HSU Insider

A Cacophonous Twist and Shout Session Helps Teachers Reach Their Students

• By Janlyn Echols Thaxton
• Posted June 5, 2009 9:14 AM
• 0 Comments

HSU Workshop Attracts Teachers from All Over Texas

Eric Jensen somehow manages to get a room-full of teachers to wave their hands, write words with their hips, and walk like Egyptians at every seminar he teaches.

Jensen, an author of several books on how the brain works, brought his brain-based training to a workshop at Hardin-Simmons University.

The lesson was supposed to be on how teachers can engage gifted and talented students in the classroom learning process. But, as it turned out, teachers went away with new ideas on how to reach all kinds of students.

Dr. Mary Christopher, associate professor of education and the teacher certification officer at Hardin-Simmons brought the workshop to HSU with some gifted negotiation that kept the price down to just $30 per teacher.

She used some of her Threshold budget money, an HSU program for elementary-aged gifted students, and got Region 14 Education Service Center to pick up the rest of the tab.

She says the price allowed school districts to send more teachers, "For example, Colorado City school district sent twelve teachers. Many other teachers are coming from school districts from as far away as Houston." Of course, she says, we also have quite a few teachers from Abilene, Wylie, and Abilene Christian Schools attending.

Jensen, a former middle-school teacher himself, travels the world to educate educators on how the brain learns. The seemingly strange exercises are to give teachers new ideas on how to involve students and keep their attention.

"One of the key ingredients in getting your children to learn is to build hope," says Jensen. "When they have hope, you are half-way to engaged."

He asked teachers at each table to come up with other ideas on how to accomplish hope in students. Melinda Skelton, an Albany pre-k teacher says, "You have to give students a challenge." Sandra Munden, a special education teacher from Albany adds, "You have to make your students feel successful."

Dawn Bailey, a teacher from Keller observes, "As teachers we often focus on what students can't do. We need to change our strategies and focus on what students can do."

Liffin Molter, a teacher from Snyder says, "I'll be teaching summer school for kids who failed the TAKS test. Many of them will feel hopeless. I'll be able to use some of this information to show them I understand how they feel, that I've been there too."

In one of the exercises, Jensen asked teachers to point at the teacher whom they think has the most fun on weekends. Missy Willen, a 4th grade math and science teacher, got the vote at the Albany table. A game of follow-the-leader ensued around the room with the "fun-loving" teachers leading the more reserved teachers to wave their arms and do funny walks.

Jensen has written over 25 books which include Brain-Based Learning and Brain-Compatible Strategies. With an academic background in psychology, he is currently working on a Ph.D. in human development. He is also serving as an adjunct faculty member at San Diego State University.

Christopher says, "Jensen views himself as a "translator". He uses what he has learned first-hand about what neuroscience has taught us about learning and translates it into useful information for teachers."

She adds, "Jensen modeled everything he taught us and engaged the educators as he taught us about brain-based instruction. He began the day telling us that teachers must know the "why" behind the strategies we use."