Teaching Strategies, A Brain Compatible Guide
Teaching Strategies:
A Brain Compatible Guide
Created by Belinda Rodriquez, Victore M. Arizabalo, Rosa Ortega, Anisa Ordorica, Isarel Ortega, Yolanda Vallejo, Natalia Orozco, Tannia Manautou, Patricial Rodriguez
American School of Tampico, Mexico
02.07.2021
Overview
Because of new technology we know more about the function of the brain than ever before. We now know that, in an enriched environment where a person is actively engaged with their surroundings, the cortex of their brain actually increases. Because a thicker brain cortex produces smarter lab animals, scientists have drawn the inference that the same is true for humans (Jacobs, Schall, Scheibel, 1993). The science of deliberate enrichment, to stimulate the student’s development, is called “brain-based education.”
Brain-based education focuses on how the brain learns naturally and refers to teaching methods, instructional design, and programs that are based on what scientific researchers currently know about how the brain learns best. Teaching techniques that are brain friendly create environments that immerse students in experiences, are non-threatening yet challenging, and give students the opportunity to process information actively.
How can you engage your students by using brain-based techniques? Start by talking to them about how their brain works![1]
If we want to empower students, we must show them how they can control their own cognitive and emotional health and their own learning. Teaching students how the brain operates is a huge step.
Explaining how the brain works contributes to building a Growth Mindset. This is especially important for students who believe that they are “not smart” and that nothing they do can change that. Many children, and even some parents and teachers, think that intelligence is determined at birth and that no effort will budge their academic abilities. The realization that they can literally change their brains by improving how they approach learning and how they study is so powerful.
In this manual, we will list brain-based learning activities and explain ways in which you can open these conversations and apply cool strategies in your classroom. Soon your students will be learning in the ways that their brains learn best!
Core Principles
Brain- based learning is based on the structure and function of the brain. As long as the brain is not prohibited from fulfilling its normal processes, learning will occur. Renate and Geoffrey Cain, in their book, Making Connections: Teaching and the Human Brain, have developed 12 core principles for brain-based teaching. These core principles are:
The brain is a complex adaptive system. Thoughts, emotions, imagination predisposition, and physiology operate concurrently and interactively as the entire system interacts and exchanges information with its environment.
The brain is a social brain. Researcher Darling says, “For the first two years of life outside the womb, our brains are in the most pliable, impressionable, and receptive state they will be ever in.” We begin to be shaped as our immensely receptive brain/minds interact without early environment and interpersonal relationships. Vygotsky was partially responsible for bringing the social construction of knowledge to our awareness. Both Vygotsky and Piaget felt that learning must take place in a social environment.
The search for meaning is innate. The search for meaning is survival oriented and basic to the human brain/mind. Although the ways in which we make sense of our experience change over time, the central drive to do so is life long. At its core, our search for meaning is driven by our purposes and values.
The search for meaning occurs through “patterning." In patterning, we include schematics, maps, and categories, both acquired and innate. The brain/mind needs and automatically registers the familiar while simultaneously searching for and responding to novel stimuli.
Emotions are critical to patterning. What we learn is influenced and organized by emotions and mind-sets involving expectancy, personal biases and prejudices, self-esteem, and the need for social interaction. Emotions and thoughts literally shape each other and cannot be separated. Emotions color meaning.
Every brain simultaneously perceives and creates parts and wholes. Although there is some truth to the “left-brain-right-brain” distinction, this is not the whole story. In a healthy person, both hemispheres interact in every activity, from art and computing to sales and accounting. The “two-brain” doctrine is most useful for reminding us that the brain reduces information into parts perceived holistically at the same time.
Learning involves both focused attention and peripheral perception. The brain absorbs information of which it is directly aware, but it also directly absorbs information that lies beyond the immediate focus of attention. In fact, it responds to the larger sensory context in which teaching and communication occur. “Peripheral signals” are extremely potent. Even the unconscious signals that reveal our own inner attitudes and beliefs have a powerful effect on students. Educators, therefore, can and should pay attention to all facets of the educational environment.
Learning always involves conscious and unconscious processes. One aspect of consciousness is awareness. Much of our learning is unconsciously experienced, and sensory inputs are processed below the level of awareness. Thus, much understanding may not occur during a class, but rather hours, weeks, or months later. Educators must organize what they do to facilitate the subsequent unconscious processing of experience by students. In practice, teachers should properly design the context, incorporate reflection and metacognitive activities; and provide ways to help learners creatively elaborate on the ideas, skills, and experiences. Teaching largely becomes a matter of helping learners make visible what is invisible.[2]
We have at least two ways of organizing memory. Although many modes of memory exist, one that provides an excellent platform for educators is the distinction made by O’Keef and Nadel (1978) between taxon and local memories. They suggest that we have a set of systems for recalling relatively unrelated information (taxon systems, from “taxonomies”). Reward and punishment motivate these systems. O’Keef and Nadel also suggest that we have a spatial/autobiographical memory that does not need rehearsal and allows for “instant” recall of experiences. This is the system that registers the details of your meal last night. It is always engaged, inexhaustible, and motivated by novelty. Thus, we are biologically supplied with the capacity to register complete experiences. Meaningful learning occurs through a combination of both approaches.
