Teaching with the Brain in Mind, 2nd edition by Eric Jensen. Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development (2005).
ISBN-13: 9781416600305 ISBN: 1416600302
The text was written for teachers, primarily. However, anyone involved with children or who is interested in learning and memory will benefit from this class. This includes parents, counselors or other helping professionals. The text is extremely readable and gives easy to understand explanations about the brain’s make-up and functions.
Course Outline
Week 1:
Introduction
Meet Your Amazing Brain
Basic brain anatomy
How the brain changes over time
Cooperation and competition in the brain
How the brain learns
Preparing the Brain for School
What to do to get a child’s brain ready for school
Sensitive periods in brain development
Developing social and emotional skills
The importance of nutrition
The dynamic teenage brain
Week 2:
Rules We Learn By
How to increase engagement
Variations on repetition
The importance of prior knowledge and mental models
Ways to take advantage of the body’s natural rhythms
The role of hormones
Trial and error learning
How positive and negative emotions affect the brain
Movement and Learning
The mind-body link
How exercise effects cognition
The importance of play, recess and physical education
Week 3:
Emotional States
Why emotions are now mainstream
How emotions are processed in the brain
The power of emotional states
How to influence emotional states
Physical Environments for Learning
Neuroscience’s new interest in physical environments
How seating, temperature, lighting, noise and building design affect learning
Factors to consider when designing smarter schools
Week 4:
Managing the Social Brain
How social interaction affects the brain and cognition
The effect of stress, bonding, bias and peer pressure
How to make school a more positive social experience
Motivation and Engagement
Common causes of demotivation
The brain’s reaction to rewards
The nature of intrinsic motivation
Tools for motivation
The SuperCamp model
Week 5:
Critical Thinking Skills
How gender, culture, disorders and life experience shape a unique brain
How the brain tackles problem solving
How the brain’s maturation process affects learning
How the brain adapts to changing circumstances
Memory and Recall
Links between memory and survival
Ways that the brain encodes and maintains memory
The different kinds of memory
Ways to enhance memory retrieval
Week 6:
Brain-Based Teaching
What to do before, during and after teaching to take full advantage of what we know about the brain and
learning
Schools with the Brain in Mind
Connecting brain research to curriculum, assessment and staff development
Supporting good instruction and good instructors
Effecting change with the brain in mind
Assignments
Write a short introduction of yourself with your basic information (name, age, sex, where you live, etc.) Also, please tell me where you are in your education and what your educational goals are. I would like to know what you hope to gain from this class.
After reading each chapter, there are questions for you to answer. You do not have to answer each question; after each heading, it will tell you how many of the questions to respond to. These questions deal with your current perceptions about the brain and learning and how they have changed as a result of reading the text.
**As stated earlier, this book was written for teachers, so the questions are geared towards education. I would like you to apply the information and the questions to your setting. You may be a teacher, a parent, a counselor or student; regardless of your current situation, you can apply the information to your environment and/or to the environment you anticipate working in.
After some of the sections in the chapters there are parts called “Practical Suggestions”. You will need to give me a specific activity for one of the suggestions given. The number of suggestions required is next to the number of questions required.
Grades
Questions: Each question is worth 2 points; points will be awarded according to the completeness of the answer and the thought put into it. I will work with you on the first questions (and let you redo them) so that you can get a feel for what I am looking for. There are 40 questions for a total of 80 points possible.
Practical suggestions: 5 points for a relevant way to incorporate the material in that section. There are 10 required suggestions, for a total of 50 points possible.
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Below 78
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130 - 117
116 - 104
103 - 91
90 - 78
Failing
Chapter Questions
Introduction
(Choose 3)
What are your criteria for “successful” instruction? Are engaged students and rising test scores enough, or should all classroom strategies be “scientifically based”?
Do any of the presented criticisms of brain-based learning resonate with you? If so, which ones? Can you think of other criticisms? How might someone answer them?
Consider some of the new understandings of the brain that have come to light during the past 10 years. What are the implications for (classroom) instruction?
What are the differences between brain-based and brain-compatible teaching?
Do you agree that research findings about the brain should factor in education policy decisions? Why or why not?
Chapter 1: Meet Your Amazing Brain
(Choose 4)
Rather than presenting a lesson in neurobiology, this chapter gives and overview of the brain by introducing three of its key features: adaptability, integration, and sophistication. Does this way of thinking about the brain make sense to you? If you were teaching your students about how the brain influences learning, how might you approach the material?
Consider the brain’s adaptability. How does its state of constant change square with a traditional model of teaching focused on helping a student acquire- or “add”- new sets of facts or skills?
