By Judy Willis, MD, M.Ed
to be published in May 2007 by ASCD
Dr. Willis evaluates the abundance of neurological
research material about how the brain learns and separates
the valid studies from the pseudoscience. She then uses her
twenty years as a neuroscience researcher and practicing
child and adult neurologist with her seven years of
classroom teaching to provide a repertoire of instructional
strategies, classroom-tested lessons, activities, and
cross-curricular units that support the diversity of
learners in your inclusion classes.
Starting with the processes to create a supportive
classroom structure responsive to the needs of diverse
learners you will be guided into effective adaptation of
classroom strategies that ensure the continuity of
student-focused instruction, effective parent and colleague
communication, authentic assessment, and preparation for
standardized testing.
From initial techniques to reveal the learning strengths
and interests of all your students will come the clues to
help you develop individualized student plans adapted to
their realistic learning outcomes. Through scaffolding and
multisensory approaches you will achieve the optimal goal
of having students participate in the design of challenging
yet reachable goals that let them experience mastery
through focused effort in areas of interest. This process
will extend to the rest of their schoolwork so they become
goal-directed, focused students once again connected
positively with their learning.
The book offers specific examples of instructional
strategies, learning style specific plans, and techniques
to build supportive communities that minimize classroom
management problems and maximizes knowledge acquisition for
all learners. Dr. Willis will explain in approachable
language the neuro-logical reasoning based upon
the newest PET and fMRI scan research of how the brain
processes information from raw sensory data to memory
storage and accessible retrieval centers.
