Friday, November 20, 2009

Interview About the Begin with the Brain book

Last year I was interviewed by my publisher, Corwin Press about by book, Begin with the Brain: Orchestrating the Learner-Centered Classroom. This book was originally published in 1999 with Zephyr Press. Corwin is releasing the "new updated" second edition in December (09). In this interview I'm sharing a few key points from the book. I really don't like to watch myself on video, so I'm afraid I don't have a realistic opinion of the value of this clip. Let me know what you think. It's available on YouTube or you can see it here. Let me know what you think!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Welcome to the Begin with the Brain BLOG!


Hi I'm Martha Kaufeldt, a veteran educator, author and workshop presenter. When I work with other teachers, I refer to myself as the "Teacher Down the Hall." I love to be a resource for other educators and parents as they seek out ideas and strategies to maximize learning for kids.

After months of consideration, I've decided to begin a blog to share ideas, research, books and information that I am currently investigating. This decision comes after so many of my workshop participants, friends and colleagues have contacted me and wanted to "pick my brain" about new projects. I'm always happy to share what's new in the field of cognitive neuroscience, differentiated instruction and learning in general. My goal is that when I find a new resource, observe a great strategy in action, hear an incredible speaker at a conference or just have a scathingly brilliant idea, I will take time to capture the thought and share it here on the "Begin with the Brain" blog.

Lots of changes are in the works! We are currently updating the web site: Begin with the Brain (http://www.beginwiththebrain.com) and I've just created a FACEBOOK page for quick posts as well.

All this flurry of activity is in anticipation of the release of the SECOND edition of my book Begin with the Brain: Orchestrating the Learner-Centered Classroom (Corwin Nov.2009). After a year of working on this, I am thrilled with the new version. It is so much more complete and contains much more brain research. It has been 10 years since the first edition was published by Zephyr Press. I will dedicate a new post to some of the highlights of this new edition very soon.

I encourage you to let others know about this new Blog and the Facebook page. I'd love to start my journey as a social networker!

Regards,
Martha Kaufeldt