Key understandings of adolescent cognition and teaching strategies to address them.

1. TEACHING THE TEENAGE
BRAIN
KEY UNDERSTANDINGS OF ADOLESCENT COGNITION AND TEACHING
STRATEGIES TO ADDRESS THEM
KATHERINE KERLEY, OCT

2. UNDERSTANDING ADOLESCENT MINDS

3. WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT TEENAGE
BRAINS?
• ”Neural networks” are being finalized – connections formed in
childhood that aren’t being used are ”pruned” away and lost
• Chemical changes affect adolescents’ sleep cycle
• Parts of the brain relating to emotional regulation are still
developing – adolescents have strong emotional responses,
lack impulse control, and have a hard time making accurate
judgements

4. THE TEENAGE BRAIN (CONT’D)
• Chronic stress in teens can lead to mood disorders in
adulthood (anxiety, depression, etc.)
• Teen brains are sensitive to hormones regarding pleasure, and
thus seek out risks and emotionally-charged situations
• Teens need to feel their biological and emotional needs are met
in order to be able to learn effectively

5. TEACHING STRATEGIES TO ADDRESS
ADOLESCENT MINDS

6. STRATEGY 1: FREQUENT REVIEW
What teachers might do:
• Provide students with opportunities to review their skills and
knowledge regularly
How?
• Interactive quizzes, perhaps via tools like Kahoot
• Exploring prior knowledge before attempting new learning
• Have students do a “Jigsaw” – become experts and then teach
each other
How does this address adolescent cognition?
• If students don’t revisit prior learning and frequently review
what they know, the connections formed by initial learning will
be quickly lost due to pruning.

7. STRATEGY 2: MAKE TOPICS RELEVANT
What teachers might do:
• Engage students emotionally by contextualizing course content in
information and experiences that are relevant to students’ lives
How?
• Class debates (with rules regarding respectful disagreement) – allow
students to get “fired up” about topics relevant to the world around
them, but in a safe way.
• Have students bring in news items or viral content that is relevant to
course material and present it to their classmates.
How does this address the adolescent cognition?
• Teens seek out emotionally charged situations, as well as responding
emotionally to events more often than adults. Providing teens with
opportunities for emotional engagement speaks to how their brains
are working in the moment. On the other side, the lack of ability to
make accurate judgements requires a set of class rules around
debate in order for students to respect one another.

8. STRATEGY 3: LOWER THE STRESS
What might teachers do?
• Create a classroom environment that is calm
• Allow for multiple learning modalities
How?
• Strategically include music at times in your lessons
• Acknowledge students’ emotional states and teach to where they are
at each day (be flexible in your sequence and lesson-planning)
• Create multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate
understanding (not just large tests, but small quizzes, perhaps non-
cumulative, interview-style, project-based)
How does this address adolescent cognition?
• If adolescents are experiencing high levels of stress, they will be
unable to learn
• High stress can be damaging to adolescents in the long term
• Traditional assessment can be very stressful

9. REFERENCES
• https://www.edutopia.org/inside-teenage-brain
• http://www.macleans.ca/society/life/inside-your-teenagers-
scary-brain/
• https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-teen-
brain-still-under-construction/index.shtml