The Beacon Fall 2017

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Fall 2017 The Beacon

Giving Technology – and Yourself – a Rest

By Mark Bertin, MD

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recent study in Journal of Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics reflects a unique stress put upon the modern parent: The implied belief that we all must be on call and in touch every minute of our waking day. That kind of pressure exhausts. While there’s upside to knowing where your children are and your availability to them for safety reasons, the idea that you must be in constant access for everything else is not sustainable. The same applies across society, whether it be a boss or colleague or patient or student who might feel the need to get in touch with you instantly at any given time.

The brain is an organ and needs care to function well. It needs a break to recover from activity just like our bodies do.

Sleep is as important as food and water. Downtime is healing.

Time for ourselves, for the activities that sustain us, is vital. For the sake of our collective mental health, we can push back against the unrealistic expectation of 24/7 remaining open to the world.

Research suggests that even ignoring a sitting phone takes active energy. We’re having a conversation, while in our mind we’re spinning our wheels, wondering what we’re missing in that text or media posting that we’re not immediately checking.

Devices and screens have been shown to distract and shorten routine face-to-face conversation and social engagement, even when with our children.

Without self-care, phones and computers continue to drain our attention when we’re not using them. That’s another phenomenon increasingly discussed – the stress and anxiety of fearing that we’re missing out. Five minutes off our media feed,

and we start to believe we may become a pariah. But of course, that’s irrational and leads to its own burn out. In reality, if we disconnect and reconnect, we find that nothing much will have changed.

Many companies guide employees to shut down email and social media and anything that distracts during productive times, especially some in the technology sector that created the situation. However, far more employers, and families, do not.

At the slightest whim, anyone pings anyone else in the world for the slightest reason. And yet, parents, employees, teachers, physicians, and anyone else available all the time increasingly become burnt out.

Living with Technology Healthfully There is another option. Technology has mindlessly become a constant part of our lives through its own momentum. As individuals and on a larger scale, we can pause and more actively make technology a useful but far healthier companion.

Changing the role of technology means compassionately seeing our own experience and that of others. Everyone needs a rest. Employees do, and so do their bosses. Doctors do, and so do their patients. Teachers do, and so do their students. Parents do, and so do their children.

So, what can you do to manage technology time more healthily? Drop the expectation of constant availability except when it’s vital and useful. Allow your children, employees, and anyone else you know the space to live a healthy life.

Fall 2017 The Beacon

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Shut off all notifications and push emails whenever appropriate. For businesses, consider having email addresses that are available only during work hours.

• Pause before sending. Consider, from the other person’s point of view, if it’s an appropriate time and a needed message.

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Give permission, actively, for everyone to take breaks throughout the day. Except for urgent situations, do not expect an instant response.

• Discuss with teens the need for mental breaks and the unsustainable pressure to be constantly in touch.

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Give devices a bedtime, except for emergencies.

• Prioritize and dedicate time to whatever keeps you healthy and happy, such as family time, sleep, exercise, and hobbies.

About Mark Bertin, MD Dr. Bertin is a developmental pediatrician and author of Mindful Parenting for ADHD and The Family ADHD Solution, which integrate mindfulness into the rest of evidence-based ADHD care. An Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at New York Medical College, he serves on the faculty of the Windward Teacher Training Institute and on advisory boards for both Common Sense Media and Reach Out and Read. His blog is available through Huffington Post, mindful.org, and Psychology Today. For more information visit developmentaldoctor.com

Don’t Miss This Upcoming Workshop with Dr. Mark Bertin Mindfulness: A Practical Evidence-Based Toolbox for Daily Life Date: Thursday, January 25, 2018 Location: WTTI Manhattan Time: 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Fee $115 – to register, visit thewindwardschool.org/registration Learn more about the workshop at thewindwardschool.org/mindfulness

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Fall 2017 The Beacon

Head Lines

The Relationship Between Dyslexia and Creativity: Causality or Correlation

By Dr. John J. Russell, Head of The Windward School

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he renowned scientist Dr. Norman Geschwind (1982) posited that dyslexia’s advantages may outweigh its disadvantages, stating, “One of the most important lessons to be learned from the genetic study of many diseases in recent years has been that the paradoxically high frequency of certain conditions is explained by the fact that the important advantages conferred on those who carry the predisposition to these conditions may outweigh the obvious dramatic disadvantages.” Does the high frequency of dyslexia (at least 10 percent of the population is dyslexic) mean that there must be advantages associated with it?

In their trailblazing book, The Dyslexic Advantage (2012), Drs. Brock and Fernette Eide maintain that individuals with dyslexia share a unique learning difference that can create advantages in the classroom, on the job, or at home. They argue that “cutting-edge research” shows that dyslexics perceive the written word differently but also excel at spatial reasoning and interconnected thinking and often display amazing creativity.

Following this same line of thinking Sir Richard Branson wrote in The Sunday Times (April 3, 2017), “We should see young people with dyslexia as being full of potential, not as having a disadvantage.” He went on to say, “Out in the real world, my dyslexia became my massive advantage: It helped me to think creatively and laterally, and see solutions where others saw problems.” In May of 2017, Branson launched a charity, Made

by Dyslexia, to help diagnose dyslexics and change the perception of dyslexia. Both are praiseworthy goals, and the research base supporting these goals is increasing. For example, there is a large body of research confirming that dyslexics have the same range of cognitive abilities as non-dyslexics (Shaywitz, 2000), and the research supporting the proposition that dyslexia conveys with it certain gifts continues to emerge (Hoeft, 2016).

