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Symposium Plan
by Ewing Coleman Green EDD 8260 CRN 50099
Linking Learning and Leadership to Brain Research
Nova Southeastern University July 14, 2013
Table of Contents
Page Introduction ………………………………………………………………………….....................2 Symposium Concept ………………...……………………………………………………………2 Overview ……………………………………………………………………………….…2 Venue and logistics ……………………………………………………………….............3 Marketing …………………………………………………………………………………4 Pilot testing and student involvement ……………………………………..……………...5 Literature Review ……………………………………………………………………………..…..6 Symposium Overview ……………...……………………………………………………………14 Kickoff and keynote address …………………………………....………………...…..…15 Session details ………………………………………………………………………...…15 Participant connection making …………….………………………..…………………...17
Feedback ………………………………..……………………………………………….17 Digital resources ………………………………………………………...………………18 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………....18 References .……………………………………………………………………………………....19
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Symposium Plan
This paper outlines a learning symposium designed to engage participants in a purposeful
variety of sessions designed to maximize student learning at Shanghai American School (SAS).
Of particular emphasis in the sessions is the focus on right brain engagement since the
preponderance of learning activities in schools today are left brain oriented and the 21st century
global workplace commands a premium on right brain function (Pink, 2006).
Symposium Concept
The proposed symposium title is Turn Right for Whole Brain Learning Symposium.
Metaphorically speaking, teachers are the drivers of the school bus on the 21st century
educational superhighway. Based on traditional left brain dominant educational practices, in
order for students to be engaged in balanced cognitive development teachers must 'turn right.'
That is, educators need to ensure the engagement of appropriate right hemispheric learning
strategies for maximum student development. The author is the symposium organizer.
Overview.
The symposium will involve all middle school teaching staff, and campus principals and
senior administrators will be invited as well. These individuals are in the best position to support
best practices learning at the school, give constructive feedback, and lead positive change that
improves whole brain learning engagement going forward. This totals approximately 50 adults.
They bring a wide variety of experience as well as a diverse spectrum of teaching environments,
from the predominant left brain approaches in mathematics to the stronger reliance on right brain
engagement in the performing arts, such as drama and music. In addition, all middle school
students will attend the kickoff and keynote address, and they will have the opportunity to attend
the symposium for 45 minutes.
3
Venue and logistics.
The symposium will, appropriately, be held at the Performing Arts Center (PAC) and will
entail 13 continuously running sessions. Given the strong right brain engagement in the
performing arts, there is no better place to make the point to all attendees than the conveniently
located PAC. The symposium will be held on Wednesday, September 18, 2013 from 12:45 to
4:30. This takes advantage of the middle school schedule where a special schedule can easily be
constructed by learning community team leaders across all three grade levels and the Wednesday
after school faculty meeting time can be easily devoted to the symposium. By the principal
designating the entire middle school faculty meeting time to attend the symposium, a strong
message sent as to its importance.
Besides its convenience, thus likely generating greater participation than an offsite
location, the PAC is an excellent venue since it includes a large two floor auditorium, large
stage, large three-tiered lobby area, and multiple smaller rooms to the sides. This arrangement is
ideal for an open format, multiple session, multiple station, cross-disciplinary multi-sensory
learning environment that will appeal to the right brain.
Since school is in session on the day, considerable logistics must be considered to
maximize symposium effectiveness. Lunch will be extended 15 minutes to facilitate an all-
middle school assembly, faculty and students, in the PAC for the kickoff. Grade eight teachers
will facilitate cross-grade study halls from 1:15 to 2:00. Grade six and seven teachers will
facilitate cross-grade study halls from 2:00 to 3:00 after which their buses depart. This results in
grade six and seven teachers being able to start the symposium at 1:15 and grade eight teachers
being able to start at 2:00. This planning helps to maximize participant involvement and stagger
the load. In order to gather student input on the symposium, the 160 grade eight students will be
4
released from their 2:15-3:00 exploratory after which their buses depart. The sessions will be a
bit busier for this 45 minutes. Thereafter, from 3:00 to 4:30, the PAC will host all grade level
teachers and administrators. These logistics will be planned in detail between the author and the
middle school leadership team in the weeks leading up to the symposium.
Marketing.
