2022 Learning and the Brain Conference - Saturday

I always take notes on my blog, so check back here periodically as I will update after each speaker/session.  These will not just be what the speaker says.  It is also how I process the content, so some of it will be my thoughts.  I'll try to note that when I can, but sometimes, I don't notice when I've switched from what I heard to what I thought.

Keynote I: Disconnected: Protecting Our Kids’ Brains from the Harmful Effects of Device Dependency - Tom Kersting

25 years as a high school counselor in NJ.

Wrote Disconnected and Raising Healthy Teenagers

Since 2008, teenagers are increasingly being diagnosed with ADD when it used to be diagnosed between 5 and 8.  Researchers sometimes refer to this as "acquired attention deficit disorder" because they show symptoms even though they weren't born with it, and it likely comes from changing pathways in their brains due to electronics usage.  In 2012 (debut year of the smartphone), in his private practice, he started getting more referrals for middle schoolers with anxiety disorders in a week than he had previously gotten in a year.

Usage increased from 6.5 hours per day to 7.5 hours per day in four years due to the invention of Facebook and YouTube during that time (They didn't have phones yet).  After the advent of the smartphone, it is now at 9 hours per day.  

Neuroplasticity is causing their brains to adapt to the digital environment, leading to a change in its chemistry.  That chemistry change is partly responsible for the increase in anxiety.  Underutilized pathways are pruned away, so what they are not doing might be as important as what they are doing.  (My question:  What would they be doing during those hours that were not previously devoted to electronics?)

During adolescence, when they are most worried about where they fit in and whether or not they are weird, phones and social media give them a front-row seat to the "highlight reel" of everyone in their school.  They become tense because they only see the good news of their friends while they know themselves more fully.

Cyber self-esteem - the attempt to feel good by getting likes and followers.  Your understanding of yourself comes from reflecting in silence.  (My thought: Distracting yourself from yourself will only result in outsourcing your esteem.). Make it a point every day to sit in silence for 15-30 minutes without distraction.  You can find out what is good about yourself in that time and take inventory. You can't do that during sensory input because you aren't present where you are.

FOMO - Kids are addicted to being noticed.  They fear leaving a group chat because they fear it will make them irrelevant.

Sleep problems are epidemic.  The average student goes to sleep after 1AM, and their parents do not know.  If they cannot leave their phone in the kitchen when they go to bed at night, it is a sign they are already addicted.

The human brain cannot multi-task, and attempting to do so messes up the filing/coding system.  (In the ball passing/gorilla experiment, there are other things that aren't being noticed either.)  During an hour of homework, how many notifications are coming in?  How many times are you changing songs?  How many times do you pick up the phone to check it?  EACH of those is an interruption to your encoding.  Keeping the phone on and in the pocket means the buzzing alone is multiple distractions even if they don't take it out of their pocket and look at it.

People who consider themselves high multi-taskers will use 20x more of their brain in an executive function activity, but it is not the executive function part of the brain that is being activated.  The brain is confused and uses inappropriate parts of the brain for the task.  

The World Health Organization has officially recognized gaming as an addiction.  The industry designs the games to make sure they have scheduled dopamine hits to keep them on the platform.  Taking it away may result in the same behaviors as taking drugs away from a drug addict.  They are chasing dopamine all day long.  It takes the brain about 30 days to rebalance itself after removing the stimulus.

The average age of kids getting their first cell phone is 10 even though everyone agrees that it is not a good idea.  Parents give in because of social conformity and they don't want their child to be "the only one" who doesn't have one.  How can we make it a social norm to put off getting the phone until late adolescence?  (Brain games social conformity experiment)

Parental cell phone usage is damaging their relationships with children because they are spending less time talking to kids (3.5 minutes of meaningful conversation) at times when they would have prior to smartphones (car, dinner, waiting in line, public spaces, intermissions).  This leads to kids having less emotional intelligence because they aren't talking through things with their parents.  (I've said for years that half of what I learned as a child just came from hearing adults talk in whatever room I was in.  Earbuds prevent this learning.)

