MR. LEE DIV. 5

Is ultralearning the new method of learning? Can anyone do it? How effective is it? What is it, exactly?

The author, Scott Young, begins the book with a bang. He essentially completed the equivalent of an MIT engineering degree in one year, using ultralearning strategy. The book also describes his other experiences, such as learning four languages, in a year, as well as numerous stories of other friends and acquaintances that have learned in this unique manner. This includes Roger Craig of Jeopardy! fame and Eric Barone, who spent five years of his life creating a computer game called Stardew Valley entirely on his own. It sold over 10 million copies and he is now a multimillionaire. Of course, not all ultralearners achieve fame and fortune, but many achieve their goals of learning something new in an accelerated and intensive way. 

So what is ultralearning? It is an rigorous self-directed strategy of learning. Right away this should tell you that it is not for the faint of heart. But it may be something that will continue to gain momentum for several reasons. First, Tyler Cowen, in his Average is over book, talks about "skill polarization," where only the top and bottom of the income spectrum is remaining, so more specialized, advanced skills are needed to succeed in this society. (Unless you want to be in the bottom layer.) As post-secondary education costs skyrocket, unless you need a required professional degree, this learning strategy is a cheap alternative. Finally, technology and endless resources allow for self-directed learning to soar to new heights. 

Young discusses nine principles to ultralearning:

Principal #1: Metalearning; First Draw a Map

First, answer the 3 W(H)s. Why? Is your project instrumental (extrinsic) or intrinsic? For instrumental reasons, you'll need to do extra research. Find an expert and get advice. What? Get a piece of paper and write down Concepts, Facts, Procedures. How? Use benchmarking to compare what you want to learn with existing programs. Then you can Emphasize/Exclude elements that you need to achieve your goal. Spend about 5-10% of your time planning (this is essential).  

Principal #2: Focus: Sharpen Your Knife

Problem #1: Failing to get started (procrastinating)

First find out why you're procrastinating. The main solution is to start! Five minutes, and later the Pomodoro Technique of 25 minutes, then 5 minute break. 

Problem #2: Failing to sustain focus (Getting Distracted)

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi pioneered the flow concept, that sweet spot of an activity--not too hard or too easy. K. Anders Ericsson, the psychologist behind deliberate practice, said flow did not occur during deliberate practice. Young feels that during ultralearning, you may or may not be in the flow state, but that is not of importance. Chunks of about 50 minutes are ideal for learning, if possible. Try to eliminate the distractions of the environment, task and mind.  

Problem #3: Failing to create the right kind of focus

High arousal (energy, alertness) is good for simple tasks or intense concentration activities. These can be done in a slightly noiser setting, such as a coffee shop. Complex tasks (solving math problems or writing essays) require a more relaxed kind of focus. A quiet room is a good place to focus. 

Principal #3: Directness: Go Straight Ahead

Directness is tying the learning as closely to the actual situation or context you want to use it in. He gave the example of a recent architectural graduate, Vatsal Jaiswal, whose program focused mostly on design and theory. After submitting hundreds of resumes with zero interest, Jaiswal decided to learn about two things: Revit (a current design software) and knowledge of architectural drawings. He then designed his own building using his newfound knowledge and skills. After applying to just two firms with his new portfolio, he was offered both jobs. 

Educational psychology deals with the idea of transfer, and its failings. Psychologist Robert Haskell says that the research has shown that transfer of learning has been minimal at best. For example, college students who have taken a high school psychology course do no better than those who haven't take a course. 

Here are some possible solutions: 

Tactic #1: Project-based Learning

At the end of your project, you will have something to show for it. As well, a number of other subskills will be gained during the process. 

Tactic #2: Immersive Learning

When possible, try to seek the environment or situation of the desired goal. If you are learning a language, then speak the language only in that location or with native speakers. 

Tactic #3: The Flight Simulator Method

Of course, when the actual experience is impossible, then a simulation is fine. So Skype tutoring is better than flash cards. 

