Podcast: Importance of Brain-Based Learning

Parents, is your teen college ready? Are you feeling overwhelmed, stressed out, or excited about your teen applying to college? Do you know what colleges are looking for? And if your kid gets in, do you know what you'll pay for it? College admission has never been so competitive or expensive. Shellee Howard will take you on a journey to help you and your teen get college ready. Now here's your host, Shellee.

Hello, this is Shellee Howard with College Ready, and I am so excited to introduce our next guest, Deanna. She is coming to you from a place of knowledge. I read her bio and I can't wait to share it with you because it is Brilliant. So Deanna Hearn built her reputation as a leading voice in brain-based learning for K through 12 education. As founder and CEO of Miracle Math Coaching Brain-Based Learning Center, she has garnered nationwide praise for her revolutionary work. On a personal note, I happened to meet this magnificent lady when we were both receiving our awards in Dubai. So what are the chances? Then we meet again in Vegas receiving a different award. I think at that point I knew she was somebody I need to have on the show. So welcome, Deanna.

Thank you so much, Shellee, for having me. I'm super excited to be here.

My pleasure. So I like to start by asking something that I ask all my guests, and in just a few sentences, can you share with our listeners what are you truly passionate about?

Oh my gosh. The first thing that comes to mind is growth. I am passionate about growth, transformation, change, and specifically where that really has driven me, that passion is in learning. And so that started at the age of 16 when I flunked geometry, believe it or not. Wow.

What a way to launch. Yeah.

Yeah. It was, it was great because It was very interesting because I never questioned if I could learn it. I was literally curious about how. It was like it ignited this passion and curiosity to overcome, uh, my learning obstacles. And I really believe that's when my calling found me. I didn't realize it then, of course, at 16, but now looking back, I know that's when my calling found me. Yeah.

So maybe you can explain to our listeners, you know, I, I'm all about preparing students for college, but also for life. So if a student may be struggling with math and you just can't get to the root of it, they come to you. What, what does your program offer and how can you help?

Yeah, so we look at multiple components, okay, when we enroll a student. And, and that is, one, we look at who they are as a person. Um, I always describe brain-based learning, and I know it sounds super sciency and interesting, right? But just to make it really practical, I say brain-based learning is like we're knocking on your door and you're inviting us into your house, into your space. And we bring all of our stuff with us, but you're inviting us in and you tell us where everything fits, where we can go. And so that's what brain-based learning is. We're bringing all of our expertise, our background, our skills, and we're fitting it into who you are. We get to know your experiences. And that's what we do when we assess a student. We really get to know them, not just academically, but socially, emotionally. What are their experiences? What is their— there's a term in brain-based learning called schema, and it's all the experiences, all the connections, all the things that a student has in their mind that they can connect to learning. And that could be going on family vacations, books that they read, music that they listen to, cultural context, and verbiage that they use in everyday life. These are schemas that could be connected to their learning, and so we really get get to know the student, and it's really, really exciting. And then on the other side of non-brain-based learning, we describe it as— and what it feels like to the student is— you're asking me to come to your world and figure out where my stuff fits. That's a little different, right? If one makes you feel really empowered and in control, and the other makes you feel like, I gotta figure this out and I'm not sure, and that's where the struggle is coming.

That is so interesting because we, we get to know the student as well and figure out their core values Where do they see themselves in their world and where do they see themselves in their future world?

Yes.

I never really thought about how that would affect ultimately their learning and their ability to learn. So if a student might be struggling, and I typically find in, in talking with teenagers, they either love algebra or geometry, but they don't like both. Can you speak to maybe how parents can help justify getting an A in Algebra 1 and then failing Geometry?

Yeah, there's two different sets of skills that you're using. You're using more of your spatial sense when you're doing Geometry, so that's more of like the shapes and, you know, having a different sense of visualizing things, as opposed to Algebra is more of your, you know, you're critically thinking through it, you're, you're processing very differently than when you're actually doing the Geometry. And it's very interesting, I hear people say that all the time. And also, it also comes into the high higher levels of math in terms of like calculus versus differential equations or linear algebra. I was the same way. I had to go through all those levels of math, and linear algebra was more interesting to me than calculus. You know, Calculus 1 was really hard because it required a different kind of thinking. So it's typically rooted in your spatial sense, how you visualize and how you think about you know, words versus shapes and spatial sense. Yeah.

So as a parent, you know, I have 4 and I know you have 4 and they're all very unique and they're very special. How do you know if your student is really struggling with math or is just not really applying themself? Because maybe your firstborn was just that, um, in taking initiative and planning and strategizing, and then you get to number 2 or 3 and all of a sudden you're questioning, how is this happening? I know they're smart. Why are they struggling with math? How do you get to the point of knowing, is it desire? Is it ability? What is the block?