Gabb wireless phones are "dumbphones" that don't have access to the internet.  It can be a good intro phone for kids because it gives them the benefits parents want without the massive amounts of overstimulation a regular smartphone provides.

Keynote II: The Distressed Generation: How the Pandemic and Social Media Are Creating a Mental Health Crisis by Jean M. Twenge, PhD

Wrote iGen - Why Today's Super-COnnected Kids are growing up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy - and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood

All four generations (Boomers, Gen X, Millenials, GenZ) are represented in the room.  

Surveys on how people spend their time started in 1966, so we can compare the data of 11 million respondents.  Growing up now is completely different than it was in the 50s, 80s, or even the 2000s.  What are the trends for our students?  Trends are adaptations to context, but they are not all bad or all good.

Trend 1 - Growing up Slowly - 

• Kids are protected more. They don't walk to school by themselves.  
• There are fewer kids in the family, so the parents are more able to hover and be involved in everything.
• In spite of the boomer/Xer belief that we grow up in a more wholesome time, it was not true. They spent a lot of time alone,   Rates of drinking, smoking, and dating among teenagers have decreased dramatically.  
• They are less independent (My Note: because parents and teachers find it easier to do things for them) 
• They find it more difficult to make decisions because they have always been able to get immediate input from parents through text.

Trend 2 - Mental Health Decline

• They started feeling more left out and more lonely (the trend started 10 years pre-pandemic)
• At the same time, they started responding that they didn't feel useful and didn't have hope for their role in the future.
• They started showing more evidence of depression in 2010.  At the same time, there was a spike in ER visits for self-harm.
• Happiness, self-esteem, and satisfaction had been increasing during the 90s, but they started dropping in 2010.
• What happened in 2010 - It was the first time the majority of Americans owned a smartphone.

Trend 3 - Social Media Usage

• In 2009, about half of teens used social media daily.
• It passed 70% in 2011 and is now at over 90% 
• What is that usage replacing? They don't go out with friends informally.  They don't go to parties.  They don't go out alone without their parents.

Does this matter for mental health and happiness?  

An analysis of what happy teens do with their time.

- Unhappy kids report more hours per day doing on-screen activities.

- Happy kids engage in more work, print, in-person social interaction, religious activities, sports, and even 

  homework.

- Social media time and depression are directly correlated (even more dramatically for girls)

The pandemic continued the mental distress trends that started in 2010, and it contributed to some increase, but it was not the cause.  Kids feel like they can't win, even if they don't use social media because then they feel left out by social pressure.  (Not saying phones cause all teen depression or mental health issues - just accounting for the upward increase since 2010)

What can we do?

1. No phones in bedrooms - leave them on chargers (Did you know you can buy an alarm clock?)
2. Shut down devices an hour before bedtime.  It has both psychological and physiological benefits.
3. Make tech usage at school collective (everyone watches the same video at the same time) not individual.  Make lunch a time and place for face-to-face interaction.
4. Individual solutions don't really work.  We need group solutions due to the pressure of social norms.  If you need your 11-14-year-old to have a phone for emergencies and parent contact, give them a flip phone or Gabb phone because social media cannot be put on it.
5. Teach them to use their phone, not to let their phone use them.  There are good things about phones, so if we deny that, we lose credibility.  Teaching them how to take advantage of the good things while minimizing the bad things is important.

There was a concurrent session between these keynotes, but I was invited to a conversation about research in schools, and it went later than expected.  I think it will ultimately mean more that attending the session would have.

Keynote III: The Disengaged Generation: Improving Student Engagement and Wellbeing in Schools by Andy P. Hargreaves, PhD and Dennis Shirley

Wrote Five Paths of Student Engagment.

Personal note: Andy Harvreaves is delightful.  If you get a chance to see him speak, do it.

The secret of student achievement is student engagement.  

Engagement was a problem before the pandemic, but it is, by far, the biggest issue post pandemic.  

You don't come in to turn the light bulbs off, so you know how to turn them on.  

