Brain Based Strategies for Learning

Beat The Odds

There are hundreds of strategies, tools, and techniques posted online for just one purpose. They are all about helping you keep your New Year’s Resolutions. But you don’t have time to use countless tools. This month you’ll sharpen your saw and use just three tools w/ a “reboot.” Ready for a big “WOW”?

Prior knowledge

The New Year is such a great time for a fresh start. As you may have guessed, many people fail to embed and succeed with their New Year’s resolutions. I have read estimates that 23% of people fail in week one, 43% quit by the end of the month, and only 9% finish the year with new habits intact.

But people have always had chances for a fresh start. They might include starting a fresh relationship, starting a new job, having a birth in the family, moving to a new city/country, a marriage, a promotion, healing from sickness/disease, birthdays, completing a divorce, anniversaries, and changing diet or wardrobe.

Let’s name all these milestones above as simple opportunities for a “reboot.” You can use a reboot (fresh start, reset, or restart) for any occasion, any time. It can be a milestone starting point for any change in your life. I use reboots 3 to 4 times a year. Why? I have the mindset, systems, and tools to make them work, do you?

Remember that you exist in multiple areas. These include Systemic (workplace, shopping, travel), Social (friends, partner, family, social media), and Personal (daily eating, work, play, and sleeping habits). If you are trying to eat better at home (personal), but your best friends (social) eat poorly, and your school serves unhealthy food (systemic), the odds are stacked against you with your new habit.

I’m NOT saying you drop your friends, move, and change your job. I am simply describing three of your domains that can be a risk for your reboot. Now, we could rearrange those three items multiple ways, but the bottom line is that your chance for a successful reboot is greatest when you have positively activated ALL three domains. Get on board and be sure to take action in all these areas of your life.

Set yourself up to accomplish a win, even if it is not perfect. Here is how to use my suggestion of “Plan A, B, and C.” This strategy is crucial because, in your worst case, you’ll still make progress. Here’s how the ABC works for me. “If I forget to do ____ (name the new habit such as “no sugar” every day), I can always do a slightly less aggressive version of the same habit: maybe I give myself just one sweet food item a day. And when traveling, I can modify what I do even more drastically.

List your goal, then keep in mind the A, B, and C versions, as needed:

A =      Most ambitious, perfect case
B =     Middle ground, a single glitch
C =      Minimum level, anything above zero counts

This way, even doing your goal with a C twice a week means you’re still making progress. Don’t allow yourself to give up. Your persistence will help you reach your goal (perhaps a bit later).

Practical Applications

Personal: As an example of my personal domain, I write out the three biggest things I want to accomplish the next day before I go to bed at night. I keep these “big 3” things on an index card (you can use a colorful, big post-it). My rule is to put the index card or sticky note in an easy-to-see place and include my new habit each day. Once my new habit is well in place, I stop putting the reminder or prompt down on paper.

First thing in the morning, I read my daily affirmations. The quick 30-second read inspires me to stay on course for my long-term goals. Here is a sample of my core statements:

“I am healthy, giving, and thriving. I hug and kiss my wife every day. I am a kind, loving, and forgiving husband. I am a helping person and make it a habit to support my spouse and friends daily. I commit to daily yoga, 30 pool laps w/ V02 max, and weight training. I take cold showers for at least 60 seconds and eat 80+ grams of protein daily. I write daily with clarity and speed. I am completing my new habit every day. I refuse to complain; life is good.”

Social: Encourage your friends to all share goals and all support each other by asking once a week, “How many times this week did you do your new habit? What might you need to change? Is your goal still important to you, and in what ways?” Post your new habit on social media and ask friends and readers to give you cheers and support for just 60 days. That should be long enough to instill the habit as permanent.

Systemic: Ask leadership to recognize all staff making positive changes in their lives. Have leadership do a daily shout-out (nominated by a friend). Infuse your colleagues and staff with hope. Share the good things that will happen when they tackle and do their habits daily. When you’re hopeful, your colleagues will be hopeful. Post notes and prompts. Even a banner can be put on your door at work as a cue to take action.

READY FOR RESULTS? That’s it for this month; it’s closing time. Now for my biggest fear. Maybe you still use the ‘time bias.’ Many will read this newsletter and then respond, “I’m just too busy; I’ve got no time for those changes to help me and my students soar like eagles.” If you feel that way, I am sorry; I have failed you. I failed to activate your choice of playing the ‘long game.’ Biases are shortcuts to save time and are often about the ‘short game.’

You see, life goes by so fast that many would say, “Live in the moment, smell the roses; life is short.” And they’re right. Life is about savoring the smell of the flowers, eating a great meal, and enjoying hugs from friends and family.

But most everything worth having over a lifetime also requires the ‘the long game.’ At school, this includes building relationships and fostering cognitive capacity. At home, the list consists of maintaining relationships, appreciating the daily blessings, and saving for retirement. Choose right now; what have you decided on – long or short? Then begin, right now…

Eric Jensen
CEO, Jensen Learning

School Improvement

5 Ways to Dramatically Improve Your School

This summer, I have continued to visit many schools. The funny thing is nobody ever asks me how I would improve their school. It seems like leadership is pretty sure they are “checking the right boxes” because we need “such and such.” This month’s blog post begins a 5-month reveal of my top 5 all-time best ways to improve your school. Ready to get your mind boggled? This post starts you with our first solution option.

Background

Here is this month’s insight. Staff often feel as if they never have enough time with students. Yet evidence tells us that amazing results are possible in far less time. Unfortunately, most educators are a bit short in the brain-based learning department. Why?

Expertise is time-consuming, and few have the time for deep dives. How about a ‘lifeline’ instead? This month’s lifeline will be a case study instead of our usual format. But it begins with just one essential background item.

For a moment, consider what a basic model of brain-based learning might look like. Beginning with step 1 (cellular response) to the learning environment, all the way through to testing. I’ll call my rough draft the “Nucleus Nine.” Your brain’s ideal learning model for school might look like this:

  1. Cultivate a positive environment (physical, high expectations, encouraging, cultural acceptance, temperature, emotions, hope, safety, etc.) Every cell in your body is either in growth mode or defensive mode. To optimize learning, allow your 80 trillion cells to be on your side… in growth mode.
  2. Foster learner agency (mindsets, skills, identity, camaraderie, systems, habits, support, and vitality.) Most learners need support in “running their own brain.” Ensure they get what they need to succeed.
  3. Activate the brain (prior knowledge, expose biases, choose the learning, boost physical energy with energizers, movement, or PE.) This process helps use prior understandings and erases misconceptions to grow. Movement and social contact bump up dopamine, noradrenaline, cortisol, and serotonin.
  4. Create hooks to foster curiosity, anticipation, and gain buy-in. Brains are wired to take action for survival and relevancy. Make the learning attractive to both staff and students.
  5. Start with a new or existing platform (or structure) such as a schema, graphic organizer, story, prior learning, a video, or analogy. Brains don’t do ‘random’ learning very well. By using a structure to hold and share the learning, there’s a better chance for meaning-making, coherence, and momentum.
  6. Begin content with concrete ideas. Make them easy to remember as mental signposts. Most learners can hold 2-3 items without memory practice. Once the students have exposure to those concrete ideas, you can begin building 8-12’ content chunks. Your template for learning has begun.
  7. Enhance, elaborate, deepen & shape the new learning w/ discussion, error-correction, graphics, gesturing, re-organizing (from a memory to a graphic, or from text to a story), concrete examples, quizzes, self-explanation (explain the content to a first-grade version of you), and meaning-making. Keep this segment relevant.
  8. Consolidation, interleaving, and spacing. Consolidation is time away from the new learning (about 10 minutes for every 20 minutes of content.) Interleaving occurs when you engage different ideas or problem types than the prior versions of the same problem. Energizers, physical games, or slow stretching can fill the ten minutes. Any additional content must have a twist to avoid ‘contamination’ or disruption in the synaptic process that’s strengthening the earlier learned content. For example, students might learn a math principle and then sit back and listen to a YouTube story of the person who invented that concept 200 years ago.
  9. Retrieval and error-correction days and weeks later. How strong is retrieval (vs. studying)? It’s so good; even if you fail at it, you get better! Some research has shown that retrieval practice is more effective with simple, core concepts (vs. highly complex material.) Other research suggests that when doing standard retrieval at the K-5 level, performance was low (<10%). But using graphic organizers with prompts helped improve retrieval. Additionally, including targeted questions was helpful too.

That’s my nucleus nine. Couldn’t we simplify the nine steps? Two things to keep in mind. These nine steps are not for every type of learning. There are at least a dozen different ways to learn (imitation, for example). Some are easier, but for school, you have the accountability, context, and constraints which vary dramatically across all the environments. This is just one way of learning typical school-based content.

A second way to frame this list is that everything worth having in life is hard when you first begin (even crawling, eating, and walking.) But maybe you discovered one (or more) of the nine above steps that you may be leaving out in your own classroom or school. I did, and I teach these principles!

The most common mistake is not including consolidation and spacing time away from the new learning. Why? There’s a constant judging by certain ‘authority’ figures who want students ‘on task’ every minute. It’s as if we want to get our money’s worth by having students ‘absorbing’ content constantly. Unfortunately, anyone who insists on students having a constant input is showing their ignorance.

When students forget much of what they’re taught, it is not brain-based teaching. When the teaching is done differently and with consolidation, it sticks.

Why Should We Do Consolidation and Spacing?
Did you ever notice that many kids ‘have got it’ on Monday or Tuesday but forgot it by Wednesday? Did you ever have to re-teach something? Of course, it’s a commonplace event in most classrooms. Students often have no idea at recall time the next day (or the next week). Much of the original learning episode was incomplete. Lock in and read carefully; it’s not the kids’ fault they forget. It’s a lack of understanding by staff about the way the brain works.

Here’s a summary that may change your teaching or training. There are many types of memory (taste, episodic, procedural, semantic, etc.). Most classroom-based learning requires the fundamental acquisition of semantics (content learning). Scientists call this original learning moment “synaptic tagging,” or LTP (long-term potentiation), a molecular or synaptic tag.

It is the moment a student gets it: “Ah-ha!” That intense stimulation (LTP) triggers the formation of a memory by activating neurons, making a connection with synaptic efficacy, and forming the ‘moment’ of success. The student and teacher say, “Hooray!” Physically, a new synapse is formed (axon and dendrite touching), and the student feels good about the learning. But this new memory may not last unless it is a novel and highly salient event. It may fade away like other short-term memory events.

Why? For long-term memory, your main goal is to build not one but two specific types of memories in the student’s brain. Again, for students to do well, you’ll want to initiate the LTP (long-term potentiation, the “I got it” moment). Most teachers would be pretty happy with those “woo-hoo” moments when students get it. But there’s more.

The second type of memory is long-term memory (LTM). LTM means the memory has been consolidated and will likely stick around. Long Term Memory that says, “I can retrieve it later.” (Vishnoi & Raisuddin, Parvez, 2022). It is the transformation of a short-term memory induced by common experiences into a lasting long-term memory (Nomoto & Inokuchi, 2018). The physical process is solidified where the synapse becomes part of overlapping and connected neuronal assemblies. In short, it is “wired” with other neurons in place. So, how does this play out in the classroom?

Consolidation and Spacing: How to do this?
Neuroscientists suggested we do no more than 20 consecutive minutes ‘of being taught’ or ‘input time.’ The amount of time (from 5-20 min.) varies by students’ age, content complexity, recency, priming, details, and prior knowledge. Then, our brain needs time to consolidate. So, what do we do with the constant 10-minute brain breaks?

The challenge is that you’d have to design a study within schools with two groups. In this study, the first group of secondary teachers taught their usual, more traditional way, and the second experimental group of teachers taught the way I described above; they added the spacing. Teachers in the experimental group had concerns (rightfully so), which was healthy considering the type of changes needed, demands, and risks of failure.

Their concerns were: 1) how would we create, organize, and set up a plan, 2) how would it be deployed effectively, and 3) how would we measure the results in varied contexts. But an even bigger concern was, “Will the change to using spaced learning demonstrate significant learning results on the same tests that the other group would be given?

STUDY DESIGN:

This Spaced Learning Experiment was used with experimental science groups (all secondary level) under three conditions to deliver the Biology (or Physics) courses structured in the National Curriculum.

In Conditions 1 and 2, students took a biology (or physics) course through traditional teaching for a semester over four months (the usual). This control group had over 1,730 students (ages 13-15). Classes were 45 min each, twice a week.

In condition 3 (experimental group), students took the biology (or physics) course (typically lasting for eight months) with a single, spaced learning session of 60 min. This 60 minutes replaced the entire course, including an end-of-course review. You read this correctly; the experimental group attended only one class for 60 minutes. The three groups were tested using the same standard exam over the same material.

Each accelerated, spaced class was fast, using 5-10 slides per minute with teacher descriptions and complimentary visuals. What did secondary teachers do in class for the ten-minute brain breaks twice an hour? Each group of teachers developed their own material and then shared it with others. That eased the difficulty of what (and how) to do it. Ultimately, here are ideas they considered (most, but not all, were used) for the 10-minute gaps in their secondary schools.

  • Downtime may be used to practice mindfulness, de-stressing, or keep eyes closed while staying in the present. The teacher should lead these at the start.
  • Structured movement options If the students are above K-3, students can lead team movements. Examples are Follow the Leader, or have students pair up, then take a walk within the classroom to catch up on different topics, or the team leader leads the team with an energizer.
  • Alternative content Give sneak previews of upcoming content or do retrieval of yesterday’s content (vary the style).
  • Use the day’s natural breaks Recess, lunchtime, passing time between classes and the end of the day. These ‘breaks’ are perfect for the consolidation of learning.
  • Interleaving content means switching sources, types, and variety of content (show a video, students share stories about the people involved, graphic organizers used for partners, teams, and whole class.)
  • Student generated retrieval practice. In each class, two students volunteered and presented using four learning strategies (dual coding, elaboration, concrete examples, and interleaving). To use the time optimally, 51% saw students create worksheets with items to label or short quizzes, 34% used games (e.g., Kahoot, Jeopardy), and 15% went to ‘other’ options.

STUDY SET-UP:

This experiment was done with full support. Nationally standardized, high-stakes testing for all groups in the study was analyzed by the national data center. The multi-choice test data allowed for a clear comparison of experimental vs. control groups. Over 1700 students participated in this study. The experimental group’s scores were based on just 60 minutes of instruction, while the control group’s scores were on teaching over four months (2x/wk. x 12 sessions) with 24 hours total of direct instruction. It almost seems unfair, doesn’t it?