Learning is developmental. Development occurs in several ways. In part, the brain is “plastic,” which means that much of its hard wiring is shaped by people’s experiences. There are predetermined sequences of development in childhood, including windows of opportunity for laying down the basic hardware necessary for later learning. Such opportunities are why new languages, as well as arts, ought to be introduced to children very early in life. There is no limit to growth and to the capacities of humans to learn more. Neurons continue to be capable of making, and strengthening, new connections throughout life.
Complex learning is enhanced by challenge and inhibited by threat. The brain/mind learns optimally, it makes maximum connections, when appropriately challenged in an environment that encourages taking risks. The brain “downshifts” under perceived threat. It then becomes less flexible and reverts to primitive attitudes and procedures. This is why we must create an atmosphere of relaxed alertness, involving low threat and high challenges.[3]
Every brain is uniquely organized. We all have the same set of systems, and yet we are all different. Some of this difference is a consequence of our genetic endowment. Some of it is a consequence of differing experiences and differing environments. The differences express themselves in terms of learning styles, differing talents and intelligences, and so on. An important corollary is to appreciate that learners are different and need choice, while ensuring that they are exposed to a multiplicity of inputs. Multiple intelligences and vast ranges In diversity are, therefore characteristic is what it means to be human (Caine, Caine, 1994).
With these twelve core principles in mind instructional techniques associated with brain-based learning are:
Orchestrated immersion - creating learning environments that fully immerse students in the educational experience.
Relaxed alertness - the goal is to eliminate fear in learners, while maintaining a highly challenging environment.
Active processing - the learners are allowed to consolidate and internalize information by actively processing it.
Brain based learning makes an impact on education in that a teacher must design learning around students’ interests and make learning contextual.
Social Emotional Learning (SEL)
Research in brain-based learning suggests that emotional health is fundamental to effective learning. According to a report from the National Center for Clinical Infant Programs, the most critical element for a student's success in school is an understanding of how to learn (Goldman, 1997).
The key ingredients for this understanding are:
● Confidence
● Curiosity
● Intentionality
● Self-control
● Relatedness
● Capacity to communicate
● Ability to cooperate
These traits are all aspects of Emotional Intelligence. Basically, a student who learns to learn is much more apt to succeed.
Emotional Intelligence has proven a better predictor of future success than traditional benchmarks like the GPA, IQ, and standardized test scores. Emotions are a critical part of a learner’s ability to think rationally and experience meaning. The learner must be in a relaxed state of positive expectancy or very little of a constructive nature can take place. [4]
Teachers have the power to influence the emotional state of the children with activities that release stress, increase bonding, and give the emotions a chance to be expressed. (Jensen, 1996)
SEL activities:
What’s your positive news?: Share positive news with the class.
Read alouds: Social Emotional Books. Recommendations: Jabari Jumps, Enemy Pie, Beautiful OOPS!, The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes, Invisible Boy
Implementing brain-based activities is actually relatively easy, especially when following the acronym B.R.A.I.N. B.A.S.E.D., created by Sarah Hielman in 2006 (Hilemans, S. (2006). "Motivation Students Using Brain-based Teaching Strategies." The Agricultural Education Magazine, 78(4), 18-20).
Brain’s Time Clock
Repetition
Active Learning
Images
Novelty
Be Color
Automatic Learning
Social Brain
Elicit Emotions
Develop Thinking Skills
Pre School
The neurological processing in the three-to-five-year old’s brain is twice as busy as that of a college student, and perhaps three times busier than an adult’s. A preschooler has 100 billion brain cells (neurons), with 77 percent in the cerebral cortex — the territory that handles language, math, memory, attention, and complex problem solving. The neurons are forming connections via their dendrites, skinny octopus arms that slither out to receive information from up to potentially 15,000 other cells, and axons — which transmit information from neurons to other cells. The connections between neurons — called synapses — eventually total up between 1,000 trillion.[5]
Every classroom brings together students with distinct abilities and personalities. Since every student has different capabilities, some learn faster than others. Because of this difference, it becomes a challenge for teachers to implement methods that help out the entire class.
Teachers need to come up with effective teaching strategies and implement innovative solutions in order to meet every student’s individual needs in the class.
A youth human brain is a chaotic jungle of neurons getting "wired" together into intricate circuitry patterns. Early experiences have an enormous influence on children’s absorbent sponge-like brains and also strongly affect the way they mature. By providing everyday activities that arouse your child’s curiosity, you’re helping to create neural pathways that will increase their learning efficiency and capacity. Expose your preschooler to a variety of stimuli and allow your child hands-on interaction with three-dimensional materials. Cooking, finger-painting, clay construction, musical instruments, and going to festivals, petting zoos, museums, tide pools, concerts, and outdoor natural areas are all sensory-rich activities.
