Transcript feel like doing. Brain-Based Principles 1-6

Brain-Based
Principles to
Support Your
Teaching
Strategies:
How to Apply 12
Key Brain-Mind
Principles to Your
Everyday Work as
an Educator
Goal
Deepen our
understanding
about the effects of
on our brain and
student’s lives.
Agenda
Science
Principles
Strategies
Applications
Focus
Question
If We Considered Implications
of Recent Brain Research
in Our Daily Practices,
What Would Be Different?
1. Scientific, brain-based
principles will further, not hurt,
your achievement goals.
2. Today’s educators will need to be
more in tune with what drives
attendance, learning, and
achievement than ever before.
Today’s session will help!
Brain
Research
Uses
Research
from
Blocks
1 and 2
How could
we prove
these brainbased
assertions?
Let’s start
with the
brain itself.
We Could Study at Brain
Banks, With 1,000s of Brains
Human brains
are stored in
McLean Hospital’s
Brain Bank for
research purposes.
However, one
may only make
deposits, not
withdrawals.
PET Scan TOP
SPECT SCAN --TOP
Scans of Typical Controls--Using
Two Different Technologies
CAT scan
MRI scan
We Can Use
Various
Types of
Brain Scans;
Each
Provides
Different
Data
Scanning
Technology
Has Helped
Researchers
Locate Very
(Extremely)
Tiny Areas
Why Explore the Brain?
Everything You Do at School
Involves the Brain!
Nutrition
Physical Activity
Curriculum
Social Climate
Instruction
Academic Climate
Physical Building
Time/Schedules/Calendar
Assessment
How Valid Are BrainBased Practices?
• “It’s just good teaching.”
• “It’s all old—there’s
nothing new under the
sun.”
• “Research isn’t solid;
where are the studies?”
• “It’s too new for me. . . .
It’ll be years before you
can apply brain research
to education.”
100% DEAD WRONG!
Not Yet Sure of Brain-Based
Approach? Visit 2 Sites:
1
http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k_v89/k0802jen.htm
Phi Delta Kappa International Journal
Read the article:
“A Fresh Look at Brain-Based Education”
and
2
http://www.brainbasedskeptic.com
Read the articles posted.
Free Brain-Based New research,
Monthly Newsletter with practical
applications,
emailed monthly
to you, at no
charge. Simply
leave your name
and email address
with me on a
business card.
Contact: [email protected]
What Is Brain-Based Teaching?
It’s E-S-P!
It’s the Purposeful
Engagement
of effective
Strategies
derived from
Principles
of neuroscience
1. Uniqueness is the rule
2. Reward Dependency
3. Susceptibility &
Opportunity
4. Attentional & Input
Limitations
5. Adaptive & Changing
6. Rough Drafts
Let’s Apply
1-Attentional bias:
Get us to pay attention & BC Memory
care about the topic.
Recall Peg
2-Meaning-making:
Strategies
Create the links
to the principles.
3-Emotional intensity:
The stronger, the better.
4-Activity:
Physical movements work!
5-Repetition:
Always good.
1. Uniqueness is the rule.
Students share 99.5%
of the same DNA, but
we have unique brains
because of unique life
experiences.
“SPECT”
Scans
Reveal
Huge
Differences
in Brains’
Activity.
Two of
These Are
Considered
Healthy
and the
Rest Have
Notable
Problems.
Every Brain is Unique!
Paradigm
Shift and
Principle:
From
Massive,
Grouped
ConveyorBelt
Teaching
to . . . ?
Implications?
For policymakers?
Funding?
Classroom teachers?
Instructional strategies?
Assessment?
Standardized testing?
Staff development?
2. Emotional Dependency
Emotions are not part of our
life. They run it. In most
struggles between our
feelings and logic, we
usually (not always)
do what we feel like doing.
Cognitively & Behaviorally,
Emotions “Run the Show”
Emotional experiences create
memories (= rewards or pain)
Emotions RUN the Brain
by Serving as “Markers”!
The Changed World of Childrearing
At the same time that . . .
Parents work more hours,
television is viewed more,
media violence is pervasive, TV
has the “Baby Channel,” and
infants are learning emotional
responses from other infants in
child care . . .
