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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
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ABOUT THE BLOG
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Can students “catch” attention? Introducing “Attention Contagion”
Every teacher knows: students won’t learn much if they don’t pay attention. How can we…
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Should Teachers Be Excited about “Neural Synchrony”?
This blog — and this company — exist to give good advice to everyone who…
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Improving Multiple-Choice Questions: A Thought-Provoking Pause
Many teachers carry strong ambivalence about multiple-choice questions (handy abbreviation: MCQs). On the one hand,…
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Just In Case: Improving Online Learning
We teachers benefit A LOT from research-based guidance, but we do have to acknowledge a few…
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Graphic Disorganizers; or, When Should Teachers Decorate Handouts?
Teachers regularly face competing goals. For instance: On the one hand — obviously — we…
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To Insta or Not to Insta: That Is the Memory...
Here in the US, we’re having something of a national debate about the benefits/harms of…
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I Am a Doctrinaire Extremist; S/he Is a Thoughtful Moderate
I recently had an email exchange with an educational thinker and leader who has spent…
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Does Mind-Wandering Harm Learning?
If you teach children for several hours a day, you just know that sometimes they’re…
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“Writing By Hand Fosters Neural Connections…”
Imagine this conversation that you and I might have: ANDREW: The fastest way to drive…
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Weather Forecasting and Cognitive Science
I live in Boston, and we just had an ENORMOUS snow storm. TWELVE INCHES of…