A measure of the impact on learning in relation to instructional time was calculated for all groups to quantify the impact difference: a test score percentage gain per hour of instruction. There was a highly significant difference between the experimental and control groups in learning per hour of instruction. The one hour’s instruction replaced four months of instruction, demonstrating far greater learning efficiency. The effect size was = 4.97.

STUDY RESULTS:

Notably, the final compilation of test scores showed that the control and experimental groups tested out equally. And remarkably, experimental subjects acquired long-term memories of complex material as required by the national curriculum in just one hour of brain-based teaching. Students adjusted easily to Spaced Learning’s very intense learning and exceptional speed of delivery (7-8 slides per minute) of the biology (and physics) courses (Kelley & Whatson, 2013).

Spaced Learning is more efficient in comparison to standard teaching. There was a highly significant difference between standard teaching and Spaced Learning as measured by the test score percentage increase per hour of instruction. It was one hour of instruction vs. 24 hours of instruction to achieve similar test results. The manipulation of time as a key variable in learning here reflects neuroscience evidence on time scales in memory processes rather than educational time scales.

CONCLUSION: You’ve likely learned something today. If you follow the rules for how the brain works, you could accelerate the course acquisition rate while leaving the accuracy intact. This experiment has worked in other, more challenging classes (biology, physics, math, etc.) but not in the classes where answers are less relevant (Gittner, A. (2010). While I am unsure if this process could be used in all classes or ages, using it in some classes would open up time for other highly crucial curriculum. Is there evidence for this brain-based success?

ACTION STEPS: If you are seriously interested, you can download the study, the data, and teacher comments – all for free. Here’s the link to the actual study in a PDF: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3782739/pdf/fnhum-07-00589.pdf
Kelley P, Whatson T. (2013) Making long-term memories in minutes: a spaced learning pattern from memory research in education. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 7:589.

That’s it for this month; it’s closing time. Now for my biggest fear. Maybe you still use the ‘time bias.’ Many will read this newsletter and respond, “I’m just too busy; I’ve got no time for those changes to help me and my students soar like eagles.” If you feel that way, I am sorry; I have failed you. I failed to activate your choice of playing the ‘long game.’ Biases are shortcuts to save time and are often about the ‘short game.’

You see, life goes by so fast that many would say, “Live in the moment, smell the roses, life is short.” And they’re right. Life is about savoring the smell of the flowers, eating a great meal, and enjoying hugs from friends and family.

But most everything in life worth having over a lifetime also requires the ‘the long game.’ At school, it includes building relationships and fostering cognitive capacity. At home, the list includes maintaining relationships, appreciating the daily blessings, and saving for retirement. Choose right now; what have you decided on… long or short? Then begin… right now.

Eric Jensen
CEO, Jensen Learning
Brain-Based Education

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body and mind

What You Need to Know About Your Mind and Body

Many would think this newsletter is always about the brain. Scientists are discovering that while your brain runs your body, the body (in turn) sends signals to regulate your brain. Everything that makes you sick influences both mind and body. Are you interested in better health and energy for the upcoming school year? This post has answers. Stop compromising your health and vitality; it’s time to do a deep dive.

The Research

Here is this month’s insight. We hear of overstressed teachers with profound fatigue (many have walked away from work.) Something is compromising their health and vitality big time. Let’s learn why many women struggle as they get older. Let’s open the door to some of the relevant and recent discoveries. In this issue, we’ll address three discreet ways many females struggle as they age and what to do about it.

The Research and Application

1. Managing Your Menopause
Menopause is a dynamic neurological (brain) transition that significantly impacts brain structure (size and shape), connectivity (for thinking), and metabolic profile (energy levels) during the midlife endocrine aging of the female brain (Mosconi, et al. 2021). In short, anyone who dismisses menopause as “just the end of your period” has no idea what they’re talking about.

SYMPTOMS
Each woman’s symptoms will vary. For some, there are hot flashes, chills, mood changes, sleep issues, thinning hair, dry skin, and incontinence. Others may get the more physical and emotional symptoms of menopause which disrupts sleep, lowers energy, or affects emotional health. For others, there are cognitive changes such as forgetfulness, “brain fog,” and difficulty concentrating. In fact, cognitive decline is one of the most frequent complaints of women undergoing the menopausal transition, with a 44%-62% prevalence (Conde, et al., 2021).

In short, the ending of your period is the start of another time in your life.
Menopause is the time that marks the end (if you’ve gone 12 months without a period) of your menstrual cycle. Menopause can happen in your 40s or 50s, but the average age is 51 in the United States. Because all women are unique, the symptoms will vary.

Is HRT (hormone replacement therapy) safe? The original study that got so many women to disregard HRT came out in 2002. The headlines screamed, “You might get cancer!” That was poor science with multiple study problems (WGWHII, 2002). Here are a few reasons you might reconsider HRT.

First, in the original study, the hormones used were from horses (today, they use a different path.) Here’s what a prominent researcher, medical doctor, and therapist said recently.

“An entire generation of women for the past 20 years have been largely deprived of this (newer) therapy on the worn-out basis of very bad science and far worse reporting and misinterpretation of science.”

This quote is from Dr. Sharon Parish, Professor of Medicine in Clinical Medicine and practicing doctor in Clinical Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College and a prominent sexual medicine specialist.

Second, there is a huge difference between relative risk and absolute risk. Relative risk is greater than or less than a baseline. The total increase in the risk of getting cancer with the outdated hormone replacement therapy was 0.1%, meaning one person in a thousand. There was zero increase in breast cancer mortality (researchers still follow those women today.) As you can tell, that’s a very tolerable absolute risk.

Your timing matters with HRT. In the study years ago, the women who got HRT started it much later in life. But starting earlier (within a year after menopause) changes all the numbers and is far safer. In fact, for younger, healthy women (50–60 years old), the risk–benefit balance is very positive for using HRT, with risks considered rare (Lobo, R. 2017).

Multiple studies show that HRT has an ideal timeline for starting the therapy. In large meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials, including the Women’s Health Initiative, a significantly lower risk of coronary heart disease was found with HRT (than with placebo) among women younger than 60 and less than ten years past menopause. In short, HRT has an optimal health “window” to jump into if you’re ready. (Hodis, et al., 2016).

Yes, studies show that HRT should be started asap, reflecting something brain researchers already knew. Estrogen depletion and replacement studies in post-menopausal women have shown a consistent link between estrogen, the desire to exercise, and BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) levels in the brain. BDNF helps keep us young!

It appears that, for women, estrogen plays a role in “turning on” the BDNF faucet. It also sets up a positive feedback system in which estrogen, exercise, and good brain chemicals work together toward better all-around health (Cotman and Berchtold, 2002). You’re not just smarter; you might feel so much more alive and energetic.

ACTION STEPS

  • Talk to your doctor. Find out if HRT is a fit for you. Start as soon as you can after menopause and before age 60.
  • Determine which HRT method (pills, patches, creams, etc.) works best for you.
  • Take the smallest HRT dose needed for the least time you can.
  • Receive regular follow-up care to make sure your treatment is still working.
  • Even if you do not qualify for the optional treatment window, be sure to start up (or continue) daily body and mind care.

#2: Pay Attention to the Real Danger
Heart disease is the number one cause of death in both men and women in the United States. Now, read this carefully: for every female who dies of breast cancer (43K/yr.), there are seven times (7X) as many women who die of heart disease (311K/yr.). So, what’s the conclusion? Pink ribbons and 5K fundraiser walks are fine, but 90% will survive breast cancer. Heart disease is far more deadly. https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/women.htm

We could say heart disease is an equal opportunity killer. Decades ago, female pre-meds were told that heart disease was “very uncommon” in women; no need to test for it. In fact, most large heart-disease studies excluded women (another bias!) But now we all know better, do you? The truth is that currently, 1 in 3 women die each year from heart disease, compared with 1 in 30 for breast cancer. In a survey conducted by the American Heart Association, only 13% of women said heart disease was their most significant personal health risk. Oops!

SYMPTOMS
Your heart is weak if you feel just out of breath when you walk. See your cardiologist, just in case. If you’re out of breath after simple, small tasks, your heart needs physical training to move you better. Ensure you pay attention to the following signs of a stroke or heart failure:

1) sudden numbness on one side is a symptom of a stroke
2) confusion, trouble speaking, or difficulty understanding speech
3) trouble seeing in one or both eyes
4) sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance, or lack of coordination
5) immediate severe headache with no known cause.

The CDC site uses this F-A-S-T, helpful mnemonic device. If you think another person may be having a stroke, do this:

F – Face: Ask the person to smile. Does one side of the face droop?

A – Arms: Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?

S – Speech: Ask the person to repeat a simple phrase. Is the speech slurred or strange?

T – Time: If you see any of these signs, call 9-1-1 immediately.

If you’re concerned about mortality, get your heart in shape. Heart disease is highly preventable when you:

a) manage blood pressure
b) don’t smoke
c) manage weight
d) and, most importantly, have VO2 levels tested every three years.

V02 levels are the max measures from a treadmill test of your body’s ability to use oxygen. A higher VO2 max means a better conditioned aerobic system, indicating better cardiovascular health. If your numbers are below 50, it’s time to get moving. Getting your heart to pump vigorously is critical to foster a more robust V02 max for your blood, body, and heart. (Mandsager et al., 2018).

ACTION STEPS
Lifestyle factors, nutrition, sleep (brain time), and meditation (lower stress) can reduce risks. DNA is not your destiny. Regarding exercise (to increase your V02 numbers), your body will love it when you take up walking, jogging, treadmill, swimming, or cycling (Ross R, et al. 2016). Below you’ll read about heart-smart foods.

There’s widespread medical agreement on Mediterranean food selections. Eat more fish and fresh vegetables. They provide fiber, antioxidants, potassium, B vitamins, and vitamins A and C. Eat select vegetables—from spinach to broccoli to peppers and sweet potatoes. Veggies supply prebiotics, nondigestible carbs that serve as food for beneficial probiotic bacteria. Personally, I eat a salad nearly every day with kale, spinach, cabbage, avocado, walnuts, diced apple, cottage cheese, and roasted sesame seed dressing. With slightly different ingredients daily, I have never gotten tired of this salad.

#3. Drug and the Gender Bias
Some drugs are equal-opportunity healers, but most are not. Out of 10 prescription drugs pulled from the market between 1997 and 2001, eight primarily harmed women. That was a big problem. But has anything changed?

Most drug trials done back then (and still today) are carried out using biased gender samples. The reason given then was that women’s pregnancy or menstrual patterns could impact the outcome of the trials, so they were not included. Is it any wonder half of the drugs don’t work well with women? Maybe drug companies are hiding potential issues. Perhaps some medicines that work with men are terrible for women.

Women have known for decades that too many prescribed drugs may have severe side effects, and many are ineffective. A few years ago, the FDA and the medical community asserted that they would start including proportional numbers of females in more drug studies. The gender bias excuses include comments like this, “We know that females increase experimental variability due to hormones (duh!). And, outside of that, there are no major differences (Really?) likely to exist between the sexes outside of reproductive functions.” Be skeptical when you hear comments like these in print by the biased medical community. The real reason? Translated, “It’s a hassle and more costly.”

A large study on gender bias in medications reported, “Our data showed that, overall, women are studied in adequate proportions, and that some type of gender subgroup analysis is performed for most drugs that are approved.” Why be skeptical about that study? After all, the 2018 study had 185,479 subjects who participated in the drug trials (big sample size).

I’ll quickly summarize the fine print and critical disclaimers. The gender breakdown is crucial. To get to market, drugs usually need three trials: Phase I is safety, Stage II is effectiveness, and Phase III is large-scale, randomized with varied populations. Women in Phase I (safety) were only 22% of the subjects. That’s a bias. In combined Phase I and Phase II numbers, women were at 25% representation, with 31% labeled as “unknown gender.” That should get your bias detectors up and running. So, for both safety and efficacy, three-quarters of trial subjects were men, and the remaining gender segment is uncertain.

And did the drug trials separate the data among women enrolled who were as menopausal, pre-, or post-menopausal? No. That’s another massive flaw in the study. Researchers tell us sex is a defining feature of neuroimaging brain disorders (Salminen, et al., 2022). I could go on and on, but this study is so flawed I don’t know where to start. Oh, did I say they studied only 38 drugs? Women are still highly underrepresented, especially when you break down age and hormonal timelines (Woitowich, Beery & Woodruff, 2020).

Several studies focus on the riskiest medications for women (De Vries et al., 2020). The list of drugs with known adverse reactions is far too long for this newsletter. Just some of the high-risk medications are warfarin (Coumadin), divalproex (Depakote), paroxetine (Paxil), topiramate (Topamax), methotrexate (Rheumatrex), angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor blockers, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, oral contraceptives, statins, and tetracyclines. Plus, you can add erythromycin, tamoxifen (Nolvadex), pioglitazone (Actos), metronidazole (Flagyl), montelukast (Singulair), isotretinoin (Claravis), varenicline (Chantix), and mefloquine (Lariam), quetiapine (Seroquel), olanzapine (Zyprexa), and risperidone (Risperdal), sotalol (Betapace), amiodarone (Cordarone), and procainamide (Procanbid).

Painkillers such as aspirin, ibuprofen, and acetaminophen can cause sudden liver failure. And of those hospitalized with acetaminophen-related acute liver failure, 74% were women. Take less of these drugs if possible. In addition, alcohol is a terrible painkiller substitute. Drinking alcohol (socially or at home) slows the breakdown of the pain pills or capsules that do liver damage. They stay in your system even longer (not good.)

ACTION STEPS
Before taking any new prescription drug, go online. Learn ALL the potential side effects. All medicines have a risk-reward ratio. Sometimes it is not worth it. If you start a drug, begin with half the dosage to test for side effects. Sometimes there are alternatives (but not always.) Be a savvy consumer; it’s your body for life!

Here’s one example of an alternative. If it were marketed as a drug, people would not believe it. It’s free, it will help you feel better, sleep more soundly and be sharper cognitively. What’s the drug? It’s exercise! Aside from just the daily movement of going from place to place, try to get in some regular exercise. Practicing what I preach, I do morning stretching (every day), cardio workouts (swimming, walking, or surfing) 3-4X/week, and resistance training in the gym 3-4X/wk.

