Diverse
Brains:
How
Child Development & Learning Are Shaped by Environment, Emotions,
Culture, & Gender
A
Conference for Educators, Clinicians, and Policy Makers
Keynote Speakers:
Marian C. Diamond,
Ph.D., Professor of Anatomy,
University
of California, Berkeley; co-author of
Magic Trees of the Mind: How to Nurture Your Child's Intelligence,
Creativity, and Healthy Emotions from Birth Through Adolescence
(1998)
Richard J. Davidson, Ph.D.,
renowned emotions researcher; William James and Vilas Research Professor
of Psychology and Psychiatry, University
of Wisconsin-Madison
Joyce F. Benenson, Ph.D.,
renowned gender researcher; Associate Professor, Educational and Counseling
Psychology Department, McGill
University
Enrichment/Environment
The Brain
and Enrichment in Action with Children from California to Cambodia
Learn the results of Dr. Marian Diamond's
enrichment studies with children in California and Cambodia. Explore
her latest research discoveries about the on-going influence of the
environment, experience, learning, and emotions on the brain’s
neural equipment throughout life and what this means for children and
adults.
Marian C. Diamond, Ph.D., UC Berkeley
Designing
Brain-Compatible School Buildings
Explore how to design brain-compatible
physical learning environments and school buildings through an understanding
of neuroscience. Discover possibilities for the application of neuroscience
to the classroom environment and the impact of the brain-based environment
on teaching and learning.
Kenneth S. Kosik, M.D., Harvard
Medical School, and A. Lee Burch, Ph.D., AIA, CEFPI
The Developing
Brain:
Early Childhood Cognition, Experience, and Emotions
Learn how the brains of young children
develop as well as the errors in brain development that cause learning
disabilities. Learn about plasticity from experiences in the early years
and experiences later in life.Also explore the cognitive and emotional
development and developmental reorganizations in infancy and in young
children.
Charles A. Nelson, Ph.D., University
of Minnesota, and Kurt W. Fischer, Ph.D., Harvard Graduate School of
Education
Individual
Differences in Cognition: How Children are Shaped by Environment, Culture,
and Society
Improve teaching by understanding how child
development is shaped by the physical setting the child grows up in,
the cultural, societal, and social setting in which they live, as well
as by individual biology.
Elena L. Grigorenko, Ph.D., Yale
University
Emotions
The Emotional
Brains of Children: Positive and Negative Feelings
Explore the interactions between child
emotions and cognition. Find out what the latest neuroscience research
says about the control and regulation of positive and negative emotions
on the brains of children. Examine infant and child studies on the developmental
origins of individual differences in temperament in children and early
signs of vulnerability to pathologies.
Richard J. Davidson, Ph.D., University
of Wisconsin-Madison
Promoting
Emotional Learning and Emotional Intelligence in Children
Learn how emotional intelligence and emotional
learning are linked to academic achievement and find out how to promote
emotional intelligence at school and at home.
Maurice J. Elias, Ph.D., Rutgers
University
Pediatric-Onset
Bipolar Disorder in Children and Adolescents: Diagnosis and Treatment
Explore the course, characteristics, and
pharmacological treatment of childhood and juvenile onset bipolar disorder.
Also examine some of the overlap between childhood bipolar disorder
and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), two syndromes that
have many symptoms in common.
Janet R. Wozniak, M.D., Harvard
Medical School
Why the
Secret of Happiness is a Secret
Learn why children and adults may make
poor decisions based partly on their inability to predict their emotional
responses in the future. But new studies indicate that there are errors
and biases in how we predict how we'll cope with future circumstances
that compromise our decisions and undermine our happiness.
Daniel T. Gilbert, Ph.D., Harvard
University
The Childhood
Roots of Adult Happiness
Learn how to prepare children for a more
productive, happy lives. Renowned child psychiatrist Edward (Ned) Hallowell
will discuss information from his just released book, The Childhood
Roots of Adult Happiness: Five Steps to Help Kids Create and Sustain
Lifelong Joy (2002), on
Edward M. Hallowell, M.D., Harvard
Medical School
The Biology
of Child Temperament and Behavior
Learn why children have different temperaments
from a world-renowned expert on the topic. Explore the neurochemistry
of temperament, the role of the amygdala, the risks of asocial behavior,
the ways to assess temperament, and child temperamentıs relevance to
teachers and parents.
Jerome Kagan, Ph.D., Harvard University
Drugs
in the Brain: How Drugs Affect the Brain and Behavior
Explore
ways to identify signs of drug use in children and teens and ways to
predict addiction and to intervene. Study
the latest research on how drugs affect brain cells and the brain becomes
addicted. Learn about the risk factors of drug abuse and the harmful
effects of chronic drug use on the brain, body, and behavior.
