Ed Surge – Linda Ryden
“I don’t remember exactly when I heard about Dr. Daniel Siegel but it was a moment that changed my life. I watched a video in which he shows how the amygdala, which is the part of the brain responsible for watching out for danger and reacting, takes over when we get angry and how it in effect turns off the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for thinking and executive function. It blew my mind. I remembered those angry, red-faced students telling me that they didn’t use their conflict resolution skills when they were heated because they just couldn’t think. And now I knew why! Their amygdalas had hijacked their brains in order to protect them and had turned off all memory of my lessons. It all made sense now. But I was still left with the bigger question. How do you teach kids the skills to calm down? ” (more)