MRS LYNDA DARBY
arrowsmith coordinator
W
e have approximately 100 billion neurons in our brain. There are as many neurons in our brains as there are stars in the Milky Way. Each single brain neuron has from 1,000 to 10,000 connections with other neurons, making up to 10 trillion neuron connections possible.
Wow there is a whole lot going on in these brains of ours each day. At TSS, we consider the cognitive development of our students to be so important that we are one of only a few schools in Queensland providing the Arrowsmith Program. This learning intervention program is based on the premise of neuroplasticity.
We know that the brain can change. The Arrowsmith program exercises target the weaker cognitive areas that contribute to learning difficulties. Research now tells us that our neural pathways and connections are strengthened through repetition, new experiences and specific cognitive exercises. When we strengthen our neural networks and increase our neural connections, and once the source of the learning difficulty is addressed, the learner’s ability to perform complex tasks can be improved. Barbara Arrowsmith-Young is a pioneer of using the understanding of neuroplasticity in an educational environment. Barbara, having first hand experience herself with learning disabilities, is a woman on a mission. 66
SOUTHPORTONIAN
Having opened her own school in Toronto in 1980, she continues to work tirelessly worldwide, to share her story and her message. The Woman Who Changed Her Brain is Barbara’s story about her transformation from a young child with severe learning difficulties, and the daily challenges that she faced, to the inspirational ‘woman with a mission’ that she is today. It explains the process she went through and the exercises that she created and developed to train her own brain, inspired by research that she came across by Aleksander Luria, a Russian neuropsychologist and American research psychologist, Mark Rosenzweig.
their own desire) been the sculptors of their brains that day.
While the Arrowsmith program has been readily available to students in Canada for over 30 years, 2018 marks the third full year since its inception at TSS. The last three years have proven to be most effective and extremely positive for our students. More excitedly, 2018 marks the transition year for our early intervention students, who joined us as little boys in Year 2. These students have spent three years, working full time on their Arrowsmith exercises and are now ready and enthusiastic about joining their academic cohort again next year.
Every man can, if he so desires, become the sculptor of his own brain Santiago Ramon y Cajal (1852-1934) Neuroscientist and Nobel Laureate It is not surprising then, that the students who attend the Arrowsmith program at TSS literally drag their weary brains and bodies home at 4:30 each afternoon. They do so, however, knowing that they have (because of
The gradual transition of our students back into the full time academic environment has been an important focus for us this year. Some of our students have already gained access to class literacy lessons. We are excited to watch their journey back into the classroom, where their teachers are already observing their focus and engagement, their motivation and determination.
