Vacation and Brain Incubation | Hooray for Monday

December 19, 2022

By Aleta Margolis, Founder and President of Center for Inspired Teaching

Hooray for Monday is a weekly blog filled with questions, ideas, reflections, and actions we can all take to remodel the school experience for students.

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I love the game Wordscapes (Google / Apple), and I play it almost every day. If you know the game, you know that it offers you a series of word puzzles, set up like crossword puzzles, in which you have six or seven letters to make a variety of words. Some of the puzzles are straightforward and simple; some are very challenging. You have to solve each puzzle before you move on to the next one. Some days I get through just one or two puzzles. On other days I solve quite a few before I get stuck.

That’s when I step away for the day, when I find myself unable to organize the letters into any more words. When I get to a place where I just can’t solve any more puzzles, I stop playing until the next day.

Here’s an interesting phenomenon I’ve observed. Almost every time I return to Wordscapes, and open the puzzle I left behind the previous day, I’m able to find the missing word within seconds. I’m amazed at how easily I can solve the very same problem that had stumped me the day before.

There’s a scientific explanation for this. When we take a break from focused problem-solving, our brains experience “incubation periods” during which our unconscious brains can work on the problems that our conscious brains struggled to navigate. In other words, when we stop stressing about the problems in front of us, we are actually able to access more of our problem-solving apparatus.

When we have the opportunity to step away from a challenge – whether it’s a word puzzle or a lesson that’s not clicking or a student who’s hard to reach – we tend to come back to it refreshed. Time away offers the gift of new eyes that help us see solutions we missed when we were in the thick of things.

Think of how many problems a teacher solves every single day. (Actually…please don’t think about that! The number would be overwhelming!) Instead, enjoy the upcoming break from teaching, and classroom-based problem-solving. Embrace the gift of stepping back, and the perspective it brings.

Wishing you a winter break filled with incubation, inspiration, and good old-fashioned relaxation.

Resources for Brain Incubation

See with Fresh Eyes
This Inspired Teaching reflection activity walks you through a series of prompts in order to consider your students through a different lens. Now that you’ve gotten to know them pretty well, this opportunity to pause and shift perspective can help reveal new ways to reach them in the new year.

Can Taking a Break Lead to “Aha!” Moments?
Kenneth E. Miller, Psychology Today
“Human beings are great problem-solvers, and our usual problem-solving strategies generally work well for us. But if you find yourself deeply stuck, unable to solve a problem and just getting more frustrated the longer you think about it, stop.”

Study Shows How Taking Short Breaks May Help Our Brains Learn New Skills
National Institutes of Health
“Our results support the idea that wakeful rest plays just as important a role as practice in learning a new skill. It appears to be the period when our brains compress and consolidate memories of what we just practiced.” – Leonardo G. Cohen, M.D.

Listen to This Issue of Hooray For Monday

InspiredTeaching · December 19, 2022: Vacation & Brain Incubation

Micaiah Anderson

Community Outreach Specialist

As a Community Outreach Specialist, Micaiah is responsible for program promotion and outreach support for Inspired Teaching events and workshops. Micaiah has a passion for collaborating with community members to build-power and connect. She is an educator with a heart for youth and has experience supporting students fight injustices within their schools and communities. She has a BA in Political Science from, the real HU, Hampton University & anticipates graduating in May 2024 with a Masters of Arts degree in Educational Policy Transformation from Georgetown University.

AUTONOMY

"I want to have a say in what happens to me."

Autonomy is the need for independence; the ability to make choices, to create, to explore, and to express oneself freely; to have sufficient space, to move around, and to feel unrestricted with opportunities to exercise free will.

Brady Maiden

Outreach Coordinator

As the Outreach Coordinator, Brady helps maintain Inspired Teaching’s social media presence and supports the organization’s mission to connect with DC community leaders, educators, and parents. Brady has her Master’s in Public Policy from George Mason University and her BS in Political Science from Northern Arizona University. She is passionate about community, equity, and coalition building recognizing that learning and growing with the community at large is how we continue to be impactful.

What brings you joy in life?

I find joy in spending time with my friends and family and meeting new people. I like going to concerts and festivals, and finding new books to read.

The Learner’s Cycle, Wonder-Experiment-Learn, and the Teacher’s Cycle, Observe-Plan-Instigate, comprise Inspired Teaching’s approach to engaging students in inquiry-based learning.

When they are engaged in the Wonder-Experiment-Learn Cycle, students are immersed in learning. They take the lead in designing authentic learning experiences around their own interests and their school’s standards of learning. Each discovery leads to a new question which in turn leads to more wondering and more learning. In the Wonder-Experiment-Learn Cycle, Learn is not a destination or an endpoint; it is a deeper understanding, leading to a deeper wondering and new possibilities that create new entry points to further exploration. The cycle continues because what students have learned generates more wonderings that require more experiments that foster more learning – and on and on.

The Observe-Plan-Instigate Cycle is the work of an Inspired Teacher. While a student is expected to follow the Wonder-Experiment-Learn Cycle, the teacher joins them on the learning journey while following their own cycle of Observe-Plan-Instigate. This cycle ultimately serves to ensure an inquiry-based atmosphere is at play in the classroom.

Jaqueta Abbey

Teaching and Learning Specialist

Jaqueta is the Teaching and Learning Specialist for Inspired Teaching. In addition to her current role with Inspired Teaching, Jaqueta is a first-grade teaching assistant. Her background features a variety of traditional and non-traditional experiences in the field of education, including working as an adjunct professor, teaching summer reading programs to children and adults, and tutoring children in the foster care system. Jaqueta earned a B.A. in Communication Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an M.A. in Interactive Media from Elon University.

What brings you joy in life?

Creative self-expression! In addition to my passion for storytelling, I love dancing of all kinds. I've studied belly dance, bachata, and Brazilian Zouk among other styles. I also enjoy glass fusing, crocheting, photography, and cross stitching. These art forms allow me to express myself and build connections with other people at the same time. I think life would be a lot less vibrant without artists and storytellers!

Michelle Welk

Communication & Marketing Specialist

As Communications and Marketing Specialist, Michelle is responsible for finding and creating new ways to highlight Inspired Teaching and promote its programs in order to expand and deepen the organization's impact. Michelle has worked in communications in an array of settings, from creative agencies to state politics to national nonprofits. She has a BA in Journalism from Temple University in Philadelphia and is passionate about education, access, and equity.

What brings you joy in life?

My son, the beach, making a persuasive argument and good food!

Max Peterson

Real World History Assistant Teacher

Max received his Bachelor’s degree in History and African American Studies from Boston University in May 2016. He has worked in museum curation at the Museum of the White Mountains in New Hampshire and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Max has worked with young people of varying ages from young children to young adults transitioning to college.

Feedback and Accountability

We grow through feedback and an understanding that the quality of our work is a reflection of what we are learning, but the shift to remote learning this spring disrupted a lot of the tools teachers were used to using to evaluate student growth. How might we do things differently this fall? Participants in this workshop will explore ways to bring meaningful assessment into the virtual and/or socially-distanced classroom and approaches to student feedback that strengthen motivation, and build relationships and achievement.