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

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! 

This workshop was timely and significant for teachers and students returning to school in these unsettling times. I enjoyed the idea of meaningful texts acting as windows, mirrors or sliding glass doors. Some texts allow us to see through a window and into another world from a safe distance, yet still have empathy and connection with those they come across. Other texts act as mirrors and reflect who we are and allow us to understand ourselves better. Finally, some texts are sliding doors, which allow us to actually step into another world, experience something life-changing, and bring back that "experience" to our real world and life. 

More than ever, this year's start will need to foster shared experiences through texts. With shared connections and vocabulary, a community can be formed. This can come in the form of read alouds, heart maps/identity webs or the classroom library. 

For texts to be most effective, keep in mind several things. Choice is important. If you give them a focus of a topic or theme, students can choose any type of text and level--poems, novels, picture books, graphic novels--and still come together to talk and share their opinions on the common theme. Relevance is another key component. The text needs to be significant to them and engage their senses and mind. 

What do we as educators want learners to become? Critical, creative problem-solvers. Instead of students simply extracting information, they need to be able to transact and interact with the text. What do they connect with? What are they interested or frustrated with? What's important to them? They need to be able to feel safe to express their opinions, ideas and viewpoints. Building the courage and the capacity to share with others is essential. Disruptive thinking interprets the book in different ways; at the book level, head, and the heart. Being able to ask questions, not just answer them, is more important.

Source: Celine Feazel, Sept. 1, 2020, Summer Institute workshop

This book, written by Howard Eaton, caught my attention because of my recent interest in learning disabilities.

NEUROPLASTICITY
The basis of the Brain School is neuroplasticity, or basically the ability of the brain to adapt. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, neuroplasticity is the “capacity of neurons and neural networks in the brain to change their connections and behaviour in response to new information, sensory stimulation, development, damage, or dysfunction.” This is good news when you consider the people suffering from serious disorders and illnesses related to the brain, such as stroke, injury, autism, ADHD, learning disabilities, brain deficits, depression and addiction.

PSYCHO-EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT
A psycho-educational assessment measures a variety of areas with a percentile rating (25% - 75% is average range, while 50% is age-level ability) :

• Motor Coordination; Visual-Motor Integration (BEERY): fine motor skills, visual perception, hand-eye coordination
• Processing Speed; Coding-Subtest (WISC-III; WISC-IV): scan and copy visual symbols; timed
• Cognitive Efficiency (WJ-III): process information automatically
• Working Memory (WJ-III;WISC-IV): hold and manipulate information in immediate awareness
• Visual-Auditory Learning (WJ-III): long-term retrieval/memory
• Verbal Ability (WJ-R): vocabulary knowledge and word reasoning
• Auditory Processing; Phonemic Awareness (WJ-R): analyze and synthesize speech sounds; critical cognitive ability for reading and spelling development
• Verbal Comprehension IQ (Wechsler Intelligence Scale): word meanings and relationships; understand social rules and norms; mental math problem solving
• Oral Language: follow directions and recall story details
• Sound Blending (Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Ability): blend sounds into words
• Fluid Reasoning (Woodcock-Johnson): fluid intelligence; recognize patterns and/or relationships
• Nonverbal Intelligence (TONI-3): fluid intelligence; recognize visual patterns and relationships

ARROWSMITH PROGRAM (19 cognitive dysfunctions and common features)

• Motor-Symbol Sequencing: produce sequence of symbols (messy handwriting; spelling errors)
• Symbol Relations: relationships between two or more ideas (reading comprehension; math reasoning; logical reasoning; reversals of b-d, p-q)
• Memory for Information and Instructions: chunks of auditory information (trouble following instructions, lectures or conversations)
• Predicative Speech: words and numbers interconnect sequentially into fluent sentences (incomplete sentences; breakdown of steps in math; can’t put information into own words)
• Broca’s Speech Pronunciation: pronounce syllables and words (mispronounce words; monotone speech)
• Auditory-Speech Discrimination: hear difference between similar speech sounds (mishearing and misinterpreting information)
• Symbolic Thinking: maintain plans and strategies using language (not self-directed; lack attention to task; trouble with main idea; difficulty with thinking, planning, problem solving)
• Symbol Recognition: visually recognize and remember word or symbol (poor word recognition; slow reading; spelling problems; trouble with math/chemical equations)
• Lexical Memory: remember unrelated words (problem with associative memory; trouble with auditory information; trouble learning names)
• Kinesthetic Perception: know one’s body in space and recognize objects by touch (awkward body movements; bumping into objects; uneven handwriting pressure)
• Kinesthetic Speech: awareness of position of lips and tongue (lack of clear articulation; speech slurring)
• Artifactual Thinking: interpret nonverbal information and problem solve nonverbally (problem interpreting body language, facial expression, voice tone; weak social skills; own emotions)
• Narrow Visual Span: see a large number of symbols or objects in one visual fixation (slow, jerky reading with errors; eye fatigue when reading)
• Object Recognition: visually recognize and remember details of objects (trouble finding objects; problem with visual cues; difficulty remembering faces or details of pictures)
• Spatial Reasoning: imagine a series of moves inside head before execution (getting lost; losing objects; messing workspace; trouble with geometric figures)
• Mechanical Reasoning: understand how machine operate and handle tools (trouble understanding mechanical properties of objects; trouble repairing a bicycle)
• Abstract Reasoning: carry out a task in proper sequence (trouble understanding tasks like sewing, cooking or programming)
• Primary Motor: control muscle movements on both sides of body (poor muscle tone; awkwardness and slowness of body movement)
• Supplementary Motor: carry out internal sequential mental operations, such as mental math (finger counting; trouble retaining numbers in head, learning math facts; poor sense of time)

