The Role of Emotion and Reflection in Student Achievement: (The Frontal Lobe/ Amygdala Connection)

The book introduces readers to the two ways the brain is programmed to learn. It explains how these two systems affect classroom instruction and explains how the events of the culture affect brain development. It also explains how to set up a brain-compatible classroom and the underlying principles that guide all stu- dent learning. The book is loaded with student projects of all kinds that are emo- tonally engaging to students and help them learn more successfully. The book also explains how the emotional part of the brain (the limbic system) many times interferes with learning and prevents reasoning, thinking, and problem-solving to occur preventing students from using the rational parts of the brain (the frontal lobe system) to occur. The book explores how dysfunctional behavior in school such as ADD, & ADHD are related to school skill development and achievement. The argument is made that pre-requisite school success skills that lead to proficiency in reading, writing, calculating, and problem-solving are not really taught but merely assumed to be learned from the home and the early grades. Not only that but these pre-requisite skills are ALL found in the frontal lobe executive functions. The students who have those skills are almost always the high achievers in school. Those students that don't have these school success skills simply don't achieve at the level of the other students who have those skills.