Middle and High School … from a Montessori Point of View
[A]nger … triggers a less systematic and structured approach to the creativity task, and leads to initially higher levels of creativity. … [However] creative performance should decline over time more for angry than for sad people. — Bass et al (2011): Creative production by angry people peaks early on, decreases over time, and is relatively … Continue reading “Creativity, Depression and Anger”
How well does extrinsic motivation help us perform? NPR recently had another interesting interview with Dan Ariely where he talked about how rewards, cash bonuses in this case, affect performance. It turns out that while bonuses increase people’s desire to perform better, people actually perform worse, probably because of the increased stress. Jonah Lehrer actually … Continue reading “Stress, pressure and performance”
There’s been a push for students to take algebra earlier and earlier, yet there are some serious pedagogic arguments that early algebra might not be a great idea for many, if not most, students. A fascinating paper by Clotfelter et al., (2012) (pdf) showed pretty clearly that for a large number of students, taking algebra … Continue reading “Starting Algebra too Early?”
During your adolescence, which lasts from your early teens into your 20’s, the brain changes rapidly, you develop new abilities and capacities, and the habits of mind and skills you develop will last long into adulthood. Abilities: The last part of the brain to develop is the Frontal Lobe. It’s responsible for reasoning and judgement … Continue reading “Control your Destiny: How the Adolescent Brain Works”
Jonah Lehrer’s has an excellent interview on Fresh Air about his new book on how creativity works, called Imagine. There are three key components: Relaxed state of mind: Like when you’re in the shower and your mind is free to wander. It’s another reason not to be afraid of a little boredom, and setting aside … Continue reading “The Elements of Creativity”
The part of the brain responsible for logic and reasoning is slow to develop compared to the rest during our adolescence. As a result, adolescents are driven way too much by their emotions and instincts. This means that a lot of the time someone else, teachers and parents usually, have to provide that rationality for … Continue reading “Adolescents Versus Their Brains”
With students working on different things at the same time, sometimes collaborating, sometimes working individually, a fluidly function Montessori classroom is somewhat akin to a complex but well-oiled machine: there are lots of individually moving parts that sometimes interact and sometimes not, in an ever-changing configuration. As a result, the job of the middle school … Continue reading “Building the Machine: The Role of the Teacher in a Montessori Middle School”
Clarity of thought and the ability to persuade are important life skills that develop as the parts of the brain responsible for analytical thinking develop during adolescence. The persuasive essay is the most common form used to assess these abilities. During this cycle we will work on writing persuasive essays, but it is useful to … Continue reading “Why write persuasive essays?”