Things that get in the way of the learning that are nothing to do with the teaching

Although I wouldn’t like to argue with Dr Andrew Curran when he says that the most important thing in the classroom is the teacher, there are plenty of factors that can interfere with students’ ability to learn that have got very little do with you. Although, once you are aware of them, you can start to accommodate them in the way you plan not only your lessons but also your classroom and even your entire day. Lighting is one of my favourite examples. As I stated in Essential Motivation,

on the subject of fluorescent strip lighting:

Apart from not containing the full light spectrum that our brains need, they also flash on and off around 100 times a second, inducing in us ‘stress type’ levels of the hormones cortisol and ACTH … In a relaxed state the brain is processing information at about five to ten times per second, which can be multiplied by 20 during prolonged exposure to fluorescent lights.