Bertha
K. Madras, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School
Memory
Research
& Practice: Making Usable Memories in the Classroom
Learn about memory research and ways to
improve 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 and on assessments. It will also examine what educators
can realistically do to align their instruction with mind/brain theory
to improve performance.
Suzanne H. Corkin, Ph.D., MIT,
and Jeb Schenck, Ph.D.
The Reality
Simulation Principle: How Mental Images Aid Learning, Memory and 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. Learn the three properties of visual images,
using mental images in memory, and using mental images in thinking.
Stephen M. Kosslyn, Ph.D., Harvard
University
From
Molecules to Mind
The latest studies suggest the richness
of memory and profound insights concerning human nature. The tools to
observe the human brain while engaged in cognitive activity have revealed
startling images of the mind. Some of these images re-enforce what we
already know intuitively; others are a surprise.
Kenneth S. Kosik, M.D., Harvard
Medical School
Gender/Culture
Sex Differences
in Child Social Organizations: Developmental and Evolutionary Evidence
Examine the nature of social organization
in children and its implications for competition and cooperation amongst
girls and boys, as well as children's emotional responses to stress,
including depression and aggression.
Joyce F. Benenson, Ph.D., McGill
University
A Sense
of Self in Children and Teens: The Role of Affirmation and Devotion
to Others in Society
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 social concepts as
independence, self-sufficiency, autonomy, and, most especially, self-esteem.
Thomas J. Cottle, Ph.D., Boston
University
Sex Differences
in Learning
Find out how boys and girls may benefit
from different learning strategies that complement their relative strengths.
Recent research indicates there are sex differences in neural tissue
and brain functioning.
Ruben C. Gur, Ph.D., University
of Pennsylvania Medical Center
Gender,
Emotions, and Culture
Nurture, far more than nature, emerges
as the stronger force fashioning gender differences in emotions and
expression in children. Explore the gender differences in emotional
functioning and styles in children, influences from culture and family,
and what this means for educators.
Leslie Brody, Ph.D., Boston University
Special
Education/Learning Disorders
Dyslexia
and Learning Disorders in Children
New research on dyslexia will hopefully
lead to better early diagnosis, prevention, and even medical treatments
to complement educational approaches. Dyslexia is a problem with handling
written language, which arises from structural and physiological changes
in the brain during development of the fetus. Observations in human
autopsy brains, followed by experimental hypothesis-testing in suitable
animal models, have shed a great deal of light on the mechanisms of
abnormal sound processing in this condition.
Albert M. Galaburda, M.D., Harvard
Medical School
Academic
and Social Outcomes for Children with Developmental Language Disorders
Children with developmental language disorders
are vulnerable for academic and social difficulties. By understanding
the nature of language and its relationship to learning in school, you
will appreciate the factors that contribute to the success and difficulties
experienced by children with developmental language disorders. Learn
about the roles of language in learning, the natural history of language
disorders, the different types of language disorders, and frameworks
for educational planning.
Anthony S. Bashir, Ph.D., Emerson
College
The Neuropsychology
of Written Language Disorders: Diagnosis and Intervention
Perhaps no other school endeavor engenders
more apprehension than a timed independent written language activity.
By most standards, successful learning revolves around the proficiency
and competency of a student's reading and written-language skills. 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 these neural pathways.
Steven G. Feifer, Ed.S, NCSP,
Neurpsychologist
How to
Identify and Teach Students with Evolving Mental Illness
Examine ways to identify the differences
between students with behavioral problems and those with evolving mental
illness. Learn strategies for teaching students with schizophrenia and
mental illness.
Raquel E. Gur, M.D., Ph.D., University
of Pennsylvania Medical Center
Teens
with ADHD
Explore what can be done to minimize the
effects of ADHD on teen's brain processes in the home and school setting
to improve academic performance. While hyperactivity may lessen during
the teen years, executive function, attention, and memory difficulties
remain and create numerous problems for secondary students with ADHD.
Learn the basics of the brain processes of attention, working memory,
and executive function.
Mary Fowler, B.A., ADHD Parent
and Author
The Neurobiological
Basis of Autism
Learn about the current thinking of scientists
on possible causes of autism, the neuroanatomical structures involved
in the disorder and current research implicating particular neurotransmitter
systems such as the GABAergic system in the disorder. Emphasis will
be on the olivocerebellar and limbic systems.
Gene J. Blatt, Ph.D., Boston University
School of Medicine
Cognition/Testing
The Executive
Brain: Frontal Lobes and the Civilized Mind
Explore the role and the importance of
the frontal lobes in cognition and behavior in children, and other neuroscience
issues such as hemispheric specialization in learning, gender differences
in cognition, neuropsychology of individual differences and creativity.