So you have to look for— these are really good questions. You have to look for the consistency in other things. So when you find something that they're really passionate about, how are they processing? Are they willing to do the work to think through it? So a lot of times I always say sometimes students have a really hard time with math, not because they can't get it, because they're not willing to do the gymnastics of thinking. You understand what I'm saying? So there's a lot of like things that you have to go through, step 1, and then step 2 to get to step 3, right? It's just being able to be mentally trained and have the resilience to problem solve. And that is something that you have to actually strengthen in the brain and the executive functions and really get students to kind of think through it. So a lot of times it's not that they don't have the capacity or they don't have the— excuse me, the ability. It's strengthening their capacity to think through things, multiple layers. Oftentimes, I would often give a student a problem, and I always say it's great to have a child in athletics or learning, learning an instrument. And the reason why I say these things are important is because you oftentimes, you start learning an instrument or you're playing a sport and you're not good at it, you're not perfect at it, and it takes time and it takes practice to get better. So being able to allow your students to have these other connections outside of something that's so abstract, something that is not always clear that it relates to real life, it helps them, it helps you to build the schemas to say, if you can grow in basketball, if you can grow in cheerleading, if you can grow in learning this instrument, you didn't think you could do it then, now you can. So a lot of times we, having them have these experiences with rigor and problem solving and practicing and sticking with things allows them to understand that they can do it when it comes to other areas of life. So, but you're right, it's not always that they cannot, it's just strengthening that capacity for their problem-solving abilities, right? So some students are really rewards-driven, their reward centers really go off when they're able to solve a problem. Others If it's not easy for them, and this is what I say with gifted students, if it's not easy for them, you have to really watch that, right? Being able to problem solve and, and stick through it. You have to really be able to build that, and that's why it's important to have them involved in other spaces where they're not always excelling so easily. They're able to build that capacity.

I love how you're able to take a perfectly great example and help bring it to life how the student thinks that they're getting away with, um, I just am not good at math. And you can take, well, you're really— you've, you've not always been good at basketball. And I talk to students a lot about this because when, when we're applying to college, I always tell students the frustrating part is you haven't been taught the rules of the game. And when I, when I bring this to them, I say, think about this. When you were 5, or whenever you started to play basketball, if I handed you this big orange ball and said, go win, you would be like, how? Like, what do you mean? What are the rules? And yet nobody is telling students the rules of how to apply to college and get accepted. And I'm hearing it now with math. What are the rules to win the math game of learning? So it is really interesting if you approach it from something they already know, which is their sport, their instrument, their art, whatever that is. They're— they have that aha moment.

Yes.

So what would it look like, um, if I brought my student to you and I said, I'm just not sure why they're not doing well in math, what would that look like to kind of, you know, get rid of maybe some of the fear of, uh, the militaristic of, uh, just learn it, do practice it, it'll come. Like, how do you approach that?

Again, I'll take you back to what I just originally said. We have to get to know, we have to talk to the student. When I do an assessment, I don't want to— I'm talking 90% of the time to the student. 90%. And I'm not even talking about math directly. I'm literally having a conversation with them about so many other things. But in that, they're inviting me into their world. And guess what I'm doing? I'm bringing all of my brain-based research, my learning, my background in teaching, all of my— all the studies, all, you know, all the credential, all the experience. I'm bringing that into their world, and I am so navigating through that conversation, literally sorting through and understanding how I'm going to help that person, that student specifically. So I'll give you a specific example. Say you have a student that comes in, they're struggling, the parent says the student is struggling in math, right? So, my kid is struggling, they were really good before, now they're, you know, they're not so good anymore, and I want to get them some some sort of support. I don't know what's going on with them. They just seem to be, you know, not wanting to do it, or it's harder this particular year. You get with the student, a lot of times you'll discover it's not as simple as the parent may think. There could have been things in the classroom with, you know, I had a student just the other day that I met with, and she simply says she has, she's honestly, she's shut down because her teacher doesn't manage the class very well. And so she's extremely distracted in the class. And she just came from COVID so there's a lot of things that she didn't get online, and she's already feeling behind, and she's not able to focus in the class and just feels like the teacher's not explaining things. So, but to the parent, it can, it can appear that they're shutting down, they're giving up, um, you know, it's really hard for them, they're not really understanding what's going on. So, you know, in those cases, that's when we really have to drill, and it's as simple as making sure they get the individualized support where they're able to understand and have the connections that they're not getting inside the classroom, but also you're setting up an environment for them to close those gaps so that they can build their confidence, but equipping them to know how to overcome those environmental frustrations too. So again, that's executive functions, working on those things as well with focus and response inhibition. These are all different parts of the executive functions that affect how we approach and how we learn.

