Attack of the Teenage Brain! Understanding and Supporting the Weird and Wonderful Adolescent Learner

by John Medina

Marvel at the neuroscientific reasons why smart teens make dumb decisions!

Behold the mind-controlling power of executive function!

Thrill to a vision of a better school for the teenage brain!

Whether you're a parent interacting with one adolescent or a teacher interacting with many, you know teens can be hard to parent and even harder to teach. The eye-rolling, the moodiness, the wandering attention, the drama. It's not you, it's them. More specifically, it's their brains.

In accessible language and with periodic references to Star Trek, motorcycle daredevils, and near-classic movies of the '80s, developmental molecular biologist John Medina, author of the New York Times best-seller Brain Rules, explores the neurological and evolutionary factors that drive teenage behavior and can affect both achievement and engagement. Then he proposes a research-supported counterattack: a bold redesign of educational practices and learning environments to deliberately develop teens' cognitive capacity to manage their emotions, plan, prioritize, and focus.

Attack of the Teenage Brain! is an enlightening and entertaining read that will change the way you think about teen behavior and prompt you to consider how else parents, educators, and policymakers might collaborate to help our challenging, sometimes infuriating, often weird, and genuinely wonderful kids become more successful learners, in school and beyond.

Genres: Nonfiction, Education, Science, Parenting

224 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 12, 2018

About the author

DR. JOHN J. MEDINA, a developmental molecular biologist, has a lifelong fascination with how the mind reacts to and organizes information. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller "Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School" -- a provocative book that takes on the way our schools and work environments are designed. His latest book is a must-read for parents and early-childhood educators: "Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five."

Medina is an affiliate Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He lives in Seattle, Washington, with his wife and two boys. www.brainrules.net

Reviews

[Erin McDonnell-Jones · Rating 1 out of 5]

Medina uses too many metaphors and analogies for me, which distracts from his overall message. When he spent the first few chapters trying to describe the executive function, I felt like I was reading movie reviews instead of furthering my understanding. I think this would be really difficult for some students to follow.

The second half of his text focused on describing his "ideal school" for students, but again, too many tangents and comparisons distracted from describing what would be a successful educational institution.

[Emma-Kate Schaake · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the neuroscience but I was extremely annoyed by the overused, distracting metaphors. I should have known by the title that this was going to attempt to be cheeky and relatable, but he just took it too far with overarching pop culture metaphors and what seemed like a new analogy every sentence. I learned a few things and enjoyed the topics, but phew, glad I made it through. In a galaxy far far away, through the Shire, across the Caribbean sea, and back home to Kansas...

[Angelee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many analogies that got annoying and ended up skimming over those. Research is outdated now. Did not give me what I was looking for.

[Karen P · Rating 3 out of 5]

I cringed at the comic cover. But I hoped for the best. This book is required reading for an adolescent education course I am taking. I admire the authors writing style, pitching metaphors and anecdotes to keep the narrative colorful, and likening research to movie excerpts and personal experiences. But the deeper I got into the book, the more hollow the campaign sounded. This book is less about adolescent neurobiolgy, and more about current cognitive and behavioral trends (Executive Function, Growth Mindset, SEL, Theory of Mind, Mindfulness, along with inserts on Gottmans' four horses of the apocalypse and marital relations, Baumrind's parenting styles, and reports about effects of exercise in schools). All of which the author amalgamates into his proposal for a utopian school of the future.

I give this book only two stars for crediblity and evidence-based arguments, but I give four or five stars for the author's illuminating way of describing brain physiology. I concur with the benefits of many of the approaches that Medina endorses, but I think he did a shabby job of conceiving the execution because his ideas involve more imposition on teachers' time, more bureaucratic 'certified' experts, and more school spending dollars.

Meh. Not feeling inspired.

[Kristen Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a hard time deciding on stars for this book. The middle of it was great, with lots of revolutionary and data-supported ideas for doing better with our schools for our students. There was a lot of wisdom in this book, backed by data. However there was a lot of jargon and a ton of metaphors used throughout, especially in parts 1 and 2, and many were hard to follow, particularly if you weren’t familiar with the references. But, overall a great read and I hope administrators start listening to the evidence and research in structuring schools that benefit teen brain development!

