Find out how the brain can process the skill of reading efficiently and effectively; the causes of reading difficulties and the importance of intervention pograms that are proven and use brain-friendly methods.

G. Reid Lyon, Ph.D., Chief, Child Development and Behavior Branch, National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD), National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Sally Shaywitz, one of the world's leading researchers on dyslexia, will discuss her latest research and new science-based programs and methods to help dyslexics from her new book Overcoming Dyslexia.

Sally E. Shaywitz, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics, Yale University; Co-Director, Yale Center for the Study of Learning & Attention, Yale School of Medicine; member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Reading Panel; author of the new book, Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Reading Problems at Any Level (2003)

Gain a better understanding of why some children read better than others. Explore the underlying neurobiological factors involved in reading, and which cognitive processes – such as word identification and going from "eye to meaning" – may need to be addressed when working with reading disabled children.

Ken R. Pugh, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, Haskins Laboratories; Research Scientist, Dept. of Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine; co-author with Yale Professors Sally and Bennett Shaywitz and others of Functional Imaging Studies of Reading and Reading Disabilities (Developmental Disabilities Review, 2000)

The results of scientific research repeatedly assure us that virtually every healthy child can learn to read. Nevertheless, the results of state, national, and international assessments continue to document that many American children still do not learn to read.  Ms. Adams will discuss the kinds of teaching and learning opportunities that are most critical to children's literacy development and share some instructional innovations of special interest to improve reading.

Marilyn J. Adams, Ph.D., Research Associate, Harvard University Graduate School of Education; Adjunct Professor, Department of Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences, Brown University; author of Developing Phonemic Awareness in the Classroom (2002), and Beginning to Read (1990)

The Brain & Second Language Acquisition

Learn about Suzanne Flynn's latest research on children learning English as a second language, critical periods for learning second languages, as well as research on the bilingual brain.

Suzanne Flynn, Ph.D., Professor of Linguistics and Language Acquisition, Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; co-editor, The Generative Study of Second Language Acquisition (1998)

Catherine Harris, Ph.D., will review first and second language learning, with an emphasis on emotional correlates of language.  Bilingual speakers report experiencing greater emotional intensity when using their first language compared to their second.  Physiological measures of language use confirm these reports. Family context of learning and co-development of brain and emotion are believed to underlie heightened emotional resonance of the first language.  Implications for school-age learners will be discussed.

Catherine L. Harris, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology, Dept. of Psychology, Boston University; researcher on aspects of language processing, including second language acquisition and emotional aspects of language; author of Language and Cognition (Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science, 2003)

This presentation will assist educators and diagnosticians toward pinpointing specific breakdowns in the written-language process and writing disorders, and the implementation of effective remediation techniques based upon the integrity of the brain's neural pathways.

Steven G. Feifer, Ed.S., NCSP, Neuropsychologist; school psychologist; co-author of The Neuropsychology of Written Language Disorders (2001) and The Neuropsychology of Reading Disorders: Diagnosis & Intervention (2000)

Today's students from kindergarten through college are experienceing stress in their lives. Excessive stress can adversely affect students' academic performance, health, and behavior. Learn the latest neuroscience and educational research findings on how and why the MBMI Relaxation Response-Based Programs have significantly helped students improve memory, academic performance, and classroom behavior and increase self-esteem and sense of control.

Herbert Benson, M.D., Founding President, The Mind/Body Medical Institute (MBMI), Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, author of The Relaxation Response (1975-2000), The Breakout Principle (2003), and six other books.

Marilyn Wilcher, Senior Vice-President MBMI and founder of MBMI's Educational Initiative

Dr. John Ratey, author of A User's Guide to the Brain and co-author of Driven to Distraction, will discuss the connection between the brain and body, and how exercising the mind and body can improve learning and memory.

John J. Ratey, M.D., Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; author of A User's Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain (2001)

In this lively and accessible workshop, find out about substantive research showing how emotions, movement, and the tools of meta-cognition can create optimal learning in all of us. Correlating studies in the fields of cognitive and educational psychology reveal that optimal learners possess specific learning beliefs, and they practice distinct learning behaviors.