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE PSYCHO-EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT AND THE ARROWHEAD ASSESSMENT
The purposes of the two assessments are very different. The psycho-educational assessment seeks to diagnose a learning disability, assist in skill remediation, in-class adaptations, and assistive technology. The Arrowhead assessment is used solely to design the cognitive capacity training intervention for achievement acquisition. Psycho-ed assessments take about three to four hours, while the Arrowhead assessment can take several hours more. The psycho-ed assessments finds percentile scores on measures of intelligence, cognitive ability, and achievement in reading, writing and math. The Arrowhead assessment does not measure reading, spelling, or mathematical abilities but rather cognitive areas, and results falls on a spectrum from very severe to moderate to mild to above average.

BRAIN SCHOOL
It is unique in some ways. It goes from 8:30 to 3:00 pm, and has eight periods; six of those are cognitive classes, each 40 minutes long, and the other two are English and math. The focus of the school is cognitive remediation. There are two teachers per classroom, so the teacher-student ratio is around one-to-nine. When a student masters a cognitive exercise, a new one is started. Students keep track of their achievements and set new daily goals. In one word, students are focussed--on cognitive exercises, active engagement, and repetition. Despite the intensity of the cognitive classes, students engage in other activities, as well. Daily physical education is 40 minutes a day, and students can participate in extracurricular activities, such as field trips, plays, guest artists, track and field and a talent show.

Source: Eaton, Howard, 2011. Brain School. Vancouver, Glia Press.

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Long gone are the days where students sat in rows and learned the same thing at the same time, usually from the authority standing in the front of the classroom. Now, fast-forward in time, and Kallick and Zmuda describe the four key attributes to personalized learning--the clear contrast to learning of the past. 

Personalized Learning

Voice: Students participate in the creation of the learning, because it’s really their learning. Most people do not like to be told what to do, at least not all the time. Instead of being passive passengers heading in one direction, they are often in the driver’s seat, determining their own journey and pathway and destination. 

Co-Creation: Students work with the teacher to develop the entire learning plan, from start to finish: what do they want to learn?; how will it be assessed?; how will they learn it?

Social Construction: The notion that “no man is an island” (John Donne) aptly describes student learning in the classroom; it is an social affair and construction of knowledge, according to Vygotsky. Finally, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts (Aristotle), as collaboration and cooperation amongst fellow peers can lead to much greater triumphs and accomplishments. 

Self-Discovery: Creating self-aware and self-directed learners is the ultimate goal for teachers. If students can figure out their strengths and weaknesses, and determine how to improve and grow, then they will be set for life. 


Differences Between Individualization, Differentiation and Personalized Learning

Individualization

Students are assigned the learning tasks, and they use technology to accomplish those tasks. Khan Academy would be one such example. In blended learning environments, there may be some co-creation and social construction, but learners still have little say in the work they do. 

Differentiation

Today’s classroom houses learners varying in skills, readiness and interest. Students can select topics (content), how to learn (process) and create the final form of learning (product). However, the teacher is still leading the design and management of the learning experience. 

Kallick and Costa encourage the use of the 16 Habits of Mind, in conjunction with personalized learning, in order to fully understand their learning, and engage in higher level thinking and performing. 

16 Habits of Mind: 

• Persisting
• Listening with understanding and empathy
• Thinking about your thinking (metacognition)
• Questioning and problem posing
• Thinking and communicating with clarity and precision
• Creating, Imagining, and Innovating
• Taking responsible risks
• Thinking interdependently
• Managing impulsivity
• Thinking flexibly
• Striving for accuracy and precision
• Applying past knowledge to novel situations
• Gathering data through all senses
• Responding with wonderment and awe
• Finding humor
• Remaining open to continuous learning

 
What I notice about these habits of mind are the similarities to the core competencies of the BC curriculum: communication, critical and creative thinking, positive personal and cultural identity, personal awareness and responsibility, and social responsibility. 

Source: Students at the Center, Bena Kallick & Allison Zmuda, 2017