summer institutejuly 7-8, 2015 | tulsa, ok your brain, your students’ brains, and three brain...

SUMMER INSTITUTE JULY 7-8, 2015 | TULSA, OK

Your Brain, Your Students’ Brains, and Three Brain Targets to

Remember When Teaching and Tutoring

A Repeat Session from 2014


Place your emotional set-a-side in the mailbox, shredder, or pocket


BIG PictureHow the

Brain Works

Emotional Climate

Physical Environme

nt

Learning Design

Applications in TDS & DN Schools


NORMS• Cell Phone• Quiet Signal: “Nucleus, Axon, Dendrites, Synapse”• Avoid Sidebars• Have Fun


Pass the String1. Holding the string, pass the ball

of string to another person that

is not holding the string.

2. The new person should state

his/her name and pass the ball

to another person. Try to

remember as many names as

possible.

3. Repeat until everyone is holding

the string.

4. Now, call out a name and pass

the ball of string to that person.

5. Repeat.


Brain Cells

http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/Journals/Winter2012/Jonas


Electrical Impulse

Brain Cells

axon

Neurotransmitters

Synapsechemical

scross

Electrical Impulse

dendrite


Brain-Targets• I will structure the remaining activities and discussions around

three of six brain-targets developed by Dr. Mariale Hardiman, professor and director of the Neuro-Education Initiative and new vice dean of academic affairs at the Johns Hopkins University School of Education. I have been give permission by Dr. Hardiman, the trademark owner of the Brain-Targeted Teaching® Model to reference and use the terms from her model.

• As I work through the three brain-targets, I will make reference to other professionals and their contributions to how neuroscience is impacting best practices for learning and education.


We will focus on the first three of six brain targets.

Emotional Climate

Physical Environme

nt

Big Picture

Learning Design

Mastery of Content,

Skills, and Concepts

Application of

Knowledge

Evaluation and

Assessment

Brain Targets


BTT 1: Emotional Climate for Learning

Emotional Climate

Physical Environme

nt

Big Picture

Learning Design

Mastery of Content,


Application of

Knowledge

Evaluation and

Assessment

Brain Targets


Establishing the Emotional Climate for Learning


Math and Spelling

MathSpellin

g


Partner Activity

• Partner A should describe to partner B a school experience he/she is willing to share that was fairly negative and impacts him/her to this day. (2 minutes)

• Now, partner B should describe his/her experience to partner A. (2 minutes)


Back to the Brain

Amygdala

Hippocampus

Frontal Cortex

Plays a role in consolidation of information from short-term to long-term memory.

This area is where executive functions occur.

Primary role in processing of memory, decision-making, and emotional reactions.


BTT 1: Emotional Climate for Learning

• Research has shown that constant stress may cause damage in the hippocampus and frontal cortex, affecting memory and information processing (McEwen & Sapolsky, 1995)

• In Teaching with Poverty in Mind, Eric Jensen writes, “In chronically stressed kids, the combined effects on the hippocampus and the amygdala may be precisely what facilitates emotional memory (the aspect of memory that encompasses highly salient memories of events such as divorce, abuse, trauma, death, or abandonment) and reduces declarative memory (the aspect of memory that stores standard knowledge and learning.)


Emotional Connections to Learning

• In her book Mindsets, Carol Dweck, says someone with a fixed mindset who experiences failure can be haunted by the trauma. (Dweck, 2006)

• “When scarcity captures the mind, we become more attentive and efficient. … The same automatic capture that helps us focus becomes a burden with the rest of life. Because we are preoccupied by scarcity, because our minds constantly return to it, we have less mind to give to the rest of life.” (Mullainathan & Shafir, 2013). The authors in Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much call this “Bandwidth.” The authors also suggest that the experience of poverty reduces anyone’s bandwidth.


Good News!Just as muscles are strengthened with repeated exercise, brain networks are strengthened with repeated use. (Hardiman, 2012)

Plasticity


So, what do We do about Emotion?

• Eric Jensen talks about building student-staff relationships and relationships among students so students feel safe, appreciated, important, and supported. (Jensen pgs. 92 & 93, 2009) He also speaks about giving students HOPE (pg. 112)

• Behavior-specific praise is more effective in reinforcing and shaping behaviors than generalized praise. (Hardiman pg. 42, 2012)

• Find a growth-mindset way to compliment them [students]. (Dweck, 2006) For example, praise effort.


So, what do We do about Emotion?

• Think of ways to increase students bandwidth.• Help students disengage from an emotional event (Hardiman,

2012)• Connect students with caring adults (Hardiman, 2012)

Also, Dr. Hardiman has a heading in her book titled, “Predictability: Classroom Routines, Rituals, and Celebrations” to help the reader understand the importance of letting students know what is expected of them academically and socially in the classroom.


So, What do We Do about Emotion?

Other ideas suggested by Dr. Hardiman:• Offer control and choice• Address social and emotional needs• Have students practice reflection and mindfulness exercises• Use humor• Engage in the arts


So, what do We do aboutEmotion?

• In How Children Succeed, Paul Tough suggests, “Cognitive flexibility is the ability to see alternative solutions to problems, to think outside the box, to negotiate unfamiliar situations. Cognitive self-control is the ability to inhibit an instinctive or habitual response and substitute a more effective, less obvious one.” (Tough pg. 114, 2012) He later shares a quote from Spiegel, a Chess teacher he interviewed and observed, “I try to teach my students that losing is something you do, not something you are.”