In what ways does the human brain change for the better over the years? In what ways does it change for the worse? Name some factors that regulate these changes. As an educator and/or counselor, do you have any control over these factors?
Consider the brain’s integration: how its structures compete and cooperate and how no brain system is isolated. What are some of the implications for educators and counselors? For educational policy?
Consider the brain’s sophistication. What are some examples of the brain’s complexity? What are the implications for educators and counselors?
After reading Chapter 1, has your understanding of student’s brains changed or shifted in any way? What understandings of yours have been reinforced?
Chapter 2: Preparing the Brain for School
(Choose 2)
Understanding that brain maturation is a natural biological process, what does it mean to “prepare the brain for school”?
What are the pros and cons of school-based efforts to help parents of future students prepare their children’s brains for school? Reflect on the question from the perspective of a parent, teacher, counselor, or administrator.
What school-readiness practices or theories of your own did this chapter confirm or challenge?
Which of the preparatory measures do you think are the most important to success in school and success in life?
Chapter 3: Rules We Learn By
(Choose 3 questions and write 3 practical suggestions)
All counselors and teachers follow rules about teaching and learning. For example, some professionals believe that behavior that is reinforced is more likely to reoccur. What are some rules about learning and the brain that you followed? Did the information in this chapter change or reinforce any of your rules?
Rules are derived from studies, experiences, and opinions. Which of the rules related to engagement, repetition, input quality, coherence, timing, error correction, and emotional states will be most helpful in your practice? Which will be the least helpful?
Have you developed any other rules for learning based on your own experience in the classroom or your practice? If so, what is one of them and how has it served you? Does it complement or compete with the rules in this chapter?
Some might argue that teachers/counselors do not have time to incorporate all the rules of learning. For example, using repetition takes time, and so does trial-and-error learning. A counterargument would be that following both these rules will actually save time in the long run, as teachers and counselors will need to spend less time re-teaching. What are your thoughts on this issue?
Chapter 4: Movement and Learning
(Choose 3 questions and write 1 practical suggestion)
More than one-third of U.S. schoolchildren do not participate in daily physical education. Do you support the idea of making daily physical education mandatory? Why or why not?
What are considered to be some of the problems with today’s physical education programs? Can these problems be fixed? If so, how?
What are the five or six primary brain-based arguments for increasing the amount of movement in the classroom or other learning environment? What would you say is the single best argument?
How conscious are you of simple activity in your environment? Do you have any rules about movement (e.g., “Get the students moving every half hour”)? What would be the pros and cons of increasing the amount of movement in the classroom or other settings?
Many teachers and counselors have reasons for not using movement in their classrooms. What are some of the reasons that you have (or you have heard), and what could be done to minimize any negative effects of incorporating movement?
Most primary teachers include movement in their classes. Evidence suggests that older students need movement too. What can be done to encourage more secondary teachings to included movement? If you are a secondary teacher, what are you willing to do differently to make your classroom a more active place?
Chapter 5: Emotional States
(Choose 3 questions and write 1 practical suggestion)
How closely do you monitor your student’s/client’s emotional states? Do observations of emotions factor into your classroom management strategies? Your instructional decisions? If so, how?
Most teachers and counselors have seen firsthand how students’ emotions can enhance or undermine efforts at academic achievement. How do your experiences compare with the information in this chapter?
Which types of emotional states do you see most often in the classroom or counseling session?
What roles do the brain chemicals play in our emotions? As the teacher or counselor, how might you influence the brain chemicals circulation through your clients’ or students’ bodies?
Would you say that fostering a love of learning is a legitimate goal for a teacher/counselor? What kinds of things can be done to encourage students’ emotional response to learning?
Chapter 6: Physical Environments for Learning
(Choose 2 questions and write 2 practical suggestions)
In general, teachers and counselors have a moderate influence over their student’s and client’s physical learning environment. Which aspects can you control and which are you powerless to influence?
Think about how issues related to seating and mobility affect student learning, how might you alter your own environments and operating models in light of this information?
In what ways can you influence noise levels and distractions in learning environments?
Describe the physical environment in your ideal school or clinic and site brain- based arguments to justify its various components.
Chapter 7: Managing the Social Brain
(Choose 3)
Neuroscientist Terry Sejnowski argues that a person’s culture helps to shape his or her brain, which creates culture, which acts again on individual’s brains. Do you believe the same could be said for school culture and student learning? Why or why not?
What areas of the brain and what chemicals are involved with social behaviors? Does this suggest we have a brain designed to be social? What’s an example of a brain that’s not social?
