JISD Professional Development Newsletter - January, 2012

Teachers as Brain-Changers: Neuroscience and Learning

By Wendi Pillars for Ed Week

I'm an armchair neuroscientist, or at least I love learning about the brain, how it functions, and what recent findings mean for my practice as a teacher.

teen brain Bridging research findings to the realities of the classroom, however, is far easier said than done. In addition to navigating the daily challenges of our work, we must distinguish trendy "research-based" claims about the brain from those grounded in legitimate neuroscientific findings. And then we have to figure out how to apply what we've learned. Sifting through these claims to understand their origins is precisely the goal of my current research.

Remember when conventional science wisdom claimed that the average person could learn and retain about seven chunks of information at a time? (Hence, our seven-digit phone number protocol.) Well, recent neuroscientific findings have determined that our cognitive capacity is actually just three to four items.

This can be good: It forces us as teachers to narrow and hone our objectives, and to determine what is most important as we make decisions throughout the day. But it can also be overwhelming—like, how can we possibly help students master an extensive body of content when they can only learn it in such small chunks?child with brain model

In keeping with this particular finding, here are three critical takeaways that I keep coming across as I explore the literature on neuroscience and teaching.

#1. Teachers are, in essence, brain changers.

We are the only professionals whose job it is to physically alter a child's brain daily. I like how Judy Willis, accomplished neuroscientist-turned-teacher, refers to a teacher's work as a form of "bloodless brain surgery."

Here's how it happens at a basic level:

• If a child takes in information through her sensory pathways and her brain makes the decision to keep that knowledge, the integrative process takes over and makes sense out of that learning as she sleeps.

• This consolidation occurs when neurons transmit messages to one another. The messages must cross microscopic chasms between the neurons—laboriously at first, and then more quickly with each subsequent moment of access.

• Eventually the learning is connected to several points within a denser and denser web of neurons, easing the information retrieval process for the conscious learner.

As teachers, we must understand that a neural pathway is like a new path in the woods. The more frequently that a neural pathway is traveled, the fewer the obstacles, the greater its capacity, and the smoother and faster it becomes.

This means that we must help our students make connections to prior experiences, knowledge, and learning—and connections to other curricular areas. The more connections we make in class, the more we are physically altering our students' brains by creating and strengthening neural pathways.

child brain

Knowing this, it becomes all the more crucial to maximize learning opportunities during the1,260 hours our students are with us during the school year.

Studies show that we as teachers spend 90 percent of planning time ensuring our lessons make sense. We tend to spend far less planning time (about 10 percent) on establishing the relevance of the lesson to previous and future learning. But neuroscientific findings indicate that relevance—linked to connections and emotion—is particularly important.

Reflecting on my own teaching, I see that it's important to engage a range of sensory pathways more consistently as I provide explicit and implicit opportunities for the students to recognize and make connections.

#2. The one whose neural pathways are changing is the one doing the learning.

Self-evident, right? I admit that, initially, I just thought, "Well, duh!" But as I reflected honestly on my own classroom, I began to see that my mindset needed to shift. I was doing too much of the wrong kind of work—making too much explicit too quickly, rather than planning for opportunities to help students make connections themselves. So many areas of learning could be owned by the students, yet I was robbing them of that experience, either in total or in part.

brain parts What is the best way to support that ownership, to design ways to turn over the learning to the students, according to neuroscience? Two big ideas supported by the findings are that the brain is a pleasure junkie—and a pattern junkie. So, I'm finding more ways to bring laughter and pleasure into my classroom and creating playful ways to explore and learn. I'm also integrating more opportunities for students to work with patterns, sorting and interacting with the relationships among data, concepts, and experiences.

#3. Critical thinking is more important than ever—which means we expect different results from learning.

Scholars like Tony Wagner,Daniel Willingham, and others say the innovators of the future will be students who can formulate the "right questions," sift through overwhelming amounts of information, and clearly communicate knowledge they have recombined in original ways. What can neuroscience show us about developing students' critical thinking skills? About changing the way we approach teaching and learning?

As I mentioned, learning develops an ever-expanding network of neural connections within the brain. When students practice higher-order thinking—when they question an initial assumption or answer and explore it further—more connections and pathways are created in the brain. This also occurs when students are able to recombine their new knowledge with what they've learned in the past.

I've realized that I need to provide more opportunities for my students to explore the inquiry process: to take their learning to the next level, wherever that may be. This necessitates teaching them how to inquire and how to be comfortable taking risks. Technology can help us create these opportunities. But information is useless unless shared and explored effectively, so we teachers must continue to foster communication skills and relationships in all we do.

Reading about all this from a neuroscientific perspective makes the learning process seem more concrete and reassures me that we don't need to scrap everything we know about effective teaching. In fact, many of us already approach teaching in ways that are consistent with neuroscientific findings—but knowing more about how our students' brains function can help us fine-tune what we do, and remind us to be consistent with those ideas that are brain-friendly. This perspective also emphasizes the learner, rather than the teacher—a reminder that we would all do well to heed.

