1. SPECIAL EDUCTION WORKSHOP
HIGHLY EFFECTIVE TEACHING
IT’S ABOUT THE BRAIN
By Susan Kovalik, ICLE Senior Associate and keynoter
ICLE Model Schools Conference 2010
Orlando, FL
SPECIAL EDUCTION WORKSHOP
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WE ARE THE ONLY SPECIES THAT CREATE THE ENVIRONMENT THAT CREATES WHO WE BECOME.
(c) susan kovalik The Center for Effective Learning

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4. THE SCIENCE OF LEARNING
Neuroscience has given us thirty years of information on brain function.
Understanding this information allows educators to create curriculum and instruction that is brain-compatible, allowing students to reach high levels of achievement and performance.
(c) susan kovalik The Center for Effective Learning

5. HIGHLY EFFECTIVE TEACHING
Growing Responsible Citizens
Creating Context
Biology of Learning
Instructional Strategies
Conceptual
Curriculum
HET
(c) susan kovalik The Center for Effective Learning

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MODEL
CAN BE
REPLICATED
(c) susan kovalik The Center for Effective Learning

7. BODY/BRAIN COMPATIBLE STRATEGIES:
Absence of Threat/Nurturing Reflective Thinking
Meaningful Content
Movement to Enhance Learning
Adequate Time
Choices
Being There Experiences
Enriched Environment
Collaboration
Immediate Feedback
Mastery/Application
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CRITICAL POINTS
1. We are not born intelligent but with a capacity to be so
2. We are born with fundamental behaviors
3. Emotion is the gatekeeper to performance
4. There are multiple input pathways to understanding
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1. WE ARE NOT BORN INTELLIGENT, BUT
WITH THE CAPACITY TO BE SO
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And every day our experiences can
enhance,
stifle,
or diminish
our intellectual, social and/or emotional capacity
(c) susan kovalik The Center for Effective Learning

11. We are not our GENES, we are our EXPERIENCES (consider your siblings)
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We are born with six specific fundamental behaviors:
Dr. Sig Zielke
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1. To connect/attach with our surroundings
2. To engage in our environment
3. To give and receive care
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4. To seek patterns/meaning within our environment
5. To respond in organized, effective and competent ways
6. To be “ultimately concerned”
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15. EMOTION IS THE GATEKEEPER TO LEARNING AND PERFORMANCE
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17. Conditions Necessary for Learning:
A Safe and Predictable Environment
Consistency and Continuity
CONTEXT, CONTEXT, CONTEXT
(c) susan kovalik The Center for Effective Learning

18. A day in the life of a special education student
StartStopStartStopStart…StopStartStopStartStop…StartStopStartStop…StartStop…StartStopStart….StopStartStopStartStop….StartStopStart…StopStartStopStart…StopStartStopStart….Stop………..
Every Hour Of The Day
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PULL OUTS

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REGRESS/PROGRESS
R P
R P
R P
R P
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Creating a positive and transferable school culture allows students and adults to function in a safe and predictable environment.
(c) susan kovalik The Center for Effective Learning

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Without a defined school culture students and teachers choose their behavior, attitudes, and means of interaction based on comfort and survival.
(c) susan kovalik The Center for Effective Learning

23. C CULTURE “The agreed upon behavior when we’re together.”
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24. We belong to many groups and each one has defined cultural behavior.
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Groups:
Teams, Hobbies, Civic
Womens, Mens, Relatives
Liberal, Conservative, Green
Faculty, Military, Bureaucracy
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Lifelong Guidelines and LIFESKILLS are the cultural parameters of an Highly Effective Learning environment
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Lifelong Guidelines
Trustworthiness: To act in a manner that makes one
worthy of confidence
Truthfulness: To act with personal responsibility and mental accountability
Active Listening: To listen with attention and intention
No Put-Downs: To never use words, actions and/or body language that degrade, humiliate, or dishonor others
Personal Best: To do one’s best given the circumstances and available resources
(c) susan kovalik The Center for Effective Learning
© Exceeding Expectations by Susan Kovalik & Karen D. Olsen, p. 9.1

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PROFESSIONAL EXPECTATIONS OF PEERS
What would the Lifelong Guidelines look like, sound like, and feel like in your work environment?
TRUSTWORTHINESS
TRUTHFULNESS
ACTIVE LISTENING
NO PUT-DOWNS
PERSONAL BEST
What behaviors would you no longer see if these were part of your school culture?
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LIFESKILLS
INTEGRITY: To act according to what’s right and wrong
ORGANIZATION: To work in an orderly way
SENSE OF HUMOR: To laugh and be playful without hurting others
COMMON SENSE: To think it through
RESPONSIBILITY: To be responsible for your own actions
PATIENCE: To wait calmly
CURIOSITY: To investigate and seek understanding
FRIENDSHIP: To make a keep a friend
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© Exceeding Expectations by Susan Kovalik & Karen D. Olsen, p. 9.13

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COOPERATON to work through mutual trust and caring toward a common goal
CARING: To show and feel concern
INITATIVE: To do something because it needs to be done
PERSEVERANCE: To keep at it
PRIDE: Satisfaction from doing your personal best
RESOURCEFULNESS: To respond to challenges in creative ways
FLEXIBILITY: To be willing to alter plans when necessary
COURAGE: To act according to one’s beliefs
PROBLEM SOLVING: To create solutions to difficult situations and everyday challenges
EFFORT: To do your best
CREATIVITY: TO THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX
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© Exceeding Expectations by Susan Kovalik & Karen D. Olsen, p. 9.13

