It’s been an exciting start to the 2019-20 school year after a productive summer of hard work at Grande Innovation Academy (GIA). This included capital projects such as a large canopy providing much needed shade to scholars playing on the ‘Peaceful Playground’ to upgrading the state’s only SMALLab with 3-D printers and virtual reality headsets. Additionally, all classrooms now have interactive touchscreen ‘Smart TV’ providing more options for innovative and progressive teaching strategies while incorporating technology processes aimed at producing skilled and knowledgeable 21st century workers.
In addition to these physical improvements, GIA continues to build on its relationships with families through fun events in August. From “Muffins with Moms” and “Donuts for Dads” to a family swim night, GIA families learn, live, and have fun together. Additionally, this is the inaugural year for our DADvisory Council. This consists of a group of positive male volunteers assisting in providing new insights, experiences, and networks not only within the school environment, but also within the greater Casa Grande community.
Brain Science Corner from Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath’s book entitled, “Stop Talking, Start Influencing.”
Do you think you can do homework while watching a television show? Scientific research suggests that this isn’t an optimal strategy. This is due to the brain processing two types of speech: oral and written. While each type of speech is processed in it’s own location respectively, it is the Broca/Wernicke network that makes sense of the “spoken word” and is located on one side of the brain. Thus, because the left frontal gyrus (understanding oral speech) “effectively blocks one voice while the other is allowed to pass through the Broca/Wernicke bottleneck,” a person cannot fully comprehend or focus on multiple types of speech simultaneously. Have you ever tried to talk to someone while they were on their phone texting and they don’t seem attentive? That’s the Broca/Wernicke bottleneck in action! Don’t take it personally – it’s just science.
