June 16, 2010

Visual Learning, Emotional Intelligence and Mirror Neurons

by J.A. Ginsburg

On links between empathy & civilization, IQ & EQ, young children and why “I See I Learn” books work

When a baby first opens her eyes onto the world, not only does she begin to take in visual information, she uses it. Smile and she will try to smile, too. Stick out your tongue and she will stick hers out right back. By two months, she is so good at sorting visual information, she has a “memory picture” of her Mother and is able to tell her apart from all other women. By age one, she begins to recognize graphic imagery. And by age three, crayons in hand, she is busily giving Picasso a run for his money.

We are natural born visual learners. Remarkably, almost the entire human brain is devoted either directly to vision, or tied into it in some way. Although the loss of any of our senses would be devastating, vision, by far, is our dominant sense, integral to how we learn to function in the world and how we learn to interact with others.

So rooted is sight in our experience, we say, “Seeing is believing.” But it is even more than that. Through a system anchored by a web of special nerve cells called mirror neurons, seeing is intricately connected to feeling, to empathy. It allows us to imagine what it is is like be in someone else’s shoes, anticipate consequences and work together in groups.

“We are apparently ’softwired,’” notes author Jeremy Rifkin. “If I am observing you – your anger, your sense of  frustration, your joy, whatever it is – I can feel what you’re doing. The same neurons will light up in me as if I am having the experience myself.”

In a suitably and brilliantly visual manner, Rifkin goes on to explain in this video that, “…research suggests that we are not softwired not for aggression, violence, self-interest and utilitarianism. We are actually softwired for attachment, sociability, affection, companionship. The first drive is actually the drive to belong. It’s an empathic drive.”

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IQ & EQ

Notably, at about the same age our example child is starting to express herself through drawings, the development of her mirror neuron circuitry is hitting critical mass and she is starting to feel the first stirrings of empathy as well. This is the beginning of prime “teachable moment” for social and emotional skills.

It is also the time when parents and teachers often see the first signs of autism in children. This is no mere coincidence.  According to a 2005 study published “Nature: Neuroscience,” UCLA researchers discovered that children with autism had malfunctioning mirror neuron systems. When autistic children were shown photographs of people displaying different emotions, they were able to accurately identify the emotions verbally, but their mirror neurons failed to fire. The children also showed reduced activity in areas of the brain associated with emotion. Over the last five years, this has been a hot area of study, with indications that early intervention can help some children on the autism disorder spectrum develop the neurobiological wiring they otherwise lack.

Mirror neurons are at the intersection of IQ and what’s called “EQ” – a measure of emotional intelligence.

The ramifications go beyond understanding autism, to understanding the foundations of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL).  Although we know it is important to help prepare young children for school – and for life – by teaching them the alphabet, how to count (along with other early math skills), and by reading together with them, the common assumption is that SEL skills are intuitive and don’t require any special nurturing.

Wrong.

Not only are SEL skills just as critical as academic skills, children with good SEL skills do better in school. Academic achievement and SEL “smarts” go hand in hand. In survey after survey, kindergarten and first grade teachers note that unless children know how to control their emotions, taking turns and work together in groups, it is almost impossible to teach them anything. EQ improves IQ.

Psychologist Roger Weissberg, a found director of CASEL, Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning at the University of Illinois at Chicago, points out that children with good SEL skills are better able to overcome obstacles, which translates into a sort of “academic tenacity”: They have the confidence to know that eventually they can succeed. Likewise, children with good self-control are less likely to get into fights or do drugs:

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I SEE I LEARN BOOKS

Stuart’s new I See I Learn series is designed to build on this natural fit between visual learning and young children, combining simple stories with illustrations that draw on various visual learning strategies. Although each story focuses on one of  four domains – Social skills, Emotional skills, Heath and Safety skills and Cognitive skills – there is a little of each in every book.  At this early stage in life, when all the “wiring” is starting to come together, the boundaries between IQ and EQ skills blur: It is all of a piece.

“Freda Plans a Picnic,” for example, is a book about sequencing, a cognitive skills. The picnic itself – a gathering of friends – is a social event. “Percy Plays It Safe” focuses on playground safety, but playing successfully in a group requires self-regulation, an emotional skill.

Each book also includes a special two-page section called “A Closer Look,” which combines a visual summary of the story’s key learning points, along with several questions to help parents / teachers / caregivers extend the learning beyond the book and into daily life.