Annie Murphy Paul published an opinion piece in The New York Times (February 4, 2012) entitled “The Upside of Dyslexia.” In it, she posits that in recent years dyslexia research has begun to focus on identifying the ways in which people with

dyslexia have skills that are superior to those of typical readers.

According to Ms. Paul, the latest findings (circa 2012) on dyslexia are leading to the realization that dyslexia is not just an impediment but also an advantage, especially in certain artistic and scientific fields. Ms. Paul cites a number of studies to support her position.

In one small study, Drs. Gadi Geiger and Jerome Lettvin (2000) found that if you are skilled at focusing on details located in the center of a visual field, which is key to reading, you are likely to be less capable of recognizing features and patterns in the periphery. The opposite is also the case. People with dyslexia, who have a bias in favor of the visual periphery, can rapidly take in a scene as a whole which may be of benefit in art and science. As an example, Ms. Paul references the observations of the astrophysicist Dr. Matthew Schneps, who notes that “scientists in his line of work must make sense of vast quantities of visual data and accurately detect patterns that indicate the presence of bodies like black holes.” A pair of experiments conducted by Dr. Schneps and his colleagues, published in the Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society in 2011, proposed that dyslexia may enhance the ability to carry out such tasks.

Referencing the work of Dr. Catya von Károlyi that was published in the Journal of Learning Disabilities (2001), Ms. Paul contends that “Intriguing evidence that those with dyslexia process information from the visual periphery more quickly also comes from the study of ‘impossible figures’ like those sketched by the artist M. C. Escher.” The actual conclusion reached by Dr. Von Károlyi, however, was slightly different than interpreted

by Ms. Paul. In her hypothesis, Dr. Von Károlyi predicted that the dyslexia group would perform better on the first task of her experiment, identifying impossible figures, and worse on the second task, matching figures. Her hypotheses were only partially supported. The dyslexia group was faster but no more accurate than the control group at identifying impossible objects, and on the matching task, the control group

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outperformed the dyslexia group. She concluded that the results indicate that the differing ability hypothesis of dyslexia merits further investigation. A later study conducted by Dr. Elizabeth Attree et al. (2009) produced more definitive results. Dr. Attree and her group concluded that adolescents with dyslexia exhibit superior visuospatial strengths on certain tests of spatial ability.

In addition to the mounting evidence of the visual/spatial strengths of dyslexics, there is also growing support for the hypothesis that dyslexics are more creative than non-dyslexics.

While creativity is difficult to define, most definitions of creativity revolve around one’s ability to produce work that is both original and valuable (A. Dietrich, 2004). Dr. Paul Torrance developed an instrument to measure these constructs called the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT). The work of Kate Cockcroft and Melanie Hartgill (2004) produced results indicating that in their study the children with dyslexia in all grades were significantly better than the norm group at generating a large quantity of ideas. The sixth-grade dyslexic students that they tested produced significantly more original responses than the non-learning disabled sample. The researchers concluded that the children with dyslexia within their study may have had higher-than-average ability on certain dimensions of creativity.

The findings of more recent empirical studies of the relationships between dyslexia and creativity are inconsistent.

Zoi Kapoula et al. (2016) used the TTCT to compare the creativity in dyslexic and non-dyslexic children and teenagers from different schools in France and in Belgium. The dyslexic students in their study had higher creativity scores than nondyslexic participants. Dr. Kapoula’s team hypothesized “that higher creativity in dyslexia partially relies on a neurophysiological basis (e.g., developmentally different balance/ interactions between right/left hemispheres or between magnocellular and parvocellular systems, possibly mediating higher holistic visuospatial processing skills.” In other words, they are suggesting that there is a causal relationship between

dyslexia and creativity. These results, however, are challenged by the work of Martinelli and Camilleri (2016). In their study of creativity in dyslexic and non-dyslexic teenagers, they found that despite the slightly higher creativity scores on the TTCT of students with dyslexia, the differences regarding creativity were not statistically significant. They concluded that, within the limitations of the study, little support was found for the hypothesis that adolescents with dyslexia are highly creative.

While some evidence suggests that there is a positive association between dyslexia and creativity, some research suggests that such associations emerge in adulthood rather than in childhood and possibly as the result of adverse life experiences rather than as a direct causal result of dyslexia itself. Malcolm Gladwell, in David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants (2013), more optimistically (and rather cavalierly as evidenced by the life-shattering experiences of many un-remediated dyslexics) called these problematic life experiences “desirable difficulties” in that they cause many dyslexics to develop strategies to overcome the challenges presented by their dyslexia. There is, however, an abundance of anecdotal evidence suggesting a causal link between dyslexia and creativity. In Dyslexia: Profiles of Success (2016), Dr. Sally Shaywitz states, “We enthusiastically invite you to meet a group of dyslexics…who are inspiring and give truth to the fact that in case of dyslexia, slow readers can be, and indeed are, fast and creative thinkers.”

Additional research will be required to definitively determine if the creativity that dyslexics display is caused by their dyslexia or is a response to it. What is not in question are the disadvantages that dyslexics must overcome and the creativity, persistence, and resilience that dyslexics so consistently display.

