Human beings have tremendous potential to acquire new knowledge, develop new skills, and improve their brains throughout life. By explicitly teaching learners about brain plasticity and malleable intelligence (the idea that they can become functionally smarter through effort) and by modeling and teaching specific learning strategies, teachers can help students experience higher levels of success as they develop a growth mindset. Discovering that learning changes their brains helps students develop this growth mindset-the belief that they can improve their knowledge and skills through the use of learning strategies and with guidance and support from teachers, coaches, and mentors. Donna Wilson and Marcus Conyers share strategies and techniques for developing growth mindsets based on their BrainSMART (R) program for bridging the science of learning to the practice of teaching and elaborate on their seven principles for developing and sustaining growth mindsets: Understand the mindsets. Keep plasticity front of mind. Learn with practical optimism. Set growth goals. Get the feedback needed. Improve methods. Focus on progress, not perfection. By maintaining a growth mindset about your students' learning potential and applying learning strategies and techniques like those shared in this book, you can guide your students to continually develop a growth mindset-and experience a positive, upward learning spiral of success!

Flourishing in the First Five Years: Connecting Mind, Brain, and Education Research to the Development of Young Children will take you on a fascinating journey of discovery about what you can do to experience the thrill of helping all young children realize more of their unique potential. Packed with practical strategies and inspiring research about how learning changes the brain this book will empower you with ideas you can apply right away that can positively change children's lives forever.

This is the second edition of the seminal text designed to empower educators with an innovative and inspiring conceptual framework for effective teaching. This bestseller is grounded in the synergy of five big ideas for connecting mind, brain, and education research to classroom practice: neuroplasticity, potential, malleable intelligence, the Body-Brain System, and metacognition. Updated and expanded to include new sections on social and emotional learning, this edition offers a firm foundation for implementing current rigorous standards. The authors draw on their experience working with tens of thousands of educators worldwide to drive the book's focus on practical application. Essential ideas are reinforced through vignettes, examples, inspirational stories from teachers, strategies, reflective questions, and current research on how people learn. New for the Second Edition: An exploration of how guiding students to develop cognitive, affective, and behavioral competencies can improve their personal relationships, peer and teacher interactions, and academic outcomes. An examination of recent advances in understanding how brain plasticity extends over the life span, how working memory supports students to tackle more complex learning tasks, and how teaching students about growth mindsets can power learning. A synthesis of the science behind the power of positivity, learning potential, metacognition, the social aspects of cognition, and the Body-Brain System for classroom and school applications. An expanded reference list with relevant new publications.

This is the second edition of the seminal text designed to empower educators with an innovative and inspiring conceptual framework for effective teaching. This bestseller is grounded in the synergy of five big ideas for connecting mind, brain, and education research to classroom practice: neuroplasticity, potential, malleable intelligence, the Body-Brain System, and metacognition. Updated and expanded to include new sections on social and emotional learning, this edition offers a firm foundation for implementing current rigorous standards. The authors draw on their experience working with tens of thousands of educators worldwide to drive the book's focus on practical application. Essential ideas are reinforced through vignettes, examples, inspirational stories from teachers, strategies, reflective questions, and current research on how people learn. New for the Second Edition: An exploration of how guiding students to develop cognitive, affective, and behavioral competencies can improve their personal relationships, peer and teacher interactions, and academic outcomes. An examination of recent advances in understanding how brain plasticity extends over the life span, how working memory supports students to tackle more complex learning tasks, and how teaching students about growth mindsets can power learning. A synthesis of the science behind the power of positivity, learning potential, metacognition, the social aspects of cognition, and the Body-Brain System for classroom and school applications. An expanded reference list with relevant new publications.

If the difference between a student's success and failure were something specific you could teach, wouldn't you? Metacognition is exactly that—a tool that helps students unlock their brain's amazing power and take control of their learning. Educational researchers and professional developers Donna Wilson and Marcus Conyers have been exploring and using the explicit teaching of metacognition for years, and in this book they share a practical way to teach preK-12 students how to drive their brains by promoting the following practices: Adopt an optimistic outlook toward learning. Set goals. Focus their attention. Monitor their progress. Engage in practices that enhance cognitive flexibility. Wilson and Conyers explain metacognition and how it equips students to meet today's rigorous education standards. They present a unique blend of useful metaphors, learning strategies, and instructional tips you can use to teach your students to be the boss of their brains. Sample lessons show these ideas in a variety of classroom settings, and sections on professional practice help you incorporate these tools (and share them with colleagues and parents) so that you are teaching for and with metacognition. Research suggests that metacognition is key to higher student achievement, but studies of classroom practice indicate that few students are taught to use metacognition and the supporting cognitive strategies that make learning easier. You can teach metacognition to your students, so why wouldn't you? This book shows you how.

Flourishing in the First Five Years: Connecting Mind, Brain, and Education Research to the Development of Young Children will take you on a fascinating journey of discovery about what you can do to experience the thrill of helping all young children realize more of their unique potential. Packed with practical strategies and inspiring research about how learning changes the brain this book will empower you with ideas you can apply right away that can positively change children's lives forever.