Brain Power

Yesterday I got to be a student.  We sort of...  I attended a professional development day at the board of education called "Power of Design."  Basically the idea was for me to be able to sit down with my science department to design a unit/lesson around a hard to teach hard to learn concept.  We chose to focus our efforts on the concept of how the phase of the moon effects the size of the tide. 

What was really nice though, was having hours to really delve into one topic.  To really take a close look at the type of students I have, how they learn, where the struggle, where I need to build them up, and where I need to step back and let them discover the concept.  Normally, when we do this process as a department we will do it in 30 min. increments here and there over the course of a week or three.  Also, this is how we teach.  I have my kids for 47 min.  I have them hit the ground running with a bell ringer everyday, and I beg and plead with them to dive into the concept quickly because I only get them for a few precious minutes. 

What I learned yesterday, (and kind of relearned) was that this is not very realistic.  For the first hour we really spent our time warming up our brains, getting familiar with our topic, taking a close look at our Who.  We were very motivated to get our task done, we had all the tools, we had great help, and we still had to warm up our brains to get a good product by the end.  I find it good to think of it like our muscles when we run.  I coached track and field for years in Oregon.  I would never think of asking my runner to get on to the track and sprint their workout without first asking them to stretch, warm up and have a coaches outcome expectation meeting with my captains.  Why then do we expect our students to be able to hit the ground running with their brain muscles.  And why do we allow them 6 times a day a 4 min transition that allows them to totally shut their brain off, and go to a different task every 47 min.  I know I can't produce great work and deep thought in that time.  Why should I expect an emerging learner with a developing brain to sprint, go cold, then sprint again.  Something has got to change.  I am just not sure, yet, how to make that happen.