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Fall 2017 The Beacon

When Is a Bulletin Board Much More Tha n a Bulletin Board?

At Windward, It’s a Unique Teaching Tool

By Sandra Schwarz, Director of Windward Teacher Training Institute, and Betsy MacDermott-Duffy, MS Ed., The Windward School Director of Language Arts and Instruction

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rchaeologists researching the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, and Rome have found early evidence of cork use. However, it was not until 1924 that George Brooks, a resident of Topeka, Kansas, patented the famous corkboard that uses tacks and staples to affix notices, feature topics, and most notably, display schoolwork. At Windward, the bulletin boards become much more than a place to tack up papers; every board is a display and learning tool to feature the School’s reading, writing, and other subject-area programs. The bulletin boards are not only a demonstration of skills learned, but also a way to share knowledge with the school community. The bulletin boards are instructional tools that focus on curriculum-related subjects and are unique in their attention to quality teaching and learning.

The bulletin boards at The Windward School are a source of pride for the students, teachers, administrators, and staff members. Teachers work tirelessly to create an engaging environment that clearly supports learning when they design their boards. Students and staff are often found mesmerized reading about the high interest topics addressed in the various grades. Teachers purposefully take their classes on walking tours of the displays as a learning opportunity. Visitors touring with the admissions directors are impressed by everything from the quality of the handwriting and important themes to the creativity of the board design. “Every week during information session tours, visitors have an opportunity to see our students’ writing displayed on the bulletin boards. They are impressed by the writing content, the cursive handwriting, and the artistic presentation of the displays,” comments Maureen Sweeney, Director of Admissions.

The language arts teachers feel passionate about the process of topic choice, reading and writing activities, and board design.

“It’s important to choose a topic that is of interest to the students and teacher,” says Leslie Pragay, a fifth-grade language arts teacher at Westchester Middle School. “At Windward, a teacher doesn’t just pick a topic. The topic is first presented to the language arts coordinator and submitted with the accompanying activities. The defined process ensures that the topic is appropriate for the students and adds variety to what is being done by other teachers. If the teacher is passionate and highly interested in the topic, students will feed off of their excitement.”

Teachers change the bulletin boards about four times a year, so parents and guardians have the benefit of seeing their child’s

most recent accomplishments on display. Bulletin boards at The Windward School are truly an impressive invitation to build awareness about the educational program. The Director of Language Arts and Instruction, Betsy Duffy, expressed her admiration of the students and teachers’ work, “I often am in awe of the amount of effort put forth by the teachers who stay so late after school to complete every detail of their display with such care. I enjoy sending congratulatory notes to the teachers and announcing to the entire school community to take notice of the new boards and topics. When the boards change at the School, it’s an important event. Our entire school community becomes excited and engaged in the process!”

Not only do the language arts topics highlight new and interesting books, engaging social studies themes, present-day debates, and current events, other content area boards such as social studies, math, and science also display their work just as skillfully. For example, the study skills boards located on both middle school campuses are exhibitions of the process that eighth-grade students learn in order to write a well-organized research paper. Just by reading the boards, one could learn extensively about such topics as the World Wars, the Industrial Revolution, the Dust Bowl, the Civil Rights Movement, or 9/11.

A math board might reflect a strategy about model drawing, or students might be reading about statistics in a current event and create graphs and pie charts to display.

When walking by the science bulletin boards, onlookers might learn how our students use The Windward School Writing Program to write about the scientific method in order to investigate whether ice cools liquid or liquid warms ice and why.

At a higher level, a recent science bulletin board exhibited chromatography, a process used for separating a mixture of chemical substances into its individual components for analyzing. In addition to the social studies, math, and science boards, the creative work produced under the direction of the art teachers and produced by the students is displayed throughout all the divisions, and visitors often comment that the final products are so visually attractive to the eye that the works of art light up the halls. Both the creative perspective and The Windward School’s scientifically research-based programs are definitely in the limelight on our boards.

The visual displays that line the halls at the School are a “perfect example of how the art and science of teaching meet”.

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Here’s what some of The Windward School teachers had to say about the bulletin boards: “The bulletin boards are a reflection of our educational program, and they showcase the Teaching Basic Writing Skills curriculum and other subjects. By displaying students’ work on the boards, it motivates them because they know it will be hanging up for everyone to see.” – Jessica Bartley, WLS Grade 3 Teacher “You can see how the complexity is changing and how the student’s work is really evolving. I enjoy walking through the halls and seeing the different skills we teach the students and how those skills become more sophisticated and complex as time goes on.” – Jessica Sorna, WLS Grade 4 Teacher “Many teachers often bring their classes to see other classroom boards to allow the children to feel proud and interested in what’s going on in our building.” – Leslie Pragay, WMS Grade 5 Teacher “On the first day of school, after giving the students an overview of the study skills program and of my expectations, we took a trip to view the study skills bulletin board. It helped provide a visual example of writing a research paper from start to finish. I think seeing this process mapped out on the board helped students understand what would be required of them this year.”