Tactic #4: The Overkill Approach

Try to increase your directness by increasing your challenge. That means more risk-taking and putting yourself in uncomfortable situations. But if you can overcome your fears and anxieties you will achieve more much that much quicker. 

Principal #4: Drill: Attack Your Weakest Point

Young highlights the rate-determining step, the "bottleneck" in the learning process. For example, in language learning, if you can increase your vocabulary dramatically, then your ability to speak with your existing language skills expands greatly. This is where drills come in. You can simplify a skill enough to focus your cognitive resources in one area. 

Direct-Then-Drill Approach: First practice the skill directly; for example, learning programming by writing software. Analyze the skill and try to isolate components to improve on and create drills. Finally, go back to direct practice and integrate what you've learned. 

Tactics: First, you need to figure out when and what to drill--what would be of most benefit. The key is to experiment, make a hypothesis, do some drills, then get feedback. Second, design the drill to produce improvement and transfer. Finally, remember drills can be hard, so be prepared to work hard and not quit. 

Principal #5: Retrieval: Test to Learn

Psychologists Jeffrey Karpicke and Janell Blunt conducted a study in reading, examining students' choice of learning strategy: 1) review the text once; 2) review it repeatedly; 3) free recall; 4) concept mapping. The clear winner? Free recall (retrieving information without looking at the text), remembering almost 50% more than the other groups. Surprisingly, even when the final test was to produce a concept map, the free recall group performed better. 

So if free recall is the best method of retrieval, why isn't it used more? That's because of our judgements of learning (JOLs). If we feel the learning task is easy, we believe we've learned it; on the other hand, the harder it feels, the less we think we know it. 

Psychologist R.A. Bjork talks about the concept of desirable difficulty. Free recall tests tend to result in better retention than cued recall tests (multiple-choice). Giving a test immediately after learning is less effective than delaying a bit. However, too long of a wait results in information being completely forgotten. Also, testing more difficult material before you are "ready" is more efficient. Even giving the final exam (a pre-test) has benefits, known as the forward-testing effect. The analogy is that of laying down a road leading to a building that has yet to be built. The mechanism could also be of attention. Your mind uses its attentional resources to spot information you learn later on. 

Methods of Recall:

• flash cards (good for cue and response)
• free recall (just need a blank piece of paper)
• question-book method: write questions to understand bigger concepts and ideas
• self-generated challenges (make actual examples)
• closed-book learning (create concept map without the book)

Principal #6: Feedback: Don't Dodge the Punches

Why does famous comedian Chris Rock perform at the modest Comedy Cellar in Greenwich Village, NY, from time to time? He wants honest, sometimes brutal feedback--an essential component of ultralearning. 

Feedback can be a tricky thing. In a large meta-analysis, Avraham Kluger and Angelo DeNisi found that although the overall effect of feedback was positive, over 38% was negative. 

There are three types of feedback: 1) outcome: an aggregate or broad-scale form, like a letter grade; 2) informational: this explains what's going wrong but not how to fix it, like an error message in coding; 3) corrective: this is the best form and it comes from a coach, mentor or teacher who can pinpoint mistakes and correct them. 

How quick should feedback be? According to James A. Kulik and Chen-Lin C. Kulik, in applied studies, immediate feedback in usually more effective than delay. Yet in lab studies, delaying the correct response was more effective.  

Tactics to improve feedback: 

• noise cancellation: use filtering and proxy signals to determine the importance (all feedback is not created equal)
• hitting the difficulty sweet spot: adjust your success and failure so it's unpredictable (don't just hear what you want to hear (or not hear))
• metafeedback: check your learning rate to see if you're reaching diminishing returns; if so, change drills, difficulties, environments or study methods
• high-intensity, rapid feedback: get into tougher, realistic situations, despite its uncomfortableness; it will reap faster, bigger and more effective results 

​Principal #7: Retention: Don't Fill a Leaky Bucket

Psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered the forgetting curve, an exponential decay in knowledge especially right after learning. The reasons why: 1) time: memories decay with time; 2) interference: overwriting old with new memories; 3) forgotten cues: memories are inaccessible. 

