
player as an individual who might be at
oihcrcn a placc in hc ocvclopncn of
their athletic brain and body. We coaches
need to design practices with this concept
in mind. But we also try to engender the
valuc of haro vork ano chor.
As mentioned by Karen Kaufman in
thapcr XIV, chor is sonching ha can
be taught and controlled by the individual
student-athlete. Much has been written
alou hc connccion lcvccn chor
and achievement. In terms of athletics,
research claims that 10,000 hours of delib-
erate practice, whether through organized
training sessions, or self-training, is what
makes certain athletes world-class.
1
De-
liberate practice requires that one identify
ccrain sharpl, ochnco clcncns of pcr-
formance that need to be improved, and
then work intently on them.
2
As coaches,
vc ncco o hno cach pla,cr's noivaion
so they will not only see the need, but also
actually put in the hard work to reach his
or her potential.
Deep athletic practice of the kind men-
tioned in recent social commentary (such
as The Talent Code) places large demands
on each students mind including, but not
limited to the eight neurodevelopmental
constructs that St. Andrews teachers and
coaches have intensive training in: At-
tention, Temporal Sequential and Spatial
Ordering, Memory, Language, Neuromotor
Functions, Social Cognition and Higher
Order Cognition.
As a result, some coaching strategies
that take into account how the brain learns
include:
Coaches help their athletes understand
the language of their sport by having
hcn vric ou ano ochnc kc, crns ano
quizzing their athletes on them. Thus
coach and player can have a common
language in which to learn the game.
Coaches provide a visual picture of
what they are trying to articulate orally.
A signihcan 'gancchangcr" in hc
classroom has been technology. This
tool is already shown to be having the
sanc ransfornaivc chcc on hov su-
dents acquire the skills and knowledge
of each of their sports.
Coaches test their athletes as to wheth-
er they heard and understand a set of
directions through immediate recall,
especially after a half-time speech.
Coaches have players repeat potential
patterns of play so athletes can under-
stand how time and space are used.
Coaches refrain from communicating
during a scrimmage or game in order to
lc hc ahlccs hgurc hings ou. (This
is similar to what Peggy Best and Dale
Kynoch describe in Chapter III.)
Coaches provide athletes opportunity
to evaluate their performance and write
rchccions afcr cach ganc.
The social and emotional brain is also
particularly important to student-athletes.
Teachers see what stress, anxiety, and pres-
sure does to student performance on tests.
The amygdala, when it senses fear, freezes
a student-athletes ability to engage their
prefrontal cortex in the higher order think-
ing that both the classroom and the play-
ing hclo ocnano. If ,ou havc cvcr vachco
a sporing cvcn, ,ou havc vincssco hrs
hano vha suprcnc conhocncc (c.g. Usain
Bolt in the 2012 Olympics), stress or fear
can do to athletic performance.
So what should all this emerging
science and theory mean for your son
or daughter who is a student-athlete? It
means that 21st century coaches recog-
nize that every athlete brings a brain that
receives, processes, and stores information
oihcrcnl,. Thcrcforc, hc ocsign of prac-
tices and the communication of strategy
must take into account the cognitive
demands associated with competitive ath-
letics. Such mindful coaching is a dramatic
departure from how coaches traditionally
ocvclop cach of hcir ahlccs, lu rchccs
how much more we know about how the
athletes mind learns.
As former high school and collegiate
athletes, we recognize that competitive
athletics teach skills and provide experi-
ences that cannot be replicated in other
areas of school life. Playing competitive
athletics at St. Andrews is not only about
performance, wins and losses, it is also
about learning. Considering the number
of hours coaches dedicate to challenging
and supporting each of their players, a
commitment to better knowing the mind
of an athlete becomes equally important to
knowing the sport in which they coach.
WEB EXTRA!
Watch St. Andrews
students talk about their
athletic experiences.
Kevin McShane
(koachkevin@gmail.com) teaches middle
school math at St. Albans and Glenn Whitman
(gwhitman@saes.org) is the Dean of Studies
and Director of the Center for Transformative
Teaching and Learning.
As coaches, we need to nd each players
motivation so they will not only see the need, but
also actually put in the hard work to reach his or
her potential.
The new Effort Grade rubric shows
me how to be a student.
St. Andrews Upper School Student
H
ow can I improve in your
class? This is one of the
most welcomed questions a
student, at any grade level,
can pose to their teacher. Such a question
ignites the teacher-student learning part-
ncrship ano ahrns hc ioca ha
learning happens best in collaboration.
At St. Andrews, teachers will often frame
hcir rcsponsc arouno a suocn's chor.
Bu vh, cnphasizc chor`
Since its inception, St. Andrews has
recognized the importance of rewarding
our students engagement as active learners.
As a result, our honors assemblies and
awards are centered on both academic and
chor honors.
Research in educational neuroscience
highlighs hc inporan of praising chor
rather than intelligence. Cognitive science
has shovn ha ohcring suocns spccihc
praisc for hcir vork ano chor alcrs hcir
view of themselves as learners, giving them
hopc ano conhocncc ha inclligcncc ano
growth are malleable. As educators, we
are keenly aware that helping students
nakc hc connccion lcvccn chor ano
achicvcncn is criical. Fhor ranslacs
into growth, and at St. Andrews we see
continued growth as an achievement.
Focusing on chor allovs suocns o
own their learning. It also allows students
to be resilient and forward looking, even in
the face of setbacks such as a low grade on
a test or paper.
One of the most important things
St. Andrews teachers strive to teach each
of hcir suocns is ha hcir chor is
something they can control. As teachers,
it is our responsibility to provide clarity
of the behaviors and mindsets a student
needs to reach their learning potential.