– Colleen McGlynn, MMS Grade 8 Teacher “Students are aware when our writing unit will be placed on the bulletin board. They know that their writing must be the neatest, and that their sentences and paragraphs should showcase their best work. Many students are eager to get their paragraphs on the board, as they want to portray the most prolific amount of their writing.” – Taylre Nwambuonwo, MLS Grade 4 Teacher “Last year, the study skills bulletin board included research topics from both the Great Depression and World War II periods. The board exhibited the work of several students, emphasizing the necessary parts of the research process, including a research plan and detailed note cards from each section of their paper. In addition to the final research papers being displayed, Multiple Paragraph Outlines (MPOs) were featured on the boards to showcase the writing process and to guide students in writing a well-structured and persuasive essay.”– Tim Caccopola, WMS Study Skills Coordinator

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Fall 2017 The Beacon

Rethinking “Stress” in the Classroom Reshaping perceptions about stress in the classroom & implementing strategies to promote learning

By Danielle Scorrano, The Windward School Research Associate and Manhattan Middle School Teacher

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tress has long been a central area of concern for parents and educators who seek to promote positive well-being and development in their children. Stress occurs when an externally or internally demanding experience or event results in a “physiological and psychological reaction” in the brain and body (Ness & Calabrese, 2016). Recent statistics demonstrate numerous detrimental effects of negative stress on children and teenagers.

Stress can enhance memory and learning in the classroom when -

its degree of severity is “optimal” for an individual student’s development and self management

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it is short-lived in duration

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it occurs concurrently to learning

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it is contextually relevant to the memory or learning at hand

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Nearly 70% of primary school children in a recent survey reported experiencing negative symptoms of stress including hunger, worry, sadness, and embarrassment (Valizadeh et al., 2012).

In a 2013 “Stress in America” study conducted by the American Psychological Association, balancing school responsibilities was the most common source of unhealthy stress amongst the teenagers. Additionally, more than half of the teens believed they were not managing their stress appropriately (American Psychological Association, 2013).

Various areas of research list the harmful effects of stress on the body and brain, including poor lifestyle habits, negative emotions, illness and diseases, and impairments in cognition.

Based on these facts alone, it is understandable that parents and educators feel concerned about the effects of stress on their children. Every day, children are exposed to academic, social, emotional, familial, and internal stressors, which can affect their learning. For many, the natural, protective inclination is to shield children from any harm imposed by stress. However, since stress is both common and inevitable in daily life, a state of “zero stress” is unrealistic. Fortunately, harmful stress can be reduced and managed, so it does not become overwhelming, particularly during times of learning (Miller & Smith, 1994). In fact, appropriate levels of stress inoculation can be helpful for a child’s development.

In the classroom setting, stress can impact how a child learns and remembers content and skills. Teachers and parents should specifically consider how stress impacts a child’s learning by understanding how it affects the cognitive and emotional processes in the brain. Primarily, they must have an explicit understanding that the cognitive and emotional brain are

integrated. The impacts of stress are also largely dependent on a person’s idiosyncratic and contextual reaction to the stress.

In contrast, stress can impede memory and learning when -

its degree of severity is beyond the optimal levels for student development and self-management (i.e., severe stress)

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its duration is chronic

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it occurs asynchronously to learning

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it is not relevant to the skills and content being learned

Research provides further evidence into how stress affects a child’s learning in the classroom.

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The intensity of stress should be optimal for a child’s healthy development and growth.

Over the past century, many researchers have attempted to measure and determine the appropriate intensity of stress that is “optimal” for a person’s learning. The scope of the severity of stress begins with boredom (absence of stress), builds to arousal, and finally reaches the highest debilitating levels of stress.

First researched by Robert Yerkes and John Dodson (1908), the “inverted u-shaped curve” demonstrates that performance is best when arousal is at an optimal level. While the application of this curve has been widely debated over the past century, various researchers have shown similar models to demonstrate how the severity of stress affects a person’s memory and learning

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(Abercrombie et al., 2003; Salehi et al., 2010). For example, Arsten et al. (2012) demonstrates that the effects of stress on prefrontal cortex functioning (i.e., executive functioning) also follow an inverted u-shaped curve. In his “Human Function Curve,” Nixon (1979) uses a similar inverted u-shape curve to explain how the severity of stress affects the body. Once levels of stress reach beyond the optimal level, negative consequences including exhaustion, illness, or mental breakdown may occur (Figure 1). Whether short-lived or long-lasting, stress results in a release of cortisol, a primary stress hormone, which, in elevated levels, hinders memory processing, retrieval, and working memory (Oei et al., 2006; Schwabe et al., 2012; Schwabe & Wolf, 2014).

In summary, both a complete absence of stress and high, debilitating levels of stress in the classroom tend to impair students’ memory processing and retrieval, while developmentally appropriate amounts of stress (i.e., appropriate challenges or expectations) enhance learning and memory.

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support and encouragement from the teacher, could aid a student in coping with stress. While incorporating optimal levels of challenge into the classroom can be appropriate, teachers should also consider their students’ development and provide a warm and supportive environment.

• The

duration of stress should be short-lasting.

The duration of stress is primarily categorized as acute or chronic stress. Low levels of acute stress occur daily and are shortlived, only lasting for minutes to hours (Ness & Calabrese, 2016).

Acute stress could occur in the academic setting in the form of a challenge during classroom discussion or in the anticipation of an upcoming assignment or lesson. When experienced at developmentally appropriate levels, such stressors can enhance academic performance.

Chronic or prolonged stress, on the other hand, tends to impede learning and memory (Ness & Calabrese, 2016). At extreme levels, chronic stress can damage parts of the brain, leading to long-term memory impairments or psychosocial disorders (van Stegeren, 2009). Chronic stress may take form in long-standing anxiety, fears of danger, past experiences of failure, or a sense of not belonging.