Memory mechanism #1: Spacing: Find a perfect gap between learning sessions. Spaced-repetition systems (SRS) are tools to help. Both tech and paper tools work. 

Memory mechanism #2: Proceduralization: declarative skills become procedural often, so emphasize a core set of reusable information that have longer lasting effects

Memory mechanism #3: Overlearning: if you study and learn beyond the adequate, you can remember it for a longer period of time. Personally, that's probably why I still remember by multiplication facts instantly even after 4 decades or more. 

Memory mechanism #5: Mnemonics:  overall, they are rigid and specific but powerful tools that work as intermediaries to memory, but not a strong foundation to base learning efforts on 

​Principal #8: Intuition: Dig Deep Before Building Up

Rule 1: Don't Give up on Hard Problems Easily: Push yourself even beyond frustration. Even if you fail, you'll more likely remember how to get to the solution when you find it. 

Rule 2: Prove things to understand them: Rebecca Lawson talks about the "illusion of explanatory depth." People think they know more than they do. For example, most couldn't draw a bicycle properly or explain how it worked. 

Rule 3: Always start with a concrete example: We go from concrete to abstract. Also, how we think about something is more important than how much time we spend. This is known as the levels-of -processing effect. 

Rule 4: Don't fool yourself: The Dunning-Druger effect is when a person believes he or she knows more than experts. 

Applications:

• take notes, sketch broad idea, get the gist of something
• generate illustrative example, analogies, or visualizations to simplify or clarify confusing and complex knowledge

Principal #9: Experimentation: Explore outside your comfort zone

Vincent van Gogh was not a child prodigy and suddenly start painting sunflowers and stars. In fact, he started late, 26, and tried countless styles, resources and techniques. The lesson learned is that experimentation is critical for ultralearning. Scott considers experimentation as an extension of the growth mindset, a concept from psychologist Carol Dweck. Experimentation creates a plan to reach those potential opportunities. 

Tactics: 

• Copy, then create: see what others do first and imitate
• Compare methods side-by-side: try two methods and compare which is more effective
• new constraints: add new limitations to force yourself to develop new capacities
• find a hybrid of unrelated skills (think Scott Adams of Dilbert fame, who combined engineering with an MBA and cartoon drawing skills)
• explore the extremes: this gives you endless more possibilities to work with

All in all, I think ultralearning has its place, particularly in non-school settings, with motivated and self-directed learners, although there are definitely a number of strategies and techniques that could be applied in any educational setting. The only way to know for certain how effective it is for you, of course, is to try it. 
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​Source: Ultralearning, Scott H. Young, 2019

Among teens, 13 - 17, 1 in 3 struggled with anxiety, and 8.3% suffered from a severe impairment. What's the cause? Well, about 30-40% stems from genetics. Nearly 1 in 5 adults have suffered from an anxiety impairment in the past year. So, anxious parents and their reactions/behavior towards their child can create anxiety in that child. So a parent who recalls his own experience of falling off a bike will be more reluctant and fearful for his child to ride, for both the child's safety and the parent's peace of mind. Unfortunately, all this protectiveness eventually leads to a child's accumulated disability: the inability to cope, adapt and function with life skills.

An example is of a boy named Theo with separation anxiety in kindergarten, followed by future worries, which led to sleep issues in elementary grades, so parents took turns sleeping with him. Eventually, his life's needs were being catered to and met, which led to more anxiety and fragility and stress on Theo's part. One part of the solution is for both parents and child to receive treatment for anxiety disorders. There's a 77% of success in that case compare to 39% if only the child is treated. Another treatment method is progressive desensitization, whereby the child takes incremental steps to face her fear or anxiety. Instead of avoiding dogs all the time, walk pass one, then the parent should pet one. This builds the muscles of tolerating anxiety and building competency. This is somewhat similar to gradual release of responsibility: I do it, we do it, you do it. 