Teachers are more pressured
for high-stakes academic
testing, which leaves little time
for a child’s emotional
development. Ouch!
What Does the CognitionEmotion Link Mean?
Either orchestrate or
allow students to “mark”
the cognitive moment
(failure or success) with
an emotion. That
process will encode the
learning and accelerate
future appropriate
behaviors.
Paradigm
Shift and
Principle
#2:
From
Cognitive
Focus to
Balanced
Teaching
3. Susceptibility &
Opportunity
Our brain has sensitive
periods with enhanced
chances for risk and
gain. These are ages
0–5 and 12–17.
Opportunity:
For a Critical
Part of Each
Student’s Life,
You Shape
Their Brains!
Ages 0–5: The Risks and Rewards
GOOD
NEWS:
BAD
NEWS:
The infant
downloads
culture
without any
question.
The infant
downloads
culture
without any
question.
Example of Our
Changing Brain
Earlier Demands, More “Disorders”
Reading Scores Level Off
•
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. National Center for Education Statistics. The Nation's Report Card
Reading Highlights 2003, NCES 2004-452, by P. Donahue, M. Daane, and W. Grigg. Washington, DC: 2004.
Paradigm
Shift and
Principle #3:
To a more
developmentally
appropriate
instructional
and curriculum
model
4. Attentional & Input
Limitations
Our brain is designed to
limit the quantity of new
input per minute, hour,
and day.
Processes That
Limit Our Input
What Limits Input
to StudentÕs Brains?
1. Glucose available
(learning uses it quickly)
2. Protein recycling
(time off task needed)
3. Working Memory
(1-4 chunks or points max.)
4. Attentional limits
(use student age in minutes)
5. Synaptic Adhesion
(needs 15-60 min.)
6. Hippocampus
(overload = ÒoverwritesÓ)
Paradigm
Shift and
Principle #4:
To a more
realistic annual
content of
curriculum
5. Adaptive & Changing
Our brains are not static
or fixed. They are
constantly changing in
more than a dozen
ways.
Old (Outdated) Paradigm
“Our brains stay
mostly the same—except we lose
brain cells every day.”
(This is old and mostly wrong.)
The Revolution Has Begun!
Learning Changes
the Brain
Lee et al., 2007
Teaching Changes Brains
Recently, astonishing
discoveries have shown
that the structure of the
adult human brain
changes when a new
cognitive or motor skill is
learned. This measurable
effect can be detected as
a change in local gray or
white matter density that
correlates with behavioral
measures.
How Do We Know (for Certain)
That Teaching Changes Brains?
A wide body of
evidence suggests that
the human brain is
highly susceptible to
environmental input.
Teaching is a highly
targeted form of
environmental input.
Therefore, teaching
changes brains.
Dendrite Length Changes with Learning
Teaching Can Create a Climate
for Focused, Continuous Learning
That Can Build Brain Mass
New studies show
that concentrated
usage of the brain,
such as for skillbuilding or
intensive studying,
changes the brain
rapidly.
Aylward, et al. (2003). Instructional treatment associated with changes
in brain activation in children with dyslexia. Neurology 61, 212-219.
Evidence That Teaching
Solid Reading Skills
Changes the Brain
Pre (left) and Post (right, 12 wks. later)
al., 2006)
Draganski,
Draganski,et2006
Studying Adds Gray Matter;
New MRI Reveals Changes
Teaching Changes
How Cells Connect
Gaser C and Schlaug G (2003)
Music Training Changes Brain
Teaching Changes
Cell Structure
Dendrites
Neur ons
Axons
Majewska, et al. 2006
Dendrites Add “Spines” as
Response to Environmental Input
Teaching
Can Change
Brain
Chemistry,
Which Can
Influence
Attention
Epinephrine is
released during
excitement,
urgency, and
risk. It helps us
focus and
prioritize.
Teachers Influence Student
Perception of Risk and Urgency
Yes, You Can (and Do!)
Change Brains
From this to this!
Many Kinds of Change
Change Can Be . . .
• Slow (toxins or learning a
new language)
• Fast (emotional trauma,
TBI, or insights)
• Good (nutrition, low
stress)
• Bad (drug abuse,
dementia, aging)
Take-Home Messages
on Changing Brains
• For your students,
it’s all about hope . . .
