Brain-Based Principles to Support Your Teaching Strategies: How to Apply 12 Key Brain-Mind Principles to Your Everyday Work as an Educator

Brain-Based Principles to Support Your Teaching Strategies:

How to Apply 12 Key Brain-Mind Principles to Your Everyday Work as an Educator

GoalDeepen our understanding about the effects of

on our brain and student’s lives.

AgendaScience

PrinciplesStrategies

Applications

FocusQuestion

If We Considered Implications of Recent Brain Research

in Our Daily Practices,What Would Be Different?

1. Scientific, brain-basedprinciples will further, not hurt,

your achievement goals.

2. Today’s educators will need to be more in tune with what drives

attendance, learning, and achievement than ever before.

Today’s session will help!

Brain Research

UsesResearch

from Blocks1 and 2

How could we prove

these brain-based

assertions?Let’s start

with the brain itself.

We Could Study at Brain Banks, With 1,000s of Brains

Human brains Human brains are stored inare stored inMcLean Hospital’sMcLean Hospital’sBrain Bank forBrain Bank forresearch purposes.research purposes.

However, oneHowever, onemay only make may only make deposits, notdeposits, notwithdrawals.withdrawals.

We Can Use Various

Types of Brain Scans;

Each ProvidesDifferent

Data

SPECT SCAN --TOP

Scans of Typical Controls--UsingTwo Different Technologies

PET Scan TOP

CAT scan MRI scan

ScanningTechnologyHas Helped

Researchers Locate Very(Extremely)Tiny Areas

Why Explore the Brain?Everything You Do at School

Involves the Brain!Nutrition

Physical ActivityCurriculum

Social ClimateInstruction

Academic ClimatePhysical Building

Time/Schedules/CalendarAssessment

How Valid Are Brain-Based Practices?

• “It’s just good teaching.”• “It’s all old—there’s

nothing new under the sun.”

• “Research isn’t solid; where are the studies?”

• “It’s too new for me. . . . It’ll be years before you can apply brain research to education.”

100% DEAD WRONG!

Not Yet Sure of Brain-Based Approach? Visit 2 Sites:

http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k_v89/k0802jen.htmPhi Delta Kappa International JournalRead the article:“A Fresh Look at Brain-Based Education”

and

http://www.brainbasedskeptic.comRead the articles posted.

1

2

Free Brain-Based Monthly Newsletter

New research, with practical applications, emailed monthly to you, at no charge. Simply leave your name and email address with me on a business card.

Contact: [email protected]

What Is Brain-Based Teaching?

It’s E-S-P!It’s the Purposeful

Engagement of effective

Strategies

derived from

Principles of neuroscience

1. Uniqueness is the rule

2. Reward Dependency 3. Susceptibility &

Opportunity 4. Attentional & Input

Limitations 5. Adaptive & Changing

6. Rough Drafts

1-Attentional bias: Get us to pay attention & care about the topic.2-Meaning-making: Create the links to the principles.3-Emotional intensity: The stronger, the better.4-Activity: Physical movements work!5-Repetition: Always good.

Let’s Apply BC MemoryRecall Peg Strategies

1. Uniqueness is the rule.

Students share 99.5% of the same DNA, but we have unique brains because of unique life

experiences.

“SPECT”Scans Reveal Huge Differences in Brains’ Activity. Two of These Are Considered Healthy and the Rest Have Notable Problems.

Every Brain is Unique!

Paradigm Shift and Principle:

From Massive, Grouped

Conveyor-Belt

Teaching to . . . ?

Implications?For policymakers?Funding?Classroom teachers?Instructional strategies?Assessment?Standardized testing?Staff development?

2. Emotional Dependency Emotions are not part of our

life. They run it. In most struggles between our feelings and logic, we usually (not always)

do what we feel like doing.

The separation model is NOT supportedby recent brain research

MovementEmotions

Cognition

Cognitively & Behaviorally,Emotions “Run the Show”

Emotional experiences create memories (= rewards or pain)

Emotions RUN the Brain by Serving as “Markers”!

