Brain Biology

Mrs. Olsen

Basic Structure

• Your brain is basically a large organized wad of nerves held together with a special bit of “glue”.

• The nerves are made up of special cells called “neurons”.

This is a neuron

If I dropped a hammer on your toe….

• It would appear the pain was in your toe, but its really in your brain!

The space between the neurons is called a…

• Synapse

Nerves can be stimulated by…

• Touch• Light• Chemicals• Heat

Let’s talk a bit about chemicals called…

Neurotransmitters

Pain medications…

• Nerve Blockers• Alcohol mimics a neurotransmitter and

slows down how fast neurons communicate.

• Brain disorders

Now let’s talk about your spinal cord…

The 3 “R”s

• Reflexes• Relay• Routine tasks

Let’s go a little higher to the hind brain…

Do you think with your hind brain?

• The hypothalamus is part of this lower brain and controls:

• Fear• Anger• Aggression• Fight or Flight response• Hunger• Thirst • Water balance• Body temperature• Hormones

To learn well, we need to move out of the spinal cord and hind brain to our cerebral cortex.

4 main “thinking” regions of the cerebral cortex…

• Occipital lobe stores, interprets, and works with visual information.

• Temporal lobes (over the ears) are concerned with hearing, understanding and producing verbal language.

• Parietal lobe handle incoming sensory information.

• The frontal lobe is concerned with speech, making decisions, problem solving and some memories.

What has all this got to do with Mrs. Olsen’s class?

• We all have different brains, and so we all learn in different ways. The different ways are called “Learning Styles”.

• I have a special way to teach you, so you can use your “smart” brain and your very own personal learning style. It’s called…

Layered Curriculum

How Do You Learn Best?

Right-Brain Word Puzzle

• #1 #2 #3 #4 #5• sexes golden tea modem youth• level tallow eye willow usher• redder clamp sea domed item

• a. dined a. trace a. wee a. clash a. water• b. mom b. crawl b. ate b. winter b. there• c. start c. oven c. you c. tablet c. hero

• Directions: each group of words shares a common trait (not definitions). Only one answer shares that same trait. Figure out the common trait and select the correct answer. Write your answers down.

The Answers…

• #1. mom: the word spells the same forward and backward.

• #2. trace: remove the first letter to form a new word

• #3. you: sounds like a letter when you say it (tea, eye)

• #4. tablet: the word begins and ends with the same letter

• #5 hero: the word begins with a pronoun

• Right brainers are creative. Left brainers are logical.

Let’s identify your learning style

There are 3 primary learning styles

• Auditory (listeners)• Visual (lookers)• Kinesthetic (movers)

• How do you approach a new game? Do you like to have somebody explain the game and the rules and give verbal instructions?

• You are an auditory learner (listener)

How do you find your way?

• Close your eyes for the next slide

Get to the Post Office

• You exit the school and turn right. Go two blocks and take the next left turn. Go up the hill and around a curve, then take the second right. After the second stop sin, turn left and then make an immediate right into the parking lot.

• How many can get there from listening to the directions?

• You are an auditory learner

• What if your neighbor draws it for you?• You are a visual learner

• What if I drove you to the post office right now, how many of you could retrace that same route, even if we drove it only once?

• You are a kinesthetic (hands on) learner

How to ask for help from teachers or parents…

• Auditory learners can say, “Would you please repeat that?” or “Please explain that to me again a little more slowly.”

• Visual learners need to say, “I can’t quite picture that. If I could see a drawing or a graph or video or something, I think I could understand better. Maybe an example would help me.

• Kinesthetic learners need to say, “I learn by doing things. Could you walk me through a couple of examples, step-by-step, so that I can practice doing them and get the hang of it?”

How will Mrs. Olsen teach to all these learning styles?

You get choices about how you want to learn!

• I use “Layered Curriculum”

• You can make choices within each “layer”. If you like watching videos, listening to lectures, drawing, writing, or telling the teacher what you know, you can choose from these options or others.

• You will not have big tests to worry about. You will show me you have learned in other ways.

• Let’s look at a Unit…

This makes for a dynamic, student centered classroom.

• Let’s talk about classroom management, so everyone has the opportunity to learn and have fun…

Classroom Management

The ONE RULE:

• Respect Yourself and Everyone in This Room.

• No insults based on ethnic background, skin color, native language, gender, sexual preference, religion, body shape, or body size will be tolerated. It is unfair to erase somebody’s face. We all have the right to be treated with respect.

 

Class Procedures:

• Disclosure

Procedures: • Entering classroom: Be in seat and ready to

participate when the bell rings, or you’ll have to wait an extra 30 seconds after class is over.

• Leaving classroom: Wait in seat until Mrs. O excuses you or you’ll have to wait 30 extra seconds after the bell.

• Being Prepared: Come to class with needed materials.

• Hall Pass: You will get 2. Use wisely.

Procedures Continued:

• Oral responses: There will be times to raise your hand, time to speak right up, and time to think silently before answering. Mrs. O will let you know.

• Signals for listening: I will raise my hand and say, “All eyes on me” and count down 5-4-3-2-1

• Late work: Put Unit in late work bin with DOH! Coupon. Otherwise ½ credit. Nothing accepted more than 2 days late. 2 DOH! coupons given.

Work Habits

• Everyone is expected to work on the Unit.

• Work quietly, especially while “Quiet Working” light is on.

• When you finish layer “C” you must move to layer “B”

• Disrupting or doing nothing is disallowed.

Rewards

• Mrs. Olsen will hand out red tickets every so often for good behavior. These will be entered into a drawing for prizes.

• She will also dream up other ways for you to be rewarded for following the One Rule and class procedures!