Gessner Geyer, M.A., Ed.M., Director, Brainergy, Inc.; holder of two masters degrees from Harvard University, including one from the Mind, Brain & Education Concentration, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Obesity is an increasing health problem in our schools due to poor diets, increasing stress, and lack of enough exercise and sleep among students. Find out about the connection between carbs, serotonin, stress, overeating and obesity, and whether kids may be overeating to feel better in a busy, stressful school life.

Judith J. Wurtman, Ph.D., Research Scientist, MIT; renowned authority on how food affects our thoughts and abilities; author of The Serotonin Solution (1997) and Managing Your Mind and Mood through Food (1988)

Brookshire Elementary has instituted a comprehensive, 3-year program based on current brain research to make significant changes in the health and performance of students, families, and staff through education of nutrition and exercise. The program has been so successful in its first year that it has grown to include the entire Winter Park, community in Florida. Find out how to begin such a program in your school and how to include the community.

Debbie Watson, Vice President, Winter Park Health Foundation Suzanne Ackley, Principal, Brookshire Elementary
Jana Ricci, Grant Administrator, Brookshire Elementary

This session deals with the "movies of the mind" that play as visual/emotional images in our brains, and that these mental images are the basis for decision making, attitude, and behavior. Focusing upon the behavior of a student seldom prevents repeat occurrences.  We may subdue behavior, but our experience is that the behavior always returns/repeats. Focusing on the mind's internal movies does impact behaviors and attitudes.  People learn, act out, disrupt, etc. as a result of the internal movies playing continuously in the mind.  Learn how to change behaviors (attitudes/choices), long term, through the "Movies of the Mind" and create a "Can-Do" attitude in students.

Robert K. Greenleaf, Ed.D., Professional Development Specialist, Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory, Brown University; RI; President, Greenleaf Learning Center

Brain imaging is revealing what's going on in children's brains while they learn to read or do arithmetic, as well as the importance of attention in learning. Explore how the attentional networks develop in the brain during infancy and early childhood, and discuss their role in self-regulation in children, as well as their influence in the acquisition of school subjects such as literacy, language, and numeracy.

Michael I. Posner, M.S., Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychology, Institute of Cognitive and Decision Sciences, University of Oregon; pioneer in the field of brain attention networks, who has scanned the brains of children while they learn literacy

Explore what scientific research on the brain has discovered about how the brain has evolved, and what it says about evolution, as well as learning.

Kenneth S. Kosik, M.D., Professor of Neurology (Neuroscience), Harvard Medical School; Director, Kosik Laboratory of Cellular Neurobiology; Faculty Fellow, Mind/Brain/Behavior Interfaculty Initiative, Harvard University

The importance of sleep and dreams for learning and memory is now under intensive investigation at the level of dreams themselves, regional brain activity in sleep, and neurons and neurotransmitters. Discover the brain basics of sleep and dreaming, the connection between sleep and learning, and how sleep and REM periods affect students’ learning and memory.

J. Allan Hobson, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry, Laboratory of Neurophysiobiology, Harvard Medical School; author of Dreaming: An Introduction to the Science of Sleep (2003), and Sleep (1995)

In this presentation, recent brain imaging data will be brought to bear on a fundamental question: Why is it that we can remember some of our everyday experiences, but we forget others?  A challenge for memory theorists is to specify the cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms that yield effective learning and remembering.  This session will discuss initial brain imaging efforts to understand the nature of memory formation and retrieval, including how we remember verbal and visual experiences.

Anthony D. Wagner, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, Center for Learning & Memory, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT; author of numerous articles and publications on memory

Delve into cutting-edge research on the neural basis of long-term memory, and learn practical ideas for applying cognitive research to long-term memory in the classroom. Examine how memories are made and retrieved as well as how other factors significantly alter a student's performance in the classroom.  You will also examine what educators can realistically do to align instruction with mind/brain theory to improve performance.

