Predictably, the portion of the music video that stood out to me was the brief reference to mood affecting performance. I will continue to use the various tools at hand to improve the moods of my students. This will increase their abilities in noticeable ways.
I read an article earlier that differentiated the ways we learn / adapt / make decisions as being unconscious and conscious (dorsal striatum versus hippocampus) - stressed versus positive. I wouldn't want decisions made in the same manner as a flight or fight response (the last being my parallel - no directly stated in the neuroscience article). That prospect seems ridiculous. Using instinct to problem solve is problematic. I do not see it being particularly reliable. So the only clear option is to utilize positive environments for learning; engage the hippocampus.
Philip...great point about supporting students' conscious decision making processes vs. non conscious. I'm reminded of the process of teaching students strategies for learning - the goal of teaching strategies is to develop students' skills. Strategy is step 1 and skill is the desired outcome. In this respect, a skill is automatic, but never without conscious thinking regarding purpose of use and also the analysis of the skill in relationship to the learning objective. So, the more we are explicit in our instructional delivery of what is the strategy (e.g. identify it for students) and the purpose of the strategy (e.g. describe why we are using it and when to use it), the better for elevating students' development of strategy to skill level and their conscious knowledge and understanding of what, when, where, why, and how of such skills.
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