BRAIN RESEARCH

1. BRAIN RESEARCH FACTS AND IMPLICATIONS

2. TOPICS • NUTRITION • LEARNING • EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE • SLEEP PATTERNS • EFFECT OF ENVIRONMENT • APPLICATIONS

3. NUTRITION • Leafy, green vegetables • Salmon, lean meat • Fresh fruit, nuts • Yogurt, low fat milk

4. NUTRITION • Vitamins and minerals can boost learning, memory and intelligence. • Spinach enhances learning • Children should be taught the purpose of eating is nutrition, not to get rid of hunger.

5. NUTRITION • Water reduces stress • The brain has a higher percentage of water than any other organ • Dehydration rapidly deteriorates brain function • Soft drinks, juice, coffee and tea provide little relief • Dehydration leads to lethargic behavior and impaired learning. • The brain needs eight to twelve glasses of water daily for optimal functioning.

6. NUTRITION • The brain uses 20% of the body’s oxygen. • Oxygen rich blood is important for learning therefore P.E. classes are important

7. Learning • A stimulus starts the process • The stimulus is sorted and processed • A memory potential is formulated • Repeating earlier learning is not as beneficial as doing a new activity • New activities produce beneficial chemical activities. • We use less than 1% of the brains processing capacity.

8. Emotional Intelligence • Emotional intelligence develops early • Early school years may be the time of last resort • Stress/violence cause the brain to develop sites which react quickly to chemical change • Reactivity increases and a child may become aggressive and impulsive

9. Emotional Intelligence • Children need a flood of information • Television is not good because no time for reflection, interaction or 3 dimensional development is allowed • The vocabulary of television is very fast and children are not ready for it. Television should not be viewed extensively by children until at least age eight • Television may cause stigmas because of flat viewing surface, lack of dimensionality and near focusing

10. SLEEP • Middle level and high school students have an internal sleep clock which usually doesn’t allow for optimal functioning until 9:00 or 9:30. • Primary school students may be ready by 7:30.

11. ENVIRONMENT • Positive environments positively influence the brain • Negative environments do the opposite • Avoid finger – pointing, unrealistic assignments or deadlines, humiliation and sarcasm • Music and art lead to improved learning across the curriculum (rate and pattern of brain cell firing)

12. ENVIRONMENT • Change walls every two to four weeks (have students do the work) • Use computers, group assignments, guest speakers, etc • A genuine high external attention span may last ten minutes • Processing time is then necessary • We continue to process hours after the fact and this is why we sometimes think some of our best ideas come out of the blue

13. ENVIRONMENT • Discussion time is needed after new learning in order to assist in sorting information

14. APPLICATIONS • Change locations – part of the brain is specialized to respond to a change in locations (have movement within the classroom for both teacher and student) • Use novelty and ritual in balance • Ritual keeps stress low • Novelty can stimulate

15. APPLICATIONS • Snacks – small carrots, nuts, and fruit can boost memory • Access to water is crucial • Milk and dairy products produce positive chemical responses

16. APPLICATIONS • Discipline • Threats, intimidation lead to stress • Watching television, videos, etc. causes stress (eyeballs of the young are soft and can become distorted by continual near focusing) • Unpredictable events cause stress if not meshed with some ritual (remember, some stress is okay, but do not go overboard) • Students from violent backgrounds scan the room looking for “prey”. They are territorial and are some of the kids that fight you for looking at them wrong.

17. APPLICATIONS • Discipline • Threats come from bullies, parents, boyfriends, girlfriends, humiliating situations, etc. • Teach stress management • Breathing, relationship skills, exercise (walk it off), journaling and creative writing

18. APPLICATIONS • Discipline • Set clear expectations for behavior • Encourage partnerships that change every three to six weeks so students get to know each other • Do not give threats you will not carry out • Help students set their own behavior goals and life goals • Show connections between actions and outcomes

19. MEMORY/RECALL APPLICATIONS • Stop every quarter to half page of notes to discuss and reflect • Conduct oral or written review daily and weekly • Repeat key ideas within ten minutes of learning and again within 48 hours • Tie learning together every seven days • Change circumstances, location, etc. • Create theme days to create relevance and form associations

20. TESTING/ASSESSMENT APPLICATIONS • Learning states and testing states are related so teach or review multiple times in order that the test time matches the learning state (happy, sad, mad, etc.) • Test in same room that the learning took place.

21. RESOURCES • TEACHING WITH THE BRAIN IN MIND - Eric Jensen • THE LEARNING BRAIN – Jensen • BRAIN BASED LEARNING – Jensen • DIFFERENT BRAINS, DIFFERENT LEARNERS, How to Reach the Hard to Reach – Jensen • LEARNING SMARTER – Michael Dabney and Eric Jensen • 10 BEST TEACHING STRATEGIES – Donna Tileston