The Science of Learning

Eric Jensen here. If you have struggling readers, lean in and read closely. I am going to give you something worth thousands of dollars for free. Sometimes the things you and I take most for granted are actually among the most valuable. For example, are you a pretty good reader? Even though I used to teach reading, I somehow took it for granted that I read well. But it’s rarely like that for your students. For example, when your students struggle with reading, what are the most likely signals? Obviously, it hurts your school scores, but there’s more. Can you see and feel the discouragement, frustration and even the internalizing of the emotions (“I can’t do this” or “I hate reading”)? When students read poorly, they often generalize it to other subjects (“Maybe I am just dumb”) and most things in school can become overwhelming. That’s painful to watch. I would love to help you with your lowest performing students and there’s a solution that may work for you.  As a former reading teacher and science junkie, I’ve been shouting the praises of the Fast ForWord® reading intervention program for over 20 years. Follow the directions, encourage the students and it flat-out works. Fast ForWord has been validated by more than 50 published studies in peer-reviewed journals and over 250 school studies. I personally know the neuroscientists that developed the program and they are “rock star” pioneers in their field. There’s just one drawback. If you ever shop reading programs around by price, Fast ForWord is nowhere near the cheapest of them all. Unfortunately, when comparing programs, learning leaders (instructional coaches, principals, etc.) often fail to price out the real costs of the alternatives (e.g. using instructional aids, having students held back, tutors and intervention specialists, staff who get burned out, […]

Some low-income schools are wildly succesful while others continue to struggle. Dr. Eric Jensen has researched this phenomenon, studying what makes one Title I school a place where students are as successful as their high-income peers, whereas others continue to be low-performing. Following is a transcript of a portion of his Underperforming Student Success Strategies webinar, in which he outlines some game-changing, yet simple tips. Watch the full webinar by clicking here. 7 Secrets to Accelerate Underperforming Students We've got lots to do, so let's roll up our sleeves and get started. First things first; here’s an overview of what we're going to cover: Relationships matter the most. Learn how you can create relationships with struggling students. Understand the REAL problem.  Part of succeeding with struggling students is learning how to hear what people are not saying. Sometimes it looks like there's one problem you're solving but it's really a different problem altogether. Shift mindsets and expectations. Learn what kind of expectations are realistic with the struggling student. Build cognitive capacity relentlessly. How do you build cognitive capacity? And why is this important? [Hint: Dr. Jensen recommends Fast ForWord!] Teach grittiness for the long haul. Learn how you can teach grittiness. Work on social and emotional skills. How do you teach social emotional skills? Coaching for life. How do you become a coach for your students to be successful in life? I've worked with many underperforming students and of course, you can come up with a different list of seven but I think this list is solid gold, so let's get started. Be Conscious of How You Start Your Day One suggestion is every time you begin working with your students, always ask yourself: What's the posture your students are in? What's their metabolic state? How are they feeling at the moment? You and I know when […]