Communicating in English???????

TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION IN ENGLISH

Clarify ideas before communicating: Systematically think through the message and consider who will be receiving it and/or affected by it.

Examine the true purpose of communication: One must ask himself/herself this question – what am I really aiming to accomplish with this message? The use of language can then be suitably adjusted.

Take the entire environment, physical and human, into consideration: Questions such as, what is being said, to whom and when are very important. Your skill lies in how you say it and, of course, your timing. Adapt your language to the environment.

Be careful of the overtones and the basic content of the message: The listener will be affected by they way you put across your message. Your tone and facial expressions are also to be considered.

Use crisp language and be clear: It is very important that the words are well chosen and that you stay as crisp and concise as possible. In other words use minimum words to send across the message and convey useful information.

Follow-up on communication: One must solicit feedback in ensuring that the receiver has understood the message. If the person has not understood, tone down the language.

Be a good listener: By concentrating on the receiver’s response you can ensure his extent of interest in you and also if he is concentrating.

In this video you will see none of these tips is applied. An example of how far we can reach when communication is not the end goal of our conversation.......Absolutely worth watching!!

Teaching the whole child - ASCD Conference

This is where you come in ......Get involved and protect the whole chid!!!!

RAD TEACHING

When a Neurologist becomes a classroom teacher, Brain Learning Reseach promotes teaching strategies. Dr. Judy Willis, a board-certified neurologist and middle school teacher in Santa Barbara, California, has combined her 15 years as a practicing adult and child neurologist with her teacher education training and years of classroom experience. She is an authority in the field of learning-centered brain research and classroom strategies.
Dr. Willis concludes that there are three main brain systems she refers to as RAD which are the keys to building better brains.

RAD is short for:

R: Reticular Activating System (RAS)
A: Amygdala
D: Dopamine

Reticular Activating System

The RAS is the attention activation switching system located at the brainstem. You can
control where students’ focus goes in the classroom, and what information gets through the RAS by incorporating novelty, multi-sensory learning, goal-motivated attention, and creativity with learning activities.

Amygdala

The amygdala is the center of the brain’s emotion relays in the limbic system and it also strengthens the long-term memory potential of information that enters accompanied by positive emotion. With low-risk, low-stress, positive learning activities, the RAS and amygdala can help
the brain focus on the sensory information of the learning activity.

Dopamine

Dopamine is one of the brain’s most important neurotransmitters, proteins that carry information across spaces between nerve endings. When you can incorporate pleasurable learning experiences and activities into lessons, the dopamine released is then available to increase pleasure, attention, and memory.

Judy Willis Will be delivering seminars in Argentina "Learning and the Brain Conference" Sept 4-5, 2009.