Anxiety disorders usually appear between the ages of 6 to 10. Some big ones include sleeping, eating, using the bathroom and playdates. Developing social skills from K - 3 are critical as most anxiety disorders at age 8 - 10 stem from social problems, not academic. If kids are not able to spend time in their peer groups, they will not develop the necessary interpersonal and conflict resolution skills needed as they get older. Then in middle school and high school, with higher academic and future educational stakes, parents may continue to provide accommodations and make excuses to account for their child's lack of sleep, cleanliness, use of tech late at night, and inability to cope academically. All the while, having responsibility and the maturity to do chores would actually aid in their overall development. 


Source: Ready or Not, Madeline Levine, 2020

This book is chockful of excellent ideas, strategies and techniques, as well as great stories, to help people both acquire good habits and eliminate bad ones. I will attempt to note as much as I possibly can, and relate them to education and learning. 

The title of the book and the thrust of it is scaling down to the "atomic" level, or to as small steps or manageable blocks of action. The author, James Clear, talks about the difference in improving by 1% a day over a year (37.78) vs. declining by 1% over the same span (0.03). So thinking small in the short term can amount to huge gains in the future. Of course, Clear talks about people and their desire for immediate gratification (the now), which is stronger than delayed gratification (the future). Short-term gains have longer-lasting negative consequences; long-term gains give you long-lasting benefits. 

The waiting game is difficult, something the author calls the Plateau of Latent Potential. An ice cube sits in a room getting ever warmer, with little change. Suddenly, at 0 degrees C, it begins to melt. If our goal is like waiting for the ice to melt, we may be sorely disappointed. Instead of goals, focus on systems. If you're a teacher, your goal is to teach students to learn the curriculum. Your system is the way you manage the class, assess students, and create engaging and effective lessons. 

I like how he talks about the importance of identity, and not just processes and outcomes. If we start from the outcomes and move towards identity, we may never reach our core identity. Instead, think every time you write a paragraph, you are a writer. The process is simple: 1) decide the type of person you want to be; 2) show it with small wins. Who do you want to be? Then do the small actions that demonstrate that kind of person. Are you a teacher who believes students should have a voice and choice? Do your actions reflect that belief system? 

Clear describes the four stages of habit, a feedback loop: problem (cue, craving);  solution (response, reward). For example, a student gets stuck on a math problem (cue); she wants to relieve the frustration (craving); she asks to go to the washroom (response); reward (to satisfy craving and avoid work, she escapes from the problem).

How to Create a Good Habit                            

• 1st law (cue): Make it obvious
• 2nd law (craving): Make it attractive
• 3rd law (response): Make it easy.
• 4th law (reward): Make it satisfying

To break a bad habit, we do the opposite. 

Law #1: Make it obvious

To begin a good habit, use the implementation intention, essentially stating specifically what you plan on doing: I will [behavior] at [time] in [location]. I will exercise for one hour at 5pm in my gym. Once this habit is established, then move on to BJ Fogg's habit stacking formula: After I [current habit], I will [new habit]. Thinking: After I hang up my coat, I will sit down and work on the morning questions. Then add another habit, beginning a cascading effect of habits. After I finished the problem, I will hand it in. Then I will read a book in my desk. 

In 1936, psychologist Kurt Lewin wrote the equation, B=f (P,E), where behavior is a function of the person in their environment. A clear example is the phenomenon tested by economist Hawkins Stern in 1952, called Suggestion Impulse Buying. Essentially the more available a product or service is, the more likely it will be bought or used. More expensive brand-name items are at eye level and at the end of aisles. This makes clear sense when you realize that about 10 million out of 11 million sensory receptors are for vision. Many teachers have realized that fact and have created their classrooms as environments that accentuate their values and desired behaviors. More books means more reading. More tech means more virtual learning. More sports equipment means more active children. If you have student art or work on the walls, you're sending the message that their efforts are worthy to be displayed. 

Law #2: Make it attractive

You will need to use temptation bundling, created by professor David Premack, where "more probable behaviors will reinforce less probable behaviors."