The first step is securing the support of the principal and vice principal for the
symposium. This is essential since the event involves a modified schedule for the afternoon and
proposes to absorb the Wednesday after school faculty meeting slot. Even if priorities prevent
the use of that time, the symposium could easily be shortened to 12:45-3:00 where the time is
designed by individual learning communities. Also, even if the event scope is curtailed to one
grade level, such as the author’s grade eight, that would suffice as a championing event and the
concept could grow from there. With the principal’s support and given his leadership style the
author would present the symposium concept early in the school year to the middle school
leadership where the event would be fine tuned and, hopefully, positive energy would be
generated throughout the entire middle school.
In addition to the reporting out from the leadership team meeting by learning community
leaders, the symposium will be marketed through the development of an electronic brochure,
banners, and email. Four large banners will be developed that will include the title (Turn Right
for Whole Brain Learning Symposium), date, location, and time, and the banner will be designed
with an SAS school bus driving down the 21st Century Education Superhighway appearing to
turn right. This image and the accompanying text should set the stage. The banners will be hung
in the following strategic locations: middle school entrance, upper student commons, lower
student commons, and on the cafeteria exterior wall where such banners are normally placed.
5
Trifold brochures, thematically similar to the large banners, will be developed and placed
in faculty inboxes several weeks before the event. For additional enticement, the brochure will
include bullet points of rationale based on the literature review below. Posters with similar
content will also be posted on bulletin boards throughout the middle school. In addition, emails
will be sent out to all faculty and administrative invitees reminding them of the event and the
rationale. During the week that the brochures are placed in faculty inboxes, posters are placed,
and emails are sent, the author will, given prior approval from the principal, ask the faculty at a
Wednesday full faculty meeting if they have any questions or concerns.
All of these marketing steps will help ensure positive communication takes place and to
the maximum extent possible all questions and concerns are addressed in advance. Experience
has shown to the author that lack of ownership can derail such events.
Pilot testing and student involvement. Experience has also proven that proactive involvement of participants can be extremely
beneficial. To that end, during the weeks leading up to the symposium and in order to design
effective sessions, the author will secure the eight laptops from the Apple Center, seek the
assistance of the two drama teachers, two art teachers, and orchestra teacher, and the input of
both his learning community team and his students. Since the learning community team meets
three mornings every week, this will be easy to accomplish, and since the author teaches 80
grade eight students he can easily devote some time in class to overview the symposium, the
logistics, and the sessions in an effort to seek improvement ideas from students. In addition, the
author can seek the help of colleagues in designing sessions and running them on the day. This is
consistent with the school’s highly collaborative culture and others will very likely volunteer to
help, improving the product along the way.
6
Literature Review
The literature contains ample support for the symposium as outlined above. Paralleling
advances in neurological imaging and the increase in research devoted to brain functioning, the
literature reflects an interest in, an understanding of, and recommendations for enriching student
learning. Following is a literature review that connects symposium elements to the primary goal
of right brain development.
Bellah, Robinson, Kaufman, Akers, Haase-Wittler, and Martindale (2008) reported that
brain-based learning shifts the primary focus from linear and hierarchical teaching to complex,
thematic, and integrated activities by emphasizing thinking versus memorization. Teaching for
enduring understanding involves relaxed alertness, immersion in complex experience, and active
engagement in the learning experiences. This type of pedagogy, the authors argued, engages a
“multidimensional spectrum of multiple intelligences working together to anchor experiences for
long-term retention” (pp. 20-21).
Likewise, Madrazo and Motz (2005) reported that significant advances are being made in
brain-based education as a result of new connections between the biology of the brain and
teaching and learning. The authors stated that active student communication and right brain
oriented social relating in the classroom are more effective learning strategies than lecture. They
argued, “although lecture continues to be the most widely used method in the classroom,
countless studies indicate that students retain the most by teaching other, practicing by doing,
and discussing in groups” (p. 57). Consistent with Hawkins (2009), Madrazo and Motz (2005)
reported that right brain friendly differentiation strategies are important, stating, “Teachers must
cater to the learning styles and diversity of learners. This requires constant attention to elements
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such as noise and music, light, social structure, mobility, and the design of the classroom” (p.
58).
More recently, and consistent with Madrazo and Motz (2005), Shore (2012) lamented the
ineffectiveness of lecture, reporting that “only about five percent is actually retained by the
listener the day after it is delivered” (p. 132). To improve on that poor statistic, the author
reported lecture accompanied by audiovisuals and discussion groups increased retention to
nearly 50 percent, and that in order to reach 90 percent students must thoroughly research a
topic, put the learning to immediate use, and/or teach others. Additional research-based whole
brain friendly pedagogical engagements included creating a community of learners using humor,
promoting hope, incorporating novelty in the forms music, dance, or poetry, regrouping,
movement, color, games, and constructing tactile representations of content.
