A Science Driven School Library Environment

If you've ever asked yourself - "Hmmm, how can neuropsychology inform my practices as a media specialist?" get yourself over to today's Adventures of a Library Girl post.  Jennifer LaGarde does a great job detailing Dr. David Rose's discussion on how learning environments effect learning. 

Some highlights from her post:

• Make It Relevent - "rational memories appear to enhance storage of the new information in long-term memory."
• Give Them A Break - "any pleasurable activity used as a brief break can give the amygdala a chance to cool down and the neurotransmitters time to rebuild."
• Create Positive Associations - "when stress activated the brain's affective filters, information flow to the higher cognitive networks is limited and the learning process grinds to a halt."
• Help Kids Prioritize Information - "helping students learn how to prioritize and therefore reduce the amount of information they need to deal with is a valuable stress-buster."
• Allow Independent Discovery Learning - "thanks to dopamine release and the consolidation of relational memories, students are more likely to remember and understnad what they learn if they find it compelling or have a part in figuring it out for themselves."
• Provide a Safe Haven - "when teachers use strategies to reduce stress and build a positive emotional environment, students gain emotional resilience and learn more efficiently and at higher levels of cognition."

Media Specialists seem to have discovered a lot of these science-driven best practices for themselves.  Inquiry-based learning, note-taking skills, book clubs, technology integration, and the general welcoming atmosphere that media specialists bring to the table all come together to form an amazing learning environment for students.  But then, we always knew that the library is the best place to learn!

P.S. - Here's a link to a video of one of Dr. David Rose's presentations that I'll be viewing later!