Partner Activity

• Partner B, describe to partner A how a teacher created an environment so that you could overcome a fear or learning challenge. (2 minutes)

• Now, partner A describe to partner B. (2 minutes)


How might emotional climate relate to our conference

theme?


BTT 2: Create the Physical Learning Environment

• Attention and Novelty• Lighting• Sound• Scent• Movement• Order and Beauty

Emotional Climate

Physical Environme

nt

Big Picture

Learning Design

Mastery of Content,


Application of

Knowledge

Evaluation and

Assessment

Brain Targets


Neural Networks

“Alerting network engages children in the task at hand and is important for capturing their attention to learning;

Orienting network keeps attention attuned to external events rather than internal thoughts;

Executive attention network inhibits extraneous thoughts.”

pg. 61 Brain-Targeted Teaching Model for 21st-Century Schools (Hardiman, 2012)


Extremes


Attention and Novelty“Novelty in the environment triggers the alerting and orienting systems. Unchanging visual environments create habituation.”

“When outside surroundings are varied, information is enriched and retention of content is improved.”

“…, teachers should find a balance between the need for a climate that demonstrates predictable routines and providing novel experiences and environmental changes.”

Brain-Targeted Teaching Model for 21st-Century Schools (Hardiman, 2012)


Lighting“Students who studied in classrooms with the most day lighting demonstrated 20% better scores on mathematics assessment and 26% on reading assessments.”

Brain-Targeted Teaching Model for 21st-Century Schools (Hardiman, 2012)


Sound


Scent


Scent• Memory and Emotion• Be careful of allergies• Natural products like oils

instead of artificial chemicals


Movement“… exercise is in the roots of our biology and strongly influences cognition: movingmuscles produces proteins inthe blood that affect learning.”

“… exercise improves certain mental processes that regulate alertness, attention, and motivation.”

pg. 69 Brain-Targeted Teaching Model for 21st-Century Schools (Hardiman, 2012)


Order and Beauty

Learning is optimized when children are in environments that are free from clutter and are aesthetically pleasing.Brain-Targeted Teaching Model for 21st-Century Schools (Hardiman, 2012)


Scarcity, Bandwidth, and Physical Environment

• Jensen suggests developing community partnerships that can potentially help with medical and mental health services, free books, and free tutoring (Jensen pg. 73, 2009)

• Both Jensen and Hardiman suggest incorporating the arts into schools and curriculum.

• Danny’s Suggestion: With the many partners and programs in DN, the physical environment should be impacted positively.


Physical Environment Commitment

• On the front of the pink index card, write one strategy that demonstrates how you could impact the physical space in your building/classroom to move toward student success.

• On the back of the pink index card, write your email address.• Please pass your card forward. I’ll record all the different methods

and email you the master list as soon as I can. Please write legibly.


BTT 3: Designing the Learning Experience

How the Brain Works

Emotional Climate

Physical Environment

LearningDesign

Applications in TDS & DN Schools

Emotional Climate

Physical Environme

nt

Big Picture

Learning Design

Mastery of Content,


Application of

Knowledge

Evaluation and

Assessment

Brain Targets


Suggestions for Designing the Learning

Dr. Hardiman suggests you:• Show the Big Picture• Ensure learning builds on what students already know

Eric Jensen suggests that you:• “Know how to prime students’ brains for what is coming up in the

unit.• Show students the conceptual ‘chunks’ in the unit through a mind

map, graphic organizer, or concept web.” (Jensen, pg. 12, 2009)


Dr. Bob Balfanz• Double burden of low income individual and high

poverty neighborhood can result in 2 to 3 times more impact from stress of poverty.

• Be reflective and determine solutions that meet the needs of your situation.

• Know and understand the remaining challenges.

• Continuous Improvement


Four Pillars and Three Brain Targets

Emotional Climate

Physical Environme

nt

Big Picture

Learning Design

Mastery of Content,


Application of

Knowledge

Evaluation and

Assessment

Brain Targets


Let’s Link Brain Targets to Four Pillar Schemata

Pillars Brain Targets

I. Teacher Teams & Small Learning Communities

II. Curriculum & Instruction with Professional Development

III. Tiered Student SupportsIV. Can-Do Culture & Climate

1. Emotional Climate2. Physical Environment3. Big Picture Learning Design


On the Orange Index Card

• Side One: Warm Feedback

• Side Two: Cool Feedback

• Please put your card in the mailbox on the way out.

• Thanks!


ResourcesDavidson, C. (2011). Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the

Way We Live, Work, and Learn. New York, NY: Penguin Group.Dweck, C. (2006). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. New York: Ballantine Books.Jackson, Y. (2011). The Pedagogy of Confidence: Inspiring High Intellectual Performance in

Urban Schools. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.Jensen, E. (2009). Teaching with Poverty in Mind. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.Mariale, H. (2012). The Brain-Targeted Teaching Model for 21st-Centry Schools. Thousand

Oaks, California: Corwin A SAGE Company.Mullainathan, S. & Shafir, E. (2013). Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much. New

York, NY: Times Books Henry Hold and Company, LLC.Tough, P. (2012). How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character.

Boston, NY: Mariner Books Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.Willis, J. (2009). How students sleepy brains fail them. Kappa Delta Record, Summer 2009,

158–162.

summer institutejuly 7-8, 2015 | tulsa, ok your brain, your students’ brains, and three brain...

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