A lion is a lion!

Photo taken by friend: Maureen McDonald at the Cincinnati Zoo and used with permission

 

 

 

I attended a training the other day about the brain. NeuroScience of Education is a field of study that is only 3 years old. I took copious notes, and even contemplated going back to school to get another doctorate in said field - until I learned there are no local universities that offer it - and yes, my husband would question my sanity......but I digress....

It led me to some reflection, okay a lot of reflection about change. Specifically, can people really change? Can we teach an old dog new tricks? 

 We were told that "education literally changes the brain" - it creates fiber tracks and with exercise (for example homework, or reflection journals, or blogging on our learning) they become faster and thicker. We are building brain highways - yet if not exercised, they can get dumped during our sleep as the brain decides what's worthy to keep. 

Hand in hand with that information was the revelation that the part of the brain that keeps developing well into our 30's and beyond is the goal orientated - purposeful- organized section (uncinate fasciculus) Which is comforting since I remarried in my later thirties, and only just learned how to really manage my money. I'm not just a late bloomer :)

I realize I'm talking in circles here because the are so many different exits I could take in this blog. So let's get back to a "lion is a lion" and a few  practical/personal/professional detours, that I hope you indulge me with.

We adopted our boys after age 7, and I've learned that personalities of children are formed before that age. As a new mom, that was a tough one to digest. I'm still learning to accept that they are who they are. Michael is Michael and James is James and Nick is Nick - and Edward will be Edward.

That doesn't mean to say I can't help them navigate the road ahead, providing lessons around choices and manners etc. 

So think about that in terms of Pre-school/Kindergarten and First Grade. Those teachers not only can help change their brain - but they impact their personality development also. WOW!!!!

So Michael is going through puberty right now - and while Michael is Michael - when there is an outside force (chemical interjection of sorts) Michael is not Michael! He is grumpy and moody and sometimes even aggressive. He doesn't understand fully what's going on inside him - and sometimes he'll just give us that look like (help aliens are inside of me). 

So that African lion that "allows" humans to stand relatively close for pictures while on Safari (I DO NOT EVER RECOMMEND THIS) - is not showing us that he is docile. He just was probably full, or his pride of female hunters were off getting dinner - and he was not at all interested in expending the energy to attack. However, in the right circumstance, with the right stimulation - he would do what is instinctual yet uncommon - and well..... GULP!

I know I'm spirally around again but I do have a point - stay with me!

My dog Ozzie (a beautiful chocolate lab), just underwent pretty intrusive knee surgery after discovering that he has a degenerative disease that caused his ACL to tear - and other damage in his knee joint. To spare the gory details of the surgery - I want to share that this dog is a different Ozzie.

He used to lay around, and I would introduce him to friends as our lazy dog. He was more like a cat than a dog, in that he would lay in another room, and was not interested in running to you when you came inside - unless it was dinner time. It wasn't until watching him go through his recovery and understanding how severe his pain was - do I see that something hindered him for being the 'true' Ozzie. He now runs around, comes to us for attention, and lays at our feet like a typical lab 'should' do.

I've been on a new medicine to treat depression for just over 4 weeks now (first time in over 20 years). Yesterday, I got back from the gym, had breakfast and was driving to a meeting and I felt like a black cloud was looming overhead. I had no reason to be sad or distressed, and I realized that I didn't have this feeling for the last 4 weeks. It's then that it hit me that I had forgotten to take my medicine. I immediately felt relieved that it wasn't a regression/that the medicine wasn't failing, and in the same breath aggravated that I now have to rely on a chemical to stabilize my mood. It was a night and day difference within the matter of 30 minutes.

So let's relate all of this reflection to our profession shall we:

1) If a lion is truly a lion - then learn the habits, patterns, diet, habitat~ well everything you can about that lion. So when a lion is NOT a lion - you can help weed out the variables.

If you know your students - you've created profiles for them, with parent input you can describe them and expect certain behavior from them.... 

then when something out of the blue happens, you'll know!

Why should this matter, I'm just trying to teach your son Nick math! Well if you make an off hand remark about prison and he suddenly retreats, and turns off listening for the rest of the class - you just lost a day of instruction. More importantly, you just triggered a violent memory with this teenage boy and well.... let's not do that.

2) Some things can change a person.

Just like Ozzie - who's personality is changing due to his enhanced physical state,  or how my stress level and relationship with my family is better due to my new medication doing it's work - an outside factor can seem to create a whole new person (or dog).

Think about your students who after receiving clothing from the Family Resource Center suddenly seems to take more pride in their appearance and their demeanor shifts. Think about the student after being paired with a mentor/coach/buddy suddenly seems to blossom because they feel cared for by a positive role model. This coupled with educators who are creating new neural connections - and brand new learning experiences that create brand new dendrites - we have the possibility to a permanent and positive impact on our students.

3) Adults are still changing too!

So we know that the organizational/goal oriented/purposeful part of our brain is still in development well into our thirties. Think about your staff, specifically:

• those who are fresh out of teaching programs who have the energy and enthusiasm to do everything and anything you direct them to

• those who are veteran teachers who you think are set in their ways because they have been doing the same thing for years

Both groups of adults are still learning how to create purposeful goals. No wonder we have new teachers that come from different professional backgrounds after realizing, being a banker is not where they want to make a lasting impact on the world (nothing against bankers, just thinking about a phenomenal new teacher we have that used work in finance).
Let's give our 'new' teachers at both ends of the spectrum some credit - and those who we feel are too set in their ways, the same expectation I have for my adopted teenagers. Yes, their personalities are pretty much set, but do I stop guiding their choices, their verbal exchanges and stop providing them with learning opportunities and new experiences.
Let's just make that one rhetorical!

Happy Fall Y'All!