That is so amazing. The, the other thing that, uh, that many parents bring to my attention is something called test anxiety, and I'm guessing because you work within the brain, um, my second child had test anxiety, and I, I, at first I thought, okay, that's just an excuse for not preparing, and then I would watch her prepare, and then I'm like, Okay, now I definitely don't understand. She has spent the time, she had the tutors, she did the work. Can you help parents understand what that feels like?

Yes. So I have like, this is, this is my actual stress ball. Can you believe that? So I always tell parents the brain is like plastic. It's called neuroplasticity, which I love it, which makes all of our work possible. But as it relates to test anxiety, I always explain it to parents like, It's scientific. It is proven, right? And that, you see, Shellee Howard, it's not just my kid not, you know, applying themselves and not studying properly, and then all of a sudden, you must not be doing something right. No, what happens is, is that there is a hormone that is released in the brain. It's a stress hormone called cortisol. What cortisol does is it literally blocks the working memory. So that is where your retention, that's where everything is. If you can't even access that, You can't access all that good information even if a student comes and they get good tutoring or they get good coaching or whatever it may be, right. You can't access that information because you're so nervous. I mean, how many times have we been in interviews? How many times have we presented information that is on the slide or in the interview, we've forgotten information about ourselves, right. Again, cortisol, it goes across the board. It doesn't matter if your stress levels are so high you will not be able to access what you know. So it's two things that you have to do. You have to overcome one, I don't, if you don't know it, cortisol levels are going to go up. So we can't deplete it all the way. Some nervousness is good, right? It's just that when the levels are so high that they're actually blocking you from accessing the information, that we want to reduce that. So we have coaching strategies that we use to really first make sure that they know the information. They haven't memorized it, but they understand it. Enough to where they could teach back. The second thing is, is that, that takes a little bit more of the, the brain base, and we've just, we've developed a proprietary way to do this, is a psychological part. It is a story that you've been telling yourself about your capabilities because of your history, and that is the part that takes some time to navigate, and it's different for every student. I'm telling Shellee, I've had students where their test anxieties, once they knew the information and once we were able to reframe appropriately, with them to rewire their psychology around their ability with a subject or whatever experience they've had in the past, their— I mean, their grades go from Fs and Ds on a test to literally As. We just had a student that had a learning difference in high school that's now in college, and it's in like a pre-calc class, literally got his first A. He was Fs and Ds all the way, right? But then there are cases where it takes a little longer because those roots run a little bit deeper. So you have to build those experiences a little bit longer and they need to substantiate these new beliefs over more history, you know? And so it just, it's really, really interesting stuff. So I'm going to tell you, I can geek out on this stuff. I'm a statistician and I absolutely love education. I kind of like went out of actuarial science into education and I could talk about this stuff all day, but it's so cool to be able to collect the data. What we do is we collect collect data on everything that we do. And we're able to analyze trends. So some of those actuarial, you know, kind of sophisticated data and analytics stuff, kind of brought it into education. So it really helps us kind of start to see trends of like what works with students.

So anyway, it's brilliant. I can see your passion. Like, I didn't need to ask, you can see you're just so excited about this. And I often tell families the, the story of my second child because, um, it, it's hard for a parent to understand if you have multiple kids and the first one doesn't experience it. It's just an odd thing to think, is that possible? And I remember that going through all of my own questions and what I would tell families, or I do tell families very often, is taking tests is part of life. And so if you just allow that mantra to go in that child's head, or you're supporting that mantra of, I'm not good at taking tests, yes, it will follow them through life versus getting help by somebody like yourself. I remember I took my daughter to, to somebody similar and, and that helped, and, but it still wasn't all the way. And then I actually resorted to taking her to hypnotherapy. Yes, they reprogrammed her thoughts about herself. It wasn't, it wasn't necessarily the subject or the test, it was her deep root.

There you go.

And she's now a registered nurse, passed the NCLEX at the top of her game. Because she learned how to reprogram that anxious thought, that blockage. Yeah, to beat the cortisol.

So, and I was gonna say, Shellee, see, and, and I, I just gotta say this too because we're both moms, and what I love is how you've navigated in such a unique way to see each one of your kids. You probably didn't have to do the hypnosis with your other kids, right? Or anything. And if you, you just truly paid attention. And I just remember even the story of your son and what got you into what you're doing. You've allowed yourself to bring all of who you were into their worlds. And I think that is one of the most important things that a parent can do is to see their child and to create a village of support around them that cultivates the success that's waiting to burst and emerge inside of them. Yeah.