Am I perfect on my schedule? No! Why? I am after better health, not perfection. Transforming yourself into a happy and healthy person can work if you follow only one rule: stop the perfection illusion. This is not a win-lose game you’re playing; it’s a participation game. You participate, and you’ll make progress. If you want long-term improvements, never strive for 100% weeks. Simply avoid “zero percent weeks.” Instead of perfection, focus on progress; even small amounts are more effective than nothing. (Steele et al., 2022).

You can always kick it up a notch when you have the desired habits. You are a person with a LOT going on. You’re not an Olympian or professional athlete in training. Those are narrow-focused pathways with little margin of error. For you, when you’re ready, choose moderately intensive exercise. Do brisk walking for at least 30 minutes each day. It will reduce heart, dementia, and cancer risks.

A healthy diet of whole grains, fruits and vegetables, nuts, poly- and monounsaturated fats, and fatty fish (like wild salmon) will help reduce risk factors. Foods with refined sugars should be limited, as should processed foods and trans fats. Reducing stress through exercise, adequate sleep, relaxation techniques, and meditation also help. Self-monitoring is important. Women (like men) should keep track of their blood pressure and cholesterol levels and know their family histories.

Now you know a few more options. A healthier menopause, healthier heart, and wiser drug selection. Keep in mind; you always have a choice.

That’s it for this month; it’s closing time. Now for my biggest fear. Perhaps you still use the ‘time bias.’ Many will read this newsletter and respond, “I’m just too busy; I’ve got no time for those changes to help me and my students soar like eagles.” If you feel that way, I am sorry; I have failed you. I failed to activate your choice of playing the “long game.” Biases are shortcuts to save time and are often about the “short game.”

You see, life goes by so fast that many would say, “Live in the moment, smell the roses, life is short.” And they’re right. Life is about savoring the smell of flowers, eating a great meal, and enjoying hugs from friends and family.

But almost everything in life worth having over a lifetime also requires the “long game.” At school, it includes building relationships and fostering cognitive capacity. At home, the list consists of maintaining relationships, appreciating the daily blessings, and saving for retirement. Choose right now; what have you decided on… long or short? Then begin right now.

Eric Jensen
CEO, Jensen Learning
Brain-Based Education

CITATIONS
Alzheimer’s Association. (2016) Alzheimer’s disease facts and figures.
Alzheimers Dement. 12(4):459-509.
Brabete AC, Greaves L, Maximos M, Huber E, Li A, Lê ML. (2022). A Sex- and Gender-Based Analysis of Adverse Drug Reactions: A Scoping Review of Pharmacovigilance Databases. Pharmaceuticals (Basel). 15(3):298.
Conde DM, Verdade RC, Valadares ALR, Mella LFB, Pedro AO, Costa-Paiva L. (2021).Menopause and cognitive impairment: A narrative review of current knowledge. World J Psychiatry.11(8):412-428.
Cotman, C. and Berchtold, N. (2002). Exercise: a behavioral intervention to enhance brain health and plasticity. Trends in Neurosciences, 25(6), 295-301.
De Vries S.T., Denig P., Ekhart C., Mol P.G., van Puijenbroek E.P. (2020). Sex Differences in Adverse Drug Reactions of Metformin: A Longitudinal Survey Study. Drug Saf. 2020;43:489–495.Hodis HN, Mack WJ,
Henderson VW, Shoupe D, Budoff MJ, Hwang-Levine J, Li Y, Feng M, Dustin L, Kono N, Stanczyk FZ, Selzer RH, Azen SP; ELITE Research Group. (2016). Vascular Effects of Early versus Late Postmenopausal Treatment with Estradiol. N Engl J Med. 374(13):1221-31.
Labots G, Jones A, de Visser SJ, Rissmann R, Burggraaf J. (2018). Gender differences in clinical registration trials: is there a real problem? Br J Clin Pharmacol. 84(4):700-707.
Lobo, R. (2017). Hormone-replacement therapy: current thinking. Nat Rev Endocrinol 13, 220–231.
Mandsager K, Harb S, Cremer P, Phelan D, Nissen SE, Jaber W. (2018). Association of Cardiorespiratory Fitness With Long-term Mortality Among Adults Undergoing Exercise Treadmill Testing. JAMA Netw Open. 1(6):e183605.
Mosconi L, Berti V, Dyke J, Schelbaum E, Jett S, Loughlin L, Jang G, Rahman A, Hristov H, Pahlajani S, Andrews R, Matthews D, Etingin O, Ganzer C, de Leon M, Isaacson R, Brinton RD. (2021). Menopause impacts human brain structure, connectivity, energy metabolism, and amyloid-beta deposition. Sci Rep. 11(1):10867.
Norwitz NG, Saif N, Ariza IE, Isaacson RS. (2021). Precision Nutrition for Alzheimer’s Prevention in ApoE4 Carriers. Nutrients. 19;13(4):1362.
Ross R, Blair SN, Arena R, Church TS, Després JP, Franklin BA, Haskell WL, Kaminsky LA, Levine BD, Lavie CJ, Myers J, Niebauer J, Sallis R, Sawada SS, Sui X, Wisløff U; (2016). American Heart Association Physical Activity Committee of the Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health; Council on Clinical Cardiology; Council on Epidemiology and Prevention; Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing; Council on Functional Genomics and Translational Biology; Stroke Council. Importance of Assessing Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Clinical Practice: A Case for Fitness as a Clinical Vital Sign: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association. Circulation. 134(24):e653-e699.
Salminen LE, Tubi MA, Bright J, Thomopoulos SI, Wieand A, Thompson PM. (2022). Sex is a defining feature of neuroimaging phenotypes in major brain disorders. Hum Brain Mapp. 43(1):500-542.
Steele J, Fisher JP, Giessing J, Androulakis-Korakakis P, Wolf M, Kroeske B, Reuters R. (2022). Long-Term Time-Course of Strength Adaptation to Minimal Dose Resistance Training Through Retrospective Longitudinal Growth Modeling. Res Q Exerc Sport. 19:1-18.
Yu Y., Dingcheng L., Li D., Wang L., Wang W., Liu H. (2016). Systematic Analysis of Adverse Event Reports for Sex Differences in Adverse Drug Events. Sci. Rep. 6:24955.
Vina J and Lloret A, (2010). Why women have more Alzheimer’s disease than men: gender and mitochondrial toxicity of amyloid-beta peptide. J Alzheimers Dis, 2010. 20 Suppl 2: p. S527–33.
Woitowich NC, Beery A, Woodruff T. (2020). A 10-year follow-up study of sex inclusion in the biological sciences. Elife. 2020 Jun 9;9:e56344.
Writing Group for the Women’s Health Initiative Investigators. (2002). Risks and Benefits of Estrogen Plus Progestin in Healthy Postmenopausal Women: Principal Results from the Women’s Health Initiative Randomized Controlled Trial. JAMA. 288(3):321–333.
Health Upgrades

3 Simple Jensen-Approved Health Upgrades

This post is for you if you’d like a healthier path forward.

Confession: I am a relentless health science junkie. I was digging into the research and collected three relevant health habits you might consider. Interested in what you can do over the next couple of months?

DISCLAIMER: Before I begin any comments about health, I am required by law to make a disclaimer: “The following comments are not meant to diagnose or treat any disease, nor have they been approved by the FDA.”

The Research

What are you most likely to die from in the next five years? It may sound a bit morbid but getting a reality check is good. Why? DNA is not your destiny. While some diseases we will discuss below may appear genetic, lifestyle choices can prevent most diseases. I’ll summarize this newsletter segment in 4 words: “Most diseases are preventable.”

You are about to get the Top 7 Mortality summaries.

Each bit of research that we use is a bit more applicable for different reasons (age, recency, gender, government vs. independent sources.) Our first list is from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) with the all-cause mortality list, 2021. (https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db456.pdf). We wish there were fresher data, but COVID-19 skewered mortality rates. COVID related deaths were 3rd in 2020-2021 but today, have dropped out of the top 10.

Our second list is a look at only women, as females make up the largest number of educators and there are slight differences in the data. https://www.cdc.gov/women/lcod/2018/all-races-origins/index.htm The previous report I shared from the CDC (above) showed that ‘external causes’ are higher for males than females, thus skewing the overall mortality risk.

Additionally, there’s a lack of accurate, recent data on how menopause status may impact mortality studies. Insights could unravel the female correlations between mid-life lifestyle risk factors and morbidity (Colpani, et al., 2018). That’s why the list below should be understood less by the numbers and more as either ‘moderate’ or ‘high’ risk factors.

Here is the merged list of risk factors for both males and females.

1. Heart disease: Risks include heart failure from smoking, high blood pressure, poor stress regulation, obesity, poor diet, and physical inactivity.

Notice I left out HDL and LDL cholesterol levels. Recent evidence suggests the better metric to use is ApoB levels (Apolipoprotein B). Get tested for ApoB levels so you get a baseline. My go-to M.D. says, “I just don’t see a reason to have an ApoB ever north of 60 milligrams per deciliter.” —Dr. Peter Attia.

2. Cancer: Lung cancers account for the most deaths, followed by colon/rectum, pancreatic, breast (in females), prostate (in males), then liver and bile duct cancers. Melanoma risks include ultraviolet (U.V.) radiation exposure, tanning beds, moles, and aging.

3. External Causes: Risks include falling, car accidents (including driving after drinking, recklessness, or texting), exposure to toxic chemicals, homicide, careless use of appliances/tools, suicide, or drug overdoses.

4. Lung: Chronic lower respiratory diseases. Risks include cigarette smoking, second-hand smoke, air pollution, allergens, and exposure to toxic chemicals.

5. Nervous system, including Stroke: risks include physical inactivity, cigarette smoking, poor diet, obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. Mental & Behavioral disorders: PTSD, depression, chronic stress, etc. Alzheimer’s disease: risks include aluminum exposure and traumatic brain injury.

6. Digestive, Nutritional, and Metabolic Diseases: Inflammatory issues, Biome instability. Diabetes: risks include chronic poor sleep quality, cigarette smoking, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, obesity, and physical inactivity.

7. Chronic liver and kidney disease: risks include diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, poor diet, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, and obesity.

PRACTICAL: 

The good news is that doing fewer things well is way better than a wide range of sloppy and on/off actions. You will be doing the fewest number of things that can make the biggest difference across the board. Adjustments you can add to your life include things to eat, how to move your body, and running your own brain. They are the A, B, Cs of health.

A) What to EAT:
Most of the world’s population is under-nourished. The well-known vitamins (A, B, C, etc.) were discovered as “essential” with a relatively short impact after depletion. That’s why we were told to take these vitamins daily. Most ‘minimum daily requirements’ are based on what healthy humans need to survive.

The Triage Theory (Ames BN. 2018) asserts that because humans are highly volatile, the metabolic resources are preferentially allocated in the body based on need, just like an EMT first helps those who need lifesaving support.

Here’s another example.

When the availability of a micronutrient (e.g., selenium) is inadequate, nature ensures that what is necessary for short-term survival is protected and used at the expense of nutrients beneficial for longer-term consequences. Selenium is one of many longevity nutrients that qualify as long-term.

So instead of a vitamin or mineral getting used for optimal health and delayed aging, it’s used for survival. This is another way of saying that the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025, telling you what you need and how much, is based on a flawed paradigm. Life has its ups and downs; your body’s needs are all over the place.

In short, your body “robs Peter to pay Paul” in the nutrient department. When your body is in survival mode, every nutrient is channeled into keeping you alive. Once I learned this about my own body, I became more thoughtful about which supplements and how much I needed for optimal living. In short, you’ll need more than you think.

Weight management. About 74% of adults are overweight or have obesity (USDA, 2020). The impact on your life is far-reaching. Being overweight means more compression on hips, knees, and ankles. Being overweight means your heart works overtime and your mobility drops. And worst of all, you are at greater risk for five of the seven risk factors above.

What to Do. There are a few ways to get to and stay at your optimum weight. Let’s get smart and have no more than three alcoholic drinks (or less) per week. You can change what you eat (less sugar, less starches, more fiber and protein). You can change when you eat (light or no breakfast, lunch, dinner, and zero after-dinner snacks). You can change how much you eat and drink (drink two glasses of water 20 min. before a meal and use smaller plates).

The items below are known to have some protective effect from the seven diseases above (except accidental deaths).

Fruits: berries (cranberries, blueberries, strawberries), coconut, mango & papaya

Vegetables: avocado, broccoli, collards, kale, cauliflower, spinach

Oils: extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil

Nuts: walnuts, almonds, chia, peanuts, pistachios

Drinks: Oolong tea, organic coffee

Breads: whole grains (plus eat fewer starchy items)

Other: brown rice, berberine extract, flax seed, chitosan

Must: reduce or eliminate 90% of all sugars and prepared products with long, unpronounceable ingredient lists; Eat real food as much as you can.

The bottom line is you can create partial immunity to multiple diseases with better nutrition. So, what’s your eating switch from now on?

B) What to DO:
First, let’s begin with movement. You already know it is good for your health. Movement matters because it raises circulation and upgrades the core neurotransmitters and hormones that keep you sharp and healthy.

How much do you need to optimize your health? First, it’s tough to track the “I went to the gym” diaries or “My friends said I…” What’s easy to track is to start with a large, randomized number of participants who are given accelerometers that send signals to a tracker daily. Do this for five years, and you can get pretty good data.

I am sharing the conclusions from two large studies. The first one (Saint-Maurice P.F., et al. 2020) had over 4,840 participants. Compliance was tracked by automatic uploads. Here’s what you likely didn’t know. You get the best return on your time, effort, and mortality rate odds when you take 4,000 to 12,000 steps/day. Take more steps, and your mortality rate drops (but barely). Take less, and your mortality rate goes up (a lot).

The second study was with women only (Lee, IM et al. 2019). The sample size was large (22,500 participants). Using the same process (accelerometers that were uploaded daily), It showed the same sweet spot as the first study (4,400 – 7,500 steps/day). More steps than 7,500 did not give better results.

Now you know. Moderate daily exercise is priceless.

Unfortunately, I could not find a study that compared matching alternatives (such as jogging, swimming, or treadmill cardio stints) to the pedometer readings of walking. The problem with choosing any alternative is tracking. For such a study, you need reliable data.

