Our books won't be available at least until the end of this week. Please read the articles below before our meeting tomorrow:
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Click on the picture above to go to the article.
Brain Rules Mind Map by Johan D’Haeseleer.
Click on the book to see the film.
West High School Davenport, Iowa Home of Freddy Falcon
Dan Meyer--Math Class Needs a Makeover
A Tale of Two Brains
School Hoping for Sweet Smell of Success
Belfast Telegraph--April 23, 2010
A primary school is hoping the whiff of peppermint and the sound of running water can help boost pupils' results.
All Saints Catholic Primary School in Liverpool is taking part in a four-week experiment designed to see if smells and sounds help youngsters' concentration skills and their ability to remember information. The smell of peppermint is being pumped into one classroom, while the other group of children will listen to sounds such as running water and rustling leaves.
The youngsters will take a daily five-minute computer test to see if the experiment is helping their learning.
A primary school is hoping the whiff of peppermint and the sound of running water can help boost pupils' results.
All Saints Catholic Primary School in Liverpool is taking part in a four-week experiment designed to see if smells and sounds help youngsters' concentration skills and their ability to remember information. The smell of peppermint is being pumped into one classroom, while the other group of children will listen to sounds such as running water and rustling leaves.
The youngsters will take a daily five-minute computer test to see if the experiment is helping their learning.
Stress
Interesting Articles About Sleep
Memory Games
Literary critics scan the brain to find out why we love to read
Click on the picture above to go to the article.
Michael Merzenich On Re-wiring The Brain
Discussion Dates--all held in LMC from 3:10-4:10 PM
- Discussion # 1--February 18
- Discussion #2--March 4
- Discussion #3--March 25
- Discussion #4--April 8
- Discussion #5--April 15
- Discussion #6--April 22
- Discussion #7--April 29
- Discussion #8--May 6
- Discussion #9--May 13
- Discussion #10--May 20
- Discussion #11 and #12--May 27
President Kennedy Tried This Before Us...
Discussion Questions for Rule #2
1. Talk about evolution and its meaning. Our mind evolution has made us dominant in our known universe. Mirroring, autism, schizophrenia...how do our interacting minds affect classroom relationships?
2. It has been said that when a teacher "yells" at a student, it takes the whole class 20 minutes to recover from the stress. Any ideas about stress management for ourselves and our classrooms?
3. Speaking of stress, the article "Get Smarter" speaks of an era of rapid change that compares to the changing environment of the Ice Age. As we make the transition from the Holocene epoch into the Nőo epoch, what can we expect? What signs of the Nőo epoch do you already see?
2. It has been said that when a teacher "yells" at a student, it takes the whole class 20 minutes to recover from the stress. Any ideas about stress management for ourselves and our classrooms?
3. Speaking of stress, the article "Get Smarter" speaks of an era of rapid change that compares to the changing environment of the Ice Age. As we make the transition from the Holocene epoch into the Nőo epoch, what can we expect? What signs of the Nőo epoch do you already see?
Followers
Brain Rules Mind Map by Johan D’Haeseleer.
Brain Rules Film
Click on the book to see the film.
And yet when there are cuts to be made, most districts will cut physical education time along with art and music! The Davenport district is guilty of this. Most elementary students only get 40 min of PE a week.
ReplyDeleteSeveral of my students came over to see me watching the video of the gentleman demonstrating relaxation techniques... they all began to emulate the man on the video and were very interested in how this makes them work more efficiently. It was a HOOT!
ReplyDeleteIn case you didn't check this out, Medina gives a list of his sources for the first brain rule. If you are going to do something specific concerning this rule you might want to check out the reading list at:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.brainrules.net/pdf/references_exercise.pdf
Another good resource for brain and body engagement activities is called Arts with the brain in Mind, by Eric Jensen. It is an excellent source for research done using differentiation and multiple learning styles. I have designed several lessons using suggestions and motivational exercises in Art classes. It really works!
ReplyDeleteGreat discussion today. Running through my mind has been ways I can get my students more active in the classroom. I do simple things; students always get out of their desks to hand work in and return materials, and we do a lot of group work or pair share. However, what can we do as a school? Coming from a small rural school, we had P.E. the whole year. On the block system, students only have P.E. for 9 weeeks! These articles support the need for P.E., but how can we encourage this? So many questions!
ReplyDeleteWowza. Well we don't exercise enough at school. I can run amok but the kids are often allowed to roam. (except that crew of 4 that never seem to find their 4th block and roam endlessly...). Maybe PE should be twice a year for non-athletes. Return intramurals for students....
ReplyDeleteRemember open campus when kids could go outside during the day-after lunch, free periods etc. A shot of nature does wonders for attention and exercise outside is a double bonus. Can we trust kids enough to come back? Would it be worth it in brain up ticks?
