Ch. 3: Brain Reseach Applied to Middle School in Meet Me in the Middle

In this chapter Wormeli focuses in on the brain, how it works, why it functions and what stimulates it. When we understand the brain then we are able to understand how it affects the development of adolescents. When I was in high school, I remember I would work hard to memorize the information I needed for the test and after the test if I felt it was not relevant, I would forget it. As an inspired teacher, I now know how important memory is in teaching. We must involve all students and accompany learning with stimulating activities that boast knowledge and growth. I like the concept of “wait time” Wormeli exposed us to on page 21. This concept of “wait time” helps extend processing. We need to allow time between announcing and asking the question, asking the question and calling on someone to answer it, calling on someone to answer it and requiring an answer, and student’s answer to the teacher’s response because the brain is hard-wired and needs simulation in order to recall certain aspects in life at this age group. Giving “wait time” allows the brain to process where it is suppose to go and how it is going to get there. I personally became attracted to the idea of the emotion learning because of puppy background. Feeling like you are part of the situation helps the buildup of the mood of the classroom. The aspect of “plants” as parents may seem like a great idea but may have some time constrains and schedule conflicts. Blooms taxonomy plays a big role in the way students learn along with several activities such as euphemism, weasel wording, and bad analogies to build engagement and keep the information solid and in reach. There can be misconceptions, but there are always a way to pull through with the ways to prevent misconceptions on page 37-38. Overall, a lot of what Wormeli touched on in this chapter will be useful and handy while teaching in my own classroom in order to reach the students as a whole.