In my own exercise routine, I alternate workout days between swimming and resistance training. With resistance training, I typically blend the upper body with core and balance work, so I feel more agile, stronger, and capable. On swim days, I will go 24 laps at full speed on 3-4 days/wk. Not much, but over a year, it adds up. Last year, I swam over 32 miles while holding my breath on every lap. Don’t be impressed; that was just two weekends of swimming for Michael Phelps during his Olympic training.

I swim as much for my heart, lung, muscle strength, and stress resilience as for toning and breathwork. I think it matters less what you do and more THAT you do something moderately active to move your body (Oja et al., 2015). The bottom line is you can create immunity to multiple diseases with everyday movement. So, what’s your movement activity from now on?

C) How to Run Your Own Brain
Here are a few characteristics of those who run their own brain. Read each one, then ask yourself if you, too, are doing these. Circle YES or NO to answer whether this is already a part of your life.

1. YES/NO. ‘Amor Fati’. In Latin, the translation is ‘love of fate.’ But the real meaning is, “You don’t always get what you want, but you can always embrace it and love the process.” Take what you’re given and love what you get. It says to make the most out of the fate that happens. Why? When you ‘choose’ to enjoy your fate, you’re an active player who loves life. When you assert you’re a victim, you dislike the process, the people and are likely to have another lousy day (again).

2. YES/NO. Grudges and Slack. You refuse to hold grudges. You release the other person and yourself from blame. You cut others some slack when you are disappointed or let down. We all make mistakes.

3. YES/NO. Compliments and Affirmations. Ensure that in every conversation, you can find the good in an idea or person. Give a compliment and thank the other for their sharing or support.

4. YES/NO. Foster loving, kind, and joyful relationships. A bad relationship is worse than none at all. Fortunately, most relations can be repaired. Be the one who apologizes first to start the process.

5. YES/NO. Foster a healthy brain. Learn the tools to manage your stress better. Take control of the small daily, tiny things that help you feel in control. Make more things less relevant to you. Focus and care about the things that matter most: connecting with family, health, money management, and having fun.

6. YES/NO. Practice some form of relaxation or meditation exercise daily to learn to stay in the moment. Stay away from catastrophic predictions and be in the moment. It also means you avoid ruminating over prior negative memories. Start each day fresh.

Each of the six items above is simple. But the work you put into them is critical. It takes time. Work on implementing just one per month. Over a year or two, you’ll start to feel different because you’ll feel like you are running your own brain, not the reverse. So, what’s your run your own brain switch from now on?

Eric Jensen
CEO, Jensen Learning
Brain-Based Education

CITATIONS
Ames BN. (2018). Prolonging healthy aging: Longevity vitamins and proteins. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 115(43):10836-10844.
Colpani V, Baena CP, Jaspers L, van Dijk GM, Farajzadegan Z, Dhana K, Tielemans MJ, Voortman T, Freak-Poli R, Veloso GGV, Chowdhury R, Kavousi M, Muka T, Franco OH. (2018). Lifestyle factors, cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality in middle-aged and elderly women: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur J Epidemiol. 33(9):831-845.
Lee IM, Shiroma EJ, Kamada M, Bassett DR, Matthews CE, Buring JE. (2019). Association of Step Volume and Intensity with All-Cause Mortality in Older Women. JAMA Intern Med. 179(8):1105-1112.
Naghshi S, Sadeghian M, Nasiri M, Mobarak S, Asadi M, Sadeghi O. (2021). Association of Total Nut, Tree Nut, Peanut, and Peanut Butter Consumption with Cancer Incidence and Mortality: A Comprehensive Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies. Adv Nutr. 12(3):793-808.
Oja P, Titze S, Kokko S, Kujala UM, Heinonen A, Kelly P, Koski P, Foster C. (2015). Health benefits of different sport disciplines for adults: systematic review of observational and intervention studies with meta-analysis. Br J Sports Med. 2015 Apr;49(7):434-40.
Saab S, Mallam D, Cox GA 2nd, Tong MJ. (2014). Impact of coffee on liver diseases: a systematic review. Liver Int. 2014 Apr;34(4):495-504.
Saint-Maurice PF, Troiano RP, Bassett DR Jr, Graubard BI, Carlson SA, Shiroma EJ, Fulton JE, Matthews CE. (2020). Association of Daily Step Count and Step Intensity with Mortality Among US Adults. JAMA. 323(12):1151-1160.
Theodore LE, Kellow NJ, McNeil EA, Close EO, Coad EG, Cardoso BR. (2021). Nut Consumption for Cognitive Performance: A Systematic Review. Adv Nutr. 12(3):777-792.
Tippairote T, Bjørklund G, Gasmi A, Semenova Y, Peana M, Chirumbolo S, Hangan T. (2022). Combined Supplementation of Coenzyme Q10 and Other Nutrients in Specific Medical Conditions. Nutrients. 14(20):4383.
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025. 9th Edition. December 2020. Downloadable: DietaryGuidelines.gov.
Wadhawan M, Anand AC. Coffee and Liver Disease. J Clin Exp Hepatol. 2016 Mar;6(1):40-6.
Wang X, et al. (2021). Higher plain water intake is related to lower newly diagnosed nonalcoholic fatty liver disease risk: a population-based study. Eur J Clin Nutr. 75(12):1801-1808.
teaching Brain

Workplace Readiness: Fill These 4 Buckets

It’s no secret – being an educator is HARD work. For some, it may be physically exhausting, emotionally draining, and socially lonely. But it doesn’t have to be that way. The work you are doing every day is too meaningful for it to be dragging you down.

This newsletter is for YOU – keep taking care of yourself. You may want to take this issue extra seriously. Why? You might be like many who find their stress levels going up, and within months you’re “running on empty.” Start the healthy habits now while you can, so they will be in place when your “vitality buckets” start feeling dangerously empty.

You simply can’t be at your best for students until YOU are at your best, too. We’ll keep it simple and very practical… because you’re worth it. Your first step to self-care begins here!

The Research

Maybe you “felt it” in yourself, and know others who have “felt it,” too. The “it” is burnout. Whether you have found yourself saying goodbye to colleagues who’ve left the profession, teacher burnout is a prevalent issue in education.

Unfortunately, the evidence does NOT suggest the alarming rate of burnout equates to teachers simply being tired. It is something much more devastating than that.

A huge contributor to teacher burnout is chronic stress. Some studies report that as many as 93% of teachers are experiencing HIGH levels of stress (Herman, Hickmon-Rosa, & Reinke, 2018). With stats that high, you might wonder why teacher attrition rate isn’t higher than the documented 8% (Carver-Thomas, & Darling-Hammond, 2017).

Teacher depression, anxiety, and low job satisfaction are real issues teachers face today. These factors are strongly connected to workload, student behavior, and employment conditions (Ferguson, Frost, & Hall, 2012). These symptoms are not minor; they have serious health consequences.

If you find yourself getting angry, discouraged, or depressed for more than a week, get professional help. See a counselor or doctor. Why? The longer you are in any metabolic state (like depression), the more permanent it begins to feel and the harder it gets to change. Only a tiny portion of those who get prescriptions for a long-standing depression ever get any relief (Bschor & Kilarski, 2016).

With all the potential stressors that teachers face, it is easy to get discouraged and feel like “it’s just not worth it.” So, what can you do? We have tools for you. Let’s begin with clarifying what you’re up against.

Three Types of Stress
First, there are three types of stress: healthyacute, and chronic. Each type triggers the release of the same chemicals (cortisol, noradrenaline, adrenaline, etc.). What changes with each type is the intensityduration, and impact. Be careful about how you label or refer to your stress experience. Some stress is healthy, but all stress impacts your body.

Healthy stress (eustress) is a brief, moderately uncomfortable experience lasting seconds or minutes. Visualize the bell-shaped curve – that’s how your body experiences this event. Your day might have many of these moments, like when you are rushing to get everyone ready and out the door in the morning, you go for a jog, you’re stuck in traffic, or you have a meeting with a parent. These short bouts of stress are often a result of a deliberate choice but are rarely toxic for your body. Instead, think of these bouts as getting ‘inoculated’ because they strengthen your resiliency.

Acute stress can only be good for the body and the brain if it results from a purposeful choice you make. Examples of chosen acute stress include skydiving, watching a horror film, rollercoasters, getting a flu shot, or taking an upcoming exam. Acute stress is typically brief yet strong. However, because you chose it, it can foster resilience via inoculation.

But when acute stress is NOT chosen, but rather imposed, the effects can be brutal.

Acute stress that is imposed disrupts the mind-body homeostasis. Examples include trauma, loss of family or friends, violence, a weather disaster, bodily injury, disease, etc. Inflammation is introduced to the body, which increase the demand on the immune system. The brain or body rarely has the resources to stay strong, and it typically takes time and resources to heal.

The third stress type is Chronic stress. This stress response can begin slowly and build over time, eventually exceeding 50% or more of your body’s normal cortisol levels. Then it stays elevated for months or even years. Eventually, the body becomes less sensitive to cortisol present in the body and is unable to regulate the inflammation. This eventually leads to a breakdown of the immune system (Bisht, Sharma, & Tremblay, 2018). Into your classroom walks a student with some virus, and you could catch it in a heartbeat.

Chronic stress can be relatively mild (triggered by financial strain, lack of restorative sleep, social isolation, poor relationships, etc.), or more severe (abuse, being a long-term caregiver, discrimination, violence, etc.). As you might guess, both mild and severe forms of stress are toxic, with serious health risks, including constant fatigue, heart disease, anxiety, reduced brain cell production, decreased short-term and working memory, and more (Godoy, Rossignoli, Delfino-Pereira, Garcia-Cairasco, & de Lima Umeoka, 2018).

Both acute and chronic stress can elevate cortisol levels enough to shift the body from homeostasis to allostasis, a new adjusted set point. In other words, your body has a new ‘norm’ default to become either more hyper-vigilant (edgy) or hypo-responsive (laid back and unengaged.)

Both chronic and imposed acute stress states are unhealthy, and the body’s constant efforts to restore your health are costly. Over time, these two impair your body’s capacity to fight inflammation, damage your health and can lead to physical and mental illness (Cohen et al., 2012).

Remember, when you get stressed, grumpy, or sick, those around you whom you care about (family, students, and friends) will often suffer, too.

How Chronic Stress Impacts You and Your Students
Here are some of the evidence-based implications of chronic stress:

  • Chronically stressed teachers tend to have the poorest student outcomes, such as lower grades and frequent behavior problems.
  • Chronically stressed teachers have higher rates of sickness, absenteeism, and accelerated aging signals.
  • Chronically stressed teachers impact student achievement for months. For example, teachers’ depressive symptoms in the winter negatively predicted students’ spring mathematics achievement.
  • Students with weaker math achievement made greater gains in higher-quality classrooms with less depressed teachers.

In short, when you are stressed, your students and you BOTH lose (McLean & Connor, 2015). You don’t want any of that for you or your students. Elevated levels of cortisol are toxic. Please, please make this important. It is your life we are talking about (Anagnostis, Athyros, Tziomalos, Karagiannis, & Mikhailidis, 2009). You became a teacher to help students learn and to do meaningful work that fills your buckets, not drains them.

So, how did you get to this place where your “calling” to be a teacher (meant to fill your buckets) feels more like a “job” that is draining your buckets?

Where Does Stress Come From?
Before any finger-pointing, let’s delve into the biology and psychology of stress and where it starts. Your health and career depend on this.

Stress is generated in your brain as a response to a perception of a loss of control of an adverse person, event, or situation. That’s why we all have different responses to the same potential stressor. People are different, and everyone experiences stress differently. But what actually CAUSES the stress?

Your brain has two “filters” over which you have some control. The two are 1) the perception of relevancy of the situation/event and 2) your sense of control over the situation/event (coping tools).

You could become so cold-hearted that you make everything irrelevant to you. Or, you could develop such extensive time-off resources (key contacts, valet, a private jet to fly you to the Bahamas, a masseuse, etc.) that you can handle most stressors pretty well. In short, relevance and perceived control are the two biggest “brain filters” that determine whether or not you’ll feel stressed.

This means that thinking your students, the principal, or your students’ parents are stressing you out is misplaced blame. They don’t stress you out. Your students do not have superpowers to do that. You stress you out (Godoy, Rossignoli, Delfino-Pereira, Garcia-Cairasco, & de Lima Umeoka, 2018).

Here is the good news – you are in charge of the stress you feel. Yes, once you truly understand this about your stress levels, you’ll feel a superpower level of control over your emotional wellbeing. Not sure how to exercise those superpowers? Keep reading for simple strategies you can start using today to reduce your stress.

Practical Applications

Do you remember how excited, nervous, and downright giddy you were to start your first year of teaching? You were ready to conquer the educational world and change the lives of countless students. Hopefully, that feeling returns as you greet a new group of students every year.

Your MIND: Clear it
Teachers today need greater emotional resilience and self-regulation to manage the potential stressors of being an educator. Learn to empty or redirect your brain’s inbox of “junk mail.” May we suggest tools for sharpening your self-regulation skills?

This is where mindfulness can help. Mindfulness is about using meta-awareness to bring out the quality of your daily experiences. It is a flexible yet focused awareness of what is usually passing through your mind. Try using an app to learn more about how to implement mindfulness (Waking Up by Sam Harris is my favorite).

How does mindfulness relate to coping with chronic stress?

Evidence tells us that mindfulness is a strong tool that can mitigate stress and the unhealthy eating habits that accompany some people’s stressful experiences. In some ways, stress-related eating is mind-less-ness (Katterman, Kleinman, Hood, Nackers, & Corsica, 2014). Mindfulness-based strategies have been successfully incorporated into weight loss and weight management interventions (O’Reilly, Cook, Spruijt‐Metz, & Black, 2014). Over time, mindfulness will help you disconnect easier from the mindless eating that hurts your body.

Your BRAIN: Nourish it
What do your eating habits have to do with your brain, or how you manage your stress levels as a teacher? What you eat affects your brain and stress levels (Marx, Moseley, Berk, & Jacka, 2017). There are many theories about why you may eat more when you are stressed.

One theory is that your body needs more nutrients to triage and repair the damage (Ames, 2006). Another says that you eat to lower your stress levels (Adam & Epel, 2007; Newman, O’Connor & Conner, 2007). This asserts people may eat more unhealthy foods such as carbs and sugars as a reward food.

