Brain-Bridging Across Gaps: Our Approach to Meeting the Needs
of High-Poverty and EL Students at Jere Whitson Elementary
All teachers and students have two very important elements in common:
they all have brains, and they all have hearts. Though each individual has
an unique condition of both of these essential organs, we recognize the
mutual importance of both in effective education and also recognize that
some physiological and demographic differences among teachers and
students potentially contribute to gaps between the heart and brain. Neither
the heart nor the brain functions in isolation, and the more that we bridge
gaps by understanding the relationship between the two, both physically
and figuratively, the more our students living in poverty and facing other
considerable challenges will benefit.
Learn through a colorful depiction of the multiple layers of partnerships,
passion, purpose, perseverance, and priorities that are all playing critical
roles in brain-bridging across gaps for traditionally
underserved students at Jere Whitson Elementary.
All of these reinforce how teaching and learning is
an art and not a science, but also how such an art
can be largely enhanced by attention to the science
of brain and heart connections. This session won’t
dig deeply into neuroscience but will reveal how
our awareness of students’ neuroplasticity and our
intentionality in providing rich experiences can lead
to considerable growth and development.
Thomas Fuhrman
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