What Principals Need to Know About the Basics of Creating Brain-Compatible Classrooms (What Principles Need to Know) - Softcover

Sousa, David A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1935542990 ISBN 13: 9781935542995

Publisher: Solution Tree, 2011

Synopsis

Understand the basics for creating brain-compatible classrooms with this brief, accessible guide customized for principals. Explore an overview of educational neuroscience designed to help principals construct meaningful professional development that enhances teachers' knowledge and skills about brain-compatible learning. The author guides principals from the basics of brain structure through applications of educational neuroscience to build productive and successful brain-compatible classrooms.

Benefits:

• Understand how the brain learns in accessible language.
• Review comprehensive brain research on teaching and learning.
• Utilize helpful examples and figures.

Contents:
Chapter 1: What Do We Know About How the Brain Learns?
Chapter 2: What Is Brain-Compatible Curriculum?
Chapter 3: What Is Brain-Compatible Instruction?
Chapter 4: What Is Brain-Compatible Assessment?
Chapter 5: How Do We Help Learners With Different Needs?
Chapter 6: What Is Brain-Compatible Leadership?

About this title

About the Author

David A. Sousa, EdD, is an author and international consultant. He taught high school science and served as a K-12 director of science, a supervisor of instruction, and a district superintendent in New Jersey schools. He has also been an adjunct professor of education at Seton Hall University and a visiting lecturer at Rutgers University.

A member of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, he has conducted workshops in hundreds of school districts on brain research, instructional skills, and science education at the pre-K-12 and university levels. He has made presentations to more than 200,000 educators at national conventions of educational organizations and to regional and local school districts across the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia.

Prior to his career in New Jersey, Dr. Sousa taught at the American School of Paris (France), and served for five years as a Foreign Service Officer and science advisor at the USA diplomatic missions in Geneva (Switzerland) and Vienna (Austria). Dr. Sousa has been interviewed on NBC's Today Show and by National Public Radio about his work with schools using brain research.

Dr. Sousa has edited science books and published dozens of articles in leading journals on staff development, science education, and educational research. He is author of The Leadership Brain, How the Brain Learns, How the Special Needs Brain Learns, How the Gifted Brain Learns, How the Brain Learns to Read, How the Brain Influences Behavior, How the ELL Brain Learns, and How the Brain Learns Mathematics, which was selected by the Independent Publishers' Association as one of the best professional development books of 2008, among others. His books have been published in French, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Korean, and several other languages.

Dr. Sousa is past president of Learning Forward. He has received numerous awards from professional associations, school districts, and educational foundations for his commitment to research, staff development, and science education. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award and an honorary doctorate from Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts and an honorary doctorate from Gratz College in Philadelphia.

Dr. Sousa has a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Bridgewater State University, a master's degree in science from Harvard University, and a doctorate from Rutgers University.

Review

"All credible 21st century educational theories will be grounded in educational neuroscience, the underlying neurobiology of teaching and learning. David Sousa explores the shift from 20th century speculation and professional folklore to 21st century schools that will be mediated by biology and augmented by electronic technology. He provides educational leaders with an excellent introduction to what educational neuroscience now knows, and how educators can best use this knowledge."

--Robert Sylwester, Emeritus Professor of Education, University of Oregon

"The Basics of Creating Brain-Compatible Classrooms is an important contribution and a key component of What Principals Need to Know About. Sousa is masterful at summarizing complex neuroscience research into concise, accessible concepts that administrators can use immediately. Principals will gain a greater understanding of what classrooms should look and feel like when teachers plan instruction based on how their students diverse brains learn, remember, and create. This book suggests practical strategies for how instructional leaders can guide curriculum development, promote differentiated instruction, suggest classroom management strategies, and orchestrate professional development with a focus on educational neuroscience. Sousa says that master teachers can be brain-changers. Veteran, as well as novice principals, may find their own brains changed after reading this practical overview of brain-compatible learning."

--Martha Kaufeld, Educational Consultant and Author, Scotts Valley, California

Edition details

• Publisher: Solution Tree
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1935542990
• ISBN 13: 9781935542995
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 108