There is a difference between not engaged and actively disengaged.  Not engaged is just not attentive.  Actively disengaged are the ones kicking the desk in front of them, poking at other students, and seeking out things to do other than what you want them to do.

Engagement starts to decrease at 5th grade.  It starts to increase again around age 16.  What is happening between age 11 and 16?  

In remote teaching, cognitive engagement was the same or easier, but emotional engagement was a struggle because you didn't have the laughter, the fun, and the spiritual connection.

The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday - Move with the obstacle, not against it.

In what way can the difficulties of Covid or any other challenge become a positive?  What did you get out of it you wouldn't have gotten in another way?  What good did you learn that you can still use post pandemic?

How can you tell whether students are engaged?  It's not as easy to measure as you might think.  Engagement is complicated.  

The first use of the word engagement was in battle (martial use).  It became about marriage a hundred years later (marital use).  It's both a battle and promise.  

What are three myths of engagement?

1. Learning has to be relevant.  (Often, this leads to stereotyping - trying to make something interesting specifically to girls, etc.)  Museum of Bad Art in Boston.
2. Technology is required - Yet outdoor learning is often more beneficial.
3. Learning must be fun.  - How do you engage with things like the war in Ukraine if you have been taught that learning is only engaging if it is fun.  (My thought.  Change it to valuable instead of fun.)

Five Enemies of Student Engagement

1. Disenchantment (High stakes standardized testing steals the magic.)
2. Disconnection (If it seems arbitrary, they check out.  Explain how it fits with other things.)
3. Disassociation (Lack of belonging or homogenized belonging)
4. Disempowerment (Feeling like you have to voice or choice)
5. Distraction (Adolescence is biological distraction before you even add the technology to the mix.)

Magic - Show them what you love about the content.  What made you get into it?  (You can be both tradition and progressive, both formal and informal, depending one what you need for that lesson in the moment.)

Mastery - Get their hands on building something that they will find important.

Belonging - Having students work together and depend on each other builds belonging.

Meaning and Purpose - "What's essential for some kids is good for all kids."  

Voice and Involvement - Ask the students for help in any way that you find appropriate.

There isn't one magic bullet for engagement.  Teachers know how to engage, but there is stuff in the way.  Confront the stuff that's in the way.

Keynote IV: Strategies for Leading a Pandemic Population of Students by Andrew McPeak, MA

Let's get really practical.

"Because I said so" - Sage wisdom is not always accurate - How good is the advice we're giving?

We are all in the same boat, but we are not all in the same storm.  

Does culture reflect the psyche of kids or direct it?

• They are wrestling with mental health more.
• They are aware fo national and global tragedies younger than they used to be.
• They are witnessing more mass shootings than ever.
• They feel more academic and social pressure to perform or compete.
• They feel constantly captured (video) and critiqued (when posted). FOMU
• They witness polarized adults and bad behavior from the people who should be teaching them appropriate behavior.
• Now they are part of the "pandemic population."

Kids are coping with the world's problems through distraction (hours of Netflix or video games).

Students are offered the bright side and the dark side of many things.  

• Technology has a bright side (instant access to information) and a dark side (instant gratification and lack of patience). 
•  Social media hass bright side (connectedness and potential inclusivity) and a dark side (anxious and alone)
• Opportunity has a bright side (more involvement) and a dark side (less engaged, stretched too thin). 
• Screens have a bright side (opens the world to them) and a dark side (closes them off to the world). 
• Memes have a bright side (savvy and insightful) and a dark side (cynical). 
• Platforms have a bright side (abounding creativity) and a dark side (lacking in integrity, meaning wholeness - They are dividing themselves). 
• Support has a bright side (more resourced) and a dark side (less resourceful). 

"When the winds of change blow, some people build walls while others build windmills." 

- Chinese Proverb

When a sailor wants to go from point A to point B, but the wind is contrary, they have options.  They can yell at the wind (social media), surrender to the wind (change the goal), or adjust their sales (use the change to get to the goal another way).

