Learning to Learn: Helping Parents Understand Cognitive Assets

This is one of my favorite subjects to talk about…helping learners become better learners. This is a true “big picture” strategy because if you become a better learner, you’ll improve in EVERYTHING, and that provides cognitive mental return on our learning investment.

LIMITLESS POTENTIAL
I’ve mentioned in other posts how intelligence is dynamic. This is something every parent needs to understand. There is nothing static about a learner’s potential. There never comes a point where you can say “well, that’s it…job well done…you’ve learned all you’re gonna learn!” The human brain is malleable. Simply stated, when you put your brain to work, it physically upgrades. It doesn’t fill up, rather it physically changes its structure. As the parent of two children with special needs, this is particularly uplifting. They may not learn as fast or as easily, but a world of discovery is still open to them.

This is a fact that I constantly repeat to them. You don’t keep this type of info to yourself. My kids are fully aware of their own struggles, but understanding how learning happens has given them a leg up on equipping themselves with the means to persevere. What do I equip them with you may be asking? Cognitive assets…the simple strategies and practices that make them more efficient THINKERS!

The Four Ingredients of Family Engagement: 4 simple steps to effective involvement

A while back I wrote about the four types of activities make up family involvement and engagement. These are often referred to as ingredients in the Hoover-Dempsey and Sadler Model of parental involvement. I just love the insight that this model has been able to provide me and I've done all I can to share this amazing information with other educators as well as apply it with parents. The way they refer to ingredients really got my mind wandering (don't wait up...who knows where my daydreams will take me). It kind of reminded me of Chopped...you know, from the Food Network. In this show they open up a basket of ingredients and you are forced to make due with what you've got. Actually just "making due" won't get you far at all. You need to produce something amazing! The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this show really is just like effective parent involvement.

WOOOO!!! ULTIMATE BLOG PARTY 2013!!!

My name is Angel Rodriguez. I'm a educator, adoptive dad, scholar, neuro-geek, and occasional superhero (according to my kiddos). I'm excited about participating in UTB13 and hope to visit and enjoy many of your blogs. 

I'm new myself to this whole blogging thing, but I am awfully excited about it! In a nutshell, my life pretty much revolves around helping others (especially families and children) and LEARNING! My hope is to share what I've discovered through my odd assortment of experiences (oh boy...its been odd, but in a wondrous way) and help them reach their potential through the use of brain-based learning. I'm literally in love with learning and that's what this blog is all about. I hope to use this tool, and some other forms of social media (especially Pinterest! HOLY CRAP PINTEREST IS FUN!!!...pardon me, I digress) to reach as many people as I can.

Why do it? Over the last 17 years I've watched moms, dads, and the children they love, struggle. As the father of two amazing children with disabilities, as a teacher, as a learner...I've struggled too. I don't want you to have to re-invent the wheel. I want you to know what I know. The knowledge I've acquired has been hard fought, and thankfully it has been an incredible blessing to my family. All I can hope is that it can be a blessing to yours as well. Visit often...I guarantee you'll LEARN A LOT!!!