Hernandez, a middle school teacher, proposes that active engagement is when students do something that facilitates cognitive processing of course content and that teachers need to activate students' executive function and involve them in tasks that align their physical actions with cognitive processing of course content. She describes the science underlying how movement, talk, and a flexible environment activate executive function and prepare the brain for learning; strategies for increasing student movement and talk; ways to use the physical space to stimulate attention and learning capacity; and the stages of implementation of these methods. Annotation ©2018 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
Discover what happens when your students step out of their daily routines and activate their engagement. Author Katherine Mills Hernandez argues that movement, talk, and the physical environment of the classroom all contribute and influence students’ learning. The ideas in Activate! will help you create a classroom optimized for deeper engagement and lasting learning.
No matter what subject you teach, Katherine invites you to shift your attention from what you are doing in the classroom, to what your students are doing as the catalyst for learning. She provides insights into instruction through real classroom lessons as she gives you the tools to better assess your students’ engagement and energy levels. The book describes practical ways to incorporate movement into the classroom routine, based on research on how an active brain generates true learning.
Katherine invites you into her own classroom by sharing vignettes from lessons and activities, opening up the pages of her own learning journal, sharing pictures from her classroom, and examples of classroom charts. She also provides a comprehensive bibliography on the research behind the science of movement and talk and how they affect learning.