To protect yourself from the potential stressors of teaching, fuel your body with foods that will boost your energy, mood, and overall health. The general guideline is to consume more natural foods (fruits, vegetables, whole grains) and less high-sugar, high-carb, processed foods such as candy, soda, chips, desserts, alcohol, white bread, potatoes, and rice, etc. (Beilharz, Maniam, & Morris, 2015). If it is in a bag or box, read the ingredients and eat them less often. Eat healthy plant fats such as avocado and nuts (cashew, macadamia, coconut).

Change what you eat, and you change both your body and mind. To do this, pick one micro 60-second or less habit. For example, limit yourself to only one drink (soft drink, beer, or wine) a day. After a month, limit yourself to one a week. Or another example, you can limit yourself to one sweet item a day. Then after a month, limit yourself to just one a week. You can make the changes that will change your life. Start today.

Your BODY: Move it Daily
If you leave school in a foul mood or frequently wonder if being a teacher is of any worth, do a short walk each day for a couple of weeks and see if things change. Physical activity is linked to greater levels of happiness and self-worth (Reddon, Meyre, & Cairney, 2017). People self-report being in a better mood after engaging in moderate to vigorous physical activity (Wen et al., 2018).

Start a morning walk/jog program with peers at your school to keep you motivated and accountable. Use it as an opportunity to start your day off right and build connections with students. Volunteer as an assistant coach to one of the sports teams at your middle or high school and then join in the workouts.

Your HEART: Fill it with Gratitude
The key to managing your stress levels is to fill your emotional reserves with enough positive deposits to handle the withdrawals that can accompany this challenging yet meaningful work.

Making gratitude a life habit is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself. Gratitude is an orientation of noticing and appreciating the positive things in the world (Wood, Froh, & Geraghty, 2010). Gratitude is connected to a wide array of benefits-improved relationships, physical health, self-esteem, high levels of work satisfaction, lower levels of stress and depression, and more (Rusk, Vella-Brodrick, & Waters, 2016).

Keep a paper in the same place on your desk to write just two phrases every day. As you enter your classroom every morning, jot down a few words that express one thing you are looking forward to that day. As you leave each day, write one thing you are grateful for that happened that day. It’s a simple yet powerful way to put a few drops back into your bucket as you begin and end each day.

Teaching can be invigorating, soul-filling, and a profession full of meaningful connections. It all comes down to the habits you form in caring for yourself. If you are serious about reducing your stress this school year, consider upgrading these four areas of your general well-being. Right now, choose to make one small change to how you care for your mind, brain, body, or heart. You are worth it!

__________________________
Book to Check Out: The Burnout Cure: Learning to Love Teaching Again (Chase Mielke). It is full of evidence-based, practical tools to help you stay at your best. As a bonus, you’ll find tons of resources and lessons to use with your students to help them thrive. Definitely worth a read!

Eric Jensen
CEO, Jensen Learning
Brain-Based Education

CITATIONS
Adam, T. C., & Epel, E. S. (2007). Stress, eating and the reward system. Physiology & behavior91(4), 449-458.
Ames, B. N. (2006). Low micronutrient intake may accelerate the degenerative diseases of aging through allocation of scarce micronutrients by triage. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences103(47), 17589-17594.
Anagnostis, P., Athyros, V. G., Tziomalos, K., Karagiannis, A., & Mikhailidis, D. P. (2009). The pathogenetic role of cortisol in the metabolic syndrome: a hypothesis. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism94(8), 2692-2701.
Beilharz, J., Maniam, J., & Morris, M. (2015). Diet-Induced Cognitive Deficits: The Role of Fat and Sugar, Potential Mechanisms and Nutritional Interventions. Nutrients, 7(8), 6719-6738.
Bisht, K., Sharma, K., & Tremblay, M. È. (2018). Chronic stress as a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease: Roles of microglia-mediated synaptic remodeling, inflammation, and oxidative stress. Neurobiology of stress9, 9-21.
Bschor, T., & Kilarski, L. L. (2016). Are antidepressants effective? A debate on their efficacy for the treatment of major depression in adults. Expert review of neurotherapeutics16(4), 367-374.
Carver-Thomas, D., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2017). Teacher turnover: Why it matters and what we can do about it. Palo Alto, CA: Learning Policy Institute.
Cohen, S., Janicki-Deverts, D., Doyle, W. J., Miller, G. E., Frank, E., Rabin, B. S., & Turner, R. B. (2012). Chronic stress, glucocorticoid receptor resistance, inflammation, and disease risk. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences109(16), 5995-5999.
Ferguson, K., Frost, L., & Hall, D. (2012). Predicting teacher anxiety, depression, and job satisfaction. Journal of teaching and learning8(1).
Godoy, L. D., Rossignoli, M. T., Delfino-Pereira, P., Garcia-Cairasco, N., & de Lima Umeoka, E. H. (2018). A Comprehensive Overview on Stress Neurobiology: Basic Concepts and Clinical Implications. Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience12, 127.
Herman, K. C., Hickmon-Rosa, J. E., & Reinke, W. M. (2018). Empirically derived profiles of teacher stress, burnout, self-efficacy, and coping and associated student outcomes. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions20(2), 90-100.
Katterman, S. N., Kleinman, B. M., Hood, M. M., Nackers, L. M., & Corsica, J. A. (2014). Mindfulness meditation as an intervention for binge eating, emotional eating, and weight loss: a systematic review. Eating behaviors15(2), 197-204.
McLean, L., & Connor, C. M. (2015). Depressive symptoms in third‐grade teachers: Relations to classroom quality and student achievement. Child development86(3), 945-954.
Marx, W., Moseley, G., Berk, M., & Jacka, F. (2017). Nutritional psychiatry: the present state of the evidence. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society76(4), 427-436.
Newman, E., O’Connor, D. B., & Conner, M. (2007). Daily hassles and eating behaviour: the role of cortisol reactivity status. Psychoneuroendocrinology32(2), 125-132.
O’Reilly, G. A., Cook, L., Spruijt‐Metz, D., & Black, D. S. (2014). Mindfulness‐based interventions for obesity‐related eating behaviours: a literature review. Obesity reviews15(6), 453-461.
Reddon, H., Meyre, D., & Cairney, J. (2017). Physical Activity and Global Self-worth in a Longitudinal Study of Children. Medicine and science in sports and exercise49(8), 1606-1613.
Rusk, R. D., Vella-Brodrick, D. A., & Waters, L. (2016). Gratitude or gratefulness? A conceptual review and proposal of the system of appreciative functioning. Journal of Happiness Studies17(5), 2191-2212.
Schnaider‐Levi, L., Mitnik, I., Zafrani, K., Goldman, Z., & Lev‐Ari, S. (2017). Inquiry‐Based Stress Reduction Meditation Technique for Teacher Burnout: A Qualitative Study. Mind, Brain, and Education11(2), 75-84.
Wen, C. K. F., Liao, Y., Maher, J. P., Huh, J., Belcher, B. R., Dzubur, E., & Dunton, G. F. (2018). Relationships among affective states, physical activity, and sedentary behavior in children: Moderation by perceived stress. Health Psychology37(10), 904.
Wood, A. M., Froh, J. J., & Geraghty, A. W. (2010). Gratitude and well-being: A review and theoretical integration. Clinical psychology review30(7), 890-905.
health Choices

Are You Getting Healthier or Sicker this Summer?

Do you take any supplements? If so, it’s possible others have told you that supplements are a waste of money. But are they? What evidence does either side have? You’ll find out in just a moment. Read more

Brain based approach

Do you Believe?

We know that educators have a tough job; no doubt about that. But given what’s gone on in the last couple of years have you changed? We see more educator burnout, chronic stress, and depression. These often lead to health issues or even quitting a job. But what’s really at the root of these issues? Were you willing to embrace completely new models in health, lifestyle, and learning? Or did you fight them all the way?

You’re about to read an unbelievable story about a school… and it’s all true. When you’re done reading, ask yourself, “Am I still the optimistic educator that I started out being years ago, or have I pretty much given up?” Keep reading…

Background

First, here’s the necessary backstory. Some years ago, this high school of 2,000+ students was a case study in failure. Over 75% of the students got failing marks in math classes, and over 40% were failing reading. The staff narrative around the school was, “Students have a right to fail if they want.” At that time, about 1/3 of students from each graduating class dropped out. An unforgivable lack of student progress prompted a threat by the state to shut the school down if they did not improve in one year. Many teachers were going to lose their jobs. So, did anything change? Some looked for jobs elsewhere. What would you have done?

Early that summer, one courageous staff member and a handful of fellow teachers decided to take action. They persuaded administrators to let them organize a schoolwide process that involved implementing math, reading, and writing segments in every class, all subjects. Imagine that, even the PE classes had reflective writing! The new narrative was: “Achievement rises when leadership teams focus thoughtfully and relentlessly on improving the quality of instruction.” How did their change process do that next year?

Within that one school year, student performance improved so much that 85% of the students reached grade-level in math, and a stunning 95% were reading at grade level. Again, this happened in just one school year. But what about change over the long haul?

Within five years, 98% of the senior class graduated, with the majority planning to attend college. The school outperformed 90 percent (this is not a misprint) of all high schools in the state. All scores were tracked and verified. The school was also a recipient of the National School Change Award and got national attention in a report by Harvard professor Dr. Ron Ferguson and colleagues, “How High Schools Become Exemplary.” (Ferguson, Hackman, Hanna & Ballantine, 2009).

Here is this month’s insight:

Somehow, this school bucked all the odds and became a “miracle” success story. How? This true school story suggests that maybe change can be easier than we thought. Can you guess what ‘rules for brain changing’ the school used to succeed?

Change is rarely easy and usually hard. Change is more likely to be slow than quick. Change is more likely to be temporary than lasting. What happened for this school to make a dramatic, lasting, and positive change?

To your brain, there are five factors that matter the most for purposeful change. In this month’s BrighterBrain® newsletter, we’ll explore the first of the five factors, context. (The other four factors will be shared in future issues.)

The Research

Context (often thought of as ‘circumstances’ but it is much more) is critical to our brain. Our assessment of the context helps make the decision to engage or not. In general, we are more likely to favor inaction over action. Yet, we can and do alter the outcome through our actions and decisions (Parr & Friston, 2019), but it happens less likely than we’d like. We are wired to resist change because it’s likely to be biologically expensive(consuming precious time, energy, and resources).

In addition, the more stressed one is, the less likely you’ll make changes. Your cognitive skills, creativity, and immune system are compromised (Dhabhar FS, 2014, Godoy, et al.,2018). Your chances of making change are low because when we get stressed, we are more likely to do the same ol’ same ol’ routines (Cerqueira, Mailliet, Almeida, Jay & Sousa, 2007).

So, should we all just give up on change?

No way! Remember your hand on a hot stove? One-time, instant, lasting learning! Highly relevant and intense (painful, too)! No repetition needed. You are unlikely to ever do that again! But if you want to orchestrate change in your daily life (without burning flesh), there are at least five factors relevant to your brain. And in case you’re wondering, the school mentioned above (intentionally or not) used them all. This month, we explore the context and shape of things.

Context matters to your brain. Why? It’s always about survival. Your brain is constantly sifting, sorting, and presenting you with three domains: past, present, and future. These domains give your brain a full array of information from which decisions can be made. And this happens so fast, we are typically unaware of how and when we generate our thoughts, then our decisions. Let’s unpack these three domains: past, present, and future (PPF).

The Backstory (Past). When understanding context, the past is the backstory. It means that we continually cycle and re-cycle memories into our present. On the upside, the school may have a history of successful change. Maybe it has turned sports programs around, music and arts have been embraced, and maybe there is effective leadership. The memories of the past can provide comfort and safety moving forward.

As a contrary example, as an individual, often an emotional schema is activated from childhood (Rohde et al., 2018). This memory may be saying to the brain, “You were not listened to and respected as a kid. You better ensure you stand up for yourself as an adult.” Or, on a school level, some staff may still be grumpy and resentful about a leader they disliked years ago who is no longer at the school. This person may struggle to share his or her voice tactfully, be cordial, and play well with others. There may be still-simmering injustices, sexism, racism, or culturally irrelevant curriculum. In short, there is often ‘baggage.’

Adults who struggle with change identified two main themes: being stuck in old habits and being burdened with emotional baggage (Følling, Solbjør & Helvik 2015). The past must be dealt with since it is always present.

Present. To support your brain’s role in ‘present time’ context, we use situational awareness to enhance the process of receiving, interpreting, and processing information in our fast-moving school environments (Graafland & Schijven, 2015). A commonly unaddressed context challenge for leaders is that the change process is influenced not only by known external task demands but also by invisible brain processes. For example, the brain is less likely to change without safety in each of the PPF areas. Yet, safety is defined differently by most staff, making it tough to orchestrate.

What’s the ideal ‘present time’ recipe for change? You want just enough safety and just enough disruption (a.k.a. perturbation). Remember, excess comfort leads to inaction. This context provides just enough of a critical ‘safety net’ to initiate change. Change context typically requires that something (or someone) is agitated for change (that’s the ‘noise’ and perturbation). It can be unsettling to the brain, but it is this perturbation that triggers the flexible brain states and allows for change (Taghia, et al. 2018).

Future. The third and final part of the PPF context is the promise of the future (the predictions) about “What will be.” Why is this part of the context? All our present time behaviors require gathering sights, sounds, feelings, and touch input to make decisions in the present, based on predictions about the future (Hutchinson J& Barrett, 2019). What you see is partly dependent on what you bring to the experience (past, present, and future intentions). Your brain is not a camera; it is a predictive processor. The sensed information (heard or seen) is used to adjust the initial predictions you made (embedded with your prior beliefs, mindsets, and experiences) to the reality of the environment. That often results in a new reality update (De Ridder, Verplaetse & Vanneste, 2013). You and your staff are continually assessing the validity of the predictions made about the future at your school and deciding if it is still worth the effort.

Practical Applications

Now that you’ve seen the choices that schools can make to raise the likelihood (and velocity) of change, let’s get practical and look for things we can take away and use. Before we begin, let’s remember a core understanding from our previous bulletins. We are all broken. No judging. We are full of unique life experiences (that no one else can duplicate), biases (that tip our decisions one way or another), mindsets (approaches that help or hinder), and stories we tell that support or derail change. Here, you’ll get a simple example for each PPF so that you can make sense of the workplace transfer.