So here are a range of effective teaching strategies that can help the students to efficiently improve their learning abilities:
Set a positive tone from the beginning: Students must feel physically and emotionally safe ifor real learning. If we create a positive classroom environment where students feel supported and encouraged, they will be able to learn. Welcome the students in class each day, to increase their engagement, greetings create a sense of community.
Establish “turn and talk” time: When students talk about concepts they’ve learned, they’re more likely to retain the information. Using “turn and talk” into your lessons could help students process what they’ve just read, discuss ideas before sharing them with the class, and clarify difficulties. This alternative can be implemented as a warm-up activity, during class discussions, or closing activity to round out the day. When you let your students discuss their ideas, you’re giving them a chance to describe what they’ve learned in their own words and helping them explain their thoughts to their classmates.
Visualization of Information: It is a great method to summarize or process information that has been taught in class. When the students consume information through visual means, it helps them retain what they have learned for a longer time. This strategy also helps slow learners in class to visualize the ongoing lesson in a clear, simple and systematic way.
Student-Led Classrooms: This strategy is a creative way for teachers and students to interact and carry out discussions in the class. Encouraging students to switch roles and become teachers in a new perspective to the class.[6]
Implementing Technology in the Classroom: This is a great way to actively engage students. Using tables and laptops in the classroom, teachers can introduce interactive online games to learn faster and interact more. These games will polish their skills by engaging them in a game module where they solve questions and puzzles.
Differentiation: Differentiation is important in motivating students and helps them gain confidence. You can differentiate in your teaching by allocating tasks based on students’ abilities to ensure no one gets left behind. It is important to give assignments to individual students based on their proficiency levels so that the students with higher academic capabilities can support themselves to improve.
Inquiry-Based Instruction: Encouraging students to ask thought-provoking questions is an effective teaching strategy that not only inspires your students to think practically but also become independent learners. By asking questions and working together to solve the problems, students get to be involved in the learning process. It encourages students to work together as a class and also helps them retain new concepts in a better way.
Get moving: Brain breaks are a great way to get your students up and moving, and they have been shown to increase brain activity. As we know it is not good for students to stay sitting in their chairs for long periods, especially in this age this is not possible. Brain breaks are easy to implement in any classroom setting, and they require almost no setup. You could also use fun songs in your classroom!
Make connections with your students: Feeling socially connected, especially in an increasingly isolated world, is more important than ever. Research has shown that social connections not only impact your mental health, but your physical health as well. Loving, stable and responsive relationships are fundamental to your child's development. Through relationships, children learn how to think, understand, communicate, behave, express emotions and develop social skills
Support children’s emotional understanding: Ask children how they feel and notice children’s feelings throughout the day. Ask them questions or make comments like, “How are you feeling? or “It looks like you might be feeling sad about something.” Talk with children throughout the day about emotions. As an example, when you read books to them, label the characters’ emotions and point out the facial expression and body language of the characters in books. Talk about how you are feeling during the day, Talk about how people might feel in different situations to help children understand the different contexts of feelings and that all people have feelings. As an example, when reading books or talking with children about their own lives, ask questions like, “Why do you think she felt that way? How could you tell she was feeling sad?”. Label and define feelings for children when they do not have the words to express how they are feeling. As an example, “It looks like you might be concerned that you won’t get a turn on the swings today”. That feeling is called worrying. Let’s figure out a plan to help you with the problem if you are feeling worried.”
,Help children frame how they are feeling so that they can talk about the problem. For example, after a child has calmed down, reinforce feeling talk and problem-solving talk by saying, “You took a breath and calmed down, now you can say how you are feeling and what the problem is. Then we can figure out how to solve the problem.”
Support children’s self-regulation and problem-solving skills: Help children when they need to calm down, when it looks like a child is beginning to get upset, say, “It looks like this is a good time to calm down. Let’s take a deep breath together.” Model feeling talk and problem solving throughout the day. For example, “I think I need to take a deep breath and calm down. I’m feeling frustrated because I can’t find the book I was going to read to you. Encourage children to share their feelings with each other. For example, when problems arise, encourage children to talk with each other about their feelings and about the problem. This process helps children label their feelings so that they can calm down, talk about a problem and talk about a solution to the problem. Help children make the connection that all feelings are ok, but not all behaviors are ok. For example, “It is ok to feel frustrated when you have to wait your turn for your favorite center. It is not ok to push your friend.”
Be a cheerleader for children when they are problem solving! As an example, “Jaime, you calmed down and told Jose how you were feeling. Then you talked to Jose about how to solve the problem so you could both play with the puzzle. You were both great problem solvers!” Be specific when offering praise to children about their problem-solving efforts.