• Healthy

levels of stress should occur within the same time frame as learning, and it should be contextually relevant to the skills or content of the lesson.

Figure 1. The Human Function Curve, Reprinted from “Homeostasis and Hypertension,” by P.G. Nixon, 1979, Journal of Psychosomatic Research, (23), p. 429.

Exposure to a stressful experience, at any level, will inherently lead to hormonal and chemical changes in the brain. However, the effects are dependent on both the intensity of the stressor and a person’s individual response (Joëls et al., 2006). Many researchers attribute the subjective nature of stress as significantly influencing the brain’s reaction to both internal and external stress. In one study, the researchers note that an individual’s response to stress could differ when stress is heightened or too low (Salehi et al., 2010). Stress management techniques, as well as

Healthy stress in the form of engagement increases attention at the onset of learning. Optimal levels of stress can enhance memory processing and formation when the stress occurs concurrently in time and is contextually relevant to learning. At the onset of stress, catecholamines, commonly known as noradrenaline and adrenaline, are initially released. These hormones increase attention and engagement and enhance early memory formation in the brain (Joëls et al., Schwabe et al., 2011). Therefore, an optimal level of stress that occurs immediately before, concurrently, or immediately after the time of learning can enhance the early stages of memory processing and formation (Vogel & Schwabe, 2016). Optimal stress further promotes memory when it is contextually related to learning (Schwabe & Wolf, 2014). For example, setting reasonably

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high expectations at the beginning of the class period or integrating emotionally appealing lesson content can enhance the students’ attention and early memory formation.

additional cognitive and emotional impairments and stressors.

Educators must therefore consider and be mindful of how these non-contextual stressors impact a child’s learning.

Fortunately, educators and parents can be proactive about how children perceive and react to stress to promote their brain development and learning. Within the classroom, educators can incorporate strategies in order to frame “healthy” stress as a source of engagement and motivation for learning. In addition, teachers should help students manage stress in a developmentally appropriate, safe, and supportive environment. In accordance with these principles, these strategies can help educators and students harness and manage stress to promote learning.

Strategies for the Classroom Figure 2. The amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex: areas in the brain involved in processing memory and responding to stress

The detrimental effects of heightened stress are more profound when there is a delay between stress and learning.

Elevated cortisol, a stress hormone, directly alters the memory functions of the amygdala, hippocampus, and pre-frontal cortex (Figure 2), three areas that control memory (Ness & Calabrese, 2016; Schwabe et al., 2011; Abercrombie et al., 2003). Consequently, the retrieval of central or pertinent information can be disrupted by elevated stress (Payne et al., 2006) especially when it is not contextually related to the stressor. A student who is experiencing heightened stress from a previous class or from a negative social interaction in the hallway may experience difficulty recalling previously learned ideas and processing new content during their next class period.

Teachers should also note the chronic, debilitating stressors that occur outside of the classroom context, such as stress experienced in family and social life. As Dr. Steiner-Adair states in her research, the rise in the digital and communication age can also complicate many areas of life. In the 2017 “Stress in America” survey, about one-fifth of Americans surveyed report that the use of technology is a “significant stress” in their lives. About half of parents surveyed also report that it is challenging for them to manage their children’s screen time (American Psychological Association, 2017). Research shows that overuse of screens can cause

• Create a structured classroom environment that integrates positive emotional engagement and expectations that both challenges and supports students.

Teachers can intentionally integrate optimal stress into their classroom environment by ensuring that stress is shortlived, appropriate for student development, and time and contextually relevant. In particular, teachers can set reasonably high expectations through challenge and anticipation of a class task or activity, while creating a supportive environment.

Integrating emotion into the classroom can also enhance memory (Payne et al., 2007). Vogel and Schwabe (2016) suggest ways teachers can strengthen their students’ memory through emotional engagement and contextual resonance.

Specifically, teachers can infuse appropriate emotional arousal into instruction by introducing their lesson with a motivation that resonates with the students’ values or by providing specific and positive reinforcement throughout the lesson. After studying ways effective teachers foster motivation, engagement, and agency in over 16,000 middle and high school classrooms, Ronald F. Ferguson and his colleagues concluded that effective teachers create a classroom environment that integrates academic “rigor, captivation, and care” (Ferguson et al., 2015).

By implementing appropriate challenge, positive engagement, and support, educators can create an environment that fosters “healthy” stress.

It is also important that teachers create a structured classroom that embeds consistent routines. Studies demonstrate that heightened or long-lasting stress suppresses

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higher-level cognitive processes in the brain including, flexible thinking, working memory, and attention (Schwabe et al., 2011). A recent study showed that participants undergoing stress adapted to using procedural (routine) learning strategies to recall memory (Ness & Calabrese, 2016), showing that stress causes the brain to rely on habit.

While consistent routines and structures are certainly advantageous for managing classroom behavior, embedding routines into the learning process can support students to access memory when they are experiencing debilitating effects of stress (Vogel & Schwabe, 2016).