(grounded in science).
• Consistent, Positive Factors Make
Changes Happen Faster.
• It’s all about the consistency of
positive contrast.
• Experiences change
the brain far more
than earlier believed.
• This can give all of us
educators tremendous
hope for change
based on smarter
teaching.
Suggested
Reading:
Enriching the Brain
(Jensen, 2006)
Brain and Culture
(Wexler, 2006)
The Brain That
Changes Itself
(Doidge, 2007)
6. Rough Drafts
Our brain rarely gets it
right the first time.
Instead, we make
sketchy rough drafts of
new learning.
Our rough drafts
Our
Brain is NOT
are expedient; Designed to Get
Most of Our
there’s no
Explicit Learning
the FIRST
reason to “flesh
TIME
Instead, We Create
out” the details
“Rough Drafts” of
Input and Hold
until we have a
Them Until We
Either Forget
relevant reason
Them, Save Them
or Correct Them
to do so. Let’s try
this out. . . .
Our Brain as a “Gist” Gatherer
We rarely get new
and complex explicit
learning right the first
time. Instead, we
gather the “gist” and
make “rough drafts.”
This is not what most
teachers hope to
happen. Nor is it what
we test for.
7. Meaning-maker
8. Environments
9. Body-Mind Connection
10. Malleable Memories
11. Perception, Not Reality, Matters
12. Social Conditions Rule
7. Meaning-maker
Every perception, sensation, and conclusion is
usually associated with another related
experience. This makes meaning personal and
a driving force in our motivation.
Many struggle with
the previous slide,
and for good reason.
The action is simple
(getting dressed,
wearing a special
“light suit”). But the
way it is presented is
very obscure. Does
that remind you of
any college
professors you had?
What Makes Content
Meaningful to Our Brain?
•Personal
relevance
•Context
(serial/global content)
•Valence +/•Circumstances
(situation at the moment)
•Framing
(alternative perspectives)
If We Really Wanted
to Make School
More Meaningful,
We Would . . .
Reorganize Curriculum into
More Student-Oriented Goals
SOCIAL TRACK
TECHNO PATH
Virtual learning,
Eliminate
reduce cyber
poverty, reduce
crime, better
crime, improve
tools for living,
education &
cut resource
medicine,
usage, space
management,
exploration,
strengthen
wireless power,
human rights,
geo survival,
reduce pollution
energy grids
AESTHETICS
Planning,
building, dance,
design, theater,
electrical, music,
forestry, ecology
related work,
sports, movies,
entertainment,
architecture
Ensure
Instruction
Pursues
Cognitive
Challenges in
a Balanced
Emotional,
Social,
Physical
Context
Choices
A) Recruit, hire, train, and keep “top
of the line” teachers who are
passionate, creative, caring, and
highly skillful.
B) Use curriculum that is more
naturally interesting and behaviorally
relevant to students so that average
teachers can “hook in” nearly
anyone.
(Which choice above is more likely to succeed?)
Implications?
For policymakers?
Funding?
Classroom teachers?
Instructional strategies?
Assessment?
How we think about . . . ?
Staff development?
8. Environments Matter
Strong scientific evidence suggests
that environments not only directly
influence our brain, but also can
trigger gene expression.
Every Environment Has the Capacity to
Enhance or Impair Learning
TOP 10 PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
Jensen (2000) Environments for Learning
NOTE: THE ONES IN BLUE INFLUENCE ACHIEVEMENT THE MOST.
Jensen (2000) Environments for Learning
Paradigm Shifts and Principles Take Time
The first study
suggesting
that an altered
environment
caused positive,
measurable
brain (rat) changes
was published
in 1960.
Enhanced
Environments
Change
Brains
IQ NOT Fixed;
Sustained
Positive
Environments
Work!
An adoption study in France identified
deprived children, 4–6 years old, with IQ
<86 (mean = 77) before adoption. After 8
years, results showed a significant gain
in IQ, up to 19.5 IQ points in the lowest
SES families.
(Duyme et al., 1999)
Why Your “No Excuses” Mentality Is Critical!
Relevance of Brains Changing?