To add a habit that is not as desired, use the habit stacking + temptation bundling formula: After I [current habit], I will [habit I need]. After [habit I need], I will [habit I want].
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For example, if you want to watch YouTube, but you have to do homework: 

1. After I open my web browser, I will do 20 minutes of homework (need).
2. After I do the homework, I will watch 10 minutes of YouTube (want).

Another important facet is realizing the power of peer pressure from three groups: the close, the many, and the powerful. First, we tend to imitate the behaviors of those closest to us, our family or friends. Your chances of becoming obese is 57% greater if you have a friend who became obese. So a good idea is join a group where you behavior is normal and you have a commonality. Second, the influence of the many (the tribe) is seen with reviews on Amazon or Yelp. Third, we copy those who are powerful or successful. 
 
So, how do we enjoy hard habits, things we dislike doing? One way is to shift your mindset. Instead of saying I have to go to work, say you get to go to work. A man in a wheelchair was asked how it felt to be confined to it. Instead he replied that he was liberated! Without it he would be bed-bound and stuck in his house. It's a shift in perspective, mindset, and counting your blessings. 

Law # 3: Make it easy

Habits are formed when behaviors become automatic through repetition. This is known as long-term potentiation, first described by neuropsychologist Donald Hebb in 1949, known as Hebb's Law: "Neurons that fire together wire together." 

The most effective form of learning is practice, not planning; action, not being in motion. A film photography class at the University of Florida was conducted in an unusual way. Half the class would be graded on quantity (100 photos an A, 90 a B, 80 a C, etc.) while the other group would be grade on "quality." They only needed to produce one photo for an A, but it had to be nearly perfect. What happened? The quantity group produced the best photos, with all their practice with lighting, composition, making mistakes, while the quality group spent all their time thinking about the best photo, but ultimately producing a mediocre one. 

So practice, practice, practice to create a habit. 

Reduce the friction involved in doing good habits. The Law of Least Effort states that people will choose the easiest option between two. That's why scrolling on our phones or checking email is so commonplace. It takes little to no effort. Meal delivery services reduce the friction of shopping for groceries.

So to make your habit have less friction, prime your environment. Want to draw more? Then put your pencils and paper on your desk. Want to send a card to a friend? Have a box of cards all ready for all occasions. The opposite holds true. Want to use your phone less? Put it in a different room or tell a friend to hide it for a few hours. Out of sight, out of mind. 

Clear talks about decisive moments in our day, and we have so many, but each individual choice will lead to further choices (good or bad), which will ultimately decide how good our day was. So choose wisely. Also, the Two-Minute Rule is key: a new habit should take less than two minutes to do. Start tiny. To start to exercise, change into workout clothes. That's it! Next phase is to step outside, and maybe walk. Eventually, you're get to exercising three times a week. This will also prevent procrastination. 

Law #4: Make it satisfying

The Cardinal rule of Behavior Change: What is immediately rewarded is repeated. What is immediately punished is avoided. For a habit to stick, you need to feel some kind of reward, however small immediately. You can move money into a money jar to save for a vacation. You can track your habit with a measurement tool as a motivator. Just be careful that you're tracking the right thing. 

There's a ton more, but that's about I can manage. Plus I have to return it to the library. 

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Dr. Paula Kluth - Supporting Inclusion in Challenging Times & Creating Schools for All

​Below is a summary of my notes and thoughts based on Dr. Kluth's keynote message on inclusion. 

First of all, I immediately liked the live speech-to-text (real-time captions) on the screen. It was a perfect example of inclusion, as well as UDL (universal design learning), as all people could partake in the presentation despite any sound issues. 

Right away, Dr. Kluth showed us a video of a younger musician, Feng E, and told us to remember this one thing if nothing else: remember the chorus (of teaching); after all, kids will remember the human interaction, not necessarily the technology and all the little details. Belonging and inclusion are the key. Connection and community--that’s what kids will remember in these challenging times.
In fact, we did a brief but insightful activity where the teacher participants wrote what they remembered most from their high school days. Invariably it wasn't primarily academics, like math and chemistry; instead it was the good times together with friends, lunchtimes, PE, band, clubs, and the like. (Right now I'm listening to Feng E on YouTube and he's older and even more talented. Amazing!) 

