The Power of the Adolescent Brain: Strategies for Teaching Middle and High School Students

by Thomas Armstrong

Moody. Reckless. Impractical. Insecure. Distracted. These are all words commonly used to describe adolescents. But what if we recast these traits in a positive light? Teens possess insight, passion, idealism, sensitivity, and creativity in abundance—all qualities that can make a significant positive contribution to society. In this thought-provoking book, Thomas Armstrong looks at the power and promise of the teenage brain from an empathetic, strength-based perspective—and describes what middle and high school educators can do to make the most of their students' potential. Thoroughly grounded in current neuroscience research, the book explains what we know about how the adolescent brain works and proposes eight essential instructional elements that will help students develop the ability to think, make healthy choices, regulate their emotions, handle social conflict, consolidate their identities, and learn enough about the world to move into adulthood with dignity and grace. Armstrong provides practical strategies and real-life examples from schools that illustrate these eight key practices in action. In addition, you'll find a glossary of brain terms, a selection of brain-friendly lesson plans across the content areas, and a list of resources to support and extend the book's ideas and practices. There is a colossal mismatch between how the adolescent brain has evolved over the millennia and the passive, rote learning experiences that are all too common in today's test-obsessed educational climate. See the amazing difference—in school and beyond—when you use the insights from this book to help students tap into the power of their changing brains.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Teaching, School, Professional Development, Parenting, Psychology

202 pages, Paperback

First published July 12, 2016

About the author

I am the author of 20 books, including my latest The Power of Neurodiversity: Unleashing the Advantages of Your Neurodivergent Brain (Completely Updated and Revised Second Edition), which is a complete rewrite of a book I wrote with a similar title but slightly different subtitle in 2010.

My other books include: The Myth of the ADHD Child, 7 Kinds of Smart, Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom, and The Power of the Adolescent Brain. I've also written for Family Circle, Ladies Home Journal, and the AMA Journal of Ethics.

I see myself as a reader as much as, or even more than, a writer. Some of the books which I've enjoyed recently include Joseph and His Sons by Thomas Mann, The Story of the Stone/Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin, the complete Arabian Nights (3 volumes), translated by Malcolm C. Lyons, The Studs Lonigan Trilogy by James T. Farrell, and From Here to Eternity by James Jones.

Beyond literature and writing, my hobbies and pursuits include improvising on the piano, doing mindfulness meditation, watching great movies on The Criterion Channel, doing yoga, and cooking Mediterranean cuisine.

Married for twenty-five years, and now divorced, I live in a cute Victorian style home on a hill in Sonoma County, California with my dog Daisy.

Reviews

[Tracy Shirley Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll let the author speak for himself (in his conclusion): "I can't overstate the importance of engaging your adolescent students in brain-friendly learning activities. There are students in your classroom right now who are waiting for you to make a difference in their lives... But when he walks into your classroom, and you immediately engage him in a high-energy learning activity that requires him to take some healthy risks and earns him meaningful rewards for his efforts--perhaps peer approval, or just the thrill of "getting" a new idea or skill." This books offers layers of ideas and an understanding of what makes that all possible by understanding that majesty of the adolescent brain.

[Barbra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a good pedagogy book that gives you practical application ideas backed up by teenage brain science/development. I got a lot of inspiration from this book and discovered some new techniques I will use this fall! (This book also backed up a lot of my current teaching strategies too - so that feels good!)

[Andrew Park · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite part was when the author said that teachers are directly responsible for whether or not teenagers take drugs.

[Jeanie Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is solid: two short chapters summarizing recent brain research followed by 8 chapters outlining concrete strategies for teaching adolescents. Each of the chapters describes a brain-friendly teaching strategy with specific suggestions and examples. This book belongs in every middle or high school library- a great resource for all teachers.

[Annabeth]

Required read for work, but very interesting! I can definitely relate to my students though when they say “I like to read except when someone tells me I need to read” lol.

[britton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this book was really informational. Considering I had to read it for a class, I wasn't too fond of it in the beginning (as I had weekly quizzes on each chapter), but as the book went on I started to grow more attached.

Having a book based on the power of the adolescent brain is a fascinating concept, and I liked how they provided the research and statistics, as well as real-world examples. That being said, I feel that a lot of the concepts they provided are "perfect world" scenarios.

For example, having virtual reality in every classroom in the near future. Do we really think that funding is going to come for VR in classrooms? Where is the money going to come from?

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book, and I'm happy that my professor wanted us to read it. Would I recommend other classes similar to mine to read? Absolutely. But I would tell them to keep an open mind, and caution them to think of the ideas in this book as goals for the future, not what one should be teaching right away.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting content and worth reading for just about any middle/high school teacher. Some suggestions are a bit simplistic and/or outdated even though this book isn’t that old. The author is a bit older than many current teachers and, as a result, some of his suggestions feel just a tad unrealistic. Despite this, though, the work is solid and the practical suggestions for how to teach in a way that takes advantage of what’s going on in the adolescent brain are great.