Pessimist complain about the wind.  Optimists assume the wind will change.  Leaders adjust to the change while still trying to reach their goals.

What people need during a distruption:

1. Context - offers perspective (This is the fourth pandemic of the century.)
2. Applications - offers clarity (What can we do today?  Learn to use zoom.  It gives them one action step that they can actually accomplish)
3. Belief - offers hope (Like the speech the queen gave during the pandemic - my thought, not his)

Charles Darrow story

The Power of Bad by John Tierney 

Post Traumatic Outcomes 

1. PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) involving negative effects, damage, triggers.
2. PTG (Post Traumatic Growth) involving becoming stronger, kinder, wiser, and more grateful.

Eight Strategies to Lead Generation Z Through Times of Upheaval

1. Make a habit of talking about the silver lining (not pretending it is all great, but look for the good within the situation - MacBain mode).
2. Break down hardships into digestible bites in their minds (help them cope with one piece at a time - make a to do list of 15 things and tackle them one at a time).
3. Identify and challenge cognitive distortions. (What are you treating as true even if it isn't?)
4. Remind them of past personal successes.  (Help them remember that they have taken on similar challenges before and succeeded.)
5. Help them practice psychological distancing (Get them out of their own head - "If you had a friend who was going through this what advice would you give them?).
6. Tell stories of those who turned disadvantages into advantages (Resilience can be built vicariously).
7. Express both high belief and high expectations. (If you match low expectations to high belief, you don't help them suceed.  If you have high expectations and no belief, you crush their motivation.  If you have high standards because you believe they can achieve them, they will work hard and accept your help.)
8. Practice affirming self-talk.  (Help them replace the negative things they say about themselves with positive things - Personal note: Help them see themselves the way God sees them, as the Imago Dei who are created with purpose.)

Habitudes - Images that form leadership habits and attitudes.

Are you a brushfire or a candle?  How to test yourself.

• Choose and chase a big goal.
• Do something scary.
• Go someplace new.
• Meet somone important.
• Lead something.
• Submit yourself to a standard.

You are the flight attendant in your classroom.

The Golden Rule for Your Student Relationships:  You must ask, listen, empathize, and guide.

Option 6 - Empowering Students to Recover (All Ages): Helping Students Recover, Rebound, and Re-Engage in Challenging Times by John Almarode

We don't have a learning loss problem. We have an engagement problem.

Teachers need to recover, rebound, and re-engage as much if not more than students do.  We need to remember how we used to make decisions.  There must be:

• Clarity around the learning.
• There must be a learning experience with rigorous tasks.
• The tasks must generate evidence that makes learning visible for both the teachers and the learners.

Teacher clarity has an effect size of 0.84.  (Anything above 0.4 is highly effective). Teacher clairy means that you know what you want your students to learn and why you want them to learn it and that you can identify the ways you will know that they have learned it.  Students should be able to answer those questions as well.

In 17,000 walkthrough observations, Antonetti and Garver found that there were 8 aspects of engaging lessons (By the way, John said this was the education book on which he had an aha moment every time he turned the page, so I have ordered it.). They are

• Clear and modeled expectations
• Emotional safety
• Personal Response
• Sense of Audience
• Social Interaction
• Choice
• Novelty
• Authentic

You do not have to have all 8 in a lesson.  Which ones you choose will depend on your goal.  Having 3 produced 87% sustained engagement.  Having only 2 produced only 17%, so that third one really matters.  If you are lesson planning and presenting for clarity, that takes care of one in every lesson.  John always says, "If you are a decent person who doesn't hate children, you should have emotional safety down."  That means, you pick the third one based on whatever your learning intention is for that lesson.

The tasks you use should generate evidence.  Learning should be visible.  Both the teacher and the learner should be able to tell they have learned and not just feel that they have or think that something works.  It should produce something that shows the learning.

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1. There must be clarity around the learning.

2. There must be a learning experience with rigorous tasks.

3. The tasks must generate evidence that makes learning visible for both the teacher and the learners.