• Underperforming or
misbehaving students can improve.
• Special-need students have hope.
BUT . . .
The biggest reason to learn about
why and how brains change is that …
teaching is all about HOPE!
Implications?
For policymakers?
Funding?
Classroom teachers?
Instructional strategies?
Assessment?
How we think about . . . ?
Staff development?
9. Mind-Body Connection
Activity not only fosters the survival
of our species, but it serves as a strategy
for learning, emotional regulation,
affiliation, resource acquisition, and stress
management.
Many educators
are unaware that
early physical
activity supports
later academic
activity.
Just a bit of
irony for
those on the
right side:
But does
your school
do any
better? We
need 30
min./day
3x/wk. Why?
New Labeling Shows Discovery
Physical Activities Change the
Brain and Body’s Chemistry
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Adrenaline—Provides energy
Noradrenaline—Enhances focus
Dopamine—Thinking, working memory
Cortisol—Energy, memory
Serotonin—Attention, mood
Glucose—Energy, memory formation
All of these are likely to drop with . . . “sit ‘n’ git.”
Source: Ratey (2008) Spark
Maths Scores up after PE Class
Source: Ratey (2008) Spark
Solid P.E. Programs Correlated
with Reduced Discipline Issues
Neurogenesis, School and
Academic Achievement
• Neuroscientists are excited: 1)
that it occurs, 2) that neurons
survive, and 3) become
functional.
• Educators are excited that: 1) it
influences learning, mood, &
memory; and 2) the process is
regulated by how we run our
school!
Source: Ratey (2008) Spark
Literacy Increases in Classes after P.E.
Source: Ratey (2008) Spark
College
Entrance
Scores
Raised
Among
Students
Getting the
P.E. Programs
Implications?
For policymakers?
Funding?
Classroom teachers?
Instructional strategies?
Assessment?
How we think about . . . ?
Staff development?
10. Malleable Memories
This principle reminds us that our
memories are a process, not a fixed thing.
Memories can be—and often are—altered
or lost.
Let’s Try an Experiment:
• Next, is a slide with simple words.
• Leave your pen down—
no note-taking please.
• Look over the words for just 30
seconds.
Try to store them in your brain.
• You’ll learn something new about
how your memory works.
How Did You Do?
0–5 … Correct answers = You can
only go up from here.
6–9 … Correct = Good recall;
you’ll do well in life.
1–14 … Correct = That’s
extraordinary!
Did you put any words on the list that were
not on the original list (like “sleep”?)
Memories are malleable and the brain “fills in”
words because they make sense.
Ever Had This Happen?
You and a
friend are
talking about a
past incident
and you have
a completely
different
memory of it!
Even Our Memories Are Malleable
The old paradigm is that
our memory works like a
still photograph or an
audio recording.
But memory is not a
“thing;” it is an ongoing
process.
This discovery means that
memory is neither fixed
nor permanent.
Storage/Retrieval Mediated by:
• Glucose consumption
• Stress/distress
• Gender
• Speed of input/spacing
• Rest/sleep
• Nutrients levels
• Drugs/meds
• Type of input
• Background of subject
Emotional Events Are Much
More Likely to Be Recalled
Would you recall:
1. Feeding a “killer”
whale?
2. Getting married?
3. A near-fatal
accident?
4. Graduation?
5. Petting a live tiger?
6. Falling in love?
Emotions Release Hormones,
Which Can Affect Our Memory
Hippocampus
(Memory)
Events
Amygdala
Emotion
(Valence, Arousal)
Hormones
Glucose
Implications?
For policymakers?
Funding?
Classroom teachers?
Instructional strategies?
Assessment?
How we think about . . . ?
Staff development?
11. Perception, Not Reality, Matters
Our brain only knows what it takes in
perceptually, and it is easily fooled.
Our prior knowledge is a huge factor
in determining what we see, hear,
feel, taste, and touch.
What your staff
BELIEVES to be true
is held as a a fact. It
may, in fact, be
dogma. What your
staff BELIEVES will
work in the
classroom may or
may not be true. It is
the PERCEPTION of
your staff that
matters most.
“Hey, is
your class
as much a
problem as
mine is this
year?
OR . . .