The first four I See I Learn books will begin shipping to book stores and libraries in July. For Pre-orders & email alerts write to orders@charlesbridge.com, or call 800.225.3214

Booksellers & Librarians: ISIL books are available through Baker & Taylor, Ingram and, of course, all your favorite local wholesalers, too!

Stuart J. Murphy's "I See I Learn" books available in bookstores and libraries beginning in July!

RELATED READING / VIEWING / RESOURCES / NOTES

If you're in Bologna... San Vitale 98/b

Nuts? That’s what Jeremy Rifkin says a scientist was nibbling when the brain activity of a macaque watching the scientist – while wired to an MRI – triggered a burst of static on a computer, which led to the discovery of mirror neurons. Others say it was  ice-cream, which, of course, was probably gelato, since the lab was in Parma, Italy. In his book, Mirroring People, neuroscientist Marco Iacobani says Vittorio Gallese, the researcher, actually doesn’t remember what he was eating. Personally, I like the gelato option. M’mmmm. I am at Gelatauro in Bologna on a late spring day, sitting in the little courtyard with a two-euro cup of heaven: pistachio, pumpkin spice and ginger gelato. Ah that zenzero! I can see it! I can just about taste it! How about you? Are your mirror neurons firing yet?


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Filed Under: "I See I Learn", Education, Emotional skills, Pre-K, Social skills, Visual Learning, empathy, math | Tagged; , , , , , , , , , , , ,

May 23, 2010

“I See I Learn” Books in Stores Starting in July! … Special Sneak Peek: “Emma’s Friendwich”

counterclockwise from left: Camille, Ajay, Freda, Carlos, Percy, Emma & Pickle!

by J.A. Ginsburg

“The books are here!” Stuart beamed as I walked up to the Charlesbridge Publishers booth on the first day of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair last March. “They’re WONDERFUL!” Freda, Percy, Emma, Ajay, Carlos, Camille and the one-and-only Pickle the green bulldog (Woof!) were really real. Other people could see them, too! It was thrilling. The first four books! We stood there. Thrilled.

For the last two years, Stuart and I, collaborating with a spectacular team from Charlesbridge and Tim Jones Illustration, have been living and breathing the development of “I See I Learn,” a new series for young children (and their teachers, parents and caregivers) that helps teach skills important in life and for school.

The books cover social, emotional, health and safety, and cognitive skills. Each story, which has been reviewed by a team of early childhood experts, also includes two pages of questions and activities.

Just as in Stuart’s award-winning MathStart books, visual learning strategies play a key role reinforcing skills. Visual learning is a particularly good fit for young children: They may not be able to read letters yet, but they can “read” visual information with ease. “I See I Learn” books build on this natural talent.

COMING…SOON!

We returned from Italy, wined, dined and even more thrilled, showing our precious sets of books (hardcover and paperback!) to friends and family, wondering how we were ever going to contain ourselves until July, when the books would finally start to be available in stores.

And then came Jacqui Kolar, a reading specialist from Big Hollow school near Chicago, who introduced Stuart for his presentation at the International Reading Association (IRA) conference in April. Who were we kidding? Containment? Back to beaming for us!

EMMA’S FRIENDWICH

Jacqui, who had been given a pre-publication set of books, told the audience about reading “Emma’s Friendwich,” a story about making a friend, with her youngest students. Afterward, she placed the book on the floor, planning to start a casual conversation with the children later. She never got the chance! They started to pore over the story themselves, looking at the pictures and making their very own “friendwiches.” Then, all together, they made a “club friendwich” with Jacqui.

Stuart J. Murphy reads “Emma’s Friendwich”:

Friendwiches. They’re the best!

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MORE

  • For Pre-orders & Email Alerts: orders@charlesbridge.com / 800.225.3214
  • Library & Bookseller orders: Baker & Taylor, Ingram and, of course, all your favorite local wholesalers, too!

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Filed Under: "I See I Learn", Education, Mathstart, Pre-K, Visual Learning | Tagged; , , , , , , ,

April 26, 2010

Zippy Babies, Game Design & Learning

by J.A. Ginsburg

Baby, we were born to play. And if for any reason you doubt that, Exhibit A:

Although filmmaker and father, Francis Vachon, assures us that young Charles Edward wasn’t left alone with a digital mother for four hours – adults were edited out to make a funnier video – still, four hours? He scoots, explores, chews, rolls on his back, wiggles his limbs and goes for another round, utterly fascinated with everything. Color, shape, size texture, edibility  -  he is, no doubt, beginning to find  patterns and make sense of it all. That’s an added bonus. The exploration is very much its own reward.

