![Best Practices at Tier 1 [Secondary] - Gayle Gregory](/cover_679455.jpg "Best Practices at Tier 1 [Secondary] - Gayle Gregory")
engagement and create conditions for success, and it represents one of the powerful strategies educators use in delivering daily differentiated instruction. Although most brains operate in similar ways, each brain is uniquely based on the individual’s genetics and environmental experiences (Shaw et al., 2006). As a result, we all have different ways in which we process information and demonstrate competence. At the same time, we each react differently to environmental stressors such as isolation, bullying, and aggressive behaviors. In the classroom, events that go unnoticed by one student may dramatically interfere with another student’s ability to listen or participate in class.
Teachers intuitively know these differences exist, yet still may offer a one-size-fits-all curriculum. As teachers grow in experience and gain insight and expertise, however, their repertoire of instructional strategies and their understanding of how and where to use them evolve. The strategy of differentiated instruction is predicated on this understanding of each student’s unique nature and needs. Neuroscience has much to tell us about creating a classroom environment that feels safe and supportive for all student brains along with a classroom climate that promotes the kind of physical and emotional nourishment that contributes to both a healthy mind and a healthy body. Because every student in the classroom comes with his or her own set of learning needs and preferences, educators can draw on the variety of techniques we outline here to create a brain-friendly environment that will help all students achieve their learning goals.
The Adolescent Brain
When puberty hits, we can expect the unexpected. According to Jay Giedd et al. (1999), the young adolescent’s ability to judge, plan, and use insight has not yet developed. Giedd et al. (1999) suggest that people can learn good judgment, but we do not have the necessary brain hardware to make those judgments until we’re fully mature—in our early twenties. However, Giedd et al.’s (1999) research shows that the frontal lobe (the thinking and problem-solving area of the brain) continues to grow, change, and develop during childhood until 10.2 years for girls and 12.1 years for boys. Changes occur during the teen years as well. Therefore, adolescence is a second chance to develop behavioral regulation and logical decision making. This is good news! There is hope for teenagers who seem irrational or overemotional, as the decision-making areas of the brain continue to develop into their twenties. This means educators have time to influence students and help them learn to manage emotions and develop rational decision making. Teens need guidance while this brain development takes place. They are a work in progress as they learn strategies to manage emotions, self-regulate, make decisions, and develop empathy (Goleman, 2006b).
Adolescent Developmental Tasks
Not only are adolescents entering a new stage of life and brain maturation, but they are dealing with a whole new set of developmental tasks. These tasks mostly focus on becoming aware of themselves and their relationships to others. Several issues they grapple with are (Sheppard & Stratton, 1993):
As educators, we should be aware of adolescents’ quests, struggles, and insecurities. We are not just preparing these students for a test or college but for life, and their social-emotional needs are paramount to their development and success in school. Sometimes it is not only the parent who sees all of the issues. Through strong teacher-student partnerships, teachers can address the whole student in his or her education. Empathy, sensitivity, and open communication while allowing and guiding choices are necessary for teens to be successful. (See more about developing strong teacher-student partnerships on page 39.)
The Role of Stress in Brain Development
Perhaps the most potent factor shaping brain development in any environment is stress. The brain is a survival organ, and stress is one of the brain’s survival responses to real or perceived environmental threats. Stress is a normal element of life, and brains can grow and even thrive on appropriate stress levels. Excessive stress, however, can create dramatic physical and emotional responses that can interfere with our ability to think and interact appropriately.
When we experience a real or perceived danger or other stressful situation, our brain’s default system for emergencies kicks into high gear. Our amygdala (the emotional sentinel embedded deep in the limbic area on each side of the brain) goes on high alert. It begins scanning to identify the threat and then to decide whether to fight or flee, a reflexive automatic response that temporarily bypasses our executive, or reflective, brain functions (Posner & Rothbart, 2007; Zull, 2002). In the classroom, a student’s brain may go into survival mode—or reflexive action—as a result of being ridiculed, humiliated, or bullied or in response to a fear of failure, confusion, or a task that is too far outside his or her knowledge or skill capabilities. Beyond matching challenges to student skill levels, educators also must monitor for signs of multiple other stress inducers, such as isolation from peers, unclear expectations, and lack of both physical and emotional support structures. These kinds of stress-inducing events can deeply influence a student’s opinion about school. Physical and emotional support structures may include different types of seating for comfort and variety—bean bag chairs, mats on the floor, or different height and work surfaces to appeal to certain tasks. Additionally, when classrooms have rules, routines, and expectations, students’ anxiety and stress will lessen.
Our attention guides us to interpret sound, movement, color, and pain, in a state referred to as stimulus-driven attention. When goals drive our attention, rather than environmental stimuli, our brain engages with activities that appear meaningful and interesting. Once an immediate threat has passed, our brain is able to return to the goal-driven attention of higher-level thinking. In that state, the brain can ignore stimuli and put all its energy into the task at hand (Medina, 2008). That’s not to say that students learn best in a total stress-free environment. Without any pressure to learn, students have little motivation to do the hard work necessary to achieve learning goals. That’s why educators must work toward
