Article Summary:   “Brain-Based Learning: Getting Inside Their Heads” Published by MiddleWeb, April 24, 2025
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MiddleWeb’s recent Substack entry, “Brain-Based Learning: Getting Inside Their Heads,” curates expert insights and strategies grounded in neuroscience to help educators harness the cognitive strengths of middle school students. The article highlights why understanding how the adolescent brain functions—and misfires—is key to effective teaching and student engagement.

At the center of the article is Dr. Thomas Armstrong, author of The Power of the Adolescent Brain, who reframes middle school behavior not simply as hormonal turbulence but as a product of neurochemical shifts and immature brain architecture. Armstrong places particular focus on the limbic system, the brain’s emotional command center, which is highly active in early adolescence. He urges educators to stop treating emotional outbursts as moral failings and instead recognize these behaviors as brain-based expressions of developmental processes.

In his article, “Maximize the Power of the Middle School Brain,” Armstrong offers practical classroom applications, including four strategies that directly address the heightened emotional activity of the limbic system. Instead of reacting with discipline or lectures, he recommends designing emotionally engaging lessons, using peer interactions for positive reinforcement, and building environments that promote self-regulation and empathy. Importantly, he also outlines ways to support the still-developing prefrontal cortex, which governs decision-making and rational thought, thereby helping students mature cognitively through scaffolded learning experiences.

Complementing Armstrong’s brain-based behavioral approach, the article also spotlights the work of Marilee Sprenger, a noted author and educator with deep expertise in memory and cognitive development. Three of Sprenger’s most popular articles are featured, each offering tools to optimize memory retention and student focus:

1. “Getting Test Ready? Try Some Retrieval Practice” Sprenger introduces 13 rehearsal and retrieval strategies that help move learning from short-term to long-term memory. Importantly, she dispels the myth that re-reading is effective, and instead recommends activities like low-stakes quizzing and timed recalls.

2. “7 Brain-Based Ways to Make Learning Stick” This article lays out seven evidence-backed steps to ensure information is encoded more deeply and remembered more reliably. The strategies include using storytelling, visual imagery, and pattern recognition—all aligned with how the brain prefers to process and store information.

3. “A Perfect Partnership: SEL & Executive Function” Here, Sprenger explains the synergistic power of combining Social Emotional Learning (SEL) with Executive Function (EF) skills. By teaching students how to manage their emotions and organize their thinking, educators can significantly improve student engagement and resilience. Examples are given across content areas, making it applicable to diverse instructional contexts.

Together, Armstrong and Sprenger offer a compelling argument: by aligning teaching methods with the brain’s natural functioning, educators can significantly enhance learning, behavior, and emotional development in middle grade students.

The post closes with a bonus recommendation: the updated edition of STEM by Design, praised by veteran science teacher Ryan Nunley as a practical, brain-friendly guide to engineering education for young learners.

Ultimately, this MiddleWeb digest encourages educators to approach the classroom not just as instructors, but as neuro-informed guides—attuned to the complex, dynamic landscape of the adolescent brain.

Citation: MiddleWeb. “Brain-Based Learning: Getting Inside Their Heads.” MiddleWeb Substack, April 24, 2025.
https://middleweb.substack.com/p/brain-based-learning

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