Caught in the Middle: Part I
Biological Factors It’s super daunting to distil the gigantic field of biological psychology into a post. But here goes. There are two schools of thought on this: 1) there are anatomical differences in the “teen brain” that drives behavior. 2) The “teen brain” is a myth. Experiences create changes in the teen’s brain. Both camps […]
Stuck in the Middle
I have always chosen to work in middle schools. I request them on purpose. I love the “tween” age group of 11-14 (“tween”=between children and teens). I love the drama of it all. I love when the students blow my expectations out of the water. I love how they secretly still want to play. I […]
Writing Development
I got a booklet of papers in the mail today from my mother. Attached to the papers was a sticky note that read:“One finds some very interesting things when cleaning up basements.” It was some of my writing from elementary school. Given my recent post on writing, I thought I’d share some of my early […]
Writer’s Block
I usually compose my daily blog entry in my head on the way home from work. I reflect upon my experiences of the day and decide what topic sticks out as a “good” one for the blogging community. My criterion is that the topic should (hopefully) be research-based, at least quasi-interesting, and has a nice […]
Executive Functioning
Executive Functioning. Ahem. *insert professor voice here* Executive functioning involves the components of inhibiting actions, restraining and delaying responses, attending selectively, selecting goals, planning, organizing, as well as maintaining and shifting set. Deficits in executive functioning have been associated with the impairments in students with Attention Deficit Disorder. What??? Sadly, that phrase came straight from […]
BINGO!
When I worked as a graduate student researcher at UC Berkeley, I had this game I secretly played with my co-worker during staff meetings. It was called “Educational Jargon Bingo.” Before the meetings, we wrote down all the educational terms that researchers throw around and placed them on a bingo chart in random order. The […]
Study Skills
I recently went to a conference that purported to inform us about “Good Instruction for Teaching Study Skills.” Ironically, it was the most boring conference I have ever attended. The keynote speaker lectured in a monotone for an hour and a half straight, with smudgy, unreadable overheads, and there were no opportunities for participation, reflection, […]
Text Anxiety
I had a dream the other night that I was back in high school. It’s the day of a big math test. And in my dream, I am not prepared. In fact, I didn’t even know there was a test! Worse yet, I can’t find the classroom because I’ve forgotten to go to the math […]
Psych 101
What is a School Psychologist anyway? Personally, I don’t recall any school psychologists in the schools I attended growing up. Perhaps I wasn’t the type to be referred to said psychologist as I LOVED SCHOOL. I do seem to recall there being counselors who helped you pick your schedule, but I was certainly unaware there […]