The Changed World of ChildrearingAt the same time that . . .Parents work more hours,television is viewed more,media violence is pervasive, TV has the “Baby Channel,” and infants are learning emotional responses from other infants in child care . . .Teachers are more pressuredfor high-stakes academic testing, which leaves little time for a child’s emotional development. Ouch!

What Does the Cognition-Emotion Link Mean?

Either orchestrate or allow students to “mark” the cognitive moment (failure or success) with an emotion. That process will encode the learning and accelerate future appropriate behaviors.

Paradigm Shift and Principle

#2:From

Cognitive Focus to

Balanced Teaching

3. Susceptibility & Opportunity

Our brain has sensitive periods with enhanced chances for risk and

gain. These are ages 0–5 and 12–17.

Opportunity:For a Critical Part of Each

Student’s Life,You Shape

Their Brains!

Ages 0–5: The Risks and Rewards

GOOD NEWS:

The infant downloads culture without any question.

BAD NEWS:

The infant downloads culture without any question.

Example of Our Changing Brain

1900 1950 1970 TodayAge at Which 90% are Expected to Read

Earlier Demands, More “Disorders”

Reading Scores Level Off

• SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. National Center for Education Statistics. The Nation's Report Card Reading Highlights 2003, NCES 2004-452, by P. Donahue, M. Daane, and W. Grigg. Washington, DC: 2004.

Paradigm Shift and

Principle #3:To a more

developmentally appropriate instructional

and curriculum model

4. Attentional & Input Limitations

Our brain is designed to limit the quantity of new input per minute, hour,

and day.

Processes That Limit Our Input

What Limits Inputto StudentÕs Brains?

1. Glucose available(learning uses it quickly)

2. Protein recycling(time off task needed)3. Working Memory

(1-4 chunks or points max.)4. Attentional limits

(use student age in minutes)5. Synaptic Adhesion

(needs 15-60 min.)6. Hippocampus

(overload = ÒoverwritesÓ)

Paradigm Shift and

Principle #4:To a more

realistic annual content of curriculum

5. Adaptive & Changing

Our brains are not static

or fixed. They are constantly changing in

more than a dozen ways.

Old (Outdated) ParadigmOld (Outdated) Paradigm

““Our brains stay Our brains stay mostly the same—except we mostly the same—except we lose brain cells every day.”lose brain cells every day.”

(This is old and mostly wrong.)(This is old and mostly wrong.)

““Our brains stay Our brains stay mostly the same—except we mostly the same—except we lose brain cells every day.”lose brain cells every day.”

(This is old and mostly wrong.)(This is old and mostly wrong.)

The Revolution Has Begun!The Revolution Has Begun!

Learning Changes the Brain

Recently, astonishing discoveries have shown that the structure of the adult human brain changes when a new cognitive or motor skill is learned. This measurable effect can be detected as a change in local gray or white matter density that correlates with behavioral measures.

Teaching Changes BrainsL

ee

et

al.,

20

07

How Do We Know (for Certain) That Teaching Changes Brains?

A wide body of evidence suggests that

the human brain is highly susceptible to environmental input. Teaching is a highly

targeted form of environmental input. Therefore, teaching

changes brains.

Dendrite Length Changes with Learning

< 12 years HS Grad UniversityEducation Levels, n=20

Teaching Can Create a Climate for Focused, Continuous Learning

That Can Build Brain MassNew studies show that concentrated usage of the brain, such as for skill-

building or intensive studying, changes the brain

rapidly.

Evidence That Teaching Evidence That Teaching Solid Reading Skills Solid Reading Skills Changes the BrainChanges the Brain

Ayl

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(200

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Pre (left) and Post (right, 12 wks. later)

Studying Adds Gray Matter;New MRI Reveals Changes

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Teaching Changes How Cells Connect

Music Training Changes BrainG

aser

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(20

03)

Music EnrichmentChanges the Brain! The Motor Cortex Map is Altered by as much as20-40% with Coherent Repetitive Stimulation

SensoryNeuronsActivated

MotorArea

SensoryArea

Teaching Changes Cell Structure

Neurons

Dendrites

Axons

Dendrites Add “Spines” asDendrites Add “Spines” asResponse to Environmental InputResponse to Environmental Input

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20

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Teaching Can Change

Brain Chemistry, Which Can Influence Attention

Epinephrine is released during excitement, urgency, and risk. It helps us focus and prioritize.