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INTELLIGENCE IS A FUNCTION OF EXPERIENCE providing you with the opportunity to:
1. predict and generalize,
2. analyze possibilities,
3. connect the “dots” between the known and unknown,
4. builds a foundation for problem solving,
5. dispels hear-say,
6. surrounds you with full sensory input
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32. INPUT PATHWAYS TOWARD UNDERSTANDING
BEING THERE
IMMERSION
HANDS ON REAL THINGS
HANDS ON REPRESENTATIONAL
SECOND HAND
SYMBOLIC
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33. OUR “20” SENSES Sight Visible Light Hearing Vibrations in Air Touch
Taste
Smell
Balance-Movement
Vestibular
Temperature
Pain
Eidetic Imagery
Magnetic
Infrared
Ultraviolet
Ionic
Vomeronasal
Proximal
Electrical
Barometric
Geogravimetric
Proprioception
Visible Light
Vibrations in Air
Tactile Contact
Chemical Molecular
Olfactory Molecular
Kinesthetic Geotropic
Repetitious Movement
Molecular Motion
Nociception
Neuroelectrical Image Retention
Ferromagnetic Orientation
Long Electromagnetic Waves
Short Electromagnetic Waves
Airborne Ionic Charge
Pheromonic Sensing
Physical Closeness
Surface Charge
Atmospheric Pressure
Sensing Mass Differences
Awareness of our Limbs in Space
19 Senses:
More sense involved in experience, the more 
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R. Rivlin and K. Gravelle, Deciphering Your Senses
2.9
© Exceeding Expectations by Susan Kovalik & Karen D. Olsen, p. 1.10

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BEING THERE-outside
Barometric
Geogravimetric
Ionic
Ultraviolet
Infrared
Magnetic
Electrical
Proximal
Vestibular
Balance
Vomernasal
Pain
Temperature
Smell
Taste
Touch
Eidetic Imagery
Hearing
Sight
19 Senses:
More sense involved in experience, the more information that is sent to the brain.
Importance of BEING THERE sites as “sense activators”
(c) susan kovalik The Center for Effective Learning

35. IMMERSION-recreating an environment
Electrical
Proximal
Vestibular
Balance
Vomernasal
Pain
Temperature
Smell
Taste
Touch
Eidetic Imagery
Hearing
Sight
19 Senses:
More sense involved in experience, the more information that is sent to the brain.
Importance of BEING THERE sites as “sense activators”
(c) susan kovalik The Center for Effective Learning
© Exceeding Expectations by Susan Kovalik & Karen D. Olsen, p. 1.10

36. HANDS-ON of the ‘real thing’
Vomernasal
Pain
Temperature
Smell
Taste
Touch
Eidetic Imagery
Hearing
Sight
19 Senses:
More sense involved in experience, the more information that is sent to the brain.
Importance of BEING THERE sites as “sense activators”
(c) susan kovalik The Center for Effective Learning
© Exceeding Expectations by Susan Kovalik & Karen D. Olsen, p. 1.10

37. HANDS-ON REPRESENTATIONAL models,manipulatives
Touch
Eidetic Imagery
Hearing
Sight
19 Senses:
More sense involved in experience, the more information that is sent to the brain.
Importance of BEING THERE sites as “sense activators”
(c) susan kovalik The Center for Effective Learning
© Exceeding Expectations by Susan Kovalik & Karen D. Olsen, p. 1.10

38. 2ND HAND – print, video, lecture
Eidetic Imagery
Hearing
Sight
19 Senses:
More sense involved in experience, the more information that is sent to the brain.
Importance of BEING THERE sites as “sense activators”
(c) susan kovalik The Center for Effective Learning
© Exceeding Expectations by Susan Kovalik & Karen D. Olsen, p. 1.10

39. SYMBOLIC-formulas, math, reading, parts of speech,
Hearing
Sight
19 Senses:
More sense involved in experience, the more information that is sent to the brain.
Importance of BEING THERE sites as “sense activators”
(c) susan kovalik The Center for Effective Learning
© Exceeding Expectations by Susan Kovalik & Karen D. Olsen, p. 1.10

40. INPUT PATHWAYS TO UNDERSTANDING
Being There *
Immersion
Hands On
Real Things
Hands On
Representation
2nd Hand
Symbolic
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41. When learning something new we UNDERSTAND . . .
10 percent of what we hear
15 percent of what we see
20 percent of what we see and hear
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POWERFUL LEARNING…
40 percent of what we discuss
80 percent of what we experience directly or practice doing
90 percent of what we attempt to teach others
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WHAT WILL YOU DO?
Each day our experiences can
enhance,
stifle,
or diminish
the intellectual/social/emotional capacity of the learner.
(c) susan kovalik The Center for Effective Learning

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WHY ARE WE HERE

45. HIGHLY EFFECTIVE TEACHING
Growing Responsible Citizens
Creating Context
Biology of Learning
Instructional Strategies
Conceptual
Curriculum
HET
(c) susan kovalik The Center for Effective Learning