Five Big Ideas:

1. Keep “doing inclusion” - We are all doing it already, so keep it up. For example, a teacher named Sarah Brady started a virtual lunch table with a few of her students twice a week on Zoom, a form of AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication). Communication devices, systems, strategies and tools that replace or support natural speech are known as augmentative and alternative communication (AAC).

2. Focus on inclusion as a process

Figure out how to include all students: Over, under, around or through. Find a way, make a way.

Essentially, what the speaker was saying was do not quit until you've tried every possible avenue, and then try something else. It may take a long time to figure out the specific needs because every child is unique and different. I love when she said that often teachers will say that "it" didn't work. Dr. Kluth would reply, "What is your 'it'?" In other words, you need to keep going until you find that "it" for that particular learner. 

She also gave an example of a student who she thought was her match. But then she realized that maybe we can't solve the problem, but we can get to a better problem. In other words, something closer to the finish line, an incremental improvement. After all, Rome wasn't built in a day, and some of your most challenging students are like gladiators, battling with you day in and day out. But eventually, there will be cracks in the armor and you will find a way to work alongside instead of head-to-head. 

Keep in mind some of these ideas: 

Learners need need supports, not just a space (like the classroom). Teachers and support staff need to try all supports, not just some, including ones that don't even exist! Technology, peer support are some ideas. Also, keep in mind that inclusion means different things for different learners, so keeping that student in the classroom but not being an active participant might be defeating the purpose. If you're stuck, brainstorm with other educators a 20 ways list. Remember,  kids aren't elastic so structures need to be. 

3. Provide access to academics

Dr. Kluth showed a poignant example of a student as an adult and asked how we would have done things differently had we known her future. A woman named Kailey with Down's syndrome was currently working in the government. We need to presume confidence in learners and then help find it. Kids are very complex or competent, so they deserve rich and meaningful learning opportunities. Let's encourage joyful learning and give lots of entry points for our learners, making adaptations where and when necessary. What's really fascinating is that inclusion seems to improve overall class results. 

“Sometimes being realistic isn’t being realistic.” Norman Kunc

WHAT IS POSSIBLE? Don't limit yourself. 

4. Focus on all

UDL helps one student but also all. Currently social-emotional learning is bieng used for all students, though previously it was for students with autism. UDL helps bring success on multiple pathways for learners. 

5. Let them lead

A rising tide lifts all ships. When we give learners agency, self-determination, self-direction, and self-advocacy, choices, then that is when we will truly see success. Let kids lead! 

Here is a brief summary or highlights from the book, Boy Smarts.

Guideline 1: Gender exists along a continuum from extremely feminine and extremely masculine at each end. There is more variance within a gender than between genders. Takeaway: Provide a range of activities to meet varied needs--from rambunctious, physical play to quieter activities, such as chess and reading.   

Guideline 2: Boys need movement. "Movement is central to multi-sensory stimulation and mimics real-world interactions." It also helps stimulate their brains, to process information and make sense of stressful situations. Boredom is stressful for boys. Takeaway: Provide movement activity breaks, centres or group rotations, and allow fidgeting and doodling whenever possible.  

Guideline 3: Testosterone must be channelled, as high levels account for increased irritability and impulsiveness, as well as rambunctiousness. However, if testosterone dips too low, they may become grumpy, nervous or bad-tempered. Takeaway: Boys need activities to channel their boisterousness, instead of being reprimanded or medicated. 

Guideline 4: "Men consistently outperform women on spatial tasks, including mental rotation, which is the ability to identify how a 3-D object would appear if rotated in space. A new study shows a connection between this ability and the structure of the parietal lobe." (Brain and Cognition, Nov. 5, 2008). Takeaway: Design activities that involved opportunities for spatial and abstract reasoning, such as measurement, pre-algebra and graphing in math. Also, building models, mind-mapping and using graphic organizers are great tools to analyze information.


