The Upside Down Organization

The Upside Down Organization is a teaching enterprise dedicated to improving the learning and behavior of our children and youth
by expanding the knowledge and transforming the thinking of the adults and organizations that serve them.

Gloria is a Certified Presenter.

Contact Gloria for more information.

Battling the Bully: A Brain-Inspired Approach to Bullying

Bullying has become a significant concern on many campuses as students with physical or cognitive advantages intimidate and exploit their more vulnerable classmates, often with a sophistication and a discreetness that makes it difficult for adults to observe and intervene with. In this workshop, bullying, as well as boredom and other challenging behavior, will be looked at through the lens of cognitive neuroscience with a new perspective provided on the often perplexing behavior of these students. Packed with specific, low cost interventions, this workshop will offer an alternative set of tools for reaching those hard to reach learners in any school setting.

Beyond Poverty: Brain-Inspired Ways to Understand and Respond to Poverty

Poverty has a synergistic and pervasive negative impact on children's brains. Given the many developmental windows occurring in childhood, poverty often wreaks havoc on the brain's ability to grow and function optimally. In this workshop, participants will learn the specific damage that occurs in the developing brain exposed to poverty, the impact of that damage in the classroom and the community, and the interventions that can be used to overcome poverty's effects. Specific, research-based strategies for combating the negative impact of poverty on learning will be introduced for infants, pre-school and school-aged children. Exciting discoveries in neuroscience have revealed that the brain is a dynamic and changing organ-particularly in childhood. Known as "neuroplasticity", the brain's ability to change and grow through exposure to environmental stimulus offers exciting new approaches and strategies for educators, parents and child-serving professionals working with children of poverty. The impoverished brain can be changed significantly for the better and these techniques provide you with the tools to begin transforming young minds.

Brain Matters: An Introduction to Brain-based Learning

For educators, parents and other child-serving professionals who want to optimize the learning performance of their students, children and youth; this is the place to start. If you are interested in how the brain learns and excited about the potential of neuroscience for accelerating this learning process, this topic effectively translates brain science into tools you can use immediately. You'll learn the anatomy of the brain and the structures that most heavily influence human learning. You'll recognize teaching methods that support this learning process and be equipped to identify teaching techniques that block the brain's natural ability to learn. This topic provides more than 50 low-cost and no-cost strategies to enhance learning, increase problem solving ability, boost motivation and expand information retention. Not only will you be empowered to help kids learn better, you"ll accelerate your own learning ability!

Change Your Language, Change Their Lives: What Adults Can Say Differently Today to Transform the Tomorrows of our Youth

Neuroscience discoveries have revolutionized our understanding of how the brains of our children learn and grow. In particular, brain research reveals how the specific language used by adults who teach, mentor, counsel and parent youth has a much more profound effect on their development than previously realized. Learn the four powerful "Languages of the Brain" that will transform the lives of the children you serve. Walk away with a new way of talking to youth that builds resilience, promotes intrinsic motivation, enhances cognitive stimulation and creates kaleidoscope thinkers. What you say matters, more than you ever knew!

Child Abuse and the Brain: The Developmental Impact of Trauma in Childhood

Key discoveries in neuroscience have revealed a more comprehensive and sophisticated understanding of the impact of child abuse on the developing brain. Understanding the specific consequences of abuse on the growing brain can significantly inform interventions and inspire new approaches for the focus and goal of treatment for child abuse victims.

Conquering Boredom, Apathy and Indifference in the Classroom

Do you have students who appear to have no interest in education? Today's student brains are different than in past generations. Raised on technology, socially connected via multi-media, and with an entertainment orientation toward learning, these brains are easily bored by traditional lecture-based learning. Learn how to engage students in every lesson, no matter what the content. You'll get the skills to put fun and excitement into your lessons without "losing control" of your classroom.

Giving a Fish a Bath: The Untold Story of the Adolescent Mind

Ever think the adolescent mind was impossible to understand? Recent discoveries in neuroscience offer exciting insights into how the brains of our teens really work and the special "brain-based" challenges facing adolescents as they mature. This workshop reveals why teens are especially vulnerable to drug use, high-risk peer influences and depression as well as the proactive measures adults can take to minimize a teen's exposure to these dangers. This seminar also addresses the often mystifying role of hormones on adolescent development and focuses on the key roles that stress and sleep have on teen learning processes. In addition, the workshop offers strategies compatible with the many strengths and opportunities available during this miraculous developmental period, including helping teens to develop positive character traits. If you"ve ever thought that the adolescent mind could not be understood, this workshop will arm you with the latest insights and information on knowing and empowering the teenage brain.

Jack's Brain/Jill's Brain: Gender Differences and Why They Matter

This workshop introduces participants to rapidly emerging research on how the brains of females and males are developmentally, structurally and functionally different. Based on these differences, participants will learn academic approaches customized to the distinctly different learning styles of girls and boys.

Mind Management: Neuroscience, Self-Care and Life Success

The purpose of this workshop is to share with attendees practical, research-supported techniques for keeping in top mental condition, even under stresses and challenges of career, family and personal life. Drawn from the latest neuroscience, this session will show attendees how to keep their minds in the best possible shape emotionally, psychologically and spiritually.

Rethinking Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD): What Works, What Doesn't and Why

Children and youth with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) have unique brains. Like all brains, AD/HD minds have strengths and weaknesses. In this illuminating workshop, you'll learn the 12 power tools for maximizing the strengths and minimizing the contextual weaknesses of the AD/HD brain.

Right From the Start: Building Great Brains From Birth to Age Five

There is no better time to invest in building really extraordinary brains than in the first few years of life. Neuroscience is overflowing with fresh insights and valuable information on nurturing and educating young brains. From birth to age 5, the brain has very specific emotional, physical, nutritional and intellectual needs. When these needs are adequately met, brains flourish. When these needs are not met, highly predictable consequences result that require targeted interventions for correction. There is a great deal of myth and countless opinions on what infants and toddlers need for optimal development. This research-based topic exposes many myths and offers scientifically-backed support for practices that lead to robust, resilient young brains. Learn how to build the foundation for a healthy, happy brain. Discover how to help brains struggling to achieve a positive developmental start. Know how to identify a quality early education program. Apply the five key skills for emotional and cognitive health. Build your expertise on the infant and toddler brain and make a deeper difference in your childrens" lives!

The New IQ?: Understanding and Teaching Executive Function Skills In and Out of the Classroom

In this workshop, participants will first learn what constitutes an executive function skill and where these processes happen in the brain. Next, the workshop identifies the "Top 7 Skills for School and Life Success" and provides parents and teachers practical tools for assessing executive function abilities in their children and students.