What is the evidence connecting social activity and cognition? What are the implications for educators and counselors?
Think about the relationship between social conditions and stress. What are the implications for educators and counselors?
Consider how our brains respond with some hesitation to people who are different from us. What are the implications for school environments?
How might educators guide students’ brain-based tendencies to form cliques and alliances to encourage learning and promote desirable social behaviors?
Chapter 8: Motivation and Engagement
(Choose 3 questions and 1 practical suggestion)
What do you see as the three keys in this chapter? Are they things you can apply to your classroom or office?
Educators and counselors sometimes talk about motivation problems in a way that implies the students are at fault; that they “choose” to be motivated or not. How much of the responsibility is the student’s (to be motivated) and how much is the teacher’s (to motivate)?
What are some of the common sources of demotivation? Do you see these in your own classes? How do you address them?
How do rewards affect the brain? Make a case for the best way to use rewards with kindergarten age students, high school students, and college students.
What advice would you give to a colleague who tells you that his students “just aren’t motivated”?
What are your strategies for changing your student’s states? Which are the most and least effective?
What are the general steps for “building” a brain that thinks critically? What obstacles might teachers/counselors encounter while trying to implement this process? How might they overcome these obstacles?
What is meant by the “unique brain”?
Make a case for and against the idea of gender-based differences in thinking. If male and female students do think differently, what are the implications for classroom instruction?
What classroom skills must be taught to develop the problem-solving brain? What constraints or rules are there about how our brains learn new skills? What have you discovered about context-dependant learning? How have you handled the transfer of learning issue?
What is meant by “the developmental brain”? What are some implications in a classroom?
“The adaptive brain” means that the brain simply makes use of what’s offered in the environment. What does this suggest to us about our curriculum? What did you take away from this section?
Chapter 10: Memory and Recall
(Choose 4 questions and 1 practical suggestion)
How much of an issue is memory and recall for you and your students/clients? What are your daily frustrations or joys regarding your students’ ability to retrieve learning?
What does it mean to say that memories are “distributed”? Given the weakness of semantic memories, what are some strategies to strengthen the encoding process?
What is “working memory” and why doesn’t it “work” very well?
How do episodic memories differ from semantic memories? Explain some of the ways you might reduce memory contamination that occurs from too many similar episodic memories.
What are three examples of reflexive memories? How could you use these in a classroom?
What happens in the brain to ensure emotional memories are more likely to be remembered? How might familiarity with this basic process be useful for a teacher or counselor?
What are some examples of ways that memories can be altered, lost, or diminished?
What is priming and how might you use this strategy to strengthen your students’ (clients’) memory and recall?
Chapter 11: Brain-Based Teaching
(Choose 3)
This chapter offers a model lesson-planning format. How is it similar to or different from the model you use? What are the risks of trying to “map” this model onto another model?
The teaching model here suggests a 10-80-10 profile: spending 10 percent of any given instructional week previewing the unit, 80 percent of the week on the unit itself, and the final 10 percent on unit review and revision. What brain research findings support this approach?
This model suggests steps of engaging and framing. What are some of the ways to do this in the classroom or counseling session? Is this something you can do naturally or something you work at doing?
Evaluate the model’s overall strengths and weaknesses. Which steps or aspects make the most sense to you? Which seem more or less practical?
Do your instructional/supportive responsibilities and content requirements fit into the model? What adaptations or changes might allow you to try the model?
Chapter 12: Schools with the Brain in Mind
(Choose 4)
Think about your own environment within the context of being “brain-based.” What does your school/clinic already do well? What existing measures might be strengthened? What would you need to change?
Think about the brain-based parameters of curriculum. What are some considerations to keep in mind? How does your own environment rate on these factors? What is meant by curriculum with more “survival value”? How do you use this concept in your own work?
Which of the suggestions for instruction provided seem most useful to you? Which seem least useful (e.g., perhaps too theoretical)? Explain your response.
How does your school rate on the five key environment factors mentioned?
What are some of the essentials in creating a positive climate for teachers? What additional suggestions would you make? How does your school rate of creating a good climate for teachers?
Think about the suggestions for more brain-based assessment. Do you agree or disagree with these suggestions? What are other things you might do to improve assessment in your classroom or school?
Consider your school’s staff development activities. What are some ways they might be more brain-based?
Based on the information in this book, what changes are you planning to make in your own instruction? If you have already made changes, what results have you seen?