The line between play and learning, well, there isn’t a line. And if Katie Salen, a games designer at Parsons The New School for Design, has anything to say about it, we should focus our efforts in education on keeping that line as narrow as possible. Salen, who also the executive director of the Institute of Play, helped develop Quest to Learn (Q2L), a new “school for digital kids” in New York City that takes a “game-like” approach to learning – the first of its kind in the country.

What you won’t find at Q2L are rows of kids zoned out in front of X-Boxes in permanent cyber-recess.”There is a misunderstanding that you can stuff content into a game and stuff a game into a classroom and that’s where good learning happens,” says Salen. Instead, the Q2L team designed “a learning environment that looks and acts very much like a game acts.”

That means creating engaging contexts, with plenty of need-to-know challenges and opportunities for collaboration.

The vocabulary reflects the game-inspired approach:

The “learning day” starts as soon a child wakes up and checks email. There might be a message from a teacher, another student, or a character from a “mission,” with clues or a question about an ongoing “quest.” The gears are already turning by the time everyone gets to “Home Base” at school. From there it is off to a series of 90-minute “domains” -  classes – which are modeled on a design studio experience. Although the primary focus of a domain may be English, Social Studies, Math or Science, everything is interdisciplinary. After school, kids continue to play/learn at “Studio Mobo,” which this year has a mobile phone focus. Apps anyone?

Q2L opened in the fall of 2009 with the backing from the MacArthur Foundation in partnership with New Visions for Public Schools, Parsons The New School and the Pearson Foundation. The first class of 79 6th graders is now more than half-way through their first year and, if all goes well, a new grade will be added each year until 2015 when these students graduate from high school.

“When we think about education, we get a little bit stuck in the 19th century vision of something that happens in a single institution, in a single place, at a particular time,” says MacArthur’s Connie Yowell. “One of the shifts that’s been incredibly important for us is the shift away from thinking about education and to shift towards learning.” Since 2006, MacArthur has invested $60 million in grants to explore how digital media can support this shift.

Traditionally, education has been about consumption: a teacher delivering curricular content to students in classroom. Learning, by contrast, is an ongoing process, unbounded by time or space. “In the digital age, the learning environment is completely blown open because when you go online, or if you’re in a game or a social network, you could be interacting with thousands of people, many of whom are your peers. Peers play a hugely important role in learning environments in the 21st century,” notes Yowell.

This is not about injecting a sense of fun into learning (not that there’s anything wrong with that…), but rather an analysis of how we learn and what it is about games – about play – that so engages us. Likewise, the goal goes beyond making sure students have mastered a test-able suite of  facts and skills to focus on developing a generation life-long learners. In other words, figuring out how to keep the “zippy baby” sense of wonder and excitement about all there is to explore.

Play: It’s a learning thing.

ADDITIONAL LINKS:

EVENT:

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April 22, 2010

Earth Day – Hooray!

By J. A. Ginsburg

“Earth Day” is 40, which speaks  both to the durability of the idea and to an enduring need.  It is a celebration of Spring-cleaning on a global scale and a sobering reminder of how much still needs to be done. Earth Day? We need Earth Every Day!

When Stuart learned that he would be  speaking  at the annual conference for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) on Earth Day, he thought it would be fun to feature teacher-created projects inspired by his MathStart book, “Earth Day – Hooray!”. Over the next few weeks we will  be highlighting some of the projects here on vizlearning.

Today, though, we’re going to the source!

The Maple Street School Save-the-Planet Club is busy cleaning up Gilroy Park when Ryan has a brainstorm: Instead of throwing aluminum cans in the garbage, why not bring them to the Recycling Center and use the money to buy flowers to decorate the park for Earth Day? Mrs. Watson, the club’s adviser, says they’re going to need 5,000 cans. 5,000 cans!!! Luke is pretty skeptical, but the other kids are sure they can do it. Carly even dresses up as a can as part of a campaign to teach other students about recycling. They canvas the neighborhood collecting cans, clean up other parks and, of course, keep count.

