This document summarizes an in-service presentation on brain-based learning given to elementary school teachers. It covers why focusing on the brain is important, provides an overview of basic brain anatomy and functions of areas like the hippocampus, amygdala, hypothalamus and frontal lobes. It discusses how stress and distress affect learning and memory, the importance of attachment, and strategies to promote brain-based teaching and learning based on neuroscience principles. The presentation aims to help teachers better understand the biology of learning and identify practices that support or hinder students' brain development.
3. Because the brain is involved in
EVERYTHING your students do!
*Why Focus on the
Brain?
4. 1. All learning is making a memory.
2. Through a biological process called long term
potentiation, the brain converts short term
(working) memory into long-term memory
(learning).
3. There are conditions and strategies that help the
memory-making process.
4. There are conditions and strategies
that hurt the memory-making process.
http://www.teachthought.com/learning/the-simple-things-i-do-to-
promote-brain-based-learning-in-my-classroom/
* Why Learn About the Brain?
5. Every single time (without exception) that
something is NOT working at your school,
one of the brain’s basic premises or “rules”
are being violated. For example…we should
encode with moderate stress, and we retrieve
better with low stress. Violate
that rule and kids will learn less
and underperform on tests.
(High stress obstructs the learning process,
more on that later!)
* Why Learn About the Brain?
7. • Read the latest books
• Given/received a pep talk
• Attended conferences
• Managed the discipline
• Engaged in teambuilding
• Monitored the curriculum
• Built relationships
*When You’ve Already
Done the More Obvious
Strategies…
Turn to the match between what the brain research
tells you and what you’re doing…
8. Research Studies
(37,000+ scientists…)
Organized by Topics
(e.g… memory)
Generate Principles
(such as…emotions influence
memory)
Which Suggest Strategies
(such as…drama, storytelling,
etc.)
*What is Brain-Based
Teaching Based On?
10. • Distress
• Neurogenesis
• Gene Expression
• Emotional States
All have a big impact brain
development…
* There’s More to Your Students
Than What You Can Visibly
See
12. *What Does
“Nudge a Neighbor” Mean?
*2-4 in a group
*Find people who look really, really
SMART!
*Discuss the topic (next slide) for 2
minutes!
13. *What Do You Think?
What does global competition, rapidly
increasing information and complex
technology mean for the futures of students
in your school or district?
15. *“Connect the Dots”
*Primary focus today is
learning about the biology of
how the brain learns.
*As we do that, try to
“connect the dots” to the
learning opportunities and
challenges in your work..
*Look for “brain antagonistic”
policies or practices.
30. *The Bridge in Our Brains
Corpus Callosum
*The bridge between hemispheres.
*Facilitates the integration of right hemisphere
and left hemisphere functions.
*How logic and emotion meet!
31. LEFT
HEMISPHERE
RIGHT
HEMISPHERE
• Motor activity on
right side of the
body
• Language
• Detail
• Sequence
• Logical
thought based
on language
• Memory creation
• Motor activity on
left side of the
body
• Spatial
manipulations
• Holistic perception
(“Gist”)
• Face Recognition
• Interpersonal and
emotional
processing
• Memory retrieval
39. *Four Big Brain Ideas
1. The Brain is Neutral.
2. Distress is the Enemy.
3. Attachment Rules.
4. The More You Learn, the
More You Can Learn.
40. *Four Big Brain Ideas
1.The Brain is
Neutral.
2. Distress is the Enemy.
3. Attachment Rules.
4. The More You Learn, the
More You Can Learn.
41. *The Brain is Neutral
(It Produces What You Put In It)
42. *The Brain is Neutral
In childhood, the underdeveloped frontal
lobes allow everything in — there is no
“filter” separating good from bad.
Adults must be this filter.
43. Kids “download”
the negatives like
chaos,
disharmony,
poor
relationships,
foul language,
poor manners,
and
weak vocabulary
just as quickly
and just as
automatically
as they do
positives or
enrichment input.
From ages 0-5
the world is
“downloaded”
into the brain.
Highly
immature
frontal lobes
are unable to
delete or
reframe any
negative
input.
44. *Four Big Brain Ideas
1. The Brain is Neutral.
2. Distress is
the Enemy.
3. Attachment Rules.
4. The More You Learn, the
More You Can Learn.
45. What is Stress?
Stress is a physiological response to a
perception of a lack of control over an
aversive situation, person or event.
46. *What is Stress?
While we often think of stress as
psychological, our human stress system is
made-up of a sequence of biological
processes.
47. *Is All Stress Bad for Us?
No. We need the stress response for survival and
motivation. Only when stress reaches an unusually
high threshold (Distress) is it bad for us.
48. The Stress Response On The
Brain
Hippocampus
• Memory Center
• Most Stress Hormone
Receptors
Amygdala
• Center of Uncertainty
• Emotional Regulation
Frontal Lobes
• Executive System
• Planning, Judgment,
Problem Solving,
Impulse Control
• Decreased Function
• Less Communication
Between Neurons
• Lower Neurogenesis
• Dead Neurons
• More Anxiety
• “Faster” Fear
• More Excitatory
Neurons
• Depletion of Dopamine
• Reorganizes Neuronal
Connections
• Poor Decision Making
• “Fuzzy” Thinking
49. Alert! Stress
Response
Distress!
Cortisol Cortisol
Andrenaline
3 Stages of the
Stress Response
(Amygdala Driven)
Amygdala compels you to:
1. Solve the problem
causing stress.
2. Escape from the
problem.
3. Cope with the problem.
4. Defend yourself the
best you can.
5. At any cost, survive.
DANGER!
50. Effects of Too Much
Cortisol*Brain Damage
*Poor Social Skills
*Low Verbal Skills
*Memory Impairment
*Aggression
*Impulsiveness
*Anxiety
*Dissociation
51. *Four Big Brain Ideas
1. The Brain is Neutral.
2. Distress is the Enemy.
3. Attachment
Rules.
4. The More You Learn, the
More You Can Learn.
54. Results of Chronic Stress
•Emotional problems
(Burgess et al., 1995)
•Lowers IQ, reading scores
(Delaney-Black, et al. 2002)
•Memory Loss (Lupien, et al. 2001)
•Shortens dendrites (Cook and Wellman, 2004),
(Brown, et al. 2005)
•Neuron death (De Bellis, et al., 2001)
•Inappropriate attachments
(Schore, A. 2002)
55. *Four Big Brain Ideas
1. The Brain is Neutral.
2. Distress is the Enemy.
3. Attachment Rules.
4. The More You
Learn, the More
You Can Learn.
56. *The Brain Learns When New
Information Makes Sense
*“Makes Sense” means the brain can connect
the new information to something it already
knows.
*The more you know, the more you are
capable of knowing.
*The less you know, the more new information
has nothing to connect to in the brain and
learning is difficult or doesn’t occur at all.
57. Neurogenesis
is known to positively
regulate our
learning, mood,
memory and
overall health.
Neurogenesis
59. *20 Strategies
How the Brain Learns Best!
1. Writing 11. Graphic Organizers
2. Story Telling 12. Drawing
3. Mnemonics 13. Humor
4. Visuals 14. Discussion
5. Movement 15. Games
6. Role Play 16. Project-Based Instruction
7. Visualization 17. Field Trips
8. Metaphor 18. Work Study
9. Reciprocal Teaching 19. Technology
10. Music 20. Manipulatives
* Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites by Marcia Tate
60. gonoodle.com
GoNoodle helps teachers channel classroom
energy with short interactive brain breaks. Desk-
side activities help kids achieve more by keeping
them engaged and motivated throughout the day.
http://www.gonoodle.com