For the preschool child there are fundamentally basic elements that must be a part of their education. These are:
● helping the preschooler make sense of their world
● helping them feel safe and secure
● teaching them that learning is fun
● empowering them with a thirst for knowledge that lasts a lifetime.
A preschool classroom and environment that uses brain-based education techniques can achieve these elements.
Elementary
Educators are always searching for new ways to improve the learning experience for students. There are specific skills and classroom practices that motivate students, increase their potential in learning, and stimulate their thirst for knowledge. In this early age, teaching should be not only fun, but also engaging and memorable.
Take Small Steps and Ask Questions:
It is known that the place in our brains where we process the most information is quite small. Teachers can make lessons more memorable by taking small steps, instead of teaching too much at one time. For an Elementary student’s developing memory, there is an effective strategy called “chunking”. Chunking is when teaching occurs in small steps while checking for understanding. Asking questions and talking about the answers with students also help. When students explain how they got their answers, they practice vocal problem solving. “Asking a student to think out loud while solving a problem helps the teacher identify key areas where a student needs more help.”.
Seating Chart:
At this age, children are likely to build relationships and learn how to work in groups. It is important for children to develop an understanding of themselves as learners to be able to increase their awareness of their own thinking. This process is called metacognition. A variety of factors should be considered to plan seating charts. For example, special needs students with behavior issues would be best seated near students who will be positive role models. Children are not always sure of how to fit in in class. These students should be seated near students who will model appropriate actions. This can help them understand simple tasks, such as being on the right page while reading, note-taking skills, raising their hand or taking turns. Switching up the seating chart frequently will expose students to different learning styles and teachers will be able to notice which method works best for each student.
Foster Individualized Instruction/Differentiation:
It is important for educators to use different teaching strategies in order to reach all students because every one of them learns differently. Differentiated instruction is one of the best ways to teach in the classroom when having students with different needs, each student gets what they need in order to succeed and everyone works at their own pace and understanding. We might differentiate by giving each student the adequate tools and the correct strategies to find their strengths, challenging them into different levels of learning.
Breaking the class up into smaller groups allows us to provide differentiated content at various academic levels. Most teachers know that differentiating instruction is a good practice. Grouping students by ability can help you to provide a lesson better suited to their needs. However, it’s important to switch up the groups often if you use this approach. Periodically mix the groups up by interest, learning style, personal choice, and sometimes randomly so that they can interact with everyone at some point and don't feel stuck with the same people or the same group.
Encourage Creativity:
It is very important to stimulate creativity and imagination. Some simple strategies that could foster innovation are encouraging students to experiment with improvisational skills and role play. These activities build speech and language skills.
Creativity in the Classroom video: American Psychological Association
Demonstrate Kindness:
Students are human beings who may sometimes act unruly or inattentive to instructions. There are days when children can be distracted. “Since they’re the embodiment of the limited experiences they’ve already had, all you can do as a teacher is provide memorable educational experiences that will have a significant impact on their development.”.
As mentioned before, attention is a crucial aspect in every learning environment.
Attention and working memory are crucial for everyday living and learning. They’re both aspects of executive functioning that help us take in and make sense of new information.
There are four important parts of paying attention well. Kids may have trouble with any or all of these components.
Alertness. Kids need to be ready to pay attention.
Selection. Kids must be able to identify what deserves attention. For example, they have to be able to focus on the teacher, not on the voices out in the hall.
Sustaining. Kids have to be able to stay reasonably attentive over time. This could be for a three-minute presentation or for a 40-minute lecture.
Shifting. Kids should be able to shift attention briefly when important new information is introduced. For example, they should be able to focus on a brief announcement on the intercom. Then they should be able to turn their attention back to the teacher.
After gathering information, the attention funnel feeds it into the brain’s short-term storage bucket. This is where new information is first held. Experts call this process “encoding.” This is also where the brain manipulates new information so it’s useful. This process is called “working memory.” Working memory is an active and fairly instant process. It allows us to use new and learned information while we are in the middle of an activity. The part of the brain responsible for working memory is also responsible for maintaining focus and concentration. Here, working memory skills help kids remember what they need to be paying attention to.
Physical environment is very important for students to learn. It has an effect on their brain that can improve how they process information.
Here are some basic ideas on what to do, to make your classroom more interesting for them.
Seating[7]
● Provide flexible seating
○ Unattached Chair
○ Movable Desks.
○ Maximum comfort and flexibility.
● Allow Students To Position Themselves In Different ways
○ Allow them to lean up against a wall or sit on the floor while reading.
○ let them find a friend to “pair-share” with while walking (
○ Ask students to stand occasionally for brief learning periods.
● Encourage Learners To Avoid Incorrect Posture while sitting
○ Slumping over stretches the muscles and ligaments and puts stress on the back.
○ Poor posture shifts the body out of balance and forces a few muscles and joints to do all the work.