The backstory (the past)
Each staff member’s voice is important. Ask staff to write a 1-page (anonymous) history of themselves at this school. Shuffle the stories within a team and have each read another’s writing aloud or have the team leader read all of them. The intention is to let everyone get a taste of others’ framing and the reality of the school’s history. One can do this for their personal life, too (if the safety is strong). Elicit the stories, begin healing, and find common ground.

The present (the reality)
Start with reading the data, then ask others for more relevant data points. This could include staff surveys, suggestion box thoughts, or a 3-step list of thoughts (ex. 1. What our leader could do better, 2. What other staff could do better, and 3. What I am willing to do better), or a 1-page ‘present-time narrative of what I think is going on.’

Carefully listen to others; take in each current and critical environmental, cultural, and social issue. This requires listening with empathy and reduced bias. It takes a bit of grace under pressure. Your listening may enhance needed safety. This process is all about feeling honored, listened to, and validated.

The future (the predictions)
A primary reason for staff inaction is a simple (and automatic) risk-reward calculation done by the brain. A common example is, “For the amount of work you want me to do and changes I have to make, that’s all we get?” Successful leaders ‘paint a rosy picture’ or ‘share a compelling future’ of the direction of the school change. But more importantly, they back up their vision with a strong why, relevance, and rewards. Top leaders predict daily what will happen for the good, then they back up their prediction with results.

How can we do this? Present both the ‘short game’ (positive changes within the next 5-25 days) and ‘long game’ (within the next 5-25 months). Use multiple data indicators so that small changes are noticed and celebrated. Then, use confirmation bias (pointing out the data that reinforces the good) to ensure others notice the realities that, “It’s working!” Post up the success week by week, then month by month. Reward the changes with fist pumps, music, privileges, and food. That may sound corny, but many leaders expect staff to make big changes, yet there’s nothing in it for them (the staff).

That’s it for this month; it’s closing time. Today, we started with one simple part of the 5-part equation for change. Heavy, thoughtful thinking, isn’t it? Today I showed you one exemplary school. Would you like to hear about and see more schools? Maybe one just like your school?

One of my role models for change once said to me, “If you need more than one exemplary school that succeeds (and shows you it’s possible) … why? Maybe you just don’t want to believe. I’ll ask you again… “Are you still the optimistic educator you started out being years ago?” Do you still get inspired about what’s possible, or have you become cynical about change and growth? I am hoping you’re still hopeful. Hope may not be a strategy, but without it, strategy is useless.

Now for my biggest fear. Maybe you still use the ‘time bias.’ Many will read this newsletter and then respond with, “I’m just too busy; I’ve got no time for those changes to help me and my students soar like eagles.” If you feel that way, I am sorry; I have failed you. I failed to activate your choice of playing the ‘long game.’ Biases are shortcuts to save time and are often about the ‘short game.’

You see, life goes by so fast that many would say, “Live in the moment, smell the roses, life is short.” And they’re right. Life is about savoring the smell of the flowers, eating a great meal, and enjoying hugs from friends and family.

But most everything in life that’s worth having over a lifetime also requires the ‘the long game.’ At school, it includes building relationships and fostering cognitive capacity. At home, the list includes maintaining relationships, appreciating the daily blessings, and saving for retirement. Choose right now; have you decided on… long or short, or BOTH? Then begin… right now.

Eric Jensen
CEO, Jensen Learning
Brain-Based Education

CITATIONS
Cerqueira JJ, Mailliet F, Almeida OF, Jay TM, Sousa N. (2007). The prefrontal cortex as a key target of the maladaptive response to stress. J Neurosci. 27(11):2781-7.
De Ridder D, Verplaetse J, Vanneste S. (2013). The predictive brain and the “free will” illusion. Front Psychol. 4:131.
Dhabhar FS, (2014). Effects of stress on immune function: the good, the bad, and the beautiful. Immunol. Res 58, 193–210.
Følling IS, Solbjør M, Helvik AS. (2015). Previous experiences and emotional baggage as barriers to lifestyle change – a qualitative study of Norwegian Healthy Life Centre participants. BMC Fam Pract. 16:73.
Gergelyfi, M., Jacob, B., Olivier, E., & Zénon, A. (2015). Dissociation between mental fatigue and motivational state during prolonged mental activity. Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience9, 176.
Godoy LD, Rossignoli MT, Delfino-Pereira P, Garcia-Cairasco N, de Lima Umeoka EH. (2018). A Comprehensive Overview on Stress Neurobiology: Basic Concepts and Clinical Implications. Front Behav Neurosci. 12:127.
Graafland M, Schijven MP. (2015). Situational awareness: you won’t see it unless you understand it. Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd. 159:A8656.
Hutchinson JB, Barrett LF. (2019). The power of predictions: An emerging paradigm for psychological research. Curr Dir Psychol Sci. 28(3):280-291.
Parr T, Friston KJ. (2019). Generalised free energy and active inference. Biol Cybern. 113(5-6):495-513.
Rohde KB, Caspar F, Koenig T, Pascual-Leone A, Stein M. (2018). Neurophysiological traces of interpersonal pain: How emotional autobiographical memories affect event-related potentials. Emotions18(2):290-303.
Ronald F. Ferguson, Sandra Hackman, Robert Hanna, Ann Ballantine (2011). How High Schools Become Exemplary: Ways That Leadership Raises Achievement and Narrows Gaps by Improving Instruction In 15 Public High Schools. Harvard University Press. Boston, MA.
Taghia J, Cai W, Ryali S, Kochalka J, Nicholas J, Chen T, Menon V. (2018). Uncovering hidden brain state dynamics that regulate performance and decision-making during cognition. Nat Commun. 9(1):2505.
Sleeping habits

What Do You Do in Your First 30 Minutes?

What is your morning routine? Why does it matter? For some, the morning routine begins with hitting the snooze button for an extra 10 minutes of sleep. For others, it begins a predictable roller coaster with a high stress march and ending with a run out the front door.

If your morning routine is a bit sketchy, you’ll be delighted to learn you have more to do with how your day turns out than you previously thought. Yes, there will often be surprises. But what if you could ‘tilt the odds’ or ‘bend reality’ more towards the day you’d like (vs. same ol’ same ol’)? Interested in how to foster an amazing day, every day? If so, this issue is for you.

Background

Here is this month’s insight. Your brain can be altered, trained, and sculpted to help you thrive daily. And it begins with the first 30 minutes of your day. Some educators start off their day cranky, grumpy, and tired (“I hate Mondays.”). Others start off every day by creating a morning routine that brings the day along the way they want it to be… every day. I am inviting you to delve into a daily, powerful way of influencing yourself, your family, and your students.

The Research

Maybe before the pandemic you thought of optimizing your health as an ‘extra’ in your life. Hopefully, you have developed a new awareness of how important your health is because of these last 20 months. The number of deaths from COVID only has been about 6% of the total cases (approx. 25,000). Among those who were listed as “died from COVID,” the average number of ‘underlying conditions’ was 2.9 (www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/health_policy/covid19-comorbidity-expanded-12092020-508.pdf). Remember, the list of underlying conditions is long and you want to stay off those lists.

Why do underlying conditions matter? Chronic health issues, such as distress, lower your immune system capacity (Dhabhar, 2014). Your profession demands robust health and vitality. That means daily efforts to maintain healthy habits. In fact, from interviews with highly successful people from all occupations, geography, and genders, the results are clear. Most high-performing people have a predictable routine (a string of micro-habits) that are done 6-7 days a week (Ferriss, 2016). If you would like to fuel your day better with more energy, a clear path, and optimism, this issue is for you.

1. First goal: Awaken your body with hydration

Hydration with water. Assuming it’s your first liquid of the day (and not influenced by sickness, sweating, or diarrhea/vomiting), you need water, and ideally, electrolytes. If your budget says water only, start your day with a glass of filtered water. Forget the common advice for eight glasses a day; there’s no evidence for that (Valtin, 2002). Everyone’s body is different.

The optimal composition of your morning fluid-replacement (aside from water) depends upon your situational needs (Baker & Jeukendrup, 2014). It’s likely, you will need more than just water. Years ago, electrolytes were only given to hospital patients or top athletes (Shirreffs & Sawka, 2011). Today, we know better. Electrolytes are so important to your organ health that the donated organ gets bathed in electrolytes before being given to the recipient (Chew, Macdonald & Dhital, 2019). The seven critical electrolytes are sodium, potassium, chloride, magnesium, bicarbonate, phosphate, and calcium.

Why take electrolytes? The body uses electrolytes to help foster brain communications, essentially powering our nervous system. When electrolyte levels are balanced, your body’s osmosis process prevents the cells from becoming too full of water or losing too much water. You also need electrolytes to support the muscle fibers to work to allow the muscles to shorten and contract. And, electrolytes regulate the body’s internal pH to avoid becoming too acidic or alkaline (regulating bodily functions). Athletes have high-performance demands and you do, too (Rowlands, Kopetschny & Badenhorst, 2021).

Maybe by now you might well consider yourself as an “educational athlete.” It’s time you be honest with yourself; are you one who endures physical, emotional, and cognitive stressors daily? If so, taking electrolytes has become a standard practice for high performers (Sawka, 2007). While you can get some electrolytes from food, not all are easily obtained. So, if you can afford it (about a dollar a day), consider adding electrolytes to your daily routine. More on this later…

2. Second Goal: Wake the body up with breath and/or movement

Breath. A classroom teacher may get surprised or nearly traumatized by a violent student outburst. But instead of a knee-jerk response that escalates the situation, certain teachers can instantly trigger her or his own practiced, slowed breathing rhythm. The slower breathing supports the cardiovascular, endocrine, autonomic, and central brain systems. In just seconds the teacher’s breathing nudges the activation of the body’s more calming parasympathetic system and a whole-body relaxation sets in. The situation becomes resolved in seconds.

This process of voluntary slow deep breathing functionally resets the autonomic nervous system. That leads to decreased heart rate and blood pressure, as well as increased alertness and reinvigoration of the body (Jerath, Edry, Barnes & Jerath, 2006). Slow, deep breathing can also reduce pain sensations. That may mean taking fewer or lower doses of common pain relievers (less of them means better kidney function). Finally, doing daily breath practice can have lasting positive effects on your emotional, cognitive, and physiological regulation (Boyadzhieva & Kayhan, 2021). The teacher mentioned above was wise to learn a breathing practice. More on it later…

Movement. What type of movement you do is up to your health requirements. Avoid making time the determining factor; we all have 24 hours in a day. Some fitness experts have a morning routine starting with rapid breathing practice and just 3-5 minutes of cardio and that’s it. Why? Their goal might be to simply activate muscles, boost blood flow and reduce stiffness. Others do a longer cardio routine. The best routine is the one you follow at least five days a week.

There is a great deal of research on the question, “Which is better, morning or evening exercise?” A large meta-study (70 research articles) reveals that there are different benefits at different times of the day (Seo, et al., 2013). Morning exercise can enhance the parasympathetic activity (reduces heart rate variability). This means you’re less likely to be as stressed in the morning. Evening exercise increased heart rate variability and can improve nocturnal sleep. (Yamanaka, et al., 2015). Yet consistent morning exercise can facilitate exercise adherence and improve weight management (Schumacher et al., 2020). So, exercise WHEN you can; there is no perfect time to exercise.

3. Third Goal: Fuel your mind and heart

What your mind and heart need. Your brain gets countless sources of input daily. Most of what goes into your brain’s inbox is ‘junk mail.’ These might be snippets of complaints, silly stories, gloom, doom, and sarcasm. Your brain will absorb, reuse, and share garbage if you allow it to. The ‘junk mail’ snippets are one of many ways that contribute to what appears to be a chaotic, complex, and divisive world.

Never allow the ‘world’ out there to drive your bus. Take charge. Learn to sculpt your mind and feelings. Every day, your brain is processing the world and creating stories about it (Cohn-Sheehy, 2021). Your stories become your identity and then they influence your habits. Your brain is wired to listen to, create, and tell stories (Coe, Aiken & Palmer, 2006). Every human creates their own stories (or brief narratives) with a chapter title such as, “Life is good” or “Life’s a Bear.”

It is your curiosity and need for the emotions in stories that compel you to read or watch the teaser “stories.” (Green, Chatham & Sestir, 2012). But your brain is your world and since you take it (your brain) everywhere you go, take charge of it. You’ll want to orchestrate and source uplifting stories every day. Over time, you will re-wire your brain so it can feed you better instead of poison you. You’ll learn how to do it in just a moment.

ACTION STEPS:

Here’s what you can do to build an amazing morning routine. Since safety is your highest priority, always check with a qualified health practitioner when considering changes in nutrition, sleep, or movement activities.

Remember, while the core needs for your brain, heart, and body are the same for all of us, they may get fulfilled in your own personal ways.

1. Here’s how to awaken your body with hydration.

Hydration. Drink a glass of clear, filtered water shortly after getting up. If it fits in your budget, drink the electrolytes that your body needs. There are many companies that sell electrolyte packets to add to your water. Your optimal fluid-replacement beverage is one that is customized for your needs and budget. Each one of the popular electrolyte packets available for sale (Pedialyte Sport, LMNT, DayLyte Electrolyte, Ultima Replenisher Electrolyte or Liquid I.V. Hydration Multiplier) has a different ingredient list.

I avoid the ones that add sugar to the product. I have been on board with morning electrolytes for years. I add a small packet of sodium (1000mg), magnesium (60 mg.) and potassium (200 mg.) to my water. Most importantly, it’s amazing to start the day with a body/brain recharge and have a clear head and energized body within minutes. If these are out of your budget, get your electrolytes from food or take mineral supplements for the top three (sodium, potassium, and magnesium). One handy option I like is pure coconut water (not the sweetened coconut juice) because it is high in electrolytes. I start every day with hydration and electrolytes.

2. Here’s how to awaken with breath and movement.

Next, you might add your own breathing, movement, and stretching routine.

Breath. Begin with simple, yet powerful breaths. Use your smartphone as a timer to practice breathing at a slow rhythm. Inhale, then engage an exhale that is longer than your inhale (2-1 or even 3-1 ratio). Do 6 breaths per minute. That works out to about a 3-5 sec. inhale and 7-9 sec. exhale. Start with doing just one minute. As you become more comfortable doing it, extend your slow breath practice time for 3 to 5 minutes. Over time, add your movement and breathing together to get a “two for one.”