One final note: I’d you’re a math teacher, you may occasionally get frustrated with his examples. More than once in his attempts to suggest relevant practices, he makes suggestions geared toward Probability & Statistics. That’s all well and good, but the math teachers I most frequently hear complaining that “these strategies don’t work for us!” are Algebra and Geometry teachers. Probability deals directly with the real, tangible world and, as such, is easier to create suggestions for. There’s not a lot of direct application here for more abstract math classes - which is pretty normal for many of the books I’ve read lately. I DO think there’s room for application of this work for those folks, but they’ll be more on their own to figure it out.

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Armstrong summarizes the current research on the neurobiology of the adolescent brain. The first two chapters summarize the structure of the teenage brain and the changes that occur during adolescence. The rest of the book describes strategies on how to capitalize on the changes occurring within the adolescent brain to improve learning, make high school more enjoyable, and better prepare teenagers for life after high school. These strategies include providing students with choices, allowing students to reflect (both about their education and their emotions), providing students with the ability to work together, incorporating movement into the school day, providing an artistic outlet, and creating time for meaningful experiences outside of the classroom. Sample ideas for incorporating these strategies are also provided for most major subjects. Overall, the book was a quick read and did not contain any revolutionary ideas for harnessing the neuroplasticity of the adolescent brain.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everybody going into teaching should read this. There is waaaay more to being a teacher than just academics. The biggest thing I got out of this book was how sometimes, a kid's teacher is the only one in their life looking out for them. More teachers need to keep that in mind. I'm glad my professor had my class read this, it was great.

[Kendra Wisenbaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good reminders that our middle schoolers don't yet have the brain power to prioritize and organize. I will be more cognizant of that as I teach next year.
Loved the reminder about creativity. Must do more arts stuff next year!

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great for teachers who are looking for practical classroom strategies that are tied to adolescent neurological development! I didn't find the tone of the book to be at all condescending (which is common in books on contemporary pedagogy), and I think it achieves its purpose of utilizing where teenagers are at neurologically as a strength in the classroom, rather than a nuisance that they need to unlearn.

[Joy Kirr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick read, full of ideas to get adolescents' brains engaged. It validated some of what I already do in the classroom, and got me revved up to try other things. I feel that middle school and high school teachers need to read this - it helps to know that our students are doing "crazy" things because of how their brain is working. We can use this to our (and their) advantage!

[Madonna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Power of the Adolescent Brain: ETC. was an okay read. A little hard to concentrate on unless you are into this type of study. I enjoyed parts of the information, but felt it was a little repetitious and could have been a much shorter book. However, I do believe this would be a very helpful book for educators who want to keep their students attention and help them develop. For this reason, I plan to pass this book on to my neighbor, who is a substitute teacher and will be more interested than I was. Thanks to Good Reads program for the opportunity to read this.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pop-academic book attempting to link neuroscience to education. It's worth reading for ideas and observations about somewhat recent brain science. The connections and suggestions are tenuous but probably not harmful.

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

The advice in this book is so general, it doesn’t offer much that’s truly useful. Things like “use humor” aren’t really great teaching advice. I agreed with Armstrong’s premise and argument—I just didn’t feel like he said anything I didn’t already know.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book lays a decent foundation for understanding the science behind why these particular techniques might be successful for teaching teenagers. And honestly, I felt inspired the more I read. Definitely a worthwhile read.

[Meaghan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the first chapter taught me something. Every other chapter was just a summary of everything [good] teachers already know and the examples weren't useful (in foreign language classes have them act out a scene... Really? Did he just come up with that all by himself?!)

[Katie Elmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid strats - structure of book provides a good checklist for cooking up units of study. The word "dovetails" was used to the point of pissing me off, though: minus one star for lack of word choice. Also, no way I'd strap VR headsets to 25 teens in a confined space lol

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many practical teaching ideas grounded in brain research. This will now become recommended reading in my Secondary Curriculum and Methods course in the teacher credential program.

[Shannon Radcliffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 This included some good ideas that I will want to try in my classroom, but I actually would have liked a little more of the brain science aspect.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of useful resources.

[Suzanne Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Practical and well written, but it didn't stick with me in terms of how to use the ideas in the classroom.

[Marcie Rader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a great read for secondary teachers. Met with a book study group to discuss. We all found ideas that we will implement in the coming year. Quick read.

[Jolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of useful information and insights in this book. I'm glad I read it when it was recommended to me.

[edgardo ramos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Recommend for new and veteran educators. Great strategies ideas that can be easily integrated into any subject. Highly recommend this book.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

some of the suggestions seem a bit unrealistic but this was an interesting resource

[Felicia Finley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I have a great opinion of the research in this book. Thomas Armstrong does a great job of highlighting all the different ways we can change education to make it match the needs of our students.

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[Justine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another book I learned so much from, and gave me lots of valuable ideas how to set up lessons that's brain-friendly for teenagers.

[Renee Hale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Explains why our tweens and teens act the way they do and how we can support them through these years instead of fighting their nature.

[Susan A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a solid book to read if you teach middle or high school. Great suggestions for activities to meet those students where they need to be met. Concise writing with clear explanations.