Place value is the book’s math skill. Each group of 10 cans is put in a small (biodegradable, environmentally-friendly) bag. 10 small bags go in a  larger bag (100 cans). 10 of larger bags go into a giant bag (1,000 cans).

Recycling, gardening, environmental facts and math. Hooray!

Each MathStart book includes two pages of activities. For several of the books (soon all of the books), we have created teacher-friendly downloadable pdf pages with a selection of some of the activities. (Earth Day – Hooray! Activities Page pdf)

THE PLASTIC PLAGUE

Recycling is something we can all  do to reduce pollution, yet we don’t do nearly as much as we could. According to the Container Recycling Insitute’s figures, less than half of the all the aluminum cans, glass and plastic bottles in the U.S. are recycled. States that require bottle deposits have rates as much as six times higher than those that don’t.

“Only we humans make waste that Nature can’t digest,” notes Captain Charles Moore, who discovered “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” an area of the ocean twice the size of Texas covered with small bits of plastic – mostly from bottles (TED video):

A similar patch was recently discovered in the Atlantic and other oceans are thought to have them as well.

In the summer of 2009, photographer Christopher Jordan traveled to Midway Island where he photographed dozens of albatross killed by plastic from dining in the Garbage Patch. (warning: this video is extremely disturbing)

We cannot  leave the world this way for the next generation. It is not just a matter of figuring out how to clean up the mess, but coming up with better answers. Fortunately, the next generation is already inspiring just such ideas. Imagine a water bottle made of paper…

"Earth Day - Hooray!" illustrations by Renee Andriani

Earth Day? Hooray!!!

ADDITIONAL LINKS
  • Midway Journey: (documentary project blog – Chris Jordan, Manuel Maqueda, Bill Weaver, Jan Vozenilek, Victoria Sloan Jordan)

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April 13, 2010

Math + Story + Music = “The Main Street Kids’ Club: A MathStart Musical”!

by J.A. Ginsburg

Few things are as nearly as much fun – or satisfying – as seeing an idea become real. This Spring, with the first touring performances of “The Main Street Kids’ Club:  A MathStart Musical,” Stuart and I are literally dancing and humming with delight. This is even better than we’d hoped…

Based on six of Stuart’s MathStart books (listed & linked at the bottom of this post), “MSKC” tells a tale of adventure, mystery, friendship and math. And it gets the math right! What’s not to sing about?

It is hard to believe that is all started with a friend’s casual comment about Stuart’s jam-packed schedule and how great it would be if we could only clone him so he could visit more schools to get even more kids excited about math. “A play? Maybe a musical?” We wondered how such things happen.

Serendipity helps. Rives Collins, a gifted storyteller and chair of the Theatre department at nearby Northwestern University, was intrigued when I brought over a stack of a dozen of Stuart’s MathStart books one afternoon. He almost fell over when I told him there were actually 63 titles in all.  Clearly, this was going to require the talents of someone undaunted by such a wealth of material, someone who knew how to craft a story that would work as theatre, someone who really understood that math skills are indeed life skills.

Enter Scott Ferguson. Scott, a Northwestern alum, has been working in Chicago theatre for the better part of two decades, both as an actor and director. Included among his many credits is a popular stage adaptation of the 1970’s Saturday morning television classic, “School House Rock.” A perfect choice! With Rives paving the way, Scott directed a workshop class, bringing in actor and musician Michael Mahler to collaborate on the score. Michael, also an NU alum, had recently worked on the score for a “How Can You Run with a Shell on Your Back?,” a stage version of Aesop’s Fables that premiered at Chicago’s Tony award-winning Shakespeare Theater. Like Scott, he brought an intuitive sense of how to weave a series of unrelated stories in single compelling story for the stage.

The class was an instant hit. Here was a chance to help develop a new musical! Something that combined literature and math! YES! So many students signed up, they had to be split into two troupes. Stuart came, read stories and talked about the background and philosophy of MathStart and about visual learning. Throughout the development of the script, he was consulted to make sure the math was presented correctly.