Practical Suggestions—Example
Chapter 3, page 55
Feedback is a critical part of learning. One way that students can give and receive feedback is through
“Pair-Sharing”. Here’s how it works:
Strategies for Reading to Learn Think, Pair, Share
Description
Think, pair, share is a simple technique with great benefits. (For an interesting variation on the use of the strategy, have a look at "Discussion Webs" in Vaca & Vaca, pages 243-247.) TPS results in increased student participation and improved retention of information. Using the procedure, students learn from one another and get to try out their ideas in a non-threatening context before venturing to make their ideas more public. Learner confidence improves and all students are given a way to participate in class, rather than the few who usually volunteer. The benefits for the teacher include increased time on task in the classroom and greater quality of students' contributions to class discussions. Students and teachers alike gain much clearer understandings of the expectation for attention and participation in classroom discussions. Frank Lyman of the University of Maryland first proposed the model. There are four steps to think, pair, share, with a time limit on each step signaled by the teacher. (An electronic kitchen timer works well for this.)
Procedure
Step One - Teacher poses a question
The process of think, pair, share begins when the teacher poses a thought-provoking question for the entire class. This may be a straightforward question or a problem the teacher wants to pose to the class for solution. For example, "What would have been the likely outcome if the United States had maintained its isolationist position and not entered the European theater of World War II?" or "What is symbolized by the rose in the story of Snow White?" Low level, single right answer questions are to be avoided in this model. Questions must pose problems or dilemmas that students will be willing and able to think about.
Step Two - Students think individually
At a signal from the teacher, students are given a limited amount of time to think of their own answer to the problematic question. The time should be decided by the teacher on the basis of knowledge of the students, the nature of the question, and the demands of the schedule. It may be helpful, though it is not required, to have students write out their individual responses and solutions. Students should understand that while there may be no one right answer, it is important that everyone come up with some reasonable answer to the question. This step of the procedure automatically builds "wait time" into the classroom conversation.
Step Three - Each student discusses his or her answer with a fellow student
The end of the think step signals to the students the time to begin working with one other student to reach consensus on an answer to the question. Each student now has a chance to try out possibilities. Together, each pair of students can reformulate a common answer based on their collective insights to possible solutions to the problem. At times, the process can go one step farther by asking pairs of students to regroup into foursomes to further refine their thoughts before sharing with the group at large. These small group settings are less threatening to individual students than venturing forward before the whole group with an untried answer. The pair step in the model also promotes much more conversation among students about the issues entailed by the question.
Step Four - Students share their answers with the whole class
In this final step, individuals can present solutions individually or cooperatively to the class as a whole group. Where pairs of students have constructed displays of their answers, as in a chart or diagram, each member of the pair can take credit for the product of their thinking.
The final step of think, pair, share has several benefits to all students. They see the same concepts expressed in several different ways as different individuals find unique expressions for answers to the question. Moreover, the concepts embedded in the answers are in the language of the learners rather than the language of textbook or teacher. And where students can draw or otherwise picture their thoughts, different learning modalities and preferences can come into play in the attempt to understand the ideas behind the answers.
It may be worth repeating one caveat in closing: The success and quality of the think, pair, share activity will depend on the quality of the question posed in step one. If the question promotes genuine thought for students, genuine insights are sure to emerge in successive steps.
Reference: The above description was adapted from the description in:
Gunter, M. A., Estes, T. H., & Schwab, J. H. (1999). Instruction: A models approach, 3rd edition.
Boston: Allyn & Bacon, pp. 279-280.
About me:
My name is Terri Coulson, I live in Pocatello, ID with my husband, two Pomeranian’s (Teddy and Sasha) and two cats (Archie and Ellie Mae). We are also caring for my mother-in-law who has Alzheimer’s.
I hold BS degrees in Elementary Education and Special Education and I have a Master’s degree in Counseling. I have taught in the public school system for 13 years. During this time I have also worked as a mental health counselor in several private agencies, including my own. I am a rehabilitation specialist and am trained as an IBI (Intensive Behavior Intervention) therapist. I am also trained in EMDR, play therapy and art therapy. My next venture is into the field of substance abuse treatment and prevention.
For the past four years I have been working with Seriously Emotionally Disturbed students, age 6-12. My guys have been expelled from their neighborhood schools due to severe behavior problems. We focus on social skills and coping skills. This has been a very challenging job and I love it!
I am currently offering graduate courses on Child Therapy, ADHD, Diagnosis and Treatment, Oppositional Defiance/Conduct Disorders, Diagnosis Treatment for Families, Treatment, Oppositional Defiance/Conduct Disorders, Diagnosis and Treatment for Schools.
Please feel free to contact me at any time with questions or comments.
