What is quantum learning?

Quantum Learning is a comprehensive model that covers both educational theory and immediate classroom implementation. It integrates research-based best practices in education into a unified whole, making content more meaningful and relevant to students' lives.

Quantum learning is about bringing joy to teaching and learning with ever-increasing 'Aha' moments of discovery. It helps teachers to present their content a way that engages and energizes students. This model also integrates learning and life skills, resulting in students who become effective lifelong learners-responsible for their own education.

The FADE model

Foundation, Atmosphere, Design, Environment-creates the context of Quantum Learning. We know when the context is strong, it 'fades' into the background and creates the structure for learning to occur

Quantum Learning begins with a strong foundation built on the principles of the 8 Keys of Excellence. It holds the beliefs that: All people can learn, people learn differently, and learning is effective when it is joyful, engaging and challenging. The 8 Keys of Excellence include: Integrity, Commitment, Failure Leads to Success, Ownership, Speak with Good Purpose, Flexibility, This Is It!, and Balance. The 8 Keys of Excellence can be integrated into all subjects and grade levels. The 8 Keys are best implemented when parents and community leaders support and reinforce the Keys.

The Quantum Learning framework for student learning is expressed in 5 Tenets of Learning:

Everything, from surroundings and tone of voice to distributionof materials, conveys an important message about learning.

Everything we do has an intended purpose.

Students make meaning and transfer new content intolong-term memory by connecting to existing schema. Learning is best facilitated whenstudents experience the information in some aspect before they acquire labels for whatis being learned.

Acknowledgment of each student's effort encourageslearning and experimentation.

Celebration provides feedback regarding progress and increases positive emotional associations with the learning. Quantum Learning creates an empowering atmosphere of trust, safety and a sense of belonging. Establishing engaging, focused traditions creates a sense of belonging and safety and is an effective strategy for classroom management, focusing attention and motivating students to increase participation in learning. Each school day begins with a morning routine and purposeful first statement. These routines are designed to immediately focus students and create resourceful learning states.

Quantum Learning Design Frame

The QL Design Frame that drives the presentation and facilitation of content was formulated from many years of research on effective delivery methods and is the structural frame upon which content is designed to ensure student mastery. The elements (that are aligned with Dr. Georgi Lozanov's learning cycle) are:

1. Enroll-Use teacher moves that capture the interest, curiosity and attention of the students.

2. Experience-Create or elicit a common experience, or tap into common knowledge to which all learners can relate. Experience before Label creates schema on which to build new content.

3. Learn & Label-Present, sequence and define the main content. Students learn labels, thinking skills and academic strategies. Students add new content to their existing schema.

4. Demonstrate-Give students an opportunity to demonstrate and apply their newlearning.

5. Review and Reflect-Use a variety of effective, multi-sensory review strategies and empower students to process their new content through reflection.

6. Celebration-Acknowledge the learning. It cements the content and adds a sense of completion.

Quantum Learning creates a supportive physical environment that enhances and reinforces learning. Ideal learning environments include proper lighting, purposeful color, positive affirmation posters, plants, props and music. These elements are easy to include in one's classroom, and students enjoy learning more in a comfortable setting.

The key is to create empowering school environments that build engaging and dynamic communities of learning. The results are enhanced teacher capacity and increased student achievement.

Quantum Learning

Gives teachers skills to engage students and gets them excited about learning. Provides a proven research-based approach to the design and delivery of curriculum and the teaching of learning and life skills. Synthesizes the best teaching practices into an effective, comprehensive model, turning abstract theory into practical techniques that can be immediately applied in a classroom.

As parents, you may hear about the 8 Keys of Excellence, Celebrations, Learning Styles, and why Music plays a role in the classroom. Below you will find out about these areas and WHY they are used in the classroom.

8 Keys of Excellence

1. Integrity: Conduct yourself with authenticity, sincerity and wholeness. Your values and behavior are aligned.


2. Failure Leads to Success: Understand that failures simply provide you with the information you need to succeed. There are no failures, only outcomes and feedback. Everything can be useful if you know how to find the gift.


3. Speak with Good Purpose: Speak in a positive sense, and be responsible for honest and direct communication. Avoid gossip and harmful communication. This is it: focus your attention on the present moment, and make the most of it. Give each task your best effort.


4. Commitment: Follow through on your promises and obligations; live your vision. Do whatever it takes to get the job done.


5. Ownership: Take responsibility and be accountable for your actions.


6. Flexibility: Be open to change or a new approach when it helps you get the outcome you desire.


7. Balance: Keep your mind, body and spirit in alignment. Spend time developing and maintaining these three areas.

Celebrations:

If It's Worth Learning, It's Worth Celebrating!

Providing celebrations encourages students to take more ownership And initiate their own learning. It teaches them about intrinsic motivation without 'incentives.' Celebration builds the desire for success. Celebrations need to take place at school and at home!

Forms of Celebration

• Applause


• Three Hoorays


• Whooshes-Everyone claps three times in unison, and then sends all of their positive energy to a designated person. This looks like pushing the hands, after the claps, toward the person, yelling "whoos" at the same time.


• Finger Snaps-When you want a quiet acknowledgement, instead of applause.


• Toasts


• Public Posters-Acknowledges individuals or even a class for a job well done!


• Private Notes-Acknowledge great efforts, contributions to class, great behavior, or acts of kindness


• Surprises-'No Homework tonight! Let’s go out to dinner to celebrate______ grades!'


• Strength Acknowledgments-Kids in the classroom and/or families can acknowledge some special strength or quality to the person who is receiving the acknowledgement.


• High-5's


• Affirmation Statements-(Done as a class, such as "We did it!" "Now we're thinking!"

Learning Styles

The brain contains three major freeways, or modalities, for processing the stimuli that come at us from the world outside ourselves. These three modalities-visual, auditory and kinesthetic- are actually communication conduits that help you make sense of your world. The connection between the words you say and the ways you internally represent your world make it essential that you pay careful attention to your speech patterns. Using predicates and phrases that match each modality strengthens your students" receptivity. You can literally speak to the modality of learning that best supports the kind of thinking you want to elicit. For example, see how the following sentences create images in you mind:

• Picture this: A smiling, pink elephant in green high tops poses near the park bench. This word "picture" signals the brain to utilize the visual modality. The picture is strengthened by color words and the prepositional phrase.


• Listen to how this phrase rings true: you understand the instructions only after you have assembled the wagon. The words "listen" and "rings true" cues the auditory modality.


• Get the feel for this next point as you grasp its application: "Get", "feel" and "grasp" capture the kinesthetic modality.

Here are a few modality-specific phrases you can use to elicit modality specific associations:

• Visual: I see what you mean. It's clear now. Picture this. Look! Imagine.


• Auditory: Rings true. Sounds good to me. Listen! Say it again.


• Kinesthetic: Get a hold of this. Feels right. Tackle this!

Remember:

Everything speaks; what you say and how you say it!

Music

Music sets the mood, changes the students' mental states and support the learning environment. Music helps learners perform better and remember more. It stimulates, rejuvenates and strengthens learning, both consciously and unconsciously. And besides, most students just love it.

The rhythm, beat and harmony of music affects the human physiology-primarily brain waves and heartbeat- in addition to evoking emotions and memories (Lozanov, 1979). Music can help bring students into an optimal learning state. Music also enables you to build rapport with students because through it, you can "speak their language."

Source: Bobbi DePorter, Mark Reardon and Sarah Singer-Nourie, (1999). Quantum Teaching Orchestrating Student Success. Massachusetts: A Viacom Company