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I believe that there is solid science behind the book and I appreciated the author's research and conclusions, the writing style was wildly distracting. I suspect he was trying to be folksy, but it came off as flip and, at times, condescending. It also seemed rather at odds with the subject matter. Still, the book contained some nuggets of wisdom worth reading.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Medina starts with a fairly technical explanation about what makes the teenage brain different, examines copious amounts of research related to teenage behavior and teenage learning, draws conclusions about needed reforms in the American education system related to the adolescent brain, and makes it all fun for the reader! My interest in this book relates to its application to youth ministry in a Christian church. Of course, Medina says little about spiritual life and has a huge bias toward an evolutionary model for how the teenage brain got to be like it is. Nevertheless, I found the book to be insightful, informative, and full of conclusions that sparked my reflection, curiosity, and imagination about how to help teenage brains grow in their understanding of and trust in their Creator.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun and easy read about the science of the teenage brain. Medina uses pop culture and movie references to illustrate the workings of the brain so that it is understandable for parents and teachers. His ideas for how to help teens develop executive functioning within the school setting are ambitious within the traditional school setting, which he acknowledges. This book has good information for parents and educators.

[Anna Brunskill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the relentless overuse of metaphor and analogy, this book has a rock solid theoretical thesis and some very interesting proposals for anyone who works with teenagers. As a school leader, the focus on executive function is something I now want to explore in a lot more depth. So, some fascinating insights despite the cheesy tone.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

The content is fascinating and timely but the writing style can be hard to follow. Analogies are sometimes left unfinished and connections to previous chapters seem superficial despite their relevancy. I wish the author/publisher would have taken the time to get permissions to use the referenced cartoons and other visuals instead of describing them.

[Katrina Arndt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as a possible supplemental book for a course titled The Adolescent. It has great data based information and is thought provoking. It's a ham handed in a way that eventually felt irritating, but a quick read and has practical ideas for supporting teens in schools. I may adopt it as a option for literature circles as a secondary text.

[Christyn Biswell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of good reminders and facts about why teenagers act the way they do. Some of the content was biological but the author did a good job using metaphors and pop culture references to make the ideas accessible to the reader. I wish the author would have included ideas for actions that teachers/parents can take immediately to better support teen brain development.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The research was very, very interesting but I found there were too many extra stories used to convey the real-life science throughout the book. I sometimes felt confused about what story the author was talking about because they seemed to run together at times.

[Lizanne Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks Libro.fm for the audiobook! Read by the author, his distinct voice makes the humor work. I want to start a book club at my middle school library for teachers and parents. So much great practical information.

[Malisa Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really phenomenal book written in such a way that any old schmo can understand enough about the brain to see that changes need to be made to best support teens and kids in general. As an educator, I want his imaginary school.

[Sergey Chulkov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting and inspiring

In my opinion it is a very good book - well structured, a lot of interesting ideas supported by the research references, accurate and comprehensive discussions.

[Ari · Rating 1 out of 5]

after the 5 millionth dumb pop culture reference my eyes were melting out of my head... i have to write a paper on ch7 for class -_- that one was probably the best written chapter, though it was weirdly organized.

[Sara Bruner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the concepts. Luckily I listen to this one as an audiobook. I think I would’ve gotten bogged down in the medical jargon if I had been reading the paper book. Overall, I’m very glad that I read/listened to this book.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of theory.

[CJ Way · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully insightful and interesting book! As an educator and science nerd this was so informative and thought provoking in many ways. Read this book if you have or work with any age of child!

[Jhoanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

📚📚📚📚 (Libro.fm audiobook) Engaging and informative read about teenage brain development and how brain science can help us design better schools for teenagers.

[Stephen Bernau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent research. Hard to understand at times. And we are wins away from using all of these pointers in our schools, but they need to be kept in mind and integrated slowly!

[Edward Hansen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm always hoping for more with books like this. I generally enjoyed several pieces of information, but it wasn't as helpful for me with my specific teenagers.

[Kristina · Rating 2 out of 5]

**I'm taking a PD-book study class of this later this semester. ** I will review again after that class.
first take:
Soooo condescending - oh you couldn't possibly understand the "real science" so let me explain it in an array of scattered, tacky metaphors and simplify it for you.

The intent was good and the idea of scaffolding and coaching executive function at all levels - not just elementary is great. But when it came to tangibles of what I can take to my classroom now it fell completely flat! Nothing... unless you count setting clear & fair boundaries and be consistent in enforcing them.... but that's not a tangible... Mr. Median has great and I'm sure powerful ideas but they are all way TOO much and not directly translatable to a teacher's practical learning space!
* Develop and offer parent classes to help teach good parenting classes;
* Take courses from one guru as well as then use that model to make lessons for the other guru who doesn't have any;
* Get certified in mindfulness so you can use it in your class because without certification it's ineffective;
* Change the start time of schools;
* Make sure kids get intentional as well as regular exercise throughout the day;
* Partner with or conduct your own academic research on all this so more can be done.

cool-cool. sure thing. I'll get right on that.


Mr. Medina is clearly very good at research and synthesizing artifacts and data but I'm not sure he has been in the classroom in a while or hangs out with regular, public school teachers much.

[Beruthiel · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is amazing what is going on in a teenager's brain.
I wish I had known that when my kids were teenagers.