At The Windward School in Manhattan and White Plains, many strategies cited in the research are reflected in daily classroom instruction. Teachers intentionally create an environment to appropriately challenge the students through high expectations, high support, structure, and routines. Windward teachers understand that their students may have had previous experiences of adversity and frustration in other school environments. Learning and practicing reading skills can also be an inherent stress for a Windward student. Therefore, teachers embed many strategies to help students feel appropriately challenged and supported. Specifically, the direct-instruction teaching model utilized in all Windward lessons is an explicit method for teaching strategies and content to allow students to learn a new skill with teacher guidance, and it provides multiple opportunities to practice both as a class and independently. At the beginning of each lesson, the teacher presents a motivation precisely to engage learners’ emotional and intellectual interest in the material. A direct instruction lesson also includes a review of prior learning, which aids the students to connect previous knowledge with new learning in the same context. Throughout Windward lessons, teachers provide specific positive feedback, which can boost emotional arousal and decrease negative stress by reinforcing a student’s sense of competence within the class period.

At Windward, homework is designed for students to reinforce skills that they learned and practiced during the school day. In addition, teachers work with students to selfadvocate in areas where they may need support. For example, students have opportunities to ask teachers for help or review concepts in homeroom before school or their “Focus Period” at the end of the school day before students are dismissed. Finally, all students are grouped homogenously in mathematics and language arts to ensure that they are challenged and supported based on the skills

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and pace of the class. By intentionally applying evidencebased strategies, Windward teachers ensure that stress remains optimal and contextually related to learning in order to encourage students’ learning and memory.

• Develop supportive relationships, and teach students about the impacts of stress.

Teachers can address and help alleviate unhealthy stress by building positive relationships with their students, which are fundamental to creating a highly supportive classroom.

Ferguson (2015) notes that caring teachers listen to students, provide emotional support, and are proactive in helping students manage stress. Fostering relationships will also help teachers become aware of stress that is non-contextual or time-relevant to the class (Vogel & Schwabe, 2016) and tailor their classroom management to address their students’ socio-emotional needs. Stress can have a substantial impact on a child’s behavior, attention, or motivation. A distracted student could be a frustration for a teacher with a carefully planned lesson. However, that student could simply need a sensitive ear and caring word far more than a rebuke calling for increased focus. Both teachers and parents can help students address their own stress by teaching stress management and social strategies including -

teaching students about the effects of optimal and harmful stress on learning and well-being.

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reshaping student perceptions and mindsets about stress in the classroom. Recent research has shown that the way a person views stress could attribute to how he or she responds to it (Crum et al., 2013). Teachers can frame appropriate stress in the classroom through challenge or positive emotion to enhance engagement.

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helping students to self-advocate to a trusted adult when faced with academic and personal challenges.

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encouraging students to seek opportunities outside of school to mitigate harmful stress. Physical activity, positive social activities, and healthy amounts of sleep are some proven methods to managing the negative effects of stress (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2013).

Cont’d on page 16

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• Taking care of students and teachers: Practice and model healthy stress responses and habits.

While this review focuses mostly on student memory and learning, Vogel and Schwabe (2016) note that stress can certainly influence how teachers maintain flexibility or adapt to unexpected changes during instruction. In addition, teachers are integral in teaching and modeling coping strategies to their students. Teachers who want to create an environment for optimal learning should also practice and teach stress management techniques. A teacher experienced in managing stress may allow students to decompress from overly stressful experiences before reentering the learning environment or seek support from the guidance staff for stress management strategies.

At The Windward School, these research findings are reflected in aspects of The Windward School’s Teacher Training Program, in classrooms, and throughout the community. During the school year, workshops, professional development, and faculty meetings focus on the socioemotional development of children with learning disabilities in order to ensure that teachers are intentional about how they address their students’ academic and personal needs.

Furthermore, teachers receive support, mentoring, and coaching to focus on their own growth. In the community, faculty members foster close relationships with the students by actively facilitating extracurricular activities including athletics, clubs, and school-chaperoned trips after regular school hours.

Most importantly, Windward teachers work collaboratively with the guidance department and administration to gain a strong understanding of their students’ developmental needs.

Through training, experience, and collaboration, Windward teachers continue to grow professionally and understand how stress may affect themselves as well as their students’ academic and personal growth.

Conclusions and Implications While the impact of stress on learning and memory is one component of the broader, complex system of the brain, it nevertheless has significant effects on both the cognitive and emotional brain. Stress can certainly negatively impact many areas of a child’s academic and personal life. However, optimal stress in the classroom through challenge and engagement can

benefit learning when it is contextual and developmentally appropriate. Both educators and parents can therefore empower children to reshape their perceptions of stress in the classroom, identify ways it can be used to promote learning and growth, and help children develop strategies to reduce and manage it.

References American Psychological Association (2017). Stress in America: Coping with Change. Stress in America™ Survey. Reprinted with permission.

American Psychological Association (2013). Stress in America: Are Teens Adopting Adults’ Stress Habits. Stress in America™ Survey. Reprinted with permission.

Arnsten, A., Wang, M., & Paspalas, C. (2012).

Neuromodulation of Thought: Flexibilities and Vulnerabilities in Prefrontal Cortical Network Synapses.

Neuron, 76(1), 223-239.

Abercrombie, H., Kalin, N., Thurow, M., Rosenkranz, M., & Davidson, R. (2003). Cortisol variation in humans affects memory for emotionally laden and neutral information.

Behavioral Neuroscience, 117(3), 505-516.