● Provide inflatable exercise balls as alternative seating for certain students.
○ Those with sensory disorders or attention deficit or your highly kinesthetic learners may find the inflatable balls easier to sit on than a chair.
● Group Carefully
○ Place no more than two or three students together at a table and avoid placing friends in the same group. This arrangement may help reduce the incidence of idle chit chat and distractions.
Temperature
● Keep Temperature Within The Comfort Zone.
○ This is generally between 68 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit.
● If your room gets direct sunlight, allow students to move around to cooler or shaded areas.
● Incorporate colors that create cooling effects, such as blues and greens
● Bemindful that very warm temperatures can increase anxiety and aggressiveness. This is especially important if you have students with panic disorder or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Lighting
● Maintain a constant, adequate level of bright lighting in your classroom.
○ Bright lighting helps reduce drowsiness by suppressing the production of melatonin in the brain.
● Limit student exposure to darkened Lecture halls and similar environments.
○ When such exposure is necessary, include low-level background lighting from a hallway or a window.
● Maximize student exposure to daylight.
○ Make sure students are exposed to as much natural light as possible, especially during fall and winter months.
○ Open classroom blinds and skylights.
○ Take students on field trips and brisk walks, when possible.
● Hold class outside on occasion.
○ Not only will students be exposed to more sunlight and fresh air, their brains will be stimulated by the novelty of learning in a new and different environment.
Noise
● Take stock of the noise level in your classroom
● Try to soften the noise level in your classroom.
○ Try hanging egg cartons, fabric, or tapestries on the walls, which will absorb some of the sound waves.
● Schedule activities that require the most intense mental concentration when environmental noise levels are lowest.
○ It is especially important to maintain a quiet environment when learners are taking exams or doing other important mental tasks.
Other resources: Instructional Strategies
Middle School
Adolescence is a relatively new phenomenon in the world of psychology, and even among educators it is often viewed as a phase to be endured and that hopefully passes as painlessly as possible (especially for parents and teachers).
Let us start by offering a more optimistic view of the incredible design of the middle school brain:
At around the age of eleven for girls and twelve for boys, there is a proliferation of neural tissue, or what scientists refer to as gray matter. Similar to the pruning that takes place during childhood, adolescence is characterized by a second phase of pruning. Rather than refining the parts of the brain that are responsible for the sensory and motor functions, however, the pruning process during adolescence takes place in the frontal lobes, and more specifically, in the prefrontal cortex.
The prefrontal cortex is the area of the brain responsible for planning, making decisions, setting priorities, forming strategies, and inhibiting impulses. We now know that there is also an enhancement during adolescence of brain functions related to the navigation of complex social relationships, as well as learning to read and respond to subtle nuances in social signaling (Wright 2016).
Adolescence is the first experiment of self, and they have no practice in it. Our students are developing their own view of life, informed by and also independent of that of their families, their friend groups, and their communities.
Examples of manifestations of adolescence:[8]
● Shifts in friend groups
● Hurt feelings
● Confusion
● Sadness
● Quest for independence
● Silence and self-imposed exile. (The closed bedroom door may become familiar at this time.)
● Losing interest in activities that were once held sacred
● Finding new interests and developing new areas of skill and expertise
Throughout all of this, adolescents experience a new level of moral and intellectual engagement. There is an idealism that proliferates at this time of life. They attach themselves to causes that they feel passionately about, and they take pride in their ability to develop and hold opinions about sophisticated ideas. They are beginning to take ownership of the world, and are intent on making that world better than it is. In part, this is due to the rapid synapsing of that adolescent brain.
Our adolescent children may not have the experience adults have, but their brains are faster, and their enthusiasm is unbounded. In the search for new experiences they may also engage in risky behavior.
With all this in mind, it is important to build a middle school environment where students can thrive during this special time.
Some ideas that have proven to be successful in middle school are:
● Offering a wide range of club activities and encouraging them to try several out to then choose the best fit ( from robotics, to sewing, to sports, arts, etc.)
● Provide leadership and purpose opportunities such as community service and passion projects.
● Mandatory built- in touchpoints with an advisor.
● House systems (think hogwarts: gryffindor, slytherin, etc) and have students engage in social activities and competitions across grades.
● Mandatory built-in empathy building activities (story exchange)
Tips for teachers *by Heather Wolpert-Gawron (tween teacher)
1. Yawning before a test – Tell students to yawn. This proactively loads up the brain and muscles with an extra umph of oxygen from which to draw.
2. Take syn-naps – Judy Willis coined this great term for taking little brain-breaks. Through her studies, she has discovered that every ten minutes, a teacher should switch activities or modalities, create suspense, do something spontaneous in order for brains to shake the doldrums away.
3. Rotating Seats – In the middle of an activity, why not say, “oh, by the way, can you put your pencils down, pick up your books, and move three desks to the left around the table?” The smiles and grumbles and eye rolls are enough to wake them up, and by the time they’ve seated again, there’s some O2 in the brain that wasn’t there before.