Adrenal Gland

Epinephrine

= Lying= Stndg= Wlkg= Cycling= Running

0

50

100

150

-50

Norepinephrine;a memory fixative

Teachers Influence Student Perception of Risk and Urgency

Yes, You Can (and Do!) Change Brains

From this to this!

Many Kinds of Change

Change Can Be . . .• Slow (toxins or learning a new language)

• Fast (emotional trauma, TBI, or insights)

• Good (nutrition, low stress) • Bad (drug abuse, dementia, aging)

Take-Home MessagesTake-Home Messageson Changing Brainson Changing Brains

• For your students,it’s all about hope . . .(grounded in science).

• Consistent, Positive Factors Make Changes Happen Faster.

• It’s all about the consistency ofpositive contrast.

• Experiences change the brain far more than earlier believed.

• This can give all of us educators tremendous hope for change based on smarter teaching.

SuggestedReading:Enriching the Brain (Jensen, 2006)

Brain and Culture (Wexler, 2006)

The Brain That

Changes Itself

(Doidge, 2007)

6. Rough Drafts

Our brain rarely gets it right the first time. Instead, we make

sketchy rough drafts of new learning.

Instead, We Create“Rough Drafts” of

Input and HoldThem Until WeEither Forget

Them, Save Themor Correct Them

OurBrain is NOT

Designed to GetMost of Our

Explicit Learningthe FIRST

TIME

Our rough drafts are expedient; there’s no reason to “flesh out” the details until we have a relevant reason to do so. Let’s try this out. . . .

Our Brain as a “Gist” GathererWe rarely get new and complex explicit learning right the first time. Instead, we gather the “gist” and make “rough drafts.” This is not what most teachers hope to happen. Nor is it what we test for.

7. Meaning-maker 8. Environments

9. Body-Mind Connection10. Malleable Memories

11. Perception, Not Reality, Matters12. Social Conditions Rule

7. Meaning-maker

Every perception, sensation, and conclusion is usually associated with another related

experience. This makes meaning personal and a driving force in our motivation.

Many struggle with the previous slide,

and for good reason. The action is simple

(getting dressed, wearing a special

“light suit”). But the way it is presented is very obscure. Does that remind you of

any college professors you had?

What Makes Content Meaningful to Our Brain?

•Personal relevance•Context(serial/global content)

•Valence +/-•Circumstances(situation at the moment)

•Framing (alternative perspectives)

If We Really Wanted to Make School

More Meaningful, We Would . . .

Reorganize Curriculum into More Student-Oriented Goals

SOCIAL TRACK Eliminate

poverty, reduce crime, improve

education & medicine,

management, strengthen

human rights, reduce pollution

TECHNO PATHVirtual learning,

reduce cyber crime, better

tools for living, cut resource usage, space exploration,

wireless power, geo survival, energy grids

AESTHETICS

Planning, building, dance, design, theater, electrical, music, forestry, ecology

related work, sports, movies, entertainment, architecture

Ensure Instruction

Pursues Cognitive

Challenges in a Balanced Emotional,

Social, Physical Context

ChoicesA) Recruit, hire, train, and keep “top of the line” teachers who are passionate, creative, caring, and highly skillful.B) Use curriculum that is more naturally interesting and behaviorally relevant to students so that average teachers can “hook in” nearly anyone.

(Which choice above is more likely to succeed?)

Implications?For policymakers?Funding?Classroom teachers?Instructional strategies?Assessment?How we think about . . . ?Staff development?

8. Environments Matter

Strong scientific evidence suggests that environments not only directly influence our brain, but also can

trigger gene expression.

Every Environment Has the Capacity to Enhance or Impair Learning

Jen

sen

(20

00

) En

viron

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arn

ing

TOP 10 PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

Jen

sen

(20

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) En

viron

me

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arn

ing

NOTE: THE ONES IN BLUE INFLUENCE ACHIEVEMENT THE MOST.