Elkhonon Goldberg, Ph.D., ABPP/ABCN,
New York University School of Medicine
Giftedness
and Creativity at the Extremes: Implications for Education
Explore research on prodigies, savants,
the "Mozart effect," Williams Syndrome cases, and extreme IQ, as well
as how giftedness impacts education.
David H. Feldman, Ph.D., Tufts
University
Spatial
Skills & Gender Differences: Help Your Child Be Spatially Complete
Explore new research into how boys and
girls use different spatial skills. Gain new insights into how the mind
and body work and the development of activities you can perform with
children to increase their chances of establishing a solid foundation
of spatial abilities needed to perform optimally in higher math and
science, and other endeavors.
M. Beth Casey, Professor of Developmental
and Educational Psychology, Boston College, and J. Gail Armstrong-Hall,
Ph.D., Teacher and Researcher
Learning,
Standards, & the Brain
A common dilemma is whether educators
can both raise test scores, and still have the students actually learn
something meaningful that is related to standards. With mandated testing
to standards there is an opportunity for either disaster or for more
accurate assessments aligned with what we know about learning. An assessment
approach, known as Body of Evidence, that is more cognitively appropriate
will be presented along with observations about public misconceptions
regarding how the brain learns and how that is measured.
Jeb Schenck, Ph.D., Teacher and
Researcher
Brain-Based
Teaching
Portraits
of Urban School Children Placed at Risk: Implications of Environmental
Factors on Learning and Child Development
Learn how schools can apply child development
knowledge and research to promote the healthy functioning of children.
Examine information on the environmental risk and protective factors
that have an impact on the learning and development of children in urban
schools. Explore the voices of children experiencing both the risk and
the protective factors in schools, in classrooms and at home.
Fay E. Brown, Ph.D., and Valerie
Maholmes, Ph.D., Yale Child Study Center
Becoming
a "Wiz" at Brain-Based Teaching
This user-friendly presentation discusses
expert findings about brain growth, structure, and functions to help
teachers and administrators foster a love of learning in all students.
By creating an enriched, brain-compatible environment, educators can
effectively counter such existing negative influences as stress in order
to cultivate successful lifelong learning. Session will include a straightforward
discussion about learning styles, multiple intelligences, and memory,
examples from real school situations where brain research has been applied
, and tactics for immediately putting brain-based information to work
in the classroom
Marilee B. Sprenger, M.A., Aurora
University
Brain-Based
Teaching: Building Excitement for Learning
Research is unveiling knowledge about the
human brain. This session will address several ways to incorporate the
best of what we've known all along about human learning and teaching...
and the new brain research. 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., Brown
University
So Each
May Learn: Integrating Learning Styles, Brain Research, and Multiple
Intelligence
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 Intelligence, Carl Jung’s learning styles model, brain-research
principles to improve teaching strategies, and curriculum design and
assessment. The session will address how to help students become more
reflective, self-aware learners.
Harvey F. Silver, Ed.D., Silver,
Strong & Associates
Applying
Brain Research: How Neuroscience Informs and Influences Your Teaching
This workshop is designed to provide you,
the educator, with practical applications to your classroom. Discover
the "how to" of linking neuroscience conclusions to classroom instructional
strategies. Discussion will include teaching methods, learning and memory
strategies, creating curriculum, forms of assessment and other instructional
strategies. Leave this workshop with a tool box of direct applications
you can use Monday morning in your classroom.
Kimberly B. Carraway Ed.M., Center
for Teaching and Learning, LLC
Creating
Optimal Learners: Habits of Mind, Brain, Body, & Heart That Promote
Optimal Learning Behaviors
Shouldn't we fit the nurture of our teaching to the
nature of how the human mind, brain, and body design actually learns?
Our central nervous system functions as the optimal learning system
of the universe. Therefore, why don't we teach with the entire human
organism in mind, since the entire human organism is learning when we
teach? Significant bodies of research in neuroscience demonstrate how
human learners acquire new skills and knowledge. Correlating studies
in the fields of cognitive and educational psychology reveal that optimal
learners possess specific learning beliefs and practice distinct learning
behaviors. What happens when teachers combine the natural biology of
human learning design with educational practices that elicit the psychology
of optimal learning behaviors? Come find out in this lively and accessible
workshop which presents substantive research showing how emotions, movement,
and the tools of meta-cognition can create optimal learners in all of
us.
Gessner Geyer, M.A., M.Ed., President, Brainergy
Inc.
The Science
of Student Achievement: What Really Works?
A National Research Council
report confirms that learning changes the physical structure of the
brain. At the same time 50 years of cognitive research and studies from
the areas of school effectiveness, student achievement, and accelerated
learning offer a powerful framework for what works in the classroom.
Learn practical mini-lessons to put the research into practice.
Marcus
Conyers, D.M.S., author of six books on the brain
