Brain-Friendly Teaching: Kagan Structures

Brain-Friendly Teaching:

Kagan Structures to Teach the Way Brains Best Learn!

Date: Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Location: WKEC Conference Center

Hours: 8:30 am -3:30 pm

Target Audience: Teachers at all levels

Presenter: Kagan Consultant

Cost: $240

About Kagan

When students are engaged, they pay attention, they're motivated, they learn more, and the learning sticks. The biggest difference between the Kagan approach and teaching using traditional methods is the ability to engage every student. Traditional classroom teaching captures the minds and attention of some students, but not all. Good teachers engage more students. But even the best teachers who use traditional instruction don't require every student to participate. With traditional instruction, there is always a subset of students who fall through the cracks. We're all too familiar with the results: a widening gap between high achievers and low achievers.

Kagan Structures engage every student. In the traditional classroom, the teacher is the hardest working person. At Kagan, we think that's backwards. Students need to work at least as hard! The more they interact with their peers and with the curriculum, the more they'll learn. Kagan Structures require every student to participate frequently and approximately equally. Kagan Structures close the achievement by creating dramatic gains for struggling students. But the gains are not bought at the expense of high achievers; they too are engaged in a richer, more interactive learning environment. As brain-research is proving, meaningful engagement is just a better way to reach and teach all students.

Workshop Description

Brain science and research has direct applications to classroom teaching and learning. We ignore the research at the peril of our own success as well as at the success of our students. Teaching with methods that don't respect brain science is like swimming against the current: teaching is more exhausting, students learn less, and students like class and content less. When we align our teaching with how the brain best learns, we are going with the current. Students learn more, enjoy class more, and teaching is more effortless and enjoyable for us. In this workshop, learn six core principles of brain-friendly teaching. For each principle, you will come away with Kagan Structures, tools, tips, and techniques to make your teaching more brain compatible and more scientifically sound.

• Put brain science to work to maximize learning
• View brain scans showing how brains “light up” with student interaction
• Master Kagan Structures to make every lesson brain-friendly
• Target brain centers for emotion, motivation, memory, attention, and thinking
• Create a safe learning environment where learning, thinking, and creativity flourish
• Nourish the brain with Number Group Mania!
• Discover the stimuli that boost comprehension and retention of content
• Apply the six principles of brain friendly teaching in every lesson!