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Brain Science (3)

The New Science of Learning. Teachers Build Brains with Neuroscience

Teachers do much more than just teach - they build student brains. 

This is the message from Dr Martha Burns, professor of communication sciences and disorders at Northwestern University, in a podcast episode on The Learning Capacity Podcast.

Dr Burns discusses the new science of learning, and how it involves educational neuroscience and understanding individual differences in children. 

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Teachers Change Students’ Brains – How Amazing, says Dr Martha Burns

"You change brains," Dr Burns, adjunct professor at Northwestern University, Chicago told a conference of 400 teachers in Louisiana, USA this week.

Dr Burns was the guest speaker at day two of the Summer Institute, a four-day professional development conference for educators.

She focused on the science of learning and brain research, a topic she knows well. She has authored more than 100 journal articles on the neuroscience of language and communication.

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New Dyslexia Research & Fast ForWord by Dr Martha Burns

"What's the new research on dyslexia", asked Dr Martha Burns in a recent presentation.

Dr Martha Burns is a neuroscientist, author of over 100 journal articles and multiple books, and a leading expert on how children learn. 

She explained, "Well, this just came out in the journal 'Biological Psychiatry' this year on the disruption of functional brain networks in dyslexia. It's from Dr Sally Shaywitz 's laboratory.

Neuroscientists are trying to figure out what distinguishes a child with dyslexia from a typically developing child. Is there a way we can identify dyslexia based on understanding the brain? What is it about the brain that's different? 

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The Neuroscience of Learning & Fast ForWord by Dr Martha Burns

"How are the brains of different children different? Not all dyslexic children are the same. Not all children on the autism spectrum are the same. As a matter of fact, there are probably as many different kinds of autism as there are children with autism spectrum disorders", said Dr Martha Burns in a recent presentation.

Dr Martha Burns is a neuroscientist, author of over 100 journal articles and multiple books, and a leading expert on how children learn

Here is a summary of a recent presentation she did on the neuroscience of learning at a conference in Tuscon, USA:

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The Latest Neuroscience Research about Autism from Dr Martha Burns

"The bottom line of all the research is that autism spectrum is very, very complex. There are probably as many different kinds of autism as there are children with autism spectrum disorders. So it isn't a unified group at all", said Dr Martha Burns in a recent presentation at a neuroscience learning conference in Tuscon, USA.

Dr Martha Burns is a neuroscientist, author of over 100 journal articles and multiple books, and a leading expert on how children learn.

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Is Dr Norman Doidge's New Book as Groundbreaking as His First One?

Will Dr Norman Doidge's new book "The Brain's Way of Healing" have the same dramatic impact as his original best seller " The Brain That Changes Itself", which has sold over 1 million copies?

In "The Brain That Changes Itself" Dr Doidge alerted us to "brain plasticity", our brain's ability to change its structure and capabilities in response to experiences and training. This book increased our understanding of the power and potential of everyone's brains - young or old .

Now seven years later, his second book seeks to extend this theme.

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Handwriting May Boost Learning by Activating Working Memory & Reading

Children today are doing much less handwriting than children did 20, 30 or 40 years ago. Before computers became commonplace, handwriting was much more important for everyone. Back then schools put considerable time and attention on making sure students developed their handwriting. 

I recall entering cursive handwriting competitions when I was a young child (I went to primary school in the 1950s), and the sense of pride for the kids who were judged the neatest writers.

Now, typing on computers and tablets is replacing the act of writing by hand for many students (and adults).

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Dyslexia in Children - The Brain of a Struggling Reader

If you could look inside the brain of a struggling reader, you would notice it is not the same as the brain of a child who finds reading easy.  How do we know this?

Well, thanks to advances in neuroscience and brain imaging technology, scientists can actually "look inside" brains. Here is a really good infographic (courtesy of We are Teachers & Scientific Learning Corporation) which explains the key differences.  

Includes four tips for teachers (and parents) to help overcome dyslexia in children.

 

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The Brain Science of Language, Learning & Reading

Thanks to the astounding developments in brain science over the past few decades, we now understand much better how we develop our language and learn to read.

In this video, Devon Barnes, speech pathologist and literacy specialist, discusses the brain science of language, learning and reading. She also explains how neuroscience programs, in particular Fast ForWord, can help develop the thinking and language skills vital for our students success at school.

Key points from the interview included:

• Reading is a language skill
• Parents who reinforce baby babble help them develop language
• Thinking skills (memory, attention, processing speed and the ability to sequence) plus language skills are the foundations for reading & learning
• Fast ForWord can enhance the learning capacity of all students

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