Thinking about Thinking

Part II: How the brain works and how this knowledge can help me with inclusion.

The Brain Stem

The Limbic System

Cerebellum

Hippocampus

Amygdala

Amygdala

• Gatekeeper

• Three levels of attention

• The need to BELONG

• The need to be SAFE

The Hippocampus

• Transferring memories

• Making new memories

• Inhibition

• Smell

• Location

The Cerebellum

• Movement

• Balance

“It's like a math co-processor. It's not essential for any activity ... but it makes any activity better. Anything we can think of as higher thought, mathematics, music, philosophy, decision-making, social skill, draws upon the cerebellum....” Dr. Jay Giedd, National Institute of Mental Health

The Cerebellum

Frontallobe

Temporallobe

Parietal lobe

Occipitallobe

Cerebellum

The Cerebrum

The Frontal Lobe

• How we interact with our surroundings. • Our judgments on daily routines. • Our expressive language. • Assigns meaning to words we choose. • Involves word association. • Memory for habits and motor activities

The Parietal Lobe

• Location for visual attention. • Location for touch perception. • Goal directed voluntary movements. • Manipulation of objects. • Integration of different senses that allows for

understanding a single concept.

The Occipital Lobe

Vision

The Temporal Lobe

• Hearing • Memory • Visual perceptions. • Categorizing of objects. T

Memory SongSung to the tune of “10 Little Indians”

Touch the appropriate area of your brain as you sing:

Temporal, Occipital, ParietalTemporal, Occipital, ParietalTemporal, Occipital, ParietalFrontal, Cerebellum

Check for Understanding:Which lobe(s) would students mainly use when: Sorting colors into primary, secondary, tertiary Playing spelling Twister Typing vocabulary words Copying notes from the board Listening to teacher lecture Role playing an event from history Completing a word find Discussing the pros and cons of a proposal

Higher Level Thinking

Can actually generate NEW neurons (neurogenesis)

Adds dendrites Increases the thickness of the myelin

sheath

Using the Gray Matter!

Stimulating Environment Affects Learning

A child's ability to learn can increase or decrease by 25 percent or more, depending on whether he or she grows up in a stimulating environment.

www.brainconnection.com

Two times of ENORMOUS brain growth and pruning:

During the first month of life, the number of connections or synapses increases from 50 trillion to 1 quadrillion.

If an infant's body grew at a comparable rate, his weight would increase from 8.5 pounds at birth to 170 pounds at one month old.

Overproduction ends, pruning begins until about age 3

Second cycle of growth and pruning Dendritic growth spurt at age 11 in girls, 12 in

boys Pruning phase during adolescence Age 13 – 18 lose 1% of gray matter per year If you don’t use it, you lose it!

The Teacher Effect Quality of classroom instruction is most

significant factor in students’ brain development.

Didactic instruction – teacher directed Interactive instruction – student actively

engaged

Which type do you think grows dendrites?

Sad Fact:

Failing to engage students actively can actually make students dumber.

Use it or lose it: If dendrites are not being used, they will be pruned.

Teaching as a Profession

Body of research that recommends best practices.

No longer ok to “feel like” we’re doing a good job – where is our evidence?

What the Brain Needs….. Relationship – can’t separate subject from

teacher, particularly middle school Respect – remember that amygdala! Rigor – challenge and engagement Chunks – time to digest and process Movement – increases blood flow to brain Significance – related to the real world High Expectations – when little is

expected, little is achieved

ABA review activity

Pick a partner – decide who will be A and who will be B

Person A talks for 60 seconds – you may repeat, you may use notes, but you must keep talking

Person B talks for 90 seconds Person talks for 30 seconds

Implications for my Classroom

Interactive instead of didactic!!! Access prior knowledge Add new knowledge using many

modalities Apply knowledge in a variety of ways Assess and summarize

Grow Dendrites

More neurons firing

Active EngagementIn Learning

WAIT time Average person needs 3-5 seconds to process a

question and formulate a response Students with disability need more Students who are ELL need more Students from lower SES need more Students who are left handed tend to need more Students who are boys tend to need more

What does WAIT time mean?

Why Am I Talking???

Chunking: Age plus 2

Primacy/recency theory Teaching cycle Change brain state

Get the Brain’s AttentionPut Amygdala into the yellow zone

Ask suspenseful questions. Provide personal, moving examples. Have students give presentations. Incorporate props, costumes, vocal change. Use drama and role playing. Read text dramatically with “sound effects” and

stop at a “cliff hanger.”

Access Prior Knowledge

Before starting a lesson, have students participate in a fun, quick game of review over the material.

Teach students to produce a graphic organizer that displays all they already know about a topic.

Have students work together in groups to connect all the information they have learned in a colorful, pictorial way (mind maps).

Use a Chalk Talk to show what they know.

Add New Knowledge Use activities from the Strategy Ring. Link information to strong sensory stimulus. Teach students to use SQ3R. Have students stop then draw or discuss what

they are learning. Make student notes a work in progress, allowing

them to add pictures or what other students have written.

Always go from concrete to abstract.

Apply Knowledge

Give students choice of various products or assignments to demonstrate learning using multiple learning styles or intelligences.

Relate knowledge to other disciplines and/or as many previous experiences as possible.

Play charades or word association games with material.

Use movement, dramatization and visualization frequently.

Assess and Summarize Immediately after teaching new information,

have students discuss, draw, or act out the material.

The following day, have students create a graphic organizer or mind map of the material.

Conduct weekly discussions about lesson content.

Allow student to summarize learned material in a variety of ways: pictures, songs, charts.

Have students work in groups to write one-word summary.

Role playing activities

Expert Interviews – one student is a reporter, the other an expert on the topic being studied.

Retro Party – visualization comparing time periods or describing events/places.

All the World’s a Stage – pause during the lesson and have students generate a 3-minute skit from lecture.