Mindful of the means by which understanding is constructed, Fanselow and Poulos
(2005) described the associative learning (the linking of concepts to generate understanding)
process in mammals, and reported that learning begins when neural pathways carry signals
stimulated by biologically important events. As these signals are processed by the amygdala and
cerebellum, neural plasticity occurs and is the basis for associative memory formation. The
authors suggested that the learning is in proportion to the degree of stimulation and complexity.
For example, Hawkins (2009) reported that in order to effectively address the cognitive
diversity in classrooms, teachers must provide differentiated instruction opportunities to students.
He argued that by doing so teachers avoid a one-size-fits all approach and provide purposeful
learning based on where individual students are on their learning journeys, and thereby maximize
learning and prepare students for their future academic and work endeavors. Hawkins (2009)
suggested that effective differentiated environments appeal to right brain learning by employing
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“varied strategies and practices including graphic organizers, varied levels of fiction and non-
fiction materials, small group instruction, student-as-worker guided practice, immediate feedback
and judicious review, and curriculum compacting” (p. 12). The author cited numerous research
studies on the benefits of differentiated instruction based on “brain research, learning styles,
constructivism, challenging learning environments, clarity of purpose, dynamic assessments and
constructive feedback, and flexible grouping” (p. 12).
In a similar vein, Johansson (2008) reported on the neuroscience of learning with a focus
on language and music in an attempt to bridge the perceived divide between the sciences and the
humanities. The author stated that the right hemisphere plays a prominent role in comprehending
the complexities of language such as in stories and metaphors. In addition, since many forms of
music involve both language and pitch, particularly through singing, learning benefits accrue.
Johansson (2008) reported that studies show “music training improves verbal memory, an
important factor in language learning” (p. 420). The author concluded that there is evidence of
the importance of right hemispheric development and whole brain functioning in the acquisition
of language and music capacities. In the same year, Szirony, Burgin, and Pearson (2008) also
found a correlation between music and right hemisphere development.
In another study providing insights on right brain development, O’Boyle (2008) reported
on the cognitive neuroscience involving mathematically gifted children, finding that their brains
are “quantitatively and qualitatively different from those of average math ability” (p. 181). The
author stated that math-gifted children exhibit enhanced right hemispheric development and a
“heightened interhemispheric exchange of information between the left and right sides of the
brain, reflecting an unusual degree of neural connectivity” (p. 181). Taken together with the
work by Nikolaenko (2005), this may help explain why the literature reports that boys
9
traditionally have held an advantage in math-rich academic endeavors, and again suggests why
whole brain development is particularly important for girls. In addition, O’Boyle (2008) argued
that differentiated learning opportunities appropriate for math-gifted children is essential, lest
they suffer from boredom, potentially become a behavioral problem in the classroom, and, most
importantly, risk being underdeveloped.
Although Prigge’s (2002) report is a bit dated now, it mirrors updated cognitive and
neuroscience research in making practical suggestions that benefit whole brain learning. The
author suggested music, interactive learning environment, emotional connection making,
laughter, learning that is student-relevant, and creative repetition.
Likewise, and reporting at about the same time, Roberts (2002) argued for a Brain
Compatible Approach to learning that moved beyond learning by doing and embraced
neuroscientific findings about learning. The author referenced the interconnected, unique, and
neuroplastic nature of the human brain in offering principles and tips of brain based learning.
Many were right brain friendly and included chunking learning content and time, big picture
approach, building both teacher-student and student-student relationships, and balancing novel
and repetitive activities.
Rushton and Larkin (2001) made similar arguments from neuroscience applied to the
educational setting. They reported that balanced brain-friendly development included
differentiated learning engagements, concrete, vivid imagery, storytelling, music, movement,
drawing, painting and constructing, and real life relevancy.
From a human behavior standpoint, Goldberg (2009) reported that while each hemisphere
has been linked to specific functioning, such as language in the left and spatial processing in the
right, modern research suggests a great deal of inter-functioning and “the two hemispheres have
10
much more in common than what makes them different” (p. 40). In addition, Goldberg (2009)
argued that the field of cognitive neuroscience is increasingly embracing a “gradiental” model of
brain functioning, as opposed to a modular one, which views the brain as “massively parallel and
interconnected” (p. 59). This model embraces the notion that the brain behaves as a neural
network and has emergent properties due to brain plasticity.
