Engaging 'Tweens and Teens

A Brain-Compatible Approach to Reaching Middle and High School Students

This book is designed to help teachers of middle and secondary students understand the basic neurobiology behind adolescent behaviors, and apply that understanding to change and invigorate their teaching practice. As we know, student engagement plays a critical role in student learning. Based on what science and psychology have discovered about the brain in the past two decades, author Raleigh Philp shows teachers how to achieve engagement by:

• Recognizing and being able to respond to the emotional states teens commonly experience

• Frequently changing students' physiological states to prevent them from getting bored or mentally checking out during instruction

• Incorporating technologies teens use into classroom instruction and discussion, such as cell phones, weblogs, wikis, digital cameras, iPods, and Sidekicks

• Enlivening class with music students will respond to, from classical to pop to hip hop

The book also discusses the effects of stress on learning, and explores common teen risk-taking behaviours, such as violence and substance abuse. The final chapter addresses academic performance-enhancing drugs students are increasingly taking in response to the pressures of standardized testing. Teachers' awareness of, and ability to respond to, this problem is of growing importance.

Teachers will gain an understand of the changes taking place in the teen brain and be ready to adapt teaching so it is more intentional and appropriate, resulting in meaningful learning experiences for teenage students.