Source: Boy Smarts, Barry McDonald, 2005

Physiological Behavior Triggers

Diet
Sometimes behavior can be attributed to what children consume or don't consume. Sugar does not make children hyperactive. A 1994 study published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology clearly refuted this common belief. In a study of 5 to 7-year-old boys, parents were told they would receive large doses of sugar, and were then asked to rate their behavior. The majority of the parents rated their children as being more hyperactive, despite the fact that half of them didn't have any sugar! But based on parent expectations, they perceived their boy's behavior accordingly.  However, the converse may affect behavior: low blood-glucose levels leads to an increased release of compensatory adrenaline, known as hypoglycemia. Children are hungry and angry, due to the change in glucose and adrenaline levels. In addition, artificial additives--found in cereals, chips and juices--are linked to hyperactivity. Lastly, a study in 2013, based on nearly 500 children between 7 and 9-years-old indicated that low levels of omega-3, long-chain polyunsaturated fats, were correlated with increased behavior issues, a lower reading level, and poorer memory. 

Lack of Sleep
Nowadays with increased sports and activities, and a multitude of screens, children may not be getting the requisite amount of sleep necessary to feel refreshed for a school day. The  recommended amount of sleep for children between the age of 6 and 13 is from 9 to 11 hours. For kids under 11, a good bedtime is around eight or nine o'clock. For teenagers, starting at ages 13 or 14, there is a phase delay, so they often sleep around  eleven o'clock, despite the fact they still need at least 9 hours of sleep. The other major issue is lighting, in particular blue light, or short-wave; these light sources trick children believing it's still daytime, which inhibits the secretion of the sleep hormone melatonin. Therefore, screens should be shut down completely at least one to two hours before sleep. 

Sensory Overload
Many settings in a child's life can be overstimulating and overwhelming at times. This goes for a classroom and school as well. Among the bright lights, loud sounds and voices, smells, visual distractions, and technology, a classroom can be a very busy and challenging environment to successfully navigate around in. Research shows that 1 in 6 children experience auditory and tactile sensory symptoms  that negatively impact their everyday life. One in 20 suffer from sensory processing disorder (SPD), a disorganization of sensory signals and responses in the brain. Children with SPD find it harder to process auditory or tactile stimuli. Some struggle with touching certain fabrics, others find lighting and sounds disturbing, and still others may not process certain sensations, such as cold and hot properly, leading to dangerous situations. Sensory objects have been known to help, but occupational therapy may be necessary. 

Immature Verbal Communication Skills
These critical skills can be delayed or absent due to several reasons, such as the discouragement of outward displays of feelings and emotions. However, Ockwell-Smith believes "all behavior is communication." Therefore, instead of ignoring bad behavior, she recommends giving them attention, in order to get to the root of the problem and correct it. 

Psychological Behavior Triggers

Lack of Control
There needs to be a fine balance between control and boundaries. Children need to have some sense of control over their lives (food, clothes, use of time), related to their respective ages and personal development. If they feel oppressed and resentful, they may counter with their perceived limited power: shouting, whining, violence, or tantrums. On the other hand, without boundaries and limits from a permissive parent, children will feel unsafe and insecure. 

Undesirable Behavior in Others 
Children model and imitate behavior around them at an early age. The famous Bobo Doll experiment in the 1960s by psychologist Albert Bandura clearly showed the powerful effects of mirroring (social learning) on children. The results showed that children were more aggressive if they witnessed an adult being aggressive. Also, boys were three times more aggressive than girls, and all children were more aggressive if they observed an adult of the same sex. 

Lack of Connection
Children demand, crave and need attention, especially when they are younger. Younger kids may hit or kick if they feel you are ignoring them. Older children may not listen or stay away from home, as a subconscious way to get adult attention. Parents or other adults getting angry and giving punishments may compound the problem by weakening or even severing the connection they desire. A regular, daily check-in at least once a day is recommended to maintain a healthy connection and relationship. When a child feels loved, valued and heard, they gain a strong sense of security and belonging.



Source: Gentle Discipline, Sarah Ockwell-Smith, 2017