Furthermore, Sylwester (2004) stated, “the right hemisphere (in most humans) is
principally organized to process novel challenges, and the left hemisphere to process knowledge
and effective routines developed during previous similar challenges” (p. 44). Each hemisphere
contains four lobes, where “the three lobes in the back half receive and analyze incoming sensory
information and integrate it into a perceptual map of the current challenges—the right
hemisphere focusing on the novel and the left hemisphere on familiar elements” (p. 45). The
frontal lobe then “determines a response strategy—the right hemisphere again focusing on
creative solutions to novel challenges, and the left hemisphere on activating established routines”
(p. 45).
Pink (2006) argued that while both hemispheres are involved in even simple tasks, the
left hemisphere is “sequential, logical, and analytical” and the right hemisphere is “nonlinear,
intuitive, and holistic” (p. 3). The left hemisphere “specializes in text” while the right
hemisphere “specializes in context” (p. 20), such as when processing conversation; the left
hemisphere “handles what is said” while the right hemisphere “focuses on how it’s said,”
including nonverbal cues (p. 21); and, the left hemisphere “analyzes the details” while the right
hemisphere “synthesizes the big picture” (p. 22).
Pink (2006) argued that there are three major influences in the current age of
globalization: abundance, Asia, and automation (p. 30). He pointed out that the economic growth
11
in Asian countries is partly explained by a strong reliance on left hemispheric thinking and
development. Pink (2006) coined the terms “L-Directed Thinking” as thought dominated by the
left hemisphere and “R-Directed Thinking” as thought dominated by the right hemisphere (p.
26), and suggested that L-Directed Thinking has fueled the success of Asian countries in the age
of globalization. As evidence of this, he cited the significant degree of outsourcing of L-Directed
Thinking jobs (financial analysis, radiology, computer programming, etc.) to lower wage scale
countries such as India and China.
Reflecting upon mega economic movements over recent human history, Pink (2006)
stated that the Industrial Age was “built on people’s backs”, that the Information Age was “built
on people’s left brains,” and the modern Conceptual Age depends “more on people’s right
brains” (p. 50). He argued that much of the advances made during the Information Age were
built by L-Directed Thinking, but that the modern Conceptual Age demands greater engagement
of R-Directed Thinking (p. 49). He reported that L-Directed Thinking is dominant in education
through “SAT-ocracy,” a reference to the importance of performing well on the widely used
college admissions standardized test that “depends on the ability to reason logically, sequentially,
and speedily” (p. 29).
To combat this bias, Pink (2006) called for the deployment of a “whole new mind” (p.
25). He argued that success in today’s Conceptual Age global job market relies more on “using
R-Directed abilities such as forging relationships rather than executing transactions, tackling
novel challenges instead of solving routine problems, and synthesizing the big picture rather than
analyzing a single component” (p. 39-40). He argued that a “whole new mind” (p. 51) is vital in
the current Conceptual Age, and that while “L-Directed Thinking remains indispensible, it’s just
no longer sufficient” (p. 51). By better balancing hemispheric development and functioning, Pink
12
(2006) argued, the left hemisphere “handles logic, sequence, literalness, and analysis” while the
right “takes care of synthesis, emotional expression, context, and big picture” (p. 25).
In addition to the general discussion of student learning, there are differences that also
need to be taken into account between the genders. Nikolaenko (2005) reported that substantial
research supports the premise that women are superior in use of language while men excel at
spatial tasks. Studies suggest that there is left hemisphere predominance in women and less
asymmetric functioning in men. Nikolaenko (2005) stated, “It can be concluded that the increase
capability for the verbal learning in girls is due mostly to the processes of the auditory-verbal
integration within the limits of the left hemisphere, whereas in boys this verbal ability depends
on the relative predominance of the interhemispheric connections” (p. 697). It could be argued,
therefore, that while right brain-rich development is important to both genders, perhaps there is
additional upside for girls.
Furthermore, according to Sylwester (2004), although most people view the genders as
polar opposites, he stated that, “It thus appears that individuals are either clearly male or female,
or else exist (for whatever biological or cultural reason) somewhere along an androgynous
continuum between the two pure gender strains” (p. 72). From a biological standpoint, the two
genders have differing reproductive roles and thus “although the hormones testosterone,
estrogen, oxytocin, and vasopressin are present in everyone, females typically have more
estrogen and oxytocin, and males more testosterone and vasopressin” (p. 72). Structurally and
behaviorally, males and females are much more similar than different, but the differences
manifest in important ways. Sylwester (2004) reported that the corpus callosum that connects the
two hemispheres is slightly larger in females, females tend to have a more dominant left
hemisphere and males a more dominant right hemisphere, males seem to have a slight edge in
13
systematizing and females in empathizing, females seem to have an edge on factual recall and
males on conceptual recall, males seem to depend more on geometric cues and females on
landmarks, and the typical male stress response is a fight/flight aggressive response whereas in
females it is often a tend/befriend nurturing response. Therefore, given that there are anatomical
differences and the notion of gender lies on a continuum, rendering stereotypes inaccurate, there
are general male and female tendencies in effect.