Philip A. DeFina, Ph.D., ABPdN, Director of Training and Educational Programs, Institute of Neuropsychology and Cognitive Performance; guest researcher in psychophysiology and neuropsychology at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Explore both the theoretical issues and practical applications of improving memory and testing in the classroom, the roles of movement and decision making in creating memory, along with the problems in measuring the brain and classroom testing. Learn about an assessment approach, known as Body of Evidence, that is more cognitively appropriate along with observations about public misconceptions regarding how the brain learns and how that is measured.

Jeb Schenck, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, University of Wyoming; memory researcher whose studies focus on student long-term memory and maintenance of adult long-term meory; author of a new book Learning, Teaching and the Brain (2003)

The practice of yoga postures and conscious breathing is the oldest known technique for eliciting the Mind/Body connection. Recent findings in neuroscience demonstrate that stimulating the central nervous system through yoga, breath, and meditation can affect attention, mood, memory, stress response, and cognition. Educational research on classroom applications will also be reviewed.

Gessner Geyer, M.A., Ed.M., Director, Brainergy, Inc.; holder of two masters degrees from Harvard University, including one from the Mind, Brain & Education Concentration, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Learn about the mechanisms in the brain responsible for emotional experience and, more broadly, emotional intelligence. By exploring the underlying nature of emotional experiences, you will gain a better understanding of the differences in boys' and girls' emotional responses, the development of emotional responses, and emotion regulation in children.

Lisa F. Barrett, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Dept. of Psychology, Boston College; renowned researcher on emotional experience and intelligence, and sex differences in emotion; co-editor with Yale University Professor Peter Salovey of The Wisdom of Feeling: Processes Underlying Emotional Intelligence (2002)

Jerome Kagan will discuss the significant but undervalued role of surprise and uncertainty in shaping behavior, emotion, and thought. Drawing on research in both animal and human studies, Dr. Kagan will present a case for making distinctions among four different types of mental representation, and describes how each is susceptible to the feeling of surprise or uncertainty. The implications of these findings are far-reaching, challenging current ideas about the cognitive understandings of infants and children.

Jerome Kagan, Ph.D., Daniel and Amy Starch Professor of Psychology Emeritus, Harvard University; author of Surprise, Uncertainty, and Mental Structures (2002), and Three Seductive Ideas (1998)

This presentation will focus on the role of caretakers, most especially parents and teachers, in helping young people form a strong sense of self in the context of relationships. The workshop will also explore the value of such concepts as independence, self-sufficiency, autonomy, and, most especially, self-esteem.

Thomas J. Cottle, Ph.D., Professor of Education, Boston University School of Education; sociologist and licensed clinical psychologist; author of more than 30 books, including upcoming book, A Sense of Self: A Work of Affirmation (2003)

This workshop will define the role of the teacher as leader to help students compensate for and manage the functional impairments that result from executive function and attention difficulties, and will present specific methods of intervention. This session will also examine executive functions and the executive attention system in the child brain and discuss the mental health conditions that interfere with executive function, such as ADHD, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders (ODC), brain injury, etc.

Mary Fowler, B.A., International lecturer on ADHD; leading ADHD advocate and parent; author of Maybe You Know My Teen: A Parent's Guide to Helping Your Adolescent with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (2001)

Learn how brain differences and socio-economics contribute to learning problems and achievement gaps, the latest research on why some children do better than others in school, if special education services work, and whether learning disabilities change over time.

Deborah P. Waber, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology, Dept. of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Director of Research, Department of Psychiatry; Senior Neuropsychologist, Learning Disabilities Program, Boston Children’s Hospital

Explore Evangeline Stefanakis' latest research on building a comprehensive assessment system to better distinguish language acquisition issues from learning disabilities using Multiple Intelligence Theory, and what this means for educators and psychologists.

Evangeline H. Stefanakis, Ed.D., Lecturer in Education, Senior Associate, Programs in Professional Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education; currently working to redesign curriculum and assessment for bilingual and special education students; author of Multiple Intelligence and Portfolios (2002)

Explore some very practical strategies for helping students deal more effectively with stress. Learn why students with learning disabilities are particularly vulnerable to stress. This session will examine the impact of perceptual and information processing deficits, neurobiological factors, and educational environmental factors that magnify stress in kids with learning disabilities.