Paradigm Shifts and Principles Take Time

The first study The first study suggesting suggesting that an altered that an altered environment environment caused positive,caused positive,measurable measurable brain (rat) changesbrain (rat) changeswas published was published in 1960.in 1960.

Enhanced EnvironmentsChangeBrains

IQ NOT Fixed;Sustained PositiveEnvironments Work!

An adoption study in France identified deprived children, 4–6 years old, with IQ <86 (mean = 77) before adoption. After 8 years, results showed a significant gain in IQ, up to 19.5 IQ points in the lowest SES families.

(Duyme et al., 1999)

Why Your “No Excuses” Mentality Is Critical!

Relevance of Brains Changing?

• Underperforming or

misbehaving students can improve.

• Special-need students have hope.

BUT . . .

The biggest reason to learn about why and how brains change is that …

teaching is all about HOPE!teaching is all about HOPE!


9. Mind-Body Connection

Activity not only fosters the survival of our species, but it serves as a strategy

for learning, emotional regulation, affiliation, resource acquisition, and stress

management.

Many educators are unaware that early physical activity supports later academic activity.

Just a bit of irony for those on the right side: But does your school do any better? We need 30 min./day 3x/wk. Why?

Experiment Shows Exercise DoublesProduction of New Brain Cells6000

5000

4000

3000

2000

1000

0With

ExerciseWithoutExercise

New Labeling Shows Discovery

Physical Activities Change the Brain and Body’s Chemistry

1. Adrenaline—Provides energy

2. Noradrenaline—Enhances focus

3. Dopamine—Thinking, working memory

4. Cortisol—Energy, memory

5. Serotonin—Attention, mood

6. Glucose—Energy, memory formation

All of these are likely to drop with . . . “sit ‘n’ git.”

Maths Scores up after PE ClassS

ou

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: R

ate

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00

8)

Sp

ark

Solid P.E. Programs Correlated

with Reduced Discipline Issues

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(20

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Neurogenesis, School and Academic Achievement

• Neuroscientists are excited: 1) that it occurs, 2) that neurons survive, and 3) become functional.

• Educators are excited that: 1) it influences learning, mood, & memory; and 2) the process is regulated by how we run our school!

Literacy Increases in Classes after P.E.

So

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Ra

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(20

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College Entrance Scores Raised Among Students Getting the P.E. Programs

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(20

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10. Malleable Memories

This principle reminds us that our memories are a process, not a fixed thing. Memories can be—and often are—altered

or lost.

Let’s Try an Experiment:

• Next, is a slide with simple words.• Leave your pen down—

no note-taking please.• Look over the words for just 30

seconds.Try to store them in your brain.

• You’ll learn something new about how your memory works.

How Did You Do?

0–5 … Correct answers = You can only go up from here.

6–9 … Correct = Good recall; you’ll do well in life.

1–14 … Correct = That’s extraordinary!Did you put any words on the list that were not on the original list (like “sleep”?) Memories are malleable and the brain “fills in” words because they make sense.

Ever Had This Happen?You and a friend are

talking about a past incident

and you have a completely

different memory of it!

Even Our Memories Are Malleable

The old paradigm is that our memory works like a still photograph or an audio recording.

But memory is not a “thing;” it is an ongoing process.

This discovery means that memory is neither fixed nor permanent.

Storage/Retrieval Mediated by:• Glucose consumption

• Stress/distress

• Gender

• Speed of input/spacing

• Rest/sleep

• Nutrients levels

• Drugs/meds

• Type of input

• Background of subject

Emotional Events Are Much More Likely to Be Recalled

Would you recall:1. Feeding a “killer”

whale?2. Getting married?3. A near-fatal

accident?4. Graduation?5. Petting a live tiger?6. Falling in love?

Events

Hippocampus (Memory)

Emotion (Valence, Arousal)

Amygdala

HormonesGlucose

Emotions Release Hormones,Which Can Affect Our Memory


11. Perception, Not Reality, Matters

Our brain only knows what it takes in perceptually, and it is easily fooled.

Our prior knowledge is a huge factor in determining what we see, hear,

feel, taste, and touch.