In addition, Goldberg (2009) reported his work on adaptive decision making styles and
found that males are more context-dependent and females more context-independent. The
implications, he argued, inform how males and females tend to react to novel and chaotic
situations. Males, he stated, operating more from a context-dependent perspective, do not have a
default response option, and “will attempt to capture the unique properties of the situation at
hand right away even though the available information may be woefully insufficient,” resulting
in comparatively erratic behaviors when confronting new situations (p. 128). Goldberg (2009)
suggested that while a balanced decision making strategy is probably optimal, in highly unstable
environments a context-dependent (male-like) approach is preferable. This has important
implications in modern society with increasing pace of change. He also reported that “it has been
known for some time that structural, biochemical, and functional differences between the
hemispheres are greater in males than in females” and that this is true of the frontal lobes as well
(p. 124). He reported that certain neurological diseases are more prevalent in males than in
females, such as schizophrenia, Tourette’s syndrome, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,
and that all of these diseases are associated with the frontal lobes. In addition, Goldberg (2009)
reported that “left-right (hemisphere) differences are better articulated than in the female brain”
but “in the female brain the front-back differences are better articulated than in the male brain”
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(p. 135). In summary, he suggested that this all paints “a rather elegant, equitable picture of two
complementary neuroanatomical connection emphases in males and females which may account
for some of the fundamental cognitive differences between the two sexes” (p. 135).
Symposium Overview
Sessions for the symposium were designed as a direct result of the literature review
above. Given the symposium objective, to maximize learning by emphasizing right brain
engagement, the sessions are designed to primarily stimulate right hemispheric functioning. The
literature clearly reveals that such engagements include humor, music, stories, dance, games,
poetry, noise, light, color, audiovisuals, vivid imagery, graphic organizers, drawing, painting,
social structure, emotional connections, interaction, mobility, flexible grouping, differentiation,
student-relevant content, creative repetition, collaborative discussion, peer teaching, feedback,
reflection, and constructing tactile representations of content.
In addition, the sessions as outlined below support the further development of teacher
pedagogical mental maps. Black and Gregersen (2008) reported that people develop competence
through experiences over time and these successes create mental maps that guide behavior. It can
be argued, by extension, that teachers tend to form teaching and learning routines that can
become imbalanced, such as the literature suggests is the case with the preponderance of left
brain centric education. This symposium, therefore, may serve as stimulus to rebalance whole
brain learning. Also, the symposium serves as a miniature learning organization, such as Senge
(1990) called, for where colleagues continually enhance professional abilities toward desired
organizational objectives.
15
Kickoff and keynote address.
At 12:45 the author will welcome the entire middle school and introduce the guest
speaker, Daniel H. Pink, a leading author and thinker in whole brain learning. Mr. Pink will
deliver a 25-minute presentation reviewing advances made in the 20th century and highlight the
need for greater right brain engagement in the 21st century. As the literature clearly suggests,
lecture will be greatly minimized from the outset of the symposium. Following Mr. Pink’s
address the author will briefly describe the flexible organization of the symposium including a
schematic of the location of the 13 continuously running sessions, participants will have the
opportunity to ask questions, and will then be released to begin their experiences. Students will
be released according to the plan. Posters will be placed throughout the PAC showing the
locations of the sessions. Should participants arrive late and miss Mr. Pink’s keynote address, it
will be digitally recorded and posted to the symposium wiki. Information on the digital resource
component of the symposium is addressed below.
Session details.
As stated above, the PAC is an excellent venue since it includes a large auditorium, large
stage, multi-tiered lobby area, and multiple smaller rooms around the periphery of the
auditorium. This arrangement is ideal for an open format, multiple session, multiple station,
cross-disciplinary multi-sensory learning environment that will appeal to the right brain. The
middle school drama teachers will run two movement and dance sessions on the stage, the
orchestra teacher will run the music session on the second floor, the two art teachers will run the
drawing and painting workshops in one side room to facilitate resource and idea sharing, and
eight multi-media interactive laptop sessions will be run with two in each of two side rooms and
four set up in the top two tiers of the lobby.