4. KWLH – Adding an H at the end for How did you learn it? This is a very non-threatening mode of deeper reflection.
5. Let Them Drink Water – Let kids bring in their water bottles. This hydrates the brain and its functions. Dehydration affects the salt level in the blood, which upsets stress and blood pressure. The brain, therefore, can phase out, and lose attention span.
6. Flash a picture between PowerPoint and Keynote slides – Put non-sequitur slides in your powerpoints just to see who is paying attention. It’s entertaining for them, but it’s also entertaining for you.
7. Instantaneous think aloud – Try a written Think Aloud of sorts, an immediate reflection done in such a way that it wakes them up to do it.
8. Attach a Lesson or Unit to Music – Create an attachment to a concept that is non-linguistic so that you can make it memorable before the RAS filter as a chance to toss the lesson aside.
9. Introduce Activities to Support Developing Executive Function- Students need to be explicitly taught and given opportunities to practice using executive functions such as how to learn, study, organize, prioritize, review, and actively participate in class. Activities that can support executive function network development include:
● comparing and contrasting
● giving new examples of a concept
● spiraled curriculum
● group collaboration
● open-ended discussions
Additionally, executive function is developed when students summarize and symbolize new learning into new formats, such as through the arts or writing across the curriculum.
So keep ‘em moving, keep things spontaneous, and keep their brains active even while their bodies are stationed in their seats.
Whole Brain Teaching 5 Step Lesson: Middle School Science
High School
As defined by the Glossary of Education Reform, ”brain-based learning refers to teaching methods, lesson designs, and school programs that are based on the latest scientific research about how the brain learns, including such factors as cognitive development—how students learn differently as they age, grow, and mature socially, emotionally, and cognitively.”
When talking about the teenage brain, the science of learning and research state that many traditional teaching strategies don’t consider how the teen’s brain works. Recent discoveries about brain-based learning are proving not only to energize high school students, but to help teens absorb and retain information.
Brain scientists suggest that students absorb and retain information best if they work in what’s known as the “flow state”. This mindset is reached when their consciousness is fully “in the zone,” entirely focused on activities they find pleasurable that time flies and all distractions disappear. (Pellissier, 2021)
Try these brain-based learning strategies and study skills that can help teens enter this open state of more productive and enjoyable learning.
Interrupt the lecture: Long lectures affect student comprehension because after 10 minutes, the human brain’s ability to remember facts and concepts declines rapidly. Author Eric Jensen suggests using “tools for student engagement” to interrupt lectures and keep students engaged, attentive and energized.
Eye-opening demonstrations
Games
Student interaction
Emotions Rule: “Emotions drive attention”, they influence our learning and memory. The stronger the emotion, the stronger the memory.
Memories are malleable: Memories can change over time; our brain filters what information gets in or stays out. Try using graphic organizers, peer feedback, group quizzes, brainstorming, review games, exit tickets, among others. Avoid clicking through slides and lecturing students.
Practice makes brain-based learning: Repetition is a method usually used for remembering information. Use “memorization methods” that make learning stick. Use rewards like prizes and compliments, they make the student’s brain excited with a dose of dopamine.
Movement is a must: Allow students to move. Movement enhances our brain’s ability to learn and allows what we learn to move from temporary memory to permanent storage for later recall. (Kuczla and Lengel, 2017)
Facilitates Cognition
Develops Body/Brain Balance
Anchors Learning
Improves Working Memory
Regulates Mood/Reduces Stress
Less fidgety, More Focused
Our brains can grow as muscles: Emphasize to students about their growth mindset and the importance that it has to develop their intelligence. The brain’s development helps our cognitive skills to grow stronger the more we use them, so the brain will continue to grow.
States Matter: “There is no such thing as an unmotivated student, only students in unmotivated states” (Jensen, 2003). Learning “states” are student behaviors at any given moment. A teacher’s job is to get students into target learning states by playing music, get students moving, tell stories, arouse curiosity.
Environments affect brains: Create a flexible learning environment. Seating arrangement, lightening, temperature, books, visual prompts, can positively impact student learning.
Use body brain boosters: Encourage students to do activities outside of the classroom that will enhance their brain’s capabilities and academic performance. Exercise, eat well, sleep enough (8 to 10 hours), meditate, listen to music, sports, etc.
“Too Much Too Fast, Won’t Last”: Cramming more content has the opposite effect for students and teachers because our brains are not built to store and retain large amounts of information given to us at one time. Allow time for students to process the information and to review content; this will help them create more space in their brain for new information to be added. [9]
How to reach teenagers in class?
● Take the direct approach: Talking to teenagers directly about the changes and development of their brains can help them to better understand themselves and exercise control over their emotional and academic lives.
● Make good use of peer pressure: Peer pressure and social influence can be used for good. Discussing social issues with students and using teen leaders, social influencers, and appeals to fairness and justice, can help change behaviors around topics like academic cheating, vaping, and bullying.