T. Ferguson, R., Phillips, S.F., Rowley, J.F.S., Friedlander, J.W. (2015). The influence of teaching beyond standardized test scores: engagement, mindsets, and agency. The Achievement Gap Initiative at Harvard University.

Crum, A.J., Salovey, P., Achor, S. (2013). Rethinking stress: the role of mindsets in determining the stress response.

Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 104(4), 716-733.

American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

(2005). Facts for Families: Helping teenagers deal with stress.

Retrieved from: https://www.aacap.org/App_Themes/ AACAP/docs/facts_for_families/66_helping_teenagers_with_ stress.pdf Joëls, M., Pu, Z., Wiegert, O., Oitzl, M., & Krugers, H. (2006). Learning under stress: how does it work?. Trends In Cognitive Sciences, 10(4), 152-158.

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Miller, L.H., Smith, A.D., Rothstein, L. (1994). The stress solution. Pocket Books.

Ness, D. & Calabrese, P. (2016). Stress Effects on Multiple Memory System Interactions. Neural Plasticity, 2016, 1-20.

Nixon, P.G. (1979). “Homeostasis and Hypertension.” Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 23, 423-430.

Oei, N. Everaerd, W., Elzinga, B. van Well, S. & Bermond, B. (2006) Psychosocial stress impairs working memory at high loads: An association with cortisol levels and memory retrievel.

Stress, 9(3), 133-141.

Payne, J., Jackson, E., Ryan, L., Hoscheidt, S., Jacobs, J. & Nadel, L. (2006). The impact of stress on neutral and emotional aspects of episodic memory. Memory, 14(1), 1-16.

Payne, J., Jackson, E., Hoscheidt, S., Ryan, L., Jacobs, W., & Nadel, L. (2007). Stress administered prior to encoding impairs neutral but enhances emotional long-term episodic memories. Learning & Memory, 14(12), 861-868.

Salehi, B., Cordero, M., & Sandi, C. (2010). Learning under stress: The inverted-U-shape function revisited. Learning & Memory, 17(10), 522-530.

Schwabe, L. & Wolf, O.T. (2014). Timing matters: Temporaldynamics of stress effects on memory retrieval. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 14(3), 1041-1048.

Schwabe, L., Joëls, M., Roozendaal, B., Wolf, O., & Oitzl, M. (2011). Stress effects on memory: An update and integration.

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 36(7), 1740-1749.

Valizadeh, L., Farnam, A., Farshi, M.R. (2012). Investigation of stress symptoms among primary school children. Journal of Caring Sciences, 1(1), 25-30.

Van Stegeren, A. (2009). Imaging Stress Effects on Memory: A Review of Neuroimaging Studies. The Canadian Journal Of Psychiatry, 54(1), 16-27.

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Vogel, S. & Schwabe, L. (2016). Learning and memory under stress: implications for the classroom. Npj Science Of Learning, 1(1).

Wolf, O. (2009). Stress and memory in humans: Twelve years of progress?. Brain Research, 1293, 142-154.

Yerkes, R. & Dodson, J. (1908). The relation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habit-formation. Journal Of Comparative Neurology And Psychology, 18(5), 459-482.

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Embracing Differences Leads To Many Open Doors Alumni Profile: Jay Hopkins ‘14

other students were not, such as typing instead of handwriting his written work, and having to sit for successive diagnostic tests that demanded much of his time and frequently took him out of the classroom.

However, Jay’s personality did not let it keep him down. Reflecting on a more positive memory, Jay actively participated in the school community through student council and other activities. “I was probably compensating for my academic challenges by being so active in the extracurricular activities,” he recalls. “Those formative experiences allowed me to develop a strong sense of agency.” His curiosity in others combined with his outgoing personality allowed him to make connections with peers and teachers that supported him throughout his academic journey. However, this inchoate fearlessness was harnessed and refined upon his arrival at Windward.

By Katherine Kaneko, Westchester Middle School Teacher

The Impact of Books and a Love for Science

Courtesy of Jay Hopkins ‘14

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lthough Arabic, Hindi, and Mandarin are considered to be exceptionally difficult for native English speakers to master, Jay Hopkins ‘14 easily crosses language barriers thanks to his fluency in these languages as well as in Spanish. He attributes his facility with languages to both his dyslexia and to The Windward School, observing that “because I was dyslexic in English, I never succeeded very well in that language. But ever since Windward, I’ve had an ear for languages.” Jay’s international exposure began soon after he was born in Ahmedabad, India. Four months later, his parents brought him back to the United States, where he eventually enrolled in the fourth grade at Windward. Windward

helped Jay identify and hone his many strengths, which include a great curiosity in the world and in people. The confidence and affirmation he received from his academic experience at Windward put him on a path to a life filled with scientific exploration, multicultural experiences, and global travel.