16
The 13 sessions, repeating approximately every 30 minutes, are designed to primarily
engage right brain learning, are overviewed as follows. The movement and dance sessions on the
PAC stage will focus on the importance of big picture orientation, choreography of learning,
emotional connections, kinesthetics, social structure, mobility, interaction, noise, and flexible
grouping techniques. The art sessions will focus on drawing and painting using vivid imagery,
light, color, graphic organizers and mind mapping, feedback, reflection, and constructing tactile
representations of academic content. The orchestra session will focus on music, differentiation,
peer teaching, collaborative discussion, feedback, and reflection. The eight interactive laptop-
based sessions will be divided into four core subject learning centers (mathematics, science,
language arts, and social studies) focusing on multi-media audiovisuals and will engage
participant learning with the use of humor, stories, games, poetry, student-relevant content, and
creative repetition as right brain stimulants. While the engagements will center on a given core
subject area, they will utilize cross-disciplinary content.
Participants are free to move about the sessions in any order they choose and are
encouraged to attend them all, if only briefly. Even if participants attend only half of the sessions
they should begin to see strong connections about the key elements of right brain learning,
including multi-sensory, larger context, social, and active student-relevant content. Following the
keynote address when participants move to the sessions, the author and Mr. Pink will float
amongst the 13 stations, answer questions, and assist in any way necessary to maximize
participant learning. Since Mr. Pink’s time will be secured for the day, in the morning he will
have met with the superintendent and campus principals to brainstorm how the school can
effectively address strategic educational needs of the school.
17
Participant connection making.
In order to facilitate teachers with making useful connections between symposium
offerings and their work with students, a prompt sheet will be provided in the email invitation
and given to each participant at the symposium. The author will also post a Microsoft Word
version of the document on the wiki as described below. The prompt sheet will include such
transfer prompts as How is this session relevant to your teaching?, What ideas does this session
spark in making right brain connections in your teaching?, In what unit(s) does this thinking best
fit?, When do these units occur this year?, and What are your next steps as a result of this
session? The final two prompts will be What parts of this symposium are best? and What specific
parts of this symposium need improvement and what suggestions do you have? These final two
prompts will facilitate meaningful symposium feedback from the survey as discussed below.
Feedback.
The primary objective of the symposium is helping teachers ‘turn right’ to maximize
student learning by more fully engaging the right hemisphere as students prepare for the
21st century global workplace which promises to place a premium on right brain function. It is
important to determine how effectively this occurred, so feedback in the form of a Survey
Monkey online survey will be administered. The author will design a short, 10-item maximum
questionnaire to be anonymously completed by teachers, administrators and grade eight students
who attended the symposium. An email including a thank you and the survey link will be sent
out Thursday, September 19, the day following the symposium, asking for completion by the end
of the following week. The feedback will be analyzed with strengths and areas for improvement
highlighted. Since the author will have the benefit of attending all symposium sessions with Mr.
Pink, his feedback will also be gathered. The author will share all feedback with the middle
18
school leadership team and, if the principal believes appropriate, a short report will be given to
the entire faculty at an upcoming Wednesday after school meeting. In addition, with the feedback
shared, the author will offer suggest that a symposium debrief be added to the leadership team
meeting agenda to determine sentiments toward the offering of a future symposium. A future
symposium would be built on the successes of the first, be improved accordingly, and take into
account the latest literature on whole brain learning.
Digital resources.
As mentioned above, laptops will be widely used as learning resources beginning with
the keynote address and extending to eight sessions, and a prompt sheet will be provided to
facilitate transfer to individual teachers. The author will create a wiki entitled Turn Right for
Whole Brain Learning Symposium that will include the keynote address, all links, handouts, and
digital tools used in the sessions. This will facilitate later use by teachers and administrators as
the school goes about implementing best practices that ensure whole brain learning engagement,
and can serve as the digital platform for future symposiums.
Conclusion
This symposium plan attempts to address the key elements necessary to design and
orchestrate an inaugural Turn Right for Whole Brain Learning Symposium. The plan addresses
guidance from the literature, logistics, marketing, an outstanding keynote speaker, session
content, student involvement, prompts to help participants gain actionable takeaways, feedback,
and improvement toward a potential future symposium. As with most new initiatives, there will
be unforeseen challenges but this plan should result in an excellent experience that will benefit
student development on the 21st century educational superhighway.
19
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