Jerome J. Schultz, Ph.D., Clinical Director and Neuropsychologist, The Learning Lab, Lesley University; Vice President, Board of Learning Disabilities Association of Massachusetts; expert on learning disabilities for the Family Education Network

What is it that makes the work of Monet, van Gogh, da Vinci, and Warhol so visually arresting? How do our eyes and brains coordinate to perceive line and color? Margaret Livingstone will explain how great artists exploit the functions of the human eye and brain from her new book Vision and Art: The Biology of Seeing (2002). Learn how elements like perspective, luminance, color mixing, shading and chiaroscuro produce certain effects in art works and in the brain.

Margaret S. Livingstone, Ph.D., Professor of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School; biological researcher on why Mona Lisa's smile appears enigmatic and how art affects the brain; author of a new book, Vision and Art: The Biology of Seeing (2002)

Learn the three properties of visual images, using mental images in memory, and using mental images in thinking. Learn how mental images can mimic the effects of corresponding perceptual events, aiding problem solving, learning, memory, and thinking. Explore findings from neuroimaging data and their implications for education.

Stephen M. Kosslyn, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Harvard University; Associate Psychologist in Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital; author of numerous books on visual cognition including Psychology: The Brain, the Person, the World (2000), and Image and Brain: The Resolution of the Imagery Debate (1996)

Explore how music and the mind are connected, as well as learn about a new innovative project at the MIT Media Lab called the Toy Symphony, which combines music, child development, and new technologies for enhancing learning, expression, and creativity.

Tod Machover, Ph.D., Professor of Music and Media, Media Lab, MIT; renowned artist and composer; composer of the international interactive music event, Brain Opera, as well as his new Toy Symphony, a three-year project bringing children, technology, and symphony orchestras together to radically alter how children are introduced to music

Jessica Hoffmann Davis, a cognitive developmental psychologist and founding director of HGSE's Arts in Education Program, will explore claims over the effects of the arts on cognitive functioning in non-arts areas of learning, as well as the debate over why people always have to justify the arts in education.

Jessica Hoffman Davis, Ed.D., Patricia Bauman and John Landrum Bryant Chair in Arts in Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education; Founding Director of HGSE's Arts in Education Program; author of Passion and Industry: Schools That Focus on the Arts (2001)

Learn why schools should be using brain research findings to provide more scientific basis behind their curriculum. Discover what can be learned from brain research for school reform.

Gerald N. Tirozzi, Ph.D., Executive Director, National Association of Secondary School Principals; former Assistant Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education, U.S. Department of Education (1996-1999)

Move mind/brain theory into the classroom in ways that make it immediately useful. Explore how adolescent mind/brain systems work, learn how to design and teach lessons that are brain-compatible with national standards and assessments, as well as with meaningful learning.

Jeb Schenck, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, University of Wyoming; memory researcher whose studies focus on student long-term memory and maintenance of adult long-term meory; author of a new book Learning, Teaching and the Brain (2003)

This session will address several ways to incorporate the best of what we've known all along about human learning and teaching based on the new brain research and will explore emotional learning, movement, brain-based strategies, language learning, and more. There will be a focus on ways to "re-frame" existing lessons to both invite and cause learners to do the processing, the work of learning.  Demonstration, interaction and framing lessons will be presented.

Robert K. Greenleaf, Ed.D., Professional Development Specialist, Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory, Brown University; President, Greenleaf Learning Center

Many teachers are finding it a challenge to teach a diverse classroom of learners of different ages and ways of learning while helping each student identify his or her unique strengths. This session will explore how to integrate Howard Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences, Carl Jung’s learning styles model, brain-research principles to improve teaching strategies, curriculum design and assessment.

Harvey F. Silver, Ed.D., President, Silver, Strong & Associates; recently named as one of the100 most influential teachers in the United States; co-author of several books including Teaching What Matters Most: Standards and Strategies to Raise Student Achievement (2001) and So Each May Learn: Integrating Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligence (2000)

AND MORE