Movement. Movement also raises oxygen levels and loosens your muscles. To get started, make the process affordable, simple, and fun. Just a personal preference for me is to stretch in the morning and do rigorous exercise in the late afternoon. Is a yoga mat a necessity? No; but it does help quite a bit (physically and psychologically). Just sitting on a mat reminds me to practice mindfulness; it’s now my own brain’s association that links stretching with mindfulness. You can get simple yoga tools from sites such as http://www.doyogawithme.com/. My suggestion is to do 5-20 minutes every morning (using breathing, stretching, or cardio) to awaken your body.

In my own routine, I alternate days of resistance training and swim time during the afternoon. Walking is also a great cardio exercise. Take a walk with a friend, your dog, or with your kids. The core habit is to work your body every other day so you get a day off for muscle repair. For budget-level resistance training, simply purchase products like Resistance Loop Exercise Bands on Amazon (about $12-15). Remember, you’ll still need to do the resistance work; no one can do your training for you.

Start any new movement program in small increments (30” to 3 minutes) and be sure to get permission of your health professional. The habit is more important than the time you spend on it. Once you get in the habit of doing it, you can add more time or quantity of sets.

3. Here’s how to manage what your mind, heart, and emotions need.

Mind. First, before I read any news or check emails, I start shaping my own brain. I have written out a “Daily Story.” The story is about 200 words. It includes my short term micro-goals (e.g. finish up a PowerPoint, work on a book chapter, send a gift, etc.). I have also embedded my character affirmations, as well as my daily habits (e.g. “I do stretching and workouts daily.”). I edit this weekly. It is my “living story.” Tiny updates keep it relevant.

Next, I check in with what’s going on in the world. To reduce bias, I read seven different news sources over a week’s time (never all at once) since each source filters the news very differently than the others. My daily news read is always ten minutes or less. How? I also subscribe to the 1440 Daily Digest (access at: https://join1440.com). It is the quickest, cut-to-the-chase, least biased new source I have found. I read it in 3-5 minutes.

Heart and Emotions. Finally, you may want to connect with others; that’s your heart. You can reward the emotional brain after the core tools of hydration, electrolytes, stretching, and news of the day. Only at the end of my routine do I give myself from 5-20 minutes to read and reply to any online favorites. Maybe you’ll be checking media sources such as Facebook, email, Instagram, or LinkedIn. Once I am done, I am ready to take on the day.

My entire “wake-up” routine is usually 60 minutes. My first half-hour is hydration, stretching, and mindfulness. I feel wide awake, up to speed, and connected. I have affirmed my identity, character, and goals. I only know the news worth reading. I am calm, but focused. By now, it may be time for a slow cup of organic, black coffee (or green tea or black tea) outside with my wife, Diane.

This morning routine is priceless for me and it might work for you with your personal modifications. Choose to play the ‘long game.’ With that mindset, you do things for your long-term well-being (heart, mind, and body) and do your daily work with energy, joy, and passion.

That’s it; it’s closing time. Now for my biggest fear. Maybe you still use the ‘time bias.’ Many will read this newsletter and then respond with, “I’m just too busy; I’ve got no time for those changes to help me and my students soar like eagles.” If you feel that way, I am sorry; I have failed you. I failed to activate your choice of playing the ‘long game.’ Biases are shortcuts to save time and are often about the ‘short game.’

You see, life goes by so fast that many would say, “Live in the moment, smell the roses, life is short.” And they’re right. Life is about savoring the smell of the flowers, eating a great meal and enjoying hugs from friends and family.

But most everything in life that’s worth having over a lifetime also requires the ‘the long game.’ At school, it includes building relationships and fostering cognitive capacity. At home, the list includes maintaining relationships, appreciating the daily blessings and saving for retirement. Choose right now; what have you decided on… long or short? Then begin… right now.

CITATIONS
Baker Ls, Jeukendrup AE. (2014). Optimal composition of fluid-replacement beverages. Compr Physiol. 2,575-620.
Boyadzhieva A & Kayhan E. (2021). Keeping the Breath in Mind: Respiration, Neural Oscillations, and the Free Energy Principle. Front Neurosci.15, 647579.
Centers for Disease Control (2020, 2021). Conditions contributing to deaths involving COVID-19, by age group, www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/health_policy/covid19-comorbidity-expanded-12092020-508.pdf. and https://data.cdc.gov/NCHS/Conditions-Contributing-to-COVID-19-Deaths-by-Stat/hk9y-quqm.
Chew, H. C., Macdonald, P. S., & Dhital, K. K. (2019). The donor heart and organ perfusion technology. Journal of thoracic disease11(Suppl 6), S938–S945.
Coe, K., N.E. Aiken, and C.T. Palmer. (2006) Once Upon a Time: Ancestors and the Evolutionary Significance of Stories. Anthropol. Forum. 16, 21–40.
Cohn-Sheehy BI, Delarazan AI, Reagh ZM, Crivelli-Decker JE, Kim K, Barnett AJ, Zacks JM, Ranganath C. (2021). The hippocampus constructs narrative memories across distant events. Curr Biol. S0960-9822(21)01253-7.
Dhabhar FS, 2014. Effects of stress on immune function: the good, the bad, and the beautiful. Immunol. Res 58, 193–210.
Ferris, T. (2016) Tools of Titans. Penguin, Random House. UK.
Galioto R, Spitznagel MB. (2016). The Effects of Breakfast and Breakfast Composition on Cognition in Adults. Adv Nutr. 7, 576S-89S.
Green, M. C., Chatham, C., & Sestir, M. A. (2012). Emotion and transportation into fact and fiction. Scientific Study of Literature, 2(1), 37–59.
Jerath R, Edry JW, Barnes VA, Jerath V. (2006). Physiology of long pranayamic breathing: neural respiratory elements may provide a mechanism that explains how slow deep breathing shifts the autonomic nervous system. Med Hypotheses. 67,566-71.
Rowlands DS, Kopetschny BH, Badenhorst CE. (2021). The Hydrating Effects of Hypertonic, Isotonic and Hypotonic Sports Drinks and Waters on Central Hydration During Continuous Exercise: A Systematic Meta-Analysis and Perspective. Sports Med. doi: 10.1007/s40279-021-01558-y.
Sawka MN, Burke LM, Eichner ER, Maughan RJ, Montain SJ, Stachenfeld NS. (2007). American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Exercise and fluid replacement. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 39, 377–90.
Schumacher LM, Thomas JG, Raynor HA, Rhodes RE, Bond DS. (2020). Consistent Morning Exercise May Be Beneficial for Individuals with Obesity. Exerc Sport Sci Rev. 48, 201-208.
Seo DY, Lee S, Kim N, Ko KS, Rhee BD, Park BJ, Han J. (2013). Morning and evening exercise. Integr Med Res. 2, 139-144.
Shirreffs SM, Sawka MN. (2011). Fluid and electrolyte needs for training, competition, and recovery. J Sports Sci. 29 Suppl 1:S39-46.
Valtin H. (2002) “Drink at least eight glasses of water a day.” Really? Is there scientific evidence for “8 x 8”? Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 283(5):R993-1004.
Yamanaka Y, Hashimoto S, Takasu NN, Tanahashi Y, Nishide SY, Honma S, Honma K. (2015). Morning and evening physical exercise differentially regulate the autonomic nervous system during nocturnal sleep in humans. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 309, R1112-21.
Approaches to Brain based teaching

Do You Prefer Comfort Over Grit?

Have you or your students changed over time? It sure is tempting to say ‘yes.’ We hear about more kids staying indoors, fewer two-parent households, and more screen time. Today, our kids grow up with fridges, cell phones, microwaves, Netflix, and maybe a car. Have we just all gotten soft and lazy? Is teaching grit to our students a lost art? Interested in how to foster a stronger mental toughness with kids?

Background

Your adaptive brain continually prioritizes survival while it adjusts your norms of risk and reward towards less energy.  To your brain, risk means threat and uncertainty; and both may require new energy expenditures. The solution? Many avoid risk, do less, and take fewer chances. Comfort is often chosen over hard work. In short, the more comfortable you become, the more comfort you’ll want. And it never ends.

If you’re working 55 hours a week, then 40 hours a week might feel easy and comfortable. “I’ll take that!” But if you work 40 hours a week, then 30 hours a week feels much better (more comfort), almost like retirement. But this process never quits in your brain. At one point, 5 hours a week will be too much work. Comfort never quits.

Want an example? Government data shows 52% of Americans (over 26 million) ages 18 to 29 are now living with at least one parent. That’s the largest recorded percentage in U.S. history, going back nearly 100 years and it includes World Wars, depressions, and widespread diseases. The numbers are stable across all ethnic groups, gender, and between city dwellers and residents of rural areas (Pew Research, 2020).

Let’s make some sense out of this.

In the broadest sense, your brain engages just two primary modes for your daily survival. They are “ON” (scan and search mode) and “OFF” (screen saver; you’re relaxing). At a raw survival level, your brain is either scanning the environment (assessing for threats, options, or goals) or it is resting.

So how do these two modes connect to your brain’s preference for comfort?

The prevailing old model (last 150 years) of human brains was stimulus and response. We get input (sight, touch, taste, sound, or smell), then we respond. But today, researchers believe your brain is not a stimulus-response organ at all. In fact, its much different. It’s all about survival in ways you never thought of. I am inviting you into a whole new way of understanding yourself and your students.

The Research

As an educator, the scanning or “ON” mode for your brain consumes much of your day. Let’s narrow our focus to your visual system. It is much different than an unbiased ‘camera.’ What you actually see is assembled and orchestrated in real time so fast that it appears as if it’s real.

In your scanning mode, your brain begins all searches in the area around you with a very high speed, well-prioritized system… before you even consciously see anything at all. Why? Your brain is scanning for threat and rewards. Remember, the goal is survival. Next, your brain makes multiple predictions (via accessing memories, mindsets, and biases) to fill in the visual scene you’re about to discover. The prediction helps you assess certainty vs. confusion. Finally, it is comparing your predictions with the actual input of real-time visual data and then it adjusts expectations with perceptions. This goal helps you assess potential energy needs.

Now that’s a sophisticated system for ‘just seeing’!

We think we see what’s present in the environment. But our brain biases what we see with critical filters. Optical illusions are a good example of you seeing what you want to see. Your three ‘survival’ filters are: 1) threat and reward, 2) relevance and bias, 3) energy expenditure/consumption. Let’s unpack these.

1. Threat and Reward. Your fastest processing is for survival; threat or reward wins out (Fox & Damjanovic, 2006) and (Gutiérrez-Cobo, et. al, 2019). As an example, a teacher in the classroom would likely notice a student’s physical threats faster than if a student is struggling with an assignment (Weymar, Löw, Ohman & Hamm 2011). This threat/reward filter is happening even before you fully process your visual image. It might sound almost sci-fi, but you live longer this way. Threats and rewards are your number one priority for what your brain directs you to see. Then, without skipping a beat, your brain begins to fill in what you will ultimately see.

2. Relevance and bias. In the next instant of time, your brain predicts. It uses relevant prior knowledge (memory) to predict, bias, and assemble the image of what will be seen (De Ridder, Verplaetse & Vanneste, 2013).

Your brain makes predictions constantly… about nearly everything. For example, when you walk into a familiar place, you will start with retrieving a memory of that place (classroom, landscape, etc.) This makes it far easier to orient quickly than if you had to pause, label, and sort every single item and detail. That would be exhausting!

What you see is influenced by your own memories of that environment, your intentions for the moment (finding an object), and your mindsets – such as “I am in a hurry.” (Freeman, 2003). A teacher can predict many of the items in her or his classroom using memory. It’s faster than figuring them out again and again. That’s relevance. A grumpy teacher may identify more student behavior issues than a joyful teacher. That’s relevance, too.

3. Energy Expenditure. The brain’s visual model is based on mostly predictions of the future and saved memories, with a bit of reality thrown in. After all, your brain’s main function is to reduce environmental uncertainty, which reduces likely energy needs. Finally, your brain is computing the potential energy consumption. Your visual perception is biased by the risk-reward ratio. There better be something in it for you or it may be a waste of energy. Decisions are made partly based on the energy needed to implement them.

This is the dominant, universal principle governing adaptive brain function and structure. Your brain does not ‘see’ in a pure sense. Your brain is a ‘probability factory’ that makes predictions endlessly about the world. But then it has to update them based on what reality your senses provide. While it seems weird, its capacity to help you survive is unmatched. For kids under 30, living at home is far cheaper, familiar, and convenient than being out in the unpredictable and often unsafe world.

Familiarity can mean safety. We have more trust in popular name brands (think autos, foods, technology, clothing, and appliances). In 15 out of the last 20 years, the top grossing US movie was a sequel. Why is familiarity and comfort a good thing for your brain? Using what’s familiar saves time and energy. Your brain wants to minimize its mistakes (less uncertainty and fewer predictive errors) in each environment so it can conserve energy (Friston, 2010). Less energy spent by you for each of your goals seems like a good idea to your brain. Why? Energy is a costly resource to your brain (it consumes over 20% of all your entire body’s energy.)

Want to put out less energy? Your bias is to avoid looking at work you have to do, problems you have to solve, the to-do list that’s undone. One could buy fast food, watch TV, Netflix, Hulu, or Disney (with a remote), check Facebook or Instagram, and postpone your gym exercising. Notice that none of these options even existed 100 years ago. Or instead, one could prepare home-cooked meals, read a book, and work your body daily.

Your brain works at constantly reducing environmental uncertainty (surprises and mistakes consume excess energy). We are more comfortable with seeing what we expect and when we can expect it. In the classroom, surprise student behaviors are rarely a good thing. On the other hand, familiarity lowers the surprise factor… and we prefer familiarity.

Let’s summarize what we have. What you see is partly dependent on what you bring to the experience (predictions and memories plus intentions.) Your brain is not a camera; it is a predictive processor. What you see, then experience, is biased by potential threats, your memories, intentions, and goals. And the less energy you expend, the happier your brain is (at least in the moment.)

Now let’s tie this to our opening premise: Your adaptive brain continually prioritizes survival while it adjusts your homeostatic norms of risk and reward. Every level of energy consumption, if maintained over time, becomes more familiar to your body. Biologically, it sets a new norm.

Same thing for your students at school; they get conditioned to listen for and see things in the frame of, “Is it easy or hard to do? Does it cost me time?” That’s why there is a never ending quest for comfort. Here’s what you can do to build greater grit and perseverance in your students.