It really does. It takes a village. I, I often tell parents when they come to me and they're like, so you're gonna do everything? And I'm like, well, my essay editor will do the editing, my test strategist will work on the test strategy, and I bring in people like you into their world because I am only one person.

Absolutely.

I don't believe any CEO of any organization does everything in their organization. And so how do you find people to teach your method? And, and how do you train them? How do— what does that look like?

Yeah, so I will share with you as much as I can. It is a proprietary system, but I will tell you this: it is all about the people. It is all about finding the right people. And one of the greatest challenges that we've had, even locally, now that we're open nationally and we're hiring instructors nationally have a greater pool. But the vetting process, we've had to really perfect our vetting process to really understand who we're looking for, which typically is, are those with a 4-year degree or higher. Just because we work with cognitive science, neuroscience, there are terminologies and experiences that they have to be able to connect to and kind of understand. We do have some college students that are going to grad school or those sort of things or at the top of their class or psychology majors, you know, things like that. But we vet out our team, retired teachers, we have engineers, we have scientists that work for us, physicists. Our director of operations is a physicist. It's so crazy, right? But just understanding the interconnections of how our systems work to be able to, you know, weave things together and really understand what we're trying to achieve, it's really important. And so you have to have the right people. We do have a certification education that our folks go through as well. So they go through a formal process, backgrounds and all that looks very much like a school district or a private school requirements in that. But the training is, you know, it's, it's mentoring, it's shadowing. And honestly, it takes about a good year for them to master coaching in our system, but it takes development. And I say it's one of the most important pieces is being able to execute well. And you gotta have the right people and the right development because you're shifting from a traditional tutoring mindset to academic coaching within a system that is calling you to be intentional about the methods that you're using.

So I love that. So what age group? So, you know, I'm listening as a parent and I'm thinking, at what age do I decide that my child needs this versus a tutor, traditional help on a subject, right?

So I will say we do support students in— we lead in math, but we help in any subject. So I want to make it very clear. We specialize and have the background to support the learning in any subject. So when we hire, we hire individuals that have an aptitude to teach and coach in mathematics, but also in language arts. We have Spanish, science. So again, we lead in math, but we coach in other areas. And so we have students as early as 3, 2, 3 that are coming in working on their reading. Yeah, so we, the different families that we serve are homeschool. So we have a lot of homeschool families that unschool, that have them in charter schools where we're a vendor with those charter schools and they're able to get services with us. And they're able to— we're able to customize in such a beautiful way for those particular students and outline a path to see them through all the way through high school, college, whatever it may be. Also, we work with public school families, families that go to public school, private. We have a lot of private school students that come in. They want to keep the edge or catch up from something that, you know, didn't go well a particular year or a challenge that happened. Or just making sure that their gifted kids are challenged, because a lot of times, even if they're not struggling— struggle is not always a deficiency. Sometimes struggle is the fact that I may be above my grade level, but I'm still not maximizing my potential. So I was just telling a parent this the other day that brought their— she had two kids that she just enrolled. One is, he's struggling, he has an IEP. An IEP is an individual education plan for students that oftentimes have developmental delays or things like that. So she had one in that situation, and then her daughter was testing a full grade ahead, but mom knew that she was struggling relative to where her potential is and what she can actually do. And I think that's oftentimes hard to see when we're really grade-level focused. And if you don't tap into the student's full potential and keep them engaged, they can lose those gains because they lose that interest and motivation to really maximize their potential. So we help students K through 12 and adults. We have adults that come in. Really, if you have one of these in your head, to be perfectly just clear with you, we work with you because what we specialize in is how the brain works. And then we hire and we vet and we train individuals that have early education focus or adult focus, different areas, but they're trained in our brain-based learning system.

Outstanding. So for a parent who's listening and they are curious, they would like more information, how can they reach out to you?

Absolutely. So our website, Miracle Math .com, you can go to miraclemath.com, uh, and you could sign up for— we have a free discovery. So that is when we're— all the fun kind of happens. We get to know each other and go through the process of really discovering what you're looking for. So whether you need it as a parent because you want to go back to school or, you know, do something, or you're looking for it for your student, be it, you know, 3 years old all the way up to 18 or in college or what have you. We have a program for you. So, uh, yeah, you can check us out, uh, there.

Absolutely outstanding. Thank you so much, Deanna. We appreciate you being on the show today.

Thank you so much for having me, Shellee. This is great.

Thanks for listening to Parents, Is Your Teen College Ready? with Shellee Howard. Make sure to check the show notes for our expert guests' contact information, links, and more details on how to get Shellee's free bestselling book, How to Send Your Student to College Without Losing Your Mind or Your Money. Thanks again for listening.