What misperceptions does your staff have,
based on what we’ve learned today, that are a
potential problem for school improvement?
Implications?
For policymakers?
Funding?
Classroom teachers?
Instructional strategies?
Assessment?
How we think about . . . ?
Staff development?
12. Social Conditions Matter
We exist not in a vacuum,
but in a culture shaped by
relationships, status, rules, and
customs.
Why We Care about What
Others Think about
1. Affiliation is hard-wired.
2. The need for pair-bonding
is hard-wired.
3. The quest for status is
hard-wired.
4. Our brain has the neural
structures to do all these
tasks automatically.
Social experiences
throughout life influence
gene expression,
dendritic remodeling,
brain chemistry, heart
rate, and behavior.
However, during our
early years, these
influences have a
particularly profound
effect.
Champagne & Curley, 2005.
Social Status and the Brain
Two Brain-Based, Hard-Wired,
Social, Ongoing Student Quests
1. The quest for
acceptance and
affiliation (“How
can I become
part of a group?”)
2. The quest for
social status
(“How can I feel
special?”)
HINT: DO NOT get in the way of these; simply anticipate
and facilitate the inevitable process in productive ways!
What Are “Mirror Neurons?”
Neurons that
respond to seeing
another do a task
that we might like to
do. They are goal
oriented and help
our brain identify
and rehearse
potential learning.
Infants Can Imitate Within Weeks
Healthy Primates
Imitate Effortlessly
Activations of the
Brain from fMRI
Scans
1) Top is a healthy
brain, showing
activation of the
“mirror neurons”
2) Middle is from
high-functioning
child with
Asperger’s
3) Bottom is from a
low-functioning
subject with
autism
Social Conditions
Change Us Racial biases by test-taker
can improve or hurt test
takers. (Richeson & Shelton, 2003)
Social conditions influence
gene expression. (Kandel, 2002)
Social stress also impacts
test scores and attention
span. (Hoffman, 1996)
Social conditions influence
health and mortality.
(Berkman et al., 2002)
Teachers Strongly Influence
Student Social Status
How? Through
affirmation,
mentoring, drama,
teams, recognition,
cooperative learning,
positive feedback,
skill-building, and
giving responsibility
and leadership roles
Stranahan, et al., (2006)
Prosocial
Condition
Influences
Neurogenesis
and Fosters
Greater
Neurogenesis
Than Isolated
Conditions
Isolated (a/d) Social (b/e)
School Discipline Issues?
Most discipline issues
are mismatches
between what is being
done and how the
brain naturally works.
Examples include: 1) lack of available and
appropriate emotional responses, 2) poor
novelty/structure balance, and 3) social
issues such as affiliation and status-seeking.
Implications?
For policymakers?
Funding?
Classroom teachers?
Instructional strategies?
Assessment?
How we think about . . . ?
Staff development?
Time for Consolidation
These 12 Principles Form the
Scientific Basis for Teaching
Each principle is well
supported by peerreviewed studies. It
is up to educators to
discover and test the
actual strategies that
arise from these
principles.
http://www.jensenlearning.com/BBLearn/research.asp
Let’s Review the Principles!
It’s E-S-P!
It’s the Purposeful
Engagement
of effective
Strategies
derived from
Principles
of neuroscience
1. Uniqueness is the rule
2. Emotional Dependency
3. Susceptibility &
Opportunity
4. Attentional & Input
Limitations
5. Adaptive & Changing
6. Rough Drafts
7. Meaning-maker
8. Environments
9. Body-Mind Connection
10. Malleable Memories
11. Perception, Not Reality, Matters
12. Social Conditions Rule
Time for a Short Stretch!
Standing Reflection Time
Teaching with the brain in mind is
both purposeful and potent.
Savvy teachers
engage strategies
based on solid
research
AND
they do them so
consistently, that
sometimes miracles
happen.
Take-Home Messages
on Changing Others’ Brains
• For your colleagues,
it’s also hope grounded in science.
• Add consistent, positive factors,
even just one per week or month.
• It’s all about the consistency of
positive contrast to get miracles.
Your Very Amazing Brain!
It’s involved in
everything we do.
Isn’t it great to be
learning more
about it? I’m glad
you joined us!
Feedback to:
[email protected]