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In May I took the CBEST without studying because everyone told me it was super easy, and that all you needed to do to study for a test like that is breathe. I did not pass one section, which left me heartbroken. I was so hung up on the idea that I hadn't passed such an easy test that I didn't stop to think about why. Of course I didn't study, but I shouldn't have to, I thought. According to this article and the book being discussed, "the brain will avoid thinking and instead try to rely on memory." Maybe I just tried to rely too much on my memories of the material in all those classes years ago, and my brain avoided actually thinking and synthesizing the material. Or maybe I needed to really study. Either way, an interesting read. (Oh, and I just finished retaking the CBEST this morning)

This is a technical discussion on dopamine, rewards, and time by neurologist Robert Sapolsky. His research has shown that the anticipation of reward is more pleasurable than the reward itself and this pleasure increases when the reward is not a guarantee, but a possibility. This kind of discussion may seem overly abstract and distant from the classroom, but understanding how motivation works, even on a neuro-chemical level, can help us to not only design our courses, but develop new approaches to generating enthusiasm and performance in the classroom. It is a good place to start when crafting (or re-designing) a teaching (and/or writing) philosophy. What are the rewards students associate with writing? What is our role in creating, maintaining, and providing access to those rewards? Do the rewards always have to be attainable? How do we frame these ideas for use in academic planning?

This article, "Listen While You Work", discussed the benefits of listening to background music while working in a language arts class. The article listed the benefits of doing so which are improving retention and memory, an increase in attention levels, extending focused learning time and expanding thinking skills. The teacher gave few rules for listening to music while working but insisted that the students listen to the same CD from the beggining to the end of class and keep the volume down so peers arn't disrupted. Recently, it was discovered that the corpus callosum, located in the brain, increases in size when humans are exposed to music. Communication is then increased bewteen the two halves of the brain which increases learning efficency. 

This article by David M. Pegram is about taking the "research paper" out of a research paper. He uses a different title, calling it a "proposal writing," making the paper become a much more lucrative project. He has developed a blueprint for teaching in this creative manner which he begins by using characters from a tv show, X Files, to demonstrate the uses of the left and right sides of the brain. He shows how Mulder and Scully ask "what if" and then each goes about their right or left sided brain way to answer their own question. I was interested in this article because Pegram gives a very creative way to get students to think critically. I strongly believe that many of these young high school/college students lack the necessary skill of critical thinking. When I can start teaching, I really want to be able to instill this life skill with my students. I think Pegram's approach is definitely a doable and logical way of doing this.