As Willis, the teacher-neuroscientist says, "This is not about me, it's not about you, it's about the mission of teaching in a way that changes brains for the better."

Wendi Pillars is a National Board-certified Teacher in English-language learning, and a member of theTeacher Leaders Network. She has 15 years of teaching experience, both overseas and stateside. She has previously written about neurotoxins and their impact on the learning brain.

http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2011/12/20/tln_pillars.html?tkn=MNWFw
6Gc56MQLTP7CTsnFgg1v329SIPC4r3o&cmp=clp-sb-ascd

Dr. Ken Shore's Classroom Problem Solver:
Dealing With Chronic Complainers

Some students seem to find fault with almost everything. They gripe about
the amount of homework, the food in the lunchroom, their seat in the classroom, and the comments of other students. For those chronic complainers, not much seems to be going right. Their cup is decidedly half-empty rather than half-full.

Agirl poutinglthough you want to discourage those students from complaining as a way of seeking attention, you do not want to discourage them from voicing legitimate grievances or concerns. Nothing is inherently wrong with a student lodging a complaint. Indeed, you want your students to let you know if they are unhappy with some aspect of the classroom. Their complaints might even help by prompting you to modify a classroom activity or practice.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

light bulbEncourage the student to look on the bright side. In response to a complaint, try redirecting her attention to something positive about the situation. For example, if she complains about the food in school, you might ask her to name his/her three favorite cafeteria
meals.

light bulbTalk privately with the student.Let her know that the two of you need to work together to help her learn to complain less frequently. Inform her that she is allowed to come to you with concerns, but she needs to make sure it's a problem that is really bothering her and a problem you can do something about. Help her understand that if she complains too often, adults might not take her concerns seriously and classmates might start avoiding her.

light bulbPraise the student when she makes an effort to solve a problem.Just as you want to ignore her when she's complaining unceasingly, you want to praise him/her when she's trying to solve a problem rather than complaining about it.

light bulbLook for patterns.Observing when she complains and whom he/she complains to might tell you why she's complaining so often. If she's griping frequently to her peers, that might be her way of gaining status with them. If, on the other hand, she complains mostly to you and your response is to listen and comfort, that might be her way of gaining your attention.stop sign

light bulbEstablish a complaint quota.
If you have a student who is a relentless complainer, tell her that she's limited to two or three complaints per day. Let her know that you will respond to those complaints, but not to any others, so she'll need to think carefully before making a complaint. Try to stick to the plan, although, of course, you will not want to ignore serious complaints even if she has exceeded her quota.

light bulbSignal the student when she complains.Chronically complaining students might not be aware of how frequently they make negative comments. Set up a private non-verbal signal with the student that you can use in class to alert her when she is complaining and to help her become more aware of her behavior.

light bulbTell the student to write down her complaint and put it in the classroom complaint box.Make sure all your students know about the procedure. Tell them that if they are unhappy about some aspect of the class, they should write it down, sign it, and put it in the box. Encourage them to suggest a solution for the problem. The box will help minimize disruptions to your lessons and allow students to voice concerns they are not comfortable expressing to you in person. Make it clear to students that they can see you in person if there is a problem that needs your immediate attention.

light bulbMonitor the student's complaintsstudent.Keep track of the number of times she complains each day. Use the results to demonstrate to her how often she complains and to determine if she is making progress in decreasing the behavior. If she's old enough, you might have her monitor her own behavior by having her record on a 3 x 5 card each time you signal her that she has made a complaint. That act of self-monitoring will make her more aware of the behavior and less likely to do it.

Article by Dr. Ken Shore  Education World®  Copyright © 2005 Education World

 

 

DiD YoU KNOW?

*If you cannot attend a course you have registered for--you can go into Eduphoria Workshop and "UN-ENROLL"? or you can contact the PD office and we will unenroll you. At the VERY LEAST please let your instructor know by e-mail that you will be unable to attend. We often have waiting lists with folks who want your empty seat!

* You WILL NOT get CPE credit UNLESS YOU SIGN IN on the sign in sheets at the PD event! Also, you may not sign in for someone
who is not present!

* If you are more than 15 minutes late for a class, you will NOT be granted credit for the course! If you have a special situation-it is YOUR RESPONSIBLITY to contact the instructor as listed on the course description in Eduphoria Workshop. The instructor's name is linked to their e-mail address --so please be courteous and show up on time or contact the instructor for permission to arrive late.

* Dee Thomas and Colleen "Dee" Gomez are here to help you be successful! Contact the Professional Development Office if you have any questions or if we can assist you in any way!

 

 

 

 

cartoon teacher and student

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Editor: Dee Thomas, JISD Professional Development Coordinator