1. What grade level to you teach, how long have you been teaching what is the name of your school?
I am working toward a master’s in education with a focus on brain research in NSU’s BrainSMART program. I have taught for 13 years, the last ten as a third grade teacher in Skokie, Illinois. Very rarely I teach fifth grade, depending on the year, and I privately tutor children in grades one through seven.
2. Has the content been useful to you in you work as a classroom teacher?
Content has been useful on a daily basis for me. A day does not go by where I have not used something that I’ve been taught or something that I’ve learned through the BrainSMART program. I have a different attitude about my teaching now or a stronger feeling about what I’ve always believed education should be a about because of the BrainSMART program and the learning I’ve undertaken this year. Many of the strategies and many of the bigger ideas that I’ve learned about this year I use when I am crafting an instructional unit, speaking with a student, speaking with a colleague or thinking about anything that has to do with my teaching or also when I think of myself as a teacher.
The most recent example of a child’s aha moment is providing the right amount of visual support for a student I have who is a strong visual learner but also has severe auditory processing difficulties. That has made all the difference in bringing down their anxiety about learning in general and I found the key and was able to open that child up, who had a lot more inside when I started using a lot more visual support. I will draw out a vocabulary in a graphic organizer, they will give their input into it before they have to listen to or read a story. When they were listening, there were so many things they were not hearing or weren’t able to follow the story. If you can’t follow the story you can’t take part in a discussion afterward. It has made our relationship much better, too. It was the piece they needed in order to feel I was totally on their side, wanting their success. I knew they weren’t quite getting everything they needed from the lesson and once the visual piece fell into place, their learning was so much better.
3. What do you like about earning your degree 100% online?
The things I love most about online learning is how truly convenient it is to not have to attend a master’s program at night, find parking and have to leave my house during the most important time for my family. I don’t have to be away from them. After teaching a full day to then have to go to a physical classroom instead of a virtual classroom would have been impossible for me to do and I am grateful this is offered online. I find it thorough and the way it was presented originally caught me. This fit my expectations for a master’s program and I have not been disappointed.
4. How does this degree compare with other higher education programs you have studied?
I think this program has moved past the bulletin board-decorations and sing-songs, all the stuff that many teachers like to take away. It has also moved past all the theory with no application part of many of the higher education courses. BrainSMART has found an almost perfect balance between what we need to know and what we need to do to be effective teachers regardless of one’s personal style. That’s all about the bulletin board and it didn’t make it seem like another ditto to hand out, that "give it to me" kind of stuff. This makes everyone step up, if you want something, you have to craft it yourself. Keep it off the flat curriculum. It totally steered clear of that.
5. Would you recommend this program to other teachers?
Yes, and I have.
6. What would you say to other teachers about the program?
It is profoundly priceless. Even though it is very economical to do this program, it certainly tests and stretches your definition of what teaching is. It has clearly and very specifically helped me point out the things in myself that needed to change and for that I will always be grateful.
I could have gone on knowing things weren’t working but not pushing myself to change it and this program helped me do that. Like a workout coach, do it again, and you really don’t want to do it at all. It’s much easier to sit and complain and this really changed my family, my students and me. I think knowing more about how everyone’s brains work, was such a concrete thing, that first set of classes that were about brain function and nutrition, you start out with brain architecture, this is what we know about our bodies.
I have a fifth grade boy and a third grade girl, I’m 43, and I see them as more whole. As the classes progressed, from very concrete, to now we are talking about abstract concepts like respect. We try to make it somewhat concrete, like this is what I say and do, it moved me from seeing my children as processing machines to seeing how incredibly unique they are and the beauty of that, and to moving toward true communication with them, with much more conscious respect. I would think and choose my words much more carefully with my own children because I really do see how a small utterance can make a difference in children’s lives. I wanted it to be my children too because they didn’t get what they needed in the private schools I chose, and my children have suffered from the global dysfunction of the education system. This has affected my children in a great way, more organic, I’m much healthier now, I do yoga now, I lost over 20 pounds, and my husband also did and it is just different now. Our lives are different now. I searched for this and I’m ready for this and I’m very picky about what I choose.
7. What would you say to an administrator about the program?
I’ve spoken to my director many times, and unless she herself has done something, she is hesitant to promote it. She would not be someone to spread the word about this. She sees how great it is, she offers me very special things because she sees how passionate I am about teaching, I’ll be attending a workshop in Cleveland that she found funding for, pairs up with differentiated instruction, I am the classroom and the teacher she chose, to be part of a professional development video this year. .
8. What would you say to parents?
My parents were very supportive and pushed for me to loop with their kids, so I am . I’ll be looping with my class. The parents have really heard me when I spoke to them about nutrition, I brought in a nutritionist and the parents have become very committed to this. I have a lot of communication with my parents, I speak with them on the phone, also when they pick up their children from school. This kind of learning breaks the tradition that "I hate school" that many of them suffered from.. They are grateful and have communicated to me that they hated school and are thrilled that their children loved school this year. That’s all they wanted. I make lists of recommended books, web sites, I research certain topics for them and I think they are very happy that I chose to do BrainSMART. Some are educators and they are also very supportive.
9. What have you enjoyed the most about the content?
My favorite text was The Language of Respect. It made me cry and I spoke to the author and expressed how moving I found it to be. I had to read it twice, and took fifty pages of notes on it. It spoke to me. That book really spoke to me. I loved that text more than anything. Another part of the content that I enjoyed, I loved the accelerated learning. Loved, loved crafting my lesson plans based on that book. Changed my life and lesson plans. It runs through the entire program, about the body-brain connection, the nutrition, the idea of brains being different but each one needs to be respected and supported, loved that idea. In every way that Marcus has provided information about it, and also Donna’s presentation. I love the videos.
10. Did you have a friend or colleague who took the program? What did they say about the program?
I did not. I hope the word will spread.