ACTION STEPS:

1. Make simple language shifts. Most tasks have very few variables. The list may include degree of difficulty, time needed, relevance, accountability, emotional tone or social conditions (and a few more). Instead of saying, “This will be easy,” focus on the joy. “This might be fun for you.” Or, “All of us are going to love getting this done together” (social reward). Or, mention the outcome and say, “This will be a great brain builder.” Alternatively, focus on the short time it will feel like; “The time will fly once we get started” (less time = less energy expended).

Be explicit about sticking with the process. Create a common vocabulary for grit and perseverance. Tell kids what it is and what it is not. When providing feedback to a student on his/her performance, say “Doing THAT (be specific) shows me a lot of grit!” Define the grit traits. Reinforce it every time you see a student pushing through obstacles. “Love the way you’re being so gritty with that task.”

When students get a bit discouraged or start to hesitate, remind them, “You’ve got what it takes. I know you; you’re a hard worker, not a quitter. Many things are not easy, but ‘harder’ builds your brain. In fact, harder makes you smarter. Let’s give this task another three minutes and we’ll see how far we can get.”

Over time, you can create a call response: TEACHER: “This might be hard!” STUDENTS: “Bring it on. Harder makes me smarter!” When used with joy and repetition, tools like this may become embedded in memory for a lifetime.

2. Scaffold the hard tasks. Your long-term goal is to foster persistence and grit with an intention for accuracy and completion. For every task that may be perceived as difficult, provide support until students are ready to take it on by themselves.

Your types of support may include (but are not limited to): 1) create teams; give them a choice of team identities to embody (such as the creatives, the energy team, the grit group, etc.), 2) use the routine of pre-task planning, 3) engage team or class affirmations of identity of team name, 4) provide tools to chunk the tasks to micro tasks, 5) foster a fun error-correction strategy so mistakes are celebrated, etc.

Rewards are a critical behavior tool to mitigate the energy output risk required to do the task. Do micro-celebrations (smiles, high fives, thumbs up, or “Oh yeah!”).

3. Role Model the Mindset. Sprinkle stories of students like them who are succeeding with “grit in action”. Or you can be the role model (which students love the most). How are you embracing the mantra of “Harder makes me smarter” in your own life? Share with your students something you’re doing that’s hard every week.

You may be starting a long term project that has been hard for you in the past (doing more exercise, eating better, losing weight, etc.), but every week, you nibble at it and get better. Or, pick a short (but hard task) to share. For example, reducing complaining. First, erase complaints for ten consecutive minutes, then when you can do that, go for an hour without complaining. Soon, you’ll build up to a day and maybe to a week. Doing these small, but tough, tasks is hard. Sharing them with your class is priceless.

Each comfort level you or your students go to will soon lose its sparkle and we want even more comfort. That is, unless you choose to play the “long game.” With that mindset, you do things for your long-term well-being (eat better foods and exercise) and do the work to grow your mind and body.

That’s it; it’s closing time. Now for my biggest fear. Maybe you still use the “time bias.” Many will read this and then respond with, “I’m just too busy; I’ve got no time for those changes to help my students soar like an eagle.” If you feel that way, I am sorry; I have failed you. I failed to activate your choice of playing the ‘long game.’ Biases are shortcuts to save time and are often about the ‘short game.’

You see, life goes by so fast that many would say, “Live in the moment, smell the roses, life is short.” And they’re right. Life is about savoring the smell of plumerias, eating a great meal and enjoying hugs from friends and family.

But most everything in life that’s worth having over a lifetime also requires the ‘the long game.’ At school, it includes building relationships and fostering cognitive capacity. At home, the list includes maintaining relationships, appreciating the daily blessings and saving for retirement. Choose right now; what have you decided on… long or short? Then begin… right now.

CITATIONS
De Ridder, D., Verplaetse, J., & Vanneste, S. (2013). The predictive brain and the “free will” illusion. Frontiers in psychology4, 131.
De Ridder D, Vanneste S, Freeman W. The Bayesian brain: phantom percepts resolve sensory uncertainty. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2014 Jul;44:4-15.
Fox E. & Damjanovic L. (2006). The eyes are sufficient to produce a threat superiority effect. Emotion. 6, 534–539.
Friston K. (2010). The free-energy principle: a unified brain theory? Nat Rev Neurosci. 11, 127-38.
Friston KJ, Daunizeau J, Kilner J, Kiebel SJ. (2010). Action and behavior: a free-energy formulation. Biol Cybern. 102, 227-60.
Gutiérrez-Cobo MJ, Luque D, Most SB, Fernández-Berrocal P, Le Pelley ME. (2019). Reward and emotion influence attentional bias in rapid serial visual presentation. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove). 72, 2155-2167.
Pew Research (2020). Accessed at: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/09/04/a-majority-of-young-adults-in-the-u-s-live-with-their-parents-for-the-first-time-since-the-great-depression/Weymar M, Löw A, Ohman A, Hamm AO. (2011). The face is more than its parts–brain dynamics of enhanced spatial attention to schematic threat. Neuroimage. 58, 946-54.
Brian based learning

Proven Tools to Raise Student Intelligence

Catching Your Students Up?

That sounds like a line out of a comedy routine or science fiction! After all, not long ago, educators (just like you) believed IQ was fixed. They said, “You either got it or you don’t.” Times have changed, so it’s time for an update. Today we say, “Either you are a lifelong learner, or unfortunately, you’re just getting older.” Interested in teaching strategies that can raise IQ? If so, this is for you.

Background

Here is this month’s insight. The intelligence of your students is malleable. In this issue let’s blow away that old “fixed IQ” myth. The evidence is overwhelming. Compelling research showed what researcher Harold Skeels documented in the early days of IQ research in orphanages. His experimental group in multiple published studies (Skeels, 1939, 1942, 1966) showed that increases in IQ were not just possible but replicable, lasting, and dramatic. Even in a 20 year follow-up, Skeels showed that his experimental group (originally labeled “unsuitable” for adoption), averaged a lasting 28 point average IQ increase.

By contrast, the control group (also labeled “suitable” for adoption) that received zero intervention, averaged a 26 point average loss in IQ in the orphanage. Multiple other education, lifestyle, work, and family results were notably better in Skeel’s intervention group. Skeel’s data showed what works: 1) a caring adult, 2) enriching activities to grow the brain, and 3) the growth mindset that “the lower the starting point, the higher the upside.”

Today, many teachers still have low expectations of their students, especially of those who are so-called “underperforming.” This includes students of color, those with disabilities, or emerging bilinguals who are consistently isolated, labeled, and left off the lists for advance placement, gifted, or college prep classes. You never want to be one that does that to kids. The biases may be stereotypical or teachers may simply lack awareness and tools to aim high for students. Let me re-state this another way. Many students miss out on the opportunities and the chance at a richer, more fulfilling life. That begins in the classroom, and it ends up hurting everybody.

You may already know that we have many ways to measure IQ. Two of them are: 1) fluid IQ (‘in the moment’) intelligence and 2) crystalized (‘gained over time from content and skills’) intelligence. Both are valuable and both can be raised.

Let’s unpack what the evidence tells us so you can be a more amazing educator. Why? It is likely this will be each student’s only chance, in their lifetime, to get gains like this.

The Research

First, did Harold Skeel’s research hold up over time, or did science overturn the mindset that one could raise IQ?

Let’s start with a massive sample. Across 142 effect sizes from 42 data sets (worldwide) involving over 600,000 participants, researchers did find consistent evidence for positive effects of education on cognitive abilities. We know today that simply attending school raises student IQ between 1 and 5 points per school year (Ritchie & Tucker-Drob, 2018). A Demark study showed a gain of 4.3 IQ points for each year in school with 7,389 students (Hegelund, et. al, 2020).

In a recent Norwegian study, the research included a period of mandatory school attendance (which added 3 years for high school), as well as inclusion for the ‘Flynn effect’ (that being that the world average IQ has gone up slowly over the last 50 years). This study found that each additional year of schooling raises IQ by a statistically significant 3.7 IQ points annually (Brinch & Galloway, 2012). Yes, IQ can change and for the better.

The older, strong hereditarian position has also been challenged for decades, especially with the role of socioeconomic status (SES) in the development of intelligence. It turns out that social inequality and social policies can have a profound effect on the heritability of educational attainment (hence, IQ) in the general population (Selita, Fatos & Yulia Kovas. (2019). In short, IQ is flexible and malleable (vs. fixed and permanent).

Now, you know; the supposedly “fixed” (or crystalized) IQ can be improved.

We have seen that one way to impact student intelligence is via school experiences. You have seen the evidence above that school (a social, physical, emotional, and academic context) appears to exhibit a broad, positive influence over time. Regardless of the known heritability for IQ (it does vary among populations), the message remains: keep kids connected with a caring adult and in school.

But there’s a second way to impact student intelligence. Also known as “fluid IQ,” it is flexible, requiring the use of ‘in the moment’ (vs. accumulated knowledge) smarts. The fluid IQ is known as Gf (generalized IQ that is fluid). It is a strong predictor of academic success, lifetime earnings, and other significant life outcomes (Deary, Strand, Smith & Fernandes, 2007).

Using Gf, multiple specific pathways show a raised IQ pathway through building executive function skills (memory, problem-solving, speed of processing, reasoning, creativity, managing inhibition, etc.). These skills show up on nearly every type of IQ test.

The best-known way (so far) to boost this kind of IQ is via executive function skills, memory, problem-solving, creativity, etc.). Let’s find out what researchers have done using a narrow, replicable path you can use in your classroom. In other words, “What is it that teachers (vs. whole schools) can do specifically to raise IQ?” There are several studies which show how to raise IQ through 1) the use of creative problem-solving and 2) working memory.

A large meta-study found that teaching divergent thinking as well as convergent thinking improved intelligence (Ma, Hsen-Hsing. 2009). Other studies have shown a link between creativity and increased gray matter (Jauk, 2015).

Another well-documented study had a relatively large sample size (nearly 300) of high-school age students. It lasted over three years, and used control group and experimental groups. The measurement included 28 measures of intelligence. It was based on random assignment of school classes both to the control and treatment groups.

The results? The experimental group showed a 10-15 point IQ increase. This is the equivalent to an effect size between 0.67 and 1.0 versus the control group (Stankov & Lee, 2020). In intelligence research where an IQ score of 15 points is equal to one full standard deviation, a 10-point boost is massive. What was the ‘secret sauce’? We’ll get to that in a moment.

First, Susan Jaeggi’s work showed that improving working memory may contribute to higher IQ (Buschkuehl & Jaeggi, 2010). Improvements in working memory capacity have been shown to explain at least half of variance in fluid intelligence across individuals (Kane, Hambrick & Conway, 2005). We now know that working memory capacity and fluid intelligence are strongly related constructs (Ackerman, Beier & Boyle, 2005).

Practical Applications

Now, let’s sort out what we have. IQ can be enhanced over the long haul and with specific skill training in school. Here is the critical understanding about memory skill-building in your students: Yes, memory skills can be improved. Invest 10-15 min./day, 3-5 days/wk. for 8-10 weeks. After that, use the skills learned in the classroom to keep them sharp. Where’s the content for this?

The ability to generalizable the acquired skills crucially depends on the diversity of contexts in which skills are acquired and practiced. In short, remember to use the class content as the material for the skill building and you’ll get solid results. Also, teach or train using either math/science symbols OR language arts symbols (e.g. alphabet, English language). Use a symbol system for 8-10 weeks, then a 2-4 week pause before engaging another symbol system. The two systems (numbers/letters) engage two very different pathways.

ACTION STEP: Where do you learn HOW to teach working memory? I’ve prepared a free tutorial you can view now. Go to: jensenlearning.com/workingmemory.

Secondly, you may recall the high school study above where IQ was raised 10-15 points above the control group. In this study, the ‘secret sauce’ was when students were given creative problem solving. The study mentioned earlier showed creativity training can also enhance IQ. At the high school, students were given nearly impossible problem-solving requiring divergent thinking.

One example of this thinking was, “The earth’s population is doubling quite fast. In what ways could we feed the world’s population using different means than we are using today?” Another example would be, “It’s possible that our moon may have valuable resources on it. How could you transport goods from the moon back to the earth without using rockets?”

A third example uses the prisoner dilemma model: “I was captured by a gang and their leader had my hands and legs tied up so that I could not move. They did not gag me up though, and I was able to use my mouth freely. The leader of the gang hung a piece of bread exactly five centimeters away from my mouth. He then laughed and said: “If you manage to eat this piece of bread, I’II set you free. He knew that I could get no help. Also, to ensure that I could not roll over or move closer to bread, they tied me to a tree. Nevertheless, I managed to free myself. How did I do it?”

Students in the experimental groups were asked to list as many ways as they could think of to solve each of the weekly problems. The acceptable solutions for the example above included blowing at the bread until it swung back towards the speaker’s mouth. It was collaborative, divergent problem-solving at its best. Researchers concluded that prolonged intensive training in creative problem-solving had led to substantial and positive effects on intelligence during late adolescence (ages 16–19). The data was conclusive, one hour a week, for two years, built a better brain.

ACTION STEP: Start by locating examples of problem-solving content that you can vary for your grade level. Then share them with other grade-level or subject level staff. You may also be able to find these in the gifted curriculum.

Now for my biggest fear. You have just heard me say, “Teach working memory or creative problem-solving.” The big question is, “Are you up for the challenge?” Or, do you still use the ‘time bias’? Many teachers would respond with, “I’m just too busy; I’ve got no time for changes to help my students soar like eagles.”

If you feel that way, I am sorry… I have failed you. I failed to activate your choice of playing the ‘long game.’ Biases are shortcuts to save time and are often about the ‘short game.’

You see, life goes by so fast that many would say, “Live in the moment, smell the roses, life is short.” And they’re right. Life is about savoring the smell of fragrant flowers, eating a great meal and enjoying hugs from friends and family.

But most everything in life that’s worth having over a lifetime requires the ‘long game’, too. At school, it includes building relationships and fostering cognitive capacity. At home, the list includes developing relationships, appreciating the daily blessings and saving for retirement. Choose right now; what have you decided on doing? Then begin today.

CITATIONS
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Hegelund Emilie Rune, Grønkjær Marie, Osler Merete, Dammeyer Jesper, Flensborg-Madsen Trine, Mortensen Erik Lykke. (2020). The influence of educational attainment on intelligence. Intelligence. 78,101419.
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