Innate Curiosity Jay was always a gregarious and inquisitive student. Yet of his memories of the schools he attended prior to Windward, he has several predominant ones. These exclusionary experiences included being required to do things that

Supported by Windward’s academic program, Jay was able to ground himself more fully in his scholastic experiences, and soon discovered that he consistently excelled at science and geography. Jay’s nascent selfadvocacy skills and personal understanding of his strengths and their implications were nurtured through Windward teachers like Ruthanne Mahoney and Valerie Greto who “got him through the fifth and sixth grades and were always available to help me.” Jay attributes his love of science to his Windward science teachers, specifically Karen Ralph, who encouraged Jay’s early explorations in the field. The intellectual successes he enjoyed in these areas remained with him through high school at the Forman School, a boarding school in Litchfield, Connecticut, and continued into college where his concentrations are in public health and international relations. Jay also formed a tertiary interest thanks to a love of reading developed during his time at The Windward School. In the more esoteric field of philosophy, a field that demands both extensive reading and logical analysis, Jay credits Windward for teaching him the

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skills to be able to successfully pursue this field. “I read for pleasure now, and when I do need to read for school, I use the annotating and fact-finding skills that I learned at Windward. I also credit my love for reading to opening my eyes and broadening my world. Because of the skills I learned, I became interested in the books A Thousand Suns and The Kite Runner. They really pushed me to learn Arabic.”

Additional skills he learned at Windward included helping him to read proficiently and to quickly identify main ideas and supporting details. These skills were particularly useful in his bioethics class, a prerequisite for his degree plan, at American University. In this class, Jay explored the ethical dilemma surrounding non-voluntary euthanasia particularly in instances when the patient is in a longterm coma. Jay’s well-analyzed and articulated response, along with his participation in the class, led the professor of the course to invite him to return as a teaching assistant. Being a teaching assistant with office hours and student mentoring helped Jay sympathize with his professors when students were late or not reaching their potential. It especially allowed him to appreciate the importance of self-advocacy and communication with his own teachers, a skill Jay says he learned early as a student at Windward.

These academic and self-advocacy skills also allowed him to easily transition to the Forman School, where in his senior year, he was made head prefect before graduating and beginning his college career at the American University. Jay notes that he chose American University for its academic culture that he felt would continue to support his learning needs and nurture his strengths, much like Windward did when Jay entered as a fourth grader. He is also joined by old friends from Windward, with at least three other former Windward students attending American University with him.

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Succeeding Beyond Windward Developing learning strategies and selfadvocacy skills are among the most crucial skills Jay felt that Windward taught him. “I can sympathize why students might not want to come forward, but I’ve learned that is the wrong thing to do. When a student feels intimidated by the professor, all those advocacy skills can be harder to access. But it’s especially important for students with dyslexia,” Jay says, emphasizing that while schools and people have developed a more nuanced understanding of dyslexia, it is still important to explain the needs of a dyslexic student. He also feels that finding sympathetic and supportive teachers is essential. “The main reason I decided upon American University is because the learning center is amazing. I love American University, and my professors, especially my mentor who is my writing teacher from freshman year,” Jay explains, illustrating the importance of establishing relationships early on with professors and utilizing the resources that schools offer. Jay only encountered one class where the professor and a peer had a pejorative attitude towards dyslexia, and he handled it with confidence borne from years as a Windward student, knowing he was much more than one person’s misperception. “I handled it by becoming the project leader and leading our group to an “A” in the course,” he points out.

A promising future grounded in global improvement Now, poised to graduate from American University as a public health major with a double minor in philosophy and international relations, Jay transcends borders as an intern at the Middle East Investment Initiative, a D.C.-based non-government organization operating in Palestine, Jordan, and Tunisia.

Jay’s position as an intern at the NGO lets him tap into his analytical side as well as utilize his engaging social skills. His current role as the public relations officer for the nonprofit is an absorbing and fascinating job.

Additionally, while handling the media arm of

Courtesy of Jay Hopkins ‘14

the NGO, Jay is involved in projects such as financing solar panels and water drip systems for local farmers who need backing on their microloans or need additional financing. Working with multiple partners from various culture and economic backgrounds lets Jay utilize the many diverse talents he nurtured at Windward. Most recently, thanks to the internship, he had the opportunity to travel to Israel and Palestine over the summer, where he was able to see first-hand the importance of communication and advocacy. “It was eyeopening for me to learn how much the Israelis and the Palestinians just wanted to know more what each other were like.

There’s a wall that divides them not just physically but in terms of getting to know each other.” Jay’s certainty that communication eases barriers and improves understanding was reinforced through his travels for work. The seed for his deep commitment to increasing the ability of people to be their own advocates and to have greater agency in their lives seems to have been planted and watered from his own successes at Windward. Jay’s curiosity about the world and scientific leanings will lead him eventually to graduate school where he can continue working to “increase quality of life and letting people build lives worth living.” For now, he is focusing on his studies at American University and devoting himself to his internship, following his own advice to “embrace the things that make you different, that make you stand out and that make you who you are.”

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The Windward School Newsletter for Educators and Parents Fall 2017

Dr. John J. Russell Head of School Jonathan Rosenshine Associate Head of School Board of Trustees 2017–18 Executive Board Ellen Bowman President Timothy M. Jones 1st Vice President Susan Salice 2nd Vice President Mark A. Ellman Treasurer Mitchell J. Katz Secretary Thomas Coleman Patty Wolff Arthur Ceria Elizabeth A. Crain Peter D’Avanzo George Davison Nicholas Finn Thomas Flanagan David Friedland Alexander A. Gendzier Mark Goldberg Jeffrey Goldenberg Gregory D. Kennedy Stacy Kuhn Raul Martinez Janice Meyer Denis J. O’Leary, III Maria Reed Eric Schwartz Lou Switzer Nicholas Van Amburg Devon S. Fredericks, Trustee Emerita Editor Heather Pray Director of Communications Design John Greer Graphic Management Partners

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