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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andrew Watson
Andrew began his classroom life as a high-school English teacher in 1988, and has been working in or near schools ever since. In 2008, Andrew began exploring the practical application of psychology and neuroscience in his classroom. In 2011, he earned his M. Ed. from the “Mind, Brain, Education” program at Harvard University. As President of “Translate the Brain,” Andrew now works with teachers, students, administrators, and parents to make learning easier and teaching more effective. He has presented at schools and workshops across the country; he also serves as an adviser to several organizations, including “The People’s Science.” Andrew is the author of "Learning Begins: The Science of Working Memory and Attention for the Classroom Teacher."
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ADHD adolescence attention autism book review boundary conditions classroom advice conference speakers constructivism/direct instruction creativity desirable difficulty development dual coding elementary school embodied cognition emotion evolution exercise experts and novices gender high school homework intelligence long-term memory math methodology middle school mind-wandering mindfulness Mindset motivation neuromyths neuroscience online learning parents psychology reading retrieval practice self-control skepticism sleep STEM stress technology working memoryRecent Comments
- Revisiting the "Handwriting vs. Laptops" Debate: More Moving Goalposts |Education & Teacher Conferences on Handwritten Notes or Laptop Notes: A Skeptic Converted?
- The Power Of A Growth Mindset: How Students Can Overcome Challenges - Sunshine Blessings on The Rise and Fall and Rise of Growth Mindset
- Goals, Failure, and Emotions: a Conceptual Framework |Education & Teacher Conferences on “Learning from Mistakes” vs. “Learning from Explanations”
- From Destruction to Rebuilding: Hope in Science’s Down Cycle on When Analogies Go Wrong: The Benefits of Stress?
- Dual Coding: Boosting Learning Through Words and Images – White Dragon of East County on Visual & Verbal: Welcome to “Dual Coding”
ABOUT THE BLOG

Enjoyment or Skill? The Case of Reading
Do we want our students to ENJOY math, or to BE SKILLED AT math? At…

Still Doubting My Doubts: The Case of PBL
Last week, I described my enduring concerns about “embodied cognition.” I’m not sure I understand the…

Doubting My Doubts; The Case of Gesture and Embodied Cognition
The more time I spend hearing “research-informed educational advice,” the more I worry about the enticing…

Revisiting the “Handwriting vs. Laptops” Debate: More Moving Goalposts
I don’t often repost articles, but I think this one deserves another look — for…

Goals, Failure, and Emotions: a Conceptual Framework
Researchers can provide guidance to teachers by looking at specific teaching practices. In last week’s…

“Learning from Mistakes” vs. “Learning from Explanations”
As I wrote last week, thinkers in edu-world often make strong claims at the expense…

“All People Learn the Same Way”: Exploring a Debate
Over on eX/Twitter, a debate has been raging — with all the subtlety and nuance…

“AHA!”: A Working Memory Story…
Teachers, students, people: we spend lots of our time figuring stuff out. Sometimes, we do that…

Nerd Alert: Focusing on Definitions
You come to Learning and the Brain conferences — and to this blog — because…

Finding a Framework for Trauma
Although education itself encourages detailed and nuanced understandings of complex ideas, the field of education…