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  Breaking off into small groups this evening was excellent.  There is a lot to say and hear in class, and being in a small group enabled me to say and hear more depth of perspective, which I really appreciated. 

  Speaking about education, I think that students can do a lot to improve a class dynamic, this requires neither money nor smaller classes (although both could help).  One way for students to improve a classroom is to work hard and be engaged, a lot of emphasis is placed on changing how we teach students, and some emphasis should certainly be on students to work hard, stay up to date on work, and be engaged.  When this happens, I think that classes often feel smaller and more intimate; why this is is not immediately obvious to me.

  For creating better teachers, I think that some more respect for the profession and some more money could help, although I think that money has diminishing returns on quality of product at a certain point (e.g. financial markets).

  The brain has a role in education, patterns of activity make up thought, and patterns of activity are feelings.  By disrupting patterns of activity it is possible to calm down a very frustrated or angry person, one way to disrupt these feelings is to make the person feeling them aware of them.  Taking the example of a fourth grader who has parents who are fighting at home, this child is most likely frustrated and may act out (or not act out and just be very sad).  A good teacher can often find a way to get through to this child so that she feels better; an understanding of the brain should allow this teacher to see that it is possible to influence patterns of activity for the child and then change how she feels, to make her less frustrated or happier.  If we consider the child's pattern of activity to be only a pattern of activity then clearly changing that pattern of activity in a positive way can help break a cycle of negative feelings that the child has.