Accurate Testing: What Educators Can Learn from Dr. Fauci for Fall 2020

When done right, testing is incredibly valuable We’ve all heard more about the value of accurate, reliable testing in the last four weeks than at any point in our collective lifetimes. The crystal clear message from trusted scientists: Testing is essential to evaluate and address current conditions. The only thing worse than not testing is

Every Child Who Needs a Test Can Get a Test

We’ve been flooded with emails about Mindprint over the last few weeks How is this different from academic testing? Is my school doing this or should I be doing this at home? What are the benefits? We greatly appreciate your interest and decided to write a new “Dr. Fauci-inspired” Q & A to answer the most common questions

How to Help Stressed Out Students

If you are working in a high performing school, you probably know all too well that you have a lot of stressed out students. Still, you might be startled by new research that classifies students in high performing schools as having the same level of risk for serious mental health problems as students living in poverty,

Mindprint in Space: Results from the NASA Twins Study

What is the NASA Twins Study?  Identical twin astronauts, Mark and Scott Kelly, agreed to be studied for two years. NASA tracked changes to their genes, cognitive skills and physical and mental health to understand the impact of long duration space flight on the human body and brain. Mark stayed on Earth throughout. Scott spent a full year at

Metacognition & Problem Solving

Successful learners use metacognition to facilitate their problem solving. This is one of the key findings of the National Academy of Sciences’ synthesis of decades of research on the science of learning explained in How People Learn: Mind, Brain, Experience and School Below we explain metacognition and provide the vocabulary to teach it. In part two of this

Attention Test: If You’re Not Paying Attention You’re Not Learning

Attention is the skill that enables students to follow through even when the work gets challenging or boring. Note: This is one of a 10 blog series on learning traits. Read about all 10 learning traits here. What is Attention? Attention is your ability to sustain focus, even for tasks or classes that you might not find interesting. Attention difficulties can affect students in all subjects and activities, but it

Visual Memory: The Hidden Gem

Visual memory is a key skill for STEM. Mathematicians, scientists and artists all rely heavily on this trait to be efficient in their work. Note: This is one of a 10 blog series on learning traits. Read about all 10 learning traits here. What is Visual Memory? Visual memory is the ability to remember what you see, including images, patterns, colors or what’s in “the mind’s eye”.  Why is it

Verbal Memory: The Key to Learning Efficiency

Verbal memory is the skill that makes students most efficient in school and with homework, particularly in elementary school. Note: This is one of a 10 blog series on learning traits. Read about all 10 learning traits here. What is Verbal Memory? Verbal memory is the ability to remember what you read or hear. It includes your ability to hear or read a word, sentence or paragraph