This focus on chor lcgins on hc hrs
day of each school year. Students are asked
o rchcc (hink ncacognivcl,) on hcir
chor. Provioing suocns vih a roaonap
for what is expected of them in relation
o chor carl, in hc ,car allovs hcn
o csallish spccihc lcarning goals. As
Stanford University psychology profes-
sor Carol Dweck, author of Mindset: The
New Psychology of Success said, Students
Why Lhor
Matters Most
KAREN KAUFMAN
One of the most important
things St. Andrews
teachers strive to teach
each of their students
is that their effort is
something they can
control. As teachers, it
is our responsibility to
provide clarity of the
behaviors and mindsets
a student needs to reach
their learning potential.
32 T H E C E N T E R F O R T R A N S F O R M A T I V E T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G
33
with learning goals have a growth mind-
set about intelligence, believing it can be
developed as opposed to students with
performance goals who think intelligence
is hxco fron lirh."
1
So, how do we as educators, truly know
ano ncasurc a suocn's chor` Hov can
we reward students for something as
inangillc as chor` Hov can vc lc surc
ha our chor s,scn is infornco l, hc
most relevant research on how students
best learn?
In 2011, a task force of St. Andrews fac-
ulty in partnership with the CTTL, tackled
these tough questions. Our goal was to im-
provc S. Anorcv's chor graoc s,scn, ano
to give students a tool that they could use to
better understand themselves as learners.
Armed with years of professional
development work, including that from
researcher Dweck and professional writers
such as Po Bronson, New York Times best-
selling author of Nurture Shock, this task
force was well positioned to answer these
tough questions. The task force began its
work with surveys of students, parents,
and faculty. Emerging themes were quickly
obvious. We needed to create a system
with; (1) observable, measurable stan-
oaros, (2) spccihc lcnchnarks l, vhich o
measure growth and improvement, and (3)
anplc opporuni, for suocn rchccion.
In 2u12, hc ncv Fhor Graoc Rulric
was born. This meta-cognitive tool is based
on eight learning standards that focus on
making each student an active learner: Par-
ticipation, Note-Taking, Materials Manage-
ment, Self-advocacy, Day-to-day learning,
Collaborative work, Promptness and readi-
ness to work, and Absences. Within each
sanoaro, suocns carn chor graocs of.
E=Exceeding Expectations
M=Meeting Expectations
P=Progressing Toward Expectations
N=Not Meeting Expectations
So what does this new system mean
for cach suocn` Thc Fhor Graoc Rulric
provides students, in collaboration with
their teachers, opportunity and direction to
sc spccihc, aainallc lcarning goals. This
tool also encourages regular, open dialogue
between teachers and students about a
students progress and growth as a learner.
Teachers use this rubric at interim and
trimester grading periods throughout the
,car, vih hc suocns o hclp hcn rchcc
on and develop learning strategies. Such
strategies include: Submitting early drafts
of papers for teacher feedback, regularly
seeking out extra help, organizing materials
better, contributing to class discussion more
frequently, and arriving to class with home-
work completed as well as with questions.
As the Assistant Head of School John
Holden often reminds students, The
only person you can control is yourself.
Students need to be explicitly taught about
hc corrclaion lcvccn chor ano acaocn-
ic pcrfornancc, ano ha chor is sonc-
thing they can improve. As Carol Dweck
saio, 'Fnphasizing chor givcs a chilo a
variable that they can control. They come
to see themselves as in control of their
success.
2
Thus The greatest gift teachers
can give each of their students is to love
challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy
chor ano kccp on lcarning."
3
WEB EXTRA!
See the full version of the
effort grade rubric.
Karen Kaufman
(kkaufman@saes.org) is a
Middle and Upper School math teacher.
The Effort Grade Rubric
provides students, in
collaboration with their
teachers, opportunity
and direction to set
specic, attainable
learning goals. This tool
also encourages regular,
open dialogue between
teachers and students
about a students
progress and growth as
a learner.
STANDARDS EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS
Self
Advocacy
Social
Cognition
Language
Consistently communicates with teacher to schedule
extra help, if needed.
Arrives prepared with specic questions, concerns or
review topics.
Asks thoughtful questions, demonstrating that he/she
knows exactly what help is needed.
Day-to-day
learning
HOC
Attention
Temporal
Sequential
Ordering
Consistently completes homework assignments thoroughly
and on time.
Consistently demonstrates relevant and thoughtful
observations on homework, linking it to previous learning.
Volunteers comments throughout a class period showing
that he/she is connecting current information with
previously learned material.
Consistently communicates through words or actions
effective time management of both short-term and
long-term workload.
This rubric is designed to help you better understand yourself as a learner. Working toward these
standards enhances your ability to meet your potential. This is a reection tool that should be used
throughout the year both independently and in collaboration with your teachers and advisor.
I
f you really want to see how innovative
a school is, inquire about its thinking
and practices regarding assessments.
What images and emotions does
the word assessment conjure up in your
mind? How many of these are negative?
Stress, fear, late-night cramming, number
2 pencils and multiple-choice questions?
These are all associated with the tradi-
tional ways individuals have been and
continue to be assessed for knowledge and
skills. Dont get me wrong, there is still
a place for such traditional assessments
of student learning in preparation for
standardized tests such as ERBs, AP exams,
SATs and college mid-term exams. Fortu-
nately, one of the values of an independent
school education such as St. Andrews is
that it is not constrained by the drill and
kill assessment strategy of other learning
environments.