● Teach Self-Regulation: The prefrontal cortex, which governs executive functions, is still developing and remains highly responsive to the environment and to training during adolescence. Social and emotional learning programs can support students to regulate their emotions, manage stress, and have empathy for others. As a result, positive effects on executive functions will improve focus and self-discipline, setting teenagers up for academic and professional success.
As teachers, we need to help our teen students to build their executive skills. The research says: “Use it, or lose it”. For teen brains to retain information, they need to apply it. (Willis, 2011)
1) Provide opportunities to apply learning. Use meaningful activities and formative assessments and give feedback.
2) Introduce activities to support developing executive functions. Use student-centered activities, projects and group collaboration, discussions, etc.
3) Model higher thinking skills. Prioritizing, setting goals, monitoring process, self-feedback, transfer learning, etc.
When adults support development of teens’ executive function skills during the critical years of adolescence, it can have a lifelong impact.
For more information: “How to boost executive function in teens”
ESL
Language is central to our lives, and when it comes to English, there is a great variety of acronyms when describing the process of learning or teaching English, including English Learners (ELs), English Language Learners (ELLs), Limited English proficient (LEp), Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL), Teaching English as a Foreing Language (TEFL), English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and the list could go on and on. And yes, although we can learn a language later in life, research shows it better to start early. In the book Teaching with the Brain in Mind by Jensen, it is mentioned that language skills develop between birth and the age of five. However, the biggest burst in vocabulary occurs between 19 and 31 months, and by the age of five, the brain has [already] learned a language (Jensen 2005).
When learning a language, it is crucial to hear it and speak it. The more words a child hears, the better. In other words, exposure to language, and active involvement, for instance speaking it, listening to it, writing it and reading it, is a must for a person to acquire it. This is all backed by researchers such as Noam Chomsky, the world's most famous linguist to date.
When it comes to mind-body links, there is evidence which is scattered in various proposals between this linkage (Schmahmann, 1997), and this has served as groundswell to today’s neuroscientists to agree that movement and cognition are strongly connected, hence the importance of teaching to the brain and not the ¨sit and git¨ learning style.[10]
Strategies in Action
When learning about new strategies in education we are given a lot of theory and we are given the “what” and the “why”, but often we are left to figure out the “how” on our own.
Below you will find a compilation of videos where you can see some of these strategies being used in real classrooms. Hopefully these videos help you get a clear picture of what you can do and what it can look like.[11]
1. Middle school science teacher uses “turn and talk” time to help his students discuss their ideas.
2. Brain breaks: action songs for kids
Covid- 19: The New Normal in Education
How is Covid-19 affecting student learning?
The emergence of CoronaVirus disease (COVID-19) has led the world to an unprecedented public health crisis. With the closure of educational institutions, the need for a rapid transition from physical learning to the digital sphere of learning emerged (Kapasia et al. 2020). Online learning has been observed as a possible alternative to conventional learning (Adnan and Anwar 2020). However, according to a meta-analysis on e-learning (Cook 2009), it is reported that online learning is better than nothing and similar to conventional learning. To improve the e-learning experience, the education institutions are required to comply with the guidelines and recommendations by government agencies, while keeping students encouraged to continue learning remotely in this tough environment.
The outbreak of Covid-19 has upended the lives of all parts of the society. One of the most immediate changes introduced was the closure of educational institutions to slow the transmission of the virus. In order to prevent further interruption of studies, new teaching methods for the online delivery of education were introduced (Johnson et al., 2020, Di Pietro et al., 2020). However, these measures can have long-term consequences on the lives of students (Cohen et al. 2020). Therefore, there is a strong need to record and study the effects of the changes being made.
The rapid evolution of this disease at such a large scale has influenced the students of all age groups (Hasan and Bao 2020). It is expected that the continued spread of the disease, travel restrictions and the closure of educational institutions across the country would have a significant effect on the education, social life, and mental health of students (Odriozola-gonzález et al. 2020). The students from the less privileged backgrounds have experienced larger negative impacts due to the Covid-19 outbreak (Aucejo et al. 2020). Reduction in family income, limited access to digital resources, and the high cost of internet connectivity have disrupted the academic life of the students. Moreover, 1.5 billion students across the world are now deprived of basic education (Lee 2020) leading to a serious psychological impact on their health. Moreover, changes in daily routine including lack of outdoor activity, disturbed sleeping patterns, social distancing have affected the mental well-being of the students.
Limited class interaction and inefficient time tables has significantly affected the satisfaction levels among students. The peer-to-peer impact in the school environment motivates individuals to work hard and learn social skills, which may not be possible in an online setting. Moreover, the biggest challenge for online learning is the requirement of efficient digital infrastructure and digital skills for both students and teachers.
