Transcript Welcome to Brain Compatible Strategies

Welcome to Brain
Compatible Strategies Day 1
Facilitated by:
Stacy Brady and
Judy Cichoracki
What’s in it for me?
Some strategies work well with kids, some
do not. Why?
 Understanding how the brain works will
help guide a teacher to more informed
and deliberate instructional decisions
 As teachers we want to see a measurable
increase in student achievement and
student learning

Follow up in 2008-2009
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2-3 coaching sessions in the first 2
quarters of 2008 (observation with
feedback)
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One class meeting during PLC in the
beginning of 2nd quarter, 2008
Objectives Day One:
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Describe how the brain learns
Explain why the teen years are a critical
time in brain development
Collaborate with other teachers regarding
brain compatible strategies
Modify or create lessons using brain
compatible strategies
The Mysterious Teenage Brain Quiz
Quiz Answers:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
T
F
F
T
F
F
F
T
9) F
10) T
11) T
12) F
13) F
14) F
Secrets of the Teenage Brain UNLOCKED
100 Billion Brain Cells!!!
Brain is made up of 2 different types of cells
1) Neurons: the basic functional unit of the
nervous system
--only 10% of the brain
--do not regenerate
2) Glial cells: provide support and bring
nutrients to the neurons
--90% of the brain
--will regenerate
The Learning Brain
Neurons
 The body’s communicator
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Coordinates thoughts, ideas, and feeling
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Composed of 3 main parts: cell body, dendrites,
and axon
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Space between neurons is called the synapse
The Neuron
Compare to your arm,
what would
the dendrites be?
The cell body?
The axon?
How Do Neurons Communicate?
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When a neuron is stimulated, it sends an
electrical impulse down the axon to the
terminals at the end of the axon branch
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This releases chemicals
(neurotransmitters) which cross the
synapse between axon terminal and the
dendrite of the receiving neuron
The Synapse
Neuron
Firing of a
Neurons and Learning
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When you have a new experience or learn
something new, connections between
dendrites are made
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When learning occurs, the axon fires a
signal across the synapse
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Memory is the ability to reconstruct or
reactivate the previously made
connections
Think-Pair-Share
Think about this question silently to
yourself:
How do neurons communicate?
Turn to a neighbor and share your answers
aloud. Be prepared to share your partner’s
answer to the class.
Volunteers to share answers aloud?
2 things happen as the brain matures…
1)
Overproduction of neurons/dendrites and
synapses which results in an information
overload
1)
Following this overproduction is the
pruning process. The brain selects and
strengthens neurons based on activity.
Synapses frequently used will flourish
while the rest whither away, lost forever.
Major Overproduction/Pruning
occurs twice:
1)
From birth to age 3 (hence the terrible
twos!)
1)
And during adolescence, age 12-16 (no
wonder teens are often unorganized,
spontaneous, and misinterpreted!)
Teenage brain…clay to be molded
This overproduction and pruning is an
OPPORTUNITY for teens to train in all
kinds of areas.
This is a neurological reason to involve kids
in responsible activities and to introduce
them to all kinds of positive, new
experiences
WARNING!!!
Teens can also build their brains around sex,
drugs, and negative experiences. The
overproduction/pruning process will build
the brain around these and other
destructive patterns as easily as it will the
positive experiences.
Personal Reflection Time
Think about the following question:
What are some of the implications of
the overprocessing/pruning process
in teens, for teachers?
Write a response to this question on the side
of your paper. Be prepared to share some
of your ideas.
Pay Attention!
Approximately 99% of all information
entering the brain through the senses
is immediately dropped!
The brain filters out sensory information
that is not relevant.
When it comes to paying attention, the brain
is much more like a sieve than a sponge!
Brain is for survival
Paying attention serves 2 primary purposes:
1) Survival (rarely do teens need to worry
about their “survival” at school)
2) Maintaining pleasurable feelings
Attention Grabbers
Introduce novelty to engage all of the
students’ senses:
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vary the pace and tone of your voice
circulate around the room
use colored dry-erase markers
rearrange your room
change student seating
Dress in costumes
Play different types of music
Burn lemon-scented candles
Tell stories or jokes related to your content
Personal Assessment
1) On the previous slide, circle things you
already do to create novelty
2) Next, circle the things you would be
comfortable doing
3) Last, add any other ideas you have for
creating novelty in the classroom
4) Share some of these ideas aloud
Inattention or Processing Time
Genuine “external” attention can only
be sustained at a high and constant
level for about 10 minutes or less!
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Allows one to react quickly to predators and prey
Allows one to update his/her priorities by
rechoosing what to pay attention to
Therefore it is essential that teachers allow
for and encourage personal processing time
after new learning for material to solidify.
Personal Reflection Time Examples
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Think-Pair-Share-(write)* or any combination
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Mini-quiz with immediate feedback
Create and analogy/metaphor for what is
being learned
Unscramble the steps of a process being
learned
Use physical movement* to define a word,
explain a concept, or show an idea
Shape-up review*
The First Word*
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of those such as just “think-write”
“The First Word” Reflection Activity
Working in a small group generate a short
phrase or sentence that begins with each
letter of the chosen word.
 The sentence or phrase should contain
important information or key
characteristics about the topic.
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BRAIN CELL
Shape Up Review
In the heart write one thing you learned
from the presentation that you want to
remember when teaching in the fall
In the triangle write 3 important things you
learned from the presentation
In the square write 2 questions you still
have about the brain and how it learns
In the circle write one statement that
summarizes the important ideas from
today’s presentation