Assessment happens every day at
St. Andrews, and research on assessment
is particularly strong. It has led
St. Andrews teachers to further expand
the types of assessments students take at
all grade levels and recognize that every
assessment is a learning opportunity. In
fact, if you were to explore St. Andrews
curriculum maps (available at www.saes.
org/academics) you will see nearly 100
assessment types listed from the preschool
through 12th grade. They are authentic to
their academic discipline and rich in 21st
century skills.
But research has also led to a more
holistic look at assessment in order to help
provide students the opportunity to truly
demonstrate what they have mastered or
still need to learn. The research also rein-
forces some foundational thinking at
St. Andrews: families do not need to
choose between an academically rigorous
learning environment and a nurturing
and supportive program for their children.
They can have both.
At St. Andrews, our thinking about
assessment is actually rooted in neuro-
mythology-busting. A neuromyth is an
inaginar, or unvcrihallc clain alou hc
brain.
1
Three of the most perpetuated
neuromyths that directly relate to assess-
ment center around Multiple Intelligences
(MI) Theory, learning styles, and right
versus left brain thinking.
Lcspic a lack of vcrihallc scicnihc
research at this point, the theory of mul-
tiple intelligences and learning styles, and
right versus left brain thinking, has led to
the belief that children should be tested
according to their preferential intelli-
gence or learning style. That is, a visual
Rigor and Assessment
in the 21st Century
Classroom
GLENN WHITMAN
We recognize that
students have areas of
evolving strength and
weakness, passion and
disinterest. When we
get the richness right, all
brains are challenged
and supported.
34 T H E C E N T E R F O R T R A N S F O R M A T I V E T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G
35 35
learner should receive and demonstrate
their knowledge through visual representa-
tion or an auditory learner should receive
test questions orally. This is a neuromyth.
Such thinking ignores the complexity and
interconnectivity of brain functions.
What research shows is that both hemi-
spheres of the brain, left and right, are en-
gaged in nearly all thinking activities. One
of my favorite educational researchers,
Paul Howard-Jones own work concludes
that, the general processing complexity of
the brain makes it unlikely that a theory
resembling MI [or learning styles] will ever
emerge from it.
2

So how does this research impact as-
sessment at St. Andrews? Think of this as
a challenge to teachers to embed richness
in assessments, to think about the whole
brain when designing assessments for
their class or individual students. We rec-
ognize that students have areas of evolving
strength and weakness, passion and dis-
interest. When we get the richness right,
all brains are challenged and supported.
What is great about the human brain is its
ability to change, a process often referred
to as plasticity. When teachers create rich
assessments, we are agents of change.
Every year, every student will be as-
sessed in multiple ways that are develop-
ncnall, appropriac. This is vha oihcrcn-
tiated assessment means at
St. Andrews. For example, in my own his-
tory class, students are assessed via what
might be considered traditional means,
such as a scholarly research paper or timed,
multiple-choice-test. But alternative assess-
ments are also critical for developing mul-
tiple mind skills and enhancing student
engagement. Such alternative assessments
include a student-facilitated class discus-
sion, a scored debate, video documentary
project, geography quiz, active reading of
primary sources, document analysis, online
quiz or discussion and poster design proj-
ect. Some of these assessments will play to
a students strength while others will pose
signihcan challcngcs, sonc asscssncns
will, wonderfully, do both.
There is another value to providing
students with a range of assessment types.
They call for students to learn the essential
skills for success in todays world, such as
critical thinking, problem solving, commu-
nication, collaboration, resiliency, and grit.
These skills are best developed through
alternative assessments, in particular
project-based learning.
Projects enhance student engagement.
We also know that when students can
own their learning choices, and make an
emotional connection to the material, then
learning is enhanced. Moreover, when
students are challenged to demonstrate
their learning in a more authentic, pur-
poseful way, such as performance-based
hnal cxans in languagcs or hc naionall,
recognized American Century Oral History
Project, they become more engaged and
actually learn more. As Daniel Willingham
points out, A teachers goal should always
be to get students to think about mean-
ing.
3
Alternative assessments do just that.
Wha oocs his oihcrcn approach o
assessment mean for the high achieving
student? I would go so far as to suggest
that St. Andrew approach to assessment
makes earning an A even more prestigious
and valuable. As an example, one of
St. Andrews most accomplished students
was taken out of his comfort zone of suc-
cess on traditional tests when challenged
to conduct a chemistry lab practical exam.
This produced good stress for this student
because it challenged him to apply knowl-
edge and use skills in ways that more
traditional assessments do not demand. It
engaged this student to work really hard
outside of his comfort zone.
So what have been the most impor-
tant, research-informed, changes in how
teachers think about assessment for their
students?
Teachers use more formative assess-
ncns, a sclfrchccivc proccss in vhich
feedback is used by the learner for
improvement, such as ungraded (thus
low stress) surprise quizzes. Frequent
formative assessments, both in class
and on-line, allow students to practice
recalling knowledge from their long
and short-term memory. Frequent
rcricval of infornaion signihcanl,
enhances recall ability. This is called the
'csing chcc."
Teachers make returning assessments
at a faster rate a priority because
research shows that when grades are
expected soon the threat of disappoint-
ment is more salient.
4
As a result,
students strive to perform better on
each assessment.
Teachers provide students a range of
asscssncns. A noiccallc oihcrcncc is
the opportunities for students to visu-
ally demonstrate knowledge whether
through two and three-dimensional
art work or other forms of digital and
social media.
Teachers provide student test correc-
tion opportunities. Delaying or scaf-
folding feedback, and having students
srugglc vih hnoing hc corrcc
answer, leads to better retention than
does simply providing correct answers.
Teachers recognize that periodically pro-
viding a student a chance to choose an
assessment type enhances the students
investment and motivation in their
learning. For example, students taking
United States/European History to 1860
,carcno hnal cxan can choosc lcvccn
a norc raoiional, 2hour hnal cxan, or
the more visual Historical Head project.
As one student said, its not easier, its
jus haro in a oihcrcn va,."
Tcachcrs ask suocns o rchcc on vha
neurodevelopmental demandsAt-
tention, Memory, Spatial or Tempo-
ral Sequential Ordering, Language,
Neuromotor Function, Social or Higher
Order Cognition--a particular assess-
ment might be placing on their brains
in order to decide the appropriate study
strategies. This includes providing stu-
ocns an opporuni, o rchcc on hcir
assessment performance, how well
their study strategies worked and how
hc, nigh suo, oihcrcnl, ncx inc.
Tcachcrs oihcrcniac for hcir suocns
between active studying versus passive,
traditional studying, and why the for-
mer enhances long-term memory reten-
ion. Tcachcr's also hclp suocns hno
active studying strategies that work for
them. Remember, we are building skills
for their futurewhat skills can we
equip a student with that will enhance
their ability to be successful with the
memory demands of law school or med
school?
As the designers of each of their
classes, it is the teacher that decides the
appropriate assessment for a certain body
of knowledge or skill. That is why it is
so critical that at St. Andrews, the entire
faculty and academic leadership, has
training in how the mind learns and how
research informs decisions around assess-
ment. Such research means that the ways
in which a students knowledge, skills and
understanding are measured today are a
lot broader than the majority of those who
are reading this article experienced in their
own academic journey.
And that is a good thing.
WEB EXTRA!
Listen to teachers talk
about their thinking on
assessment.
Glenn Whitman
(gwhitman@saes.org) is Dean of Studies
and Director of the Center for Transformative
Teaching and Learning.
L
ast year, our kindergarten teacher
asked me if our preschool classroom
would like to have their play kitchen.
Our well-loved kitchen had seen bet-
cr oa,s, so I happil, acccpco hcr ohcr. As
I moved our newly upgraded kitchen (with
refrigerator and microwave!) into its spot
in our classroom, it suddenly occurred to
me how much kindergarten has changed
since I was in school.
In 1972, I attended a half-day program
where the curriculum consisted primarily
of unstructured free play, naptime, and
crafting, with a little formal instruction
thrown in for good measure. Today, most
kindergarteners attend a full-day program,
and while it is still fun and exciting with
plenty of crafts, story time, and free play,
it is also much more challenging academi-
cally with more classroom time devoted
to formal instruction in reading, math,
science, social studies, and the arts. I dont
poin ou hcsc oihcrcnccs o lc criical of
what kindergarten has become over the
years, but it does serve as a reminder of
how important it is for me and other pre-
school teachers to help prepare our young
students for the rigors of academic life.
As a teacher of two- and three-year olds,
I am often asked, Why send a two-year
old to preschool? Well, if you take a look
at the recent research on brain develop-
ment, which states that the brains founda-
tions for all later learning are established
in hc hrs hrcc ,cars of lifc, i's cas, o
arguc hc lcnchs of scnoing a chilo as
young as two to school.
Before birth, the prenatal brain creates
the 100 billion neurons, or brain cells,
ha nakc up hc lrain. In hc hrs fcv
years of life, 700 neural connections, or
synapses, between these brain cells are
established every second, and each of these
synapses contain bits of learned informa-
tion.
1
Scientists have discovered that these
s,napscs arc ahccco l, gcncic nakcup,
the environment, and most importantly, by
a childs early relationships with parents,
teachers, and other caregivers. If these
relationships, also referred to as serve and
return relationships, are not nurturing
and loving in nature and do not support
the tremendous amount of learning that
occurs in hc hrs hrcc ,cars of lifc, hc
synapses could be disrupted. As a result,
a chilo nigh chilo nigh suhcr lcarning
or behavioral disparities later in life that
nigh lc oihcul o ovcrconc.
Given the information we know about
healthy brain development, it is clear that
a loving, nurturing preschool program
that encourages children to safely explore
and learn in developmentally appropriate
ways, will help a child establish a strong
foundation for learning that will support
more formal instruction later in life.
The four domains of child develop-
ment are cognitive, language, movement,
and social-emotional. The foundations for
future learning in these four domains are
established in infancy; however there are
other skills that cross all four domains.
These skills, which are referred to as
foundations of learning, or approaches to
learning, are the way we use our brains for
learning throughout our lives. Children
It All Begins in
Preschool
MARGY HEMMIG
36 T H E C E N T E R F O R T R A N S F O R M A T I V E T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G
37
are not born with these skills but are born
with the ability to acquire them through
relationships with loving, caring adults
who support a childs ability to become a
learner who is curious, focuses attention,
remembers earlier experiences, gathers
information, solves problems, and is per-
siscn vhcn challcngco l, a oihcul ask.
As preschool teachers we have a responsi-
bility to provide a learning environment
that supports and encourages our students
to develop these important skills so they
can be successful in school and beyond.
Curiosity
Two-year olds are naturally curious individu-
als. In preschool, we strive to make our class-
rooms a place where our students can safely
explore and learn. We provide a variety of
toys and activities that encourage a childs
natural curiosity and desire to explore
the world around them (see Chapter III).
Children learn primarily through play, and
as teachers, we can encourage curiosity in
our students by making classroom materi-
als casil, acccssillc ano l, ohcring suppor
without interfering with a childs natural
curiosity. This curiosity is evident when
we watch a student play with a classroom
material such as Play-Doh. The child may
squeeze and manipulate the Play-Doh or
usc ools o cu hc Pla,Loh ino oihcrcn
shapes. He may continue to further explore
the Play-Doh by touching and smelling it.
The teacher may step in when he begins to
explore the Play-Doh by trying to taste it.
Memory
When an infant or toddler uses memory
to recall past information or experiences, it
helps him see the world as a familiar place
so that they he can begin to form a more
intricate understanding of the world.
2
One
way preschool teachers help students ex-
pand memory is by establishing classroom
schedules and routines. In our classroom,
we frequently model expected behaviors
and prompt children to try and predict
what comes next so that they can practice
retrieving previously learned information
and begin to commit that information
to their long-term memory. For example,
when it is time for snack, the children are
cxpccco o vash hcir hanos lcforc hno-
ing a place to sit at the table. Many of the
children go right to the table when they see
us getting ready for snack. Instead of tell-
ing them to go wash their hands, we might
ask them, What should we do before sit-
ting down for snack? In addition, frequent
repetition of songs, rhymes, and stories also
helps children expand their memory, not
only of these familiar rhymes but also of
information in general. Finger plays, songs,
and rhymes are a main component of our
daily meeting time in preschool.
Attention
Focused attention is a fundamental ele-
ment in cognitive development. It is well
known that a toddler has a limited atten-
tion span, but there are developmentally
appropriate methods that will help young
children stay focused on a particular task
or learning experience. In our classroom,
we try and pay attention to a childs indi-
vidual strengths and interests so that we
may incorporate these interests into other
areas of learning. For example, if a child
loves to pretend to whip up meals in house-
keeping, we might use that time to intro-
duce colors, numbers, and sorting activities.
As the child places food on the table, we
might ask, How many cookies are on this
plate? or What color is this apple? Tak-
ing advantage of these teachable moments
while the student is engaged in a favorite
activity may extend the amount of time he
or she stays focused on the task.
Information Gathering
Young children use observation and their
senses to gather and process informa-
tion. The way young children learn new
information is through independent play
and meaningful interactions with caring
adults.
3
preschool teachers encourage their
young students to learn new information
through exploration and play while also
interacting with them using meaning-
ful language to describe feelings, objects,
and actions. An example of this kind of
interaction might be when a student is
playing with a magnetic toy. The teacher
sitting nearby says, You are playing with
magnets. What happens when you put
them together? After the child puts them
together, the teacher responds by saying,
Look, they stick together! By interacting
with the student and using meaningful
language, the teacher has expanded the
childs learning experience.
Problem Solving
Children learn a tremendous amount of
infornaion in hc hrs hrcc ,cars of lifc,
and they encounter many challenges along
the way. While its not always easy, it is
important to give children the freedom to
r, ano hno a soluion on hcir ovn lcforc
stepping in and solving the problem for
them. In the preschool classroom, we wit-
ness many instances where a child is faced
with a problem, particularly when they are
participating in play with another child.
For instance, when a child has a toy taken
away from them by another child, it is
tempting to step in and give the toy back,
but it is actually more advantageous if the
teacher observes from a distance so that
hc chilo na, havc hc opporuni, o hno
an appropriate solution on his own. If the
child does need help, the teacher steps in
and gives just enough assistance so that he
can move on to the next step in trying to
solve the problem. Encouraging children to
solve their own problems helps to build in-
ocpcnocncc ano fcclings of sclfconhocncc
that will assist them in tackling challeng-
ing academic problems later in life.
Persistence Through Frustration
Trying to persist through the many chal-
lcngcs prcscnco in hc hrs hrcc ,cars of
life can certainly cause some feelings of
frustration in a toddler. Many do not yet
possess the ability to manage their feelings
when faced with a challenge and give
up before completing the task. Preschool
teachers must gage a childs ability to regu-
late their feelings and provide appropriate
activities that challenge a child without
causing feelings of frustration. This is
evident on the playground when a child
attempts to climb a challenging struc-
ture or in the classroom when a student
attempts to complete a puzzle. Teachers
shoulo alva,s lc availallc o ohcr voros of
encouragement to limit feelings of frustra-
tion and to help the child persevere and to
complete the challenging task.
Since brain research tells us that the
foundation for all learning is set in the
hrs hrcc ,cars of a chilo's lifc, a prcschool
teacher must play a vital role in the devel-
opment of a healthy, well-constructed brain
that is able to successfully navigate the
challenges of academic life. It is imperative
that preschool teachers establish loving,
nurturing relationships with their students
so that they are able to learn the appro-
priate social and emotional skills such
as curiosity, memory, focused attention,
information gathering, problem solving,
and persistence through frustration that
are necessary for a childs future academic
succcss. Thc, nus also ohcr a safc cnvi-
ronment with developmentally appropriate
activities and experiences that encourage
their students to learn and grow.
Preschool teachers should embrace
the important role they play in helping to
develop school readiness and academic
success in a young childs life. I do!
WEB EXTRA!
Listen to preschool
teachers talk about what
they love to do.
Margy Hemmig
(mhemmig@saes.org) teaches Preschool I.
T
heres nothing more essential or
seemingly more elusive than great
teaching. Every parent wants it, ev-
ery student deserves it, and nearly
every school promises it. Great teaching
should happen every day in every school
for every child.
But what does great teaching look like?
How do schools create and sustain it?
And how has great teaching changed over
time? These may seem like debatable or
even unanswerable questions, but I assure
you that they are not. Great schoolswith
teachers who study the research and hone
their skills with passion and persever-
ancebuild exceptional faculties because
they understand what makes teachers and
teaching great.
Great teachers emphasize the key
points of any lesson so that students can
lcarn hc oihcrcncc lcvccn nain iocas
and supporting evidence. In that spirit,
here is a quick look at three aspects of
exceptional teaching, and three qualities of
communities in which exceptional teach-
ing thrives.
Three Things Every Great
Teacher Knows
Relationships are Essential
Students perform better when their
teachers truly know them and care for
them as people and learners. Every great
teacherand everyone who works well
in schoolsis a connector with a strong
sense of service. Students meet and even
exceed high expectations when their
cachcrs ahrn hcir vorh ano nanc hcir
intellectual potential. Teachers provide the
environment for personal and academic
success when they have deep emotional
intelligence and equally deep mastery of
teaching techniques.
Challenge + Support = Excellence and Joy
Too often schools suggest that families
must choose between rigor and a happy
learning environment. Current research
makes clear that this choice shortchanges
students. Students shouldnt be miser-
able or coddled in school, because happy,
motivated children simply learn best.
Children need schools where they are
encouraged to risk failure by trying hard,
because the worst kind of failure is the
failurc o 'r, ano r, again." Fhor nus
be concretely recognized and rewarded,
because over time, persistenceperhaps
the most crucial habit of mind for adult
successincreases intelligence as well as
performance.
Great Teaching Today:
Building an
Exceptional Faculty
and School
ROBERT KOSASKY
The best teachers are
also the hungriest for
continual improvement,
and their drive is
motivating and inspiring
to their students.
38 T H E C E N T E R F O R T R A N S F O R M A T I V E T E A C H I N G A N D L E A R N I N G
39 39
Great Teachers Understand How Learn-
ing Happens
No one would go to a doctor who proudly
practices medicine the exact same way
she did 40 years ago. So why should any
school or family accept a teacher who
doesnt improve her teaching every year?
Great teachers dont accept that teaching is
a purely a product of experience or person-
ality. Instead, they innovate their teaching
practices based on current science on how
students learn and what teaching methods
produce the best results. Many traditional
teaching styles have merit, but a teacher
who doesnt understand the basics of
neuroscience cant consistently help his
studentsfrom the strongest to the strug-
glinghourish acaocnicall,.
Building a Culture of
Educational Excellence
Hire for EQ and IQ
Since relationships are essential for
learning, teachers must have both excel-
lcn incrpcrsonal skills ano signihcan
intellectual horsepower. Great faculties are
diverse in their individual experiences and
identities, but they are united in their zest
for new knowledge and their enjoyment of
their students and their colleagues.
School is for Student-Centered People
Most educators have had the dispiriting
experience of walking into a faculty lounge
at a low-morale school. In such places, a
listener will hear adults describe students
as problems, rather than possibilities.
Great schools hire student-centered people,
for whom students are fun puzzles to
solve. Such educators love naming areas
in which every student shines, and equally
lovc hnoing ncv arcas for grovh for
top students (e.g., encouraging a quiet
A student to speak more in class or run
for student government to improve his
leadership and communication skills).
Ultimately, every educator should answer
the question: Why do you work here? by
saying, I love working with students and
people who care for them.
If Youre Not Getting Better, Neither are
Your Students
Traditions are important for schools and
students, and its right that some things
dont change year after year. But in the
classroom, complacency is bad for students
and teachers. Great schools construct and
fund professional development programs
that include every teacher and focus on a
simple question: How can we challenge
and support every student even better?
The best teachers are also the hungriest for
continual improvement, and their drive is
motivating and inspiring to their students.
Great schools recognize and applaud their
teachers excellence, and then support
those teachers drive to get even better.
A Final Word
I am blessed to work with teachers and
sah ncnlcrs vho cxcnplif, hcsc quali-
ties of educational excellence. I hope that
you have found their thoughts as illumi-
nating and their passion as inspiring as I
do each day.
WEB EXTRA!
Listen to Roberts Raising
Successful Learners
presentation to the Parents
Council of Washington.
Robert Kosasky (rkosasky@saes.org) is the
Head of School at St. Andrews.
Great teachers emphasize the key points of any
lesson so that students can learn the difference
between main ideas and supporting evidence.
Endnotes
Page 6-7
II. Why Educational Neuroscience and
the CTTL Matter for Your Child
1 Mariale Hardiman, The Brain Targeted Teaching
Model for 21st Century Schools (New York: Corwin
Press, 2012) 5.
2 Parker Palmer, The Courage to Teach: Exploring the
Inner Landscape of a Teachers Life (California: John
Wiley & Sons, 2007) 40-41.
3 Hardiman, 65.
4 Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, The New Science of
Teaching and Learning: Using the Best of Mind, Brain,
and Education Science in the Classroom (New York:
Teachers College Press, 2010) 51.
Page 10-11
III. Let Them Play
1 Stuart Brown, Play: How it Shapes the Brain,
Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul (New
York: Avery Trade, 2010) 5.
2 Brown, 4-5.
3 See Kathy Hirsh-Paseks research at http://astro.
temple.edu/~khirshpa/ and Tom Bartlett. The Case
for Play: Why a Handful of Researchers Are Trying
to Save Childhood, Chronicle of Higher Education
(February 20, 2011): http://chronicle.com/article/The-
Case-for-Play/126382/
4 Daniel Willingham, Why Dont Students Like
School? A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions
about How the Mind Works and What it Means for the
Classroom (California: Jossey-Bass, 2009) 58.
5 Brown, 5.
6 L.S. Vygotsky, Mind in Society: The Development
of Higher Mental Processes (Massachusetts: Harvard
University Press, 1978) 101. See also Deborah Leon
and Elena Bodrova, Tools of the Mind: The Vygotskian
Approach to Early Childhood Eduction (New York:
Pearson, 2006).
Page 12-13
IV. The Connected and Valued Child: Targeting the
Social and Emotional Brain
1 S. Rimm-Kaufman and B. Sawyer, Efcacy of
the Responsive Classroom Approach: Results from
a Three Year, Longitudinal Randomized Control Trial
(2012) https://www.sree.org/conferences/2012f/pro-
gram/downloads/abstracts/683.pdf
2 S. Hinshaw, Externalizing Behavior Problems
and Academic Underachievement in Childhood and
Adolescence: Causal Relationships and Underly-
ing Mechanisms Psychological Bulletin 111 (1992):
127155.
3 Sara Mosle, Teaching Lessons, The New York
Times Week in Review (October 28, 2012) 10.
4 R. Kriete, The Morning Meeting Book (Greeneld,
MA: Northeast Foundation for Children, 2002) 9.
5 R. Charney, Teaching Children to Care (Massa-
chusetts: Northeast Foundation for Children, 2002)
17-36.
6 P. Graviano et al., The Role of Emotion Regula-
tion and Childrens Early Academic Success,
Journal of School Psychology 45 (2007): 319.
7 D. Januszka, and K. Vincent, Closing Circles: 50
Activities for Ending the Day in a Positive Way (Massa-
chusetts: Northeast Foundation for Children, 2012)
40.
8 Y. Shoda, W. Mischel, & P.K. Peake, Predicting
Adolescent Cognitive and Self-Regulatory Com-
petencies from Preschool Delay of Gratication:
Identifying Diagnostic Conditions, Developmental
Psychology 26 (1990): 26, 978986.
9 D. Walsh, The Brain Goes to School. Educating
the Whole Child: Learning and the Brain Society
Conference (March 2012). www.DrDaveWalsh.com
Side bar
An Intermediate School Perspective
1 S. Rimm-Kaufman and B. Sawyer, Efcacy of the
Responsive Classroom Approach: Results from a Three
Year, Longitudinal Randomized Control Trial, (2012).
https://www.sree.org/conferences/2012f/program/
downloads/abstracts/683.pdf. See also S. Hinshaw
(1992). Externalizing behavior problems and academ-
ic underachievement in childhood and adolescence:
Causal relationships and underlying mechanisms,
Psychological Bulletin 111 (1992): 127-155 and R. Kriete,
The Morning Meeting Book (Greeneld, MA: North-
east Foundation for Children, 2002) 9.
Page 14-15
V. The Centrality of Arts Education
1 E. Schellenberg, and Glenn, Long-Term Posi-
tive Associations Between Music Lessons and IQ,
Journal of Educational Psychology 98 (2006): 457468.
2 Sylvain Moreno, et al., Short-Term Music Train-
ing Enhances Verbal Intelligence and Executive
Function, Psychological Science 22 (2011): 1425.
3 Robert Jourdain, Music, The Brain And Ecstasy:
How Music Captures Our Imagination (William Mor-
row Paperbacks, 1998).
4 Daniel J. Levitin, and Anna K. Tirovolas, Current
Advances in the Cognitive Neuroscience of Music,
(McGill University, Montreal, QC Canada, 2009) 211-
231. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19338510.
See also Levitin, This Is Your Brain on Music: The
Science of a Human Obsession (New York: Plume/
Penguin, 2007). See also http://daniellevitin.com/.
5 M.I. Posner, & M.K. Rothbart, Inuencing Brain
Networks: Implications for Education, Trends in
Cognitive Science 9 (2005): 99-103 and Marialle
Hardiman, The Brain-Targeted Teaching Model for 21st
Century Schools (New York: Corwin Press, 2012).
6 Howard Gardner, Frames of Mind: The Theory of
Multiple Intelligences (New York: Basic Books/Per-
seus, 1983) and Multiple Intelligences - The Theory in
Practice (New York: Basic Books/Perseus, 1993).
7 L. Cahill and J.L. McGaugh, A Novel Demonstra-
tion of Enhanced Memory Associated with Emo-
tion, Consciousness and Cognition 4 (1995): 410-421.
Page 16-17
VI. Developing Global Citizens: Bringing Purpose to
Foreign Language Learning
1 See Kendall King and Lyn Fogle, Raising Bilingual
Children: Common Parental Concerns and Current
Research, CALdigest (April 2006). http://www.cal.org/
resources/digest/raising-bilingual-children.html.
2 See Andrea Michelli et al., Neurolinguistics:
Structural Plasticity in the Bilingual Brain, Nature
431 (October 2004). http://www.nature.com/nature/
journal/v431/n7010/abs/431757a.html.
3 See Daniela Perani, The Neural Basis of First and
Second Language Processing, Current Opinion of
Neurobiology 15 (April 2005): 202-206.
4 See Tokuhama-Espinosa, The New Science of
Teaching and Learning, 51-52 and David Sousa, What
Principals Need to Know About the Basics of Creating
a Brain-Comptible Classroom (Indiana: Solution Tree
Press, 2011) 15.
Page 18-19
VII. What Does Great Homework Look Like?
1 B. Finn and J. Metcalfe, Scaffolding Feedback to
Maximize Long-Term Error Correction, Memory and
Cognition 38 (October 2010): 951-961.
2 Khan Academy (http://www.khanacademy.org/)
and LearnZillion (http://learnzillion.com/).
3 Judy Willis, How to Teach Students About the
Brain, Educational Leadership 67 (December 2009/
January 2010). See also What You Should Know
About Your Brain, Educational Leadership (ASCD)
(2007) and www.radteach.com.
4 Dr. Robert Stickgold, Sleep, Memory, and
Dreams: Fitting the Pieces Together, TEDxRiv-
erCity (June 8, 2010). http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=WmRGNunPj3c.
Page 20-21
VIII. Great Minds Do Not Think Alike: How Diversity
Impacts the Learning Environment
1 Beatrice M. Ligorio, Dialogical Relationship be-
tween Identity and Learning, Culture and Psychology
16 (2010): 93-107.
2 John Medina, Brain Rules (Washington: Pear
Press, 2008) 174-175.
3 John U. Ogbu Collective Identity and the Bur-
den of Acting White in Black History, Community,
and Education, Urban Review 36 (2004): 1-35.
4 GLSEN: Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Net-
work. Mediapolis, n.d. Web. 3 Oct. 2012. http://www.
glsen.org/cgibin/iowa/all/home/index.html.
5 Andrew Zolli, Resilience: Why Things Bounce Back
(New York: Free Press, 2012).
6 Beverly Tatum, Can We Talk About Race (Boston:
Beacon Press, 2008).
Page 22-23
IX. The Roots of Student Success
1 Jerome Bruner, as cited by Paul Martin Lester
in Syntactic Theory of Visual Communication,
California State University at Fullerton, 19941996.
Page 24-25
X. Brain Changers: How Service Enhances Learning
1 Daniel Goleman, Destructive Emotions: How Can
We Overcome Them: A Conversation with the Dalai
Lama (New York: Bantam, 2003).
2 Joseph LeDoux, The Emotional Brain (New York:
Simon & Schuster, 1996).
3 MD Newberg and Mark Robert Waldman, How
God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from
a Leading Neuroscientist (New York: Random House,
2009).
4 Gayle Gregory and Carolyn Chapman, Differenti-
ated Instructional Strategies: One Size Doesnt Fit All
(Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2002).
5 Briana Kinloch and Joan L. Liptrot, Making the
Journey Meaningful: Why Our Brains LOVE Service
Learning! (Austin, Texas: Texas Summer Institute,
2010).
6 J. Eyler, D.E. Giles and A. Schmiede, A Practitio-
ners Guide to Reection in Service-Learning: Student
Voices and Reections (Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt
University, 1996).
Sidebar
What Service Looks Like in the 9th Grade
Classroom
1 M.H. Immordino-Yang and A. Damasio, We
Feel, Therefore We Learn: The Relevance of Affective
and Social Neuroscience to Education, Learning
Landscapes: Mind, Brain, and Education. Implications
for Educators 5 (Autumn 2011). See also Elaine B.
Johnson, Service Learning Stimulates the Brain (The
World and I Online) 146+.
40
CREDITS
Director: Glenn Whitman
Program Coordinator: Monique McMillan-Jackson
Teach For America Program Coordinator: Amy Helms
Editors: Richard Coco, Martha Martin, Glenn Whitman
Graphic Designer: Hillary Reilly
Photography: Richard Coco, Lauren Cook,
Felipe De La Hoz 13, Danielle George, Ian Kelleher,
Stacy Kincaid, Anne Macdonell, John Troha,
Glenn Whitman
Published December 2012
The Center for Transformative Teaching and
Learning promotes innovative, research-driven teaching
that develops each students potential as a learner.
Page 28-29
XII. The iSchool: Smart Technology for Every Student
1 Cathy Davidson, Now You See It: How Technology
and Brain Science Will Transform Schools and Business
for the 21st Century (New York: Penguin Books, 2011)
56-57.
2 Davidson, 45-46.
Page 30-31
XIII. Building Better Athletes
1 See Anders Ericsson. The Role of Deliberate
Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance,
Psychological Review 100 (July 1993): 363-406 and
Geoff Colvin, Talent is Overrated: What Really Sepa-
rates World-Class Performers from Everyone Else (New
York: Penguin Group, 2008).
2 Colvin, 68.
Page 32-33
XIV. Why Effort Matters Most?
1 Carol Dweck, Mindset: The New Psychology of
Success, (New York: Balletine Books, 2007). See
also Marina Krakovsky, The Effort Effect, Stanford
Magazine (March/April 2007). http://alumni.stanford.
edu/get/page/magazine/article/?article_id=32124.
2 Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman, Nurture Shock:
New Thinking About Children (New York: Hachette
Book Group, 2009) 15.
3 Dweck. 56.
Page 34-35
XV. Rigor and Assessment in the 21st Century
Classroom
1 Tokuhama-Espinosa. The New Science of Teaching
and Learning, 24.
2 Paul Howard-Jones, Introducing Neuroeducational
Research: Neuroscience, Education, and the Brain from
Contexts to Practice (New York: Routledge, 2010) 22.
3 Daniel Willingham, Why Dont Students Like
School?, 61.
4 Dr. Luke Rinne, Neuroeducation: How Evidence
from Psychology, Cognitive Science, and Neurosci-
ence Can Improve Teaching and Learning. Presenta-
tion given at St. Andrews Episcopal School. January
12, 2012 available at www.thecttl.org.
Page 36-37
XVI. It All Begins in Preschool
1 In Brief: The Science of Early Childhood Devel-
opment, Center of the Developing Child. Retrieved
October 15, 2012 from http://www.developing child.
harvard.edu.
2 Sandra Petersen, School Readiness for Infants
and Toddlers? Really? Yes, Really! Young Children
(September 2012) 10-13.
3 Petersen, 10-13.
St. Andrews Episcopal School
8804 Postoak Road
Potomac, MD. 20854
301-983-5200 | www.saes.org