Once the COVID-19 pandemic ends and educational institutions re-open, the concerned authorities should continue to invest in online education to enhance learning experience. They should carefully analyze the issues experienced during sudden transition to online learning and prepare for any future situations. Proper training of educators for the digital skills and improved student-teacher interaction must be conducted. For disadvantaged students, availability of digital infrastructure with proper internet availability and access to gadgets must be ensured to avoid any disruption to their study.
Due to the situation in Covid-19, many students are likely to suffer from stress, anxiety, and depression, so it is necessary to provide emotional support to students. Future work in this direction could be to analyze the association of different stress busters on the mental health of the students. Moreover, guidelines should be created to anticipate the needs of the vulnerable student population. Improved healthcare management would ensure the delivery of mental health support.
The Covid-19 outbreak has made a significant impact on the mental health, education, and daily routine of students. The Covid-19 related interruptions highlight key challenges and provide an opportunity to further evaluate alternative measures in the education sector. The new policies and guidelines in this direction would help mitigate some of the negative effects and prepare educators and students for the future health crisis.[12]
SEL Tips for Returning to In-Person Instruction[13]
How can teachers attend to students’ social-emotional needs? Social-emotional learning (SEL) will be critical for educators and students following such a challenging year. Below you will find some SEL tips for a smooth transition back to in-person instruction.
1) Extend grace: Respond to disruptive behavior with empathy. Rather than punishing misbehavior, address its core causes. Use deep-breathing exercises.
2) Give teens a lifeline and some slack: Let your students know that they can reach out to you by saying things like, “You seem a little stressed. You know, I’m always willing to listen”. These little “raindrops” assure students that they can come to you for support. Pediatric psychologist Vanessa Jensen calls this the “raindrop theory.”
3) Encourage but don’t reassure: Teach students problem-solving skills based on research.
4) Create community: Invite your students to contribute their unique talents to the class community. Decorate the classroom, active listening, creative writing, public speaking activities.
5) Practice Self-compassion (Self-care): Schedule time on your calendar for decompressing activities, go for a run, read a book. Make an “idea jar” of activities for open spots in your daily schedule.
Resources:[14]
● Admin. “A List of Brain-Based Strategies to Create Effective ELearning.” SHIFT, 2018, www.shiftelearning.com/blog/bid/354359/a-list-of-brain-based-strategies-to-create-effective-elearning.
● Merrill, Stephen. “Decoding the Teenage Brain (in 3 Charts).” Edutopia, 1 Feb. 2019, www.edutopia.org/article/decoding-teenage-brain-3-charts.
● Sfarnsworth. “8 Brain-Friendly Practices for Middle School and High School Students.” Shaelynn Farnsworth, 25 July 2019, shaelynnfarnsworth.com/2019/07/24/8-brain-friendly-practices-for-middle-school-and-high-school-students.
● Kunal Chaturvedi, Dinesh Kumar Vishwakarma, Nidhi Singh; “COVID-19 and its impact on education, social life and mental health of students: A survey”, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019074092032288X
● Pellissier, Hank. “6 Brain-Based Learning Strategies and Study Skills That Help Teens Learn.” Parenting, 8 June 2021, www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/6-brain-based-learning-strategies-that-help-teens-learn.
● Milne, Andy. “‘Sticky Learning’ Strategies.” #slowchathealth, 12 Apr. 2021, slowchathealth.com/2021/04/12/sticky-learning-strategies.
● “Strategies for Elementary School Educators: Queens University Online.” Qnstux, 11 Dec. 2020, online.queens.edu/resources/article/strategies-for-teaching-elementary-students/.
● “What Makes an Effective Teacher?” Elementary Education Degree, www.elementaryeducationdegree.com/what-makes-an-effective-teacher/?_ga=2.258325762.909165492.1625109602-448099059.1625109602.
● Davis, Posted By: Lauren Cassani, and Lauren Cassani Davis. “Creative Teaching and Teaching Creativity: How to Foster Creativity in the Classroom.” Psych Learning Curve, 7 Oct. 2019, psychlearningcurve.org/creative-teaching-and-teaching-creativity-how-to-foster-creativity-in-the-classroom/.
● “Happy Together: 5 Research-Based SEL Tips for Returning to In-Person Instruction.” Blog | Carnegie Learning, 2021, www.carnegielearning.com/blog/sel-tips-back-to-school.
● Willis, Judy. “Three Brain-Based Teaching Strategies to Build Executive Function in Students.” Edutopia, 5 Oct. 2011, www.edutopia.org/blog/brain-based-teaching-strategies-judy-willis.
● “Bolstering Executive Function in Middle and High School Students.” Edutopia, 2 Apr. 2021, www.edutopia.org/video/bolstering-executive-function-middle-and-high-school-students.
● Hank Pellissier, “Inside the preschooler’s brain”
https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/preschooler-brain-development/
● Teaching with the Brain in Mind, 2nd Edition. (2021). Ascd.org.
http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/104013.aspx