The Big Fresh from Choice Literacy June 5, 2010 True Senior Moments


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The Big Fresh from Choice Literacy
June 5, 2010
True Senior Moments

I've been enjoying the fascinating book The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain by Barbara Strauch, the perfect reading material for anyone who is painfully aware of their memory lapses in middle age. (Or maybe it's my own personal "just-right" book for the summer I will turn 50.) My favorite quote in the book is by the woman who rails against the phrase "senior moment" and how often it is used as an insult. To paraphrase, she says, "Sure, I lose my keys once in awhile. But so does my teenage son! And we don't call that a 'teenage moment' - we call it misplacing your keys."

Strauch makes a powerful case through research and anecdotes that the memory loss from an aging brain is more than offset by the calm and confidence many of us develop in facing problems and making decisions as we grow older. The most striking example she gives is of the crew of the U.S. Airways flight that safely landed a plane in the Hudson River. The pilot was in his late 50s, and the entire crew had decades of experience. It was that seasoning and gut-level trust of their knowledge and abilities that led to smart, careful and instant decisions that saved every life on the plane.

Every day, the middle-aged brain helps us make even trivial decisions more easily than we could in our youth, without us even being aware of it. As Strauch writes:

Our middle-aged brains simply know that the deal for the latest video-conferencing cell phone/life organizer is no deal at all, know that we don't have to panic because our daughter's latest oddball boyfriend won't last long in the end, know that it really is better to keep our mouths shut if, in fact, we have nothing useful to say, and know when we must speak up to make a difference.

I'd add the educator corollaries to Strauch's words. We can take our time knowing the first one out of the gate won't necessarily win the race to the top, and we know immediately why it's better to explain to the wet behind the ears new principal in private why her comment at the staff meeting was so offensive, rather than cause a ruckus in front of everyone. Our brains just know.

So, if you're "chronologically gifted" and prone to frustration at your memory lapses, I hope you'll take a few minutes to kiss that aging brain of yours as the school year comes to a close. You had many senior moments this year you probably didn't even recognize in the midst, because you make smart, careful and instant decisions that kept you (and your students and colleagues) out of trouble. Simply put, your older and wiser brain keeps you from jumping into many of the daily conflicts that bubble up and trap younger, less inexperienced teachers. Of course, some days we'd gladly trade some of our wisdom for a bit of that youthful energy and enthusiasm!

This week we've got resources to support National Audiobook Month in June. Plus more as always - enjoy!

Brenda Power
Editor, Choice Literacy

Free for All

Help students treasure this year's learning from your classroom with a keepsake. This week's installment of our series Literacy Activities for Closing Out the School Year highlights more keepsakes for students to take home, building on last week's suggestions:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/1196.cfm

What's the best way to keep a child reading all summer? Get them hooked on a series. The Lit for Kids website has a booklist of new series titles with familiar characters for young readers:

http://bit.ly/aDChzN

June is National Audiobook Month. Abby the Librarian has a terrific round-up of resources on the web:

http://bit.ly/czSVcw

Here is a wonderful link to send on to teens and parents. Sync is offering two free downloads each week of top audiobook titles through the summer, starting July 1st. These are great picks, with a range of bestselling and classic authors from James Patterson to Mary Shelley, and a dollop of red-hot titles like The Hunger Games thrown in:

http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/sync/info.html

How are you dealing with the 4th grade slump in your school? You may want to check out our summer DVD promotion featuring videos from Franki Sibberson's intermediate classroom. The Right Book at the Right Time and Writers in Transition include small groups, whole-class lessons, and conferring around topics such as character development, choosing appropriate books for independent reading, and revision strategies. Order the DVD bundle and save $99 with this limited time offer:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/products/item37.cfm

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