ReplyDeleteJohn Medina talks in the first chapter about our primordial activities, and it made sense that we as primative man were constantly active, escaping predators, searching for food and just trying to survive. This puts our brains into a constant mode of thought... even while we sleep, our brains continue to work.
ReplyDeleteOur group of four had a good discussion - brainstormed some ways to get the kids up and out of the classroom, especially if the room is small and the numbers are large and flapping arms would be a health hazard. I think that, for effectiveness, we would need more than a few minutes of activity, so I need to work on the challenge of finding "more time." I admitted it is hard for me to learn new things at this time of day - but drawing a silly picture really did help. I agree with above comments about increasing PE to more than one term a year.
ReplyDeleteI like Angela's idea of having students physically turn papers in. However, some students can't move around the room w/o causing problems. When I suggest students get up and move to get the blood flowing must of them won't. We have to find a way to make it socially acceptable to move with a purpose in class. If it catches on, we could possibly make a difference. Our 90 min. blocks are too long to go without moving!
ReplyDeleteIMO (in my opinion)Students can not sit too long or stay on a task for a long time. Even teachers can't sit through a long meeting without moving around. Recess in the old days had a purpose--to get the blood moving. Maybe students should change rooms for standardized testing. The teacher could move with the booklets.
ReplyDeleteIn our group, we discussed a lot of the physiological benefits of exercise and how much the brain benefits from exercise. It makes sense that students could benefit academically and behaviorally from exercise, yet how can we ensure that it happens? Many students don’t get exercise daily, especially if they are not taking a physical education class that particular term. We talked about how we could incorporate some exercises and movement into our classrooms. For example, allowing students to walk around the back of the room during class or having students do the exercises that we watched in the video. This could help students focus in class and get them ready to learn.
ReplyDeleteReading the articles and listening to the book made me think about my 3rd block class when they come back from lunch. They are sleepy and unresponsive. Given what the typical lunch is, I can see why they need to get moving and get the blood back into the brain. I'd like to try some of the movements on the video and see if they get into their work better.
ReplyDeleteI know 90 minutes was too long for teens to sit. Having a biology explanation for what is going on convinces me that I have to change what I am doing.
The science group talked about the actual science behind the article, and how it makes perfect sense. Some of us have tried little exercises here and there to find out that they do in fact work. The problem is that this may more difficult with some classes. Trying to motivate the students who don't want to do anything anyway is a challenge. We also did realize that there is a difference in the students attitude, behavior, and attention after they have P.E. My high school had PE every other day and it does make difference in students that are not involved in physical activity outside of school. It can also be a great stress reliever for any student. I am for PE in schools for the benefit that it has on student behavior, attentiveness, and productivity.
ReplyDeleteToday we met from 3:10 until 4:10.
ReplyDeleteWe discussed how and why exercise helps the brain. We know that 20 minutes after you exercise that the brain is at it's highest level for learning. We also discussed that after sitting for 17 minutes this is when you start lossing kids. We need to get the kids up and moving every 17 min.
We talked about brain games you can do in the classrooms and other such activities. We also talked about how important physical activity is for students learning and retention. So why do schools insist on cutting back PE and recess time? This is counter productive. We will go into more detail later. Bye all
R. Gill
I wonder if the trend will change as more research is compiled. It seems to me that their is a true push to revive education and I wounder when things like brain research will catch on.
ReplyDeleteThe three readings were very interesting, and to me, it says stronger than ever that we should have physical education classes all year long. The current system of having physical education for only nine weeks during the year is absolutely not good for students. Students definitely need to have physical education during the entire year, each year. We are not helping them in academic classes nor are we helping them with physical fitness.
ReplyDeleteHaving students come into the classroom who are unable to sit up for a 90-minute block session is very frustrating in academic classrooms. Granted, some of this is due to lack of a good-night's sleep, but part of this is due to lack of physical fitness and oxygen to the brain.
The LMC computer wouldn't allow me to post earlier, so I am doing my homework at "home." What a novel idea!
ReplyDeleteI was in the group with Angela and Jane, and I liked how Angela has students get up to turn in packets, etc. I'm going to try to make more of a conscious effort to do this. We also discussed the need for P.E. Potentially, some students could have P.E. during 1st term of one year and not have it again until 4th term of another year. That's quite a length of time! We also agreed that 90 minutes for P.E. seems to be too long (in our opinions) except for maybe the swimming unit. Admittedly, P.E. was never my favorite subject in high school, but coming from a smaller rural school, there were some units that we were able to be exposed to over the course of the year that were quite enjoyable. Of course we were on a 7-period schedule, so we'll just have to see how that goes.
In our group we talked about if you have a son or daughter have them take their hardest class right after PE. This will help them in more ways than anything else they do.
ReplyDeleteThis time we discussed how to incorporate exercise to increase student memory and focus. One of the teachers in my group mentioned it was only necessary to take a short couple minute break and how that would increase student attention span.
ReplyDