RAD TEACHING

What? RAD is an acronym for a concept involving Reticular Activating System(RAS), Amygdala, and Dopamine. The RAS is located at the brainstem and serves as our attention activating system. Teachers must have the concept of grasping student's attention by providing a variety of activities. The Amygdala is what triggers positive emotion in the brain, and dopamine is a neurotransmitter that increases pleasure, attention, and memory.

So what? I find it true that the best learning memories come from having a positive emotion at that particular time. This is why I find Ken Burns' history documentaries so thrilling is that he combines photos and music to illicit a certain emotional response. I find myself back in Civil War times like a soldier in the war because the way he combines visual and auditory images. That's the most beneficial thing out of this RAD concept. An effective history teacher takes students out of their personal norms and lifetyles and transplants them back tens, hundreds, or even thousands of years ago.

Now What? Teachers should take the latest education courses to learn how to come away from everyday lecturing and incorporate multi-sensory application. The only way to learn from the past is helping students become a part of history then they'll know better how the past effects the future.