What your staff BELIEVES to be true is held as a a fact. It may, in fact, be dogma. What your staff BELIEVES will work in the classroom may or may not be true. It is the PERCEPTION of your staff that matters most.

“Hey, is your class as much a problem as mine is this year?

OR . . .

What misperceptions does your staff have, based on what we’ve learned today, that are a

potential problem for school improvement?


12. Social Conditions Matter

We exist not in a vacuum, but in a culture shaped by

relationships, status, rules, and customs.

Why We Care about What Others Think about

1. Affiliation is hard-wired.

2. The need for pair-bonding is hard-wired.

3. The quest for status is hard-wired.

4. Our brain has the neural structures to do all these tasks automatically.

Social Status and the BrainSocial experiences throughout life influence gene expression, dendritic remodeling, brain chemistry, heart rate, and behavior. However, during our early years, these influences have a particularly profound effect.

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Two Brain-Based, Hard-Wired, Social, Ongoing Student Quests

1. The quest for acceptance and affiliation (“How can I become part of a group?”)

2. The quest for social status (“How can I feel special?”)

HINT: DO NOT get in the way of these; simply anticipate and facilitate the inevitable process in productive ways!

What Are “Mirror Neurons?”

Neurons that respond to seeing another do a task that we might like to do. They are goal oriented and help our brain identify and rehearse potential learning.

Infants Can Imitate Within Weeks

Healthy Primates Imitate Effortlessly

Activations of the Brain from fMRI Scans

1) Top is a healthy brain, showing activation of the “mirror neurons”

2) Middle is from high-functioning child with Asperger’s

3) Bottom is from a low-functioning subject with autism

Social Conditions

Change UsRacial biases by test-taker can improve or hurt test takers. (Richeson & Shelton, 2003)

Social conditions influencegene expression. (Kandel, 2002)

Social stress also impactstest scores and attention span. (Hoffman, 1996)

Social conditions influencehealth and mortality.(Berkman et al., 2002)

Teachers Strongly Influence Student Social Status

How? Through affirmation, mentoring, drama, teams, recognition, cooperative learning, positive feedback, skill-building, and giving responsibility and leadership roles

Prosocial Condition Influences

Neurogenesis and Fosters

Greater Neurogenesis Than Isolated

Conditions

Isolated (a/d) Social (b/e)

Str

an

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an

, e

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l., (

20

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)

School Discipline Issues?Most discipline issues are mismatches between what is being done and how the brain naturally works.

Examples include: 1) lack of available and appropriate emotional responses, 2) poor novelty/structure balance, and 3) social issues such as affiliation and status-seeking.


Time for Consolidation

These 12 Principles Form the Scientific Basis for Teaching

Each principle is well supported by peer-reviewed studies. It is up to educators to discover and test the actual strategies that arise from these principles.

http://www.jensenlearning.com/BBLearn/research.asp

Let’s Review the Principles!

It’s E-S-P!It’s the Purposeful

Engagement of effective

Strategies

derived from

Principles of neuroscience

1. Uniqueness is the rule

2. Emotional Dependency 3. Susceptibility &

Opportunity 4. Attentional & Input

Limitations 5. Adaptive & Changing

6. Rough Drafts

7. Meaning-maker 8. Environments

9. Body-Mind Connection10. Malleable Memories

11. Perception, Not Reality, Matters12. Social Conditions Rule

Time for a Short Stretch!Standing Reflection Time

Savvy teachers engage strategies

based on solid research

AND they do them so consistently, that

sometimes miracles happen.

Teaching with the brain in mind is both purposeful and potent.

Take-Home MessagesTake-Home Messageson Changing Others’ Brainson Changing Others’ Brains

• For your colleagues,it’s also hope grounded in science.

• Add consistent, positive factors, even just one per week or month.

• It’s all about the consistency ofpositive contrast to get miracles.

Your Very Amazing Brain!

It’s involved in everything we do. Isn’t it great to be learning more about it? I’m glad you joined us!

Feedback to:

[email protected]

Documents

Brain-Based Principles to Support Your Teaching Strategies: How to Apply 12 Key Brain-Mind Principles to Your Everyday Work as an Educator