Cast, crew, Scott, Stuart, Rives & Michael at one of the MSKC workshop readings: (back row, l to r) Scott Ferguson., Caitlin Collins, Isabel Richardson, Aaron Riccardi, Stuart J. Murphy, Johnson Brock, Jon Kwock, Laura Nash, Michael Mahler; (front row, l to r) Liz Olanoff, Casey Bishop, Rives Collins, Steve McQuown

Now, with the first performances touring schools in the Chicago area, reviews are coming in from real live kids. “RAD!” says one third-grade critic, giving it an enthusiastic “thumbs up.” A teacher was asked by her class to find out if there’s an album – they loved the music and wanted to hear it again. Great idea!

MSKC rehearsal / cast in lemon hats: (clockwise from left) Scott Ferguson, Meredith Freyre, Christopher Walsh, Angie Wendt, Tony DiPisa, Danny Taylor

In the meantime, you can listen to song clips and read more about the production at MainStreetKidsClub.com

  • For information on booking a performance or production through Theatrebam Chicago, contact Scott Ferguson at theatrebam@mac.com or by phone: 773.465-8668
  • For information on obtaining the licensing rights to stage an independent production, contact HarperCollins at ChildrensPermissions@HarperCollins.com or by phone: 212.207.7700 or fax: 212.702.2582

Math: It’s a musical thing!

ADDITIONAL LINKS:

These books are featured in “The Main Street Kids’ Club: A MathStart Musical”:

Treasure Map (Mapping)

Lemonade for Sale (Bar Graphs)

Less Than Zero (Negative Numbers)

100 Days of Cool (Numbers 1 – 100)

Captain Invincible and the Space Shapes (Three-dimensional Shapes)

More or Less (Comparing Numbers)

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February 22, 2010

Computers as a Social Event: Sugata Mitra, Peer Learning, Visual Learning & Toddler Techies

by J. A. Ginsburg

In 1999, Sugata Mitra, a chief scientist at NIIT, a large IT training and education company in India, did something remarkable: He punched a hole in wall separating his company’s headquarters from a slum and installed a computer facing out. Within a few hours, curious children, all poor, started to crowd around, playing with the keyboard, teaching themselves and then their friends how it worked. “The Hole in the Wall” experiment was off to an auspicious start:

Mitra was just warming up. Over the next 20+ years, similar computer set ups were installed all over India. Even in rural areas where English wasn’t the primary language, children quickly mastered the basics through peer-learning.

Which, it turns out, is exactly what’s happening in Pre-K classrooms across the U.S.

As part of ongoing research for the new Stuart J. Murphy’s I See I Learn series (launching later this year!), we regularly talk with teachers and administrators about daily classroom life and needs. Computer literacy has become such a vital skill, computers are actually required to secure top ranking in Florida’s UPK program (Universal Pre-K). No matter how strapped a school’s budget, it seems at least of couple of laptops, often “vintage,” are available for the children.

And just like their counterparts halfway around the world, they gather around the screen, trying to make to make sense of the magic box.

Describes one veteran teacher in Texas:

I find these children are unbelievably computer literate. Their biggest struggle at first is manipulating the mouse. The software we use usually attracts a crowd, with several children participating. There may be one child using the mouse, but it’s a collaborative effort. It’s not ever just one child sitting with headsets on doing something quietly by himself. The computer is a social event.

TECH-SAVVY TODDLERS

Of course, in The Age of the Touchscreen, who needs a mouse?

New York Times writer Brad Stone, opens his story on “Children of CyberSpace” with vignette of two-year daughter holding his Kindle, casually identifying it as “Daddy’s book.” It dawns on him that his little cherub doesn’t view tech with the sort miraculous awe of her elders. For her the miracles are simply part of the way things are, from long distance video calls via skype, to phones that are really toys full of amusing “apps.”

…I’ve begun to think that my daughter’s generation will also be utterly unlike those that preceded it.

Researchers are exploring this notion too. They theorize that the ever-accelerating pace of technological change may be minting a series of mini-generation gaps, with each group of children uniquely influenced by the tech tools available in their formative stages of development.

“People two, three or four years apart are having completely different experiences with technology,” said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project. “College students scratch their heads at what their high school siblings are doing, and they scratch their heads at their younger siblings. It has sped up generational differences.”

One obvious result is that younger generations are going to have some very peculiar and unique expectations about the world. My friend’s 3-year-old, for example, has become so accustomed to her father’s multitouch iPhone screen that she approaches laptops by swiping her fingers across the screen, expecting a reaction.

As Pickle the dog (you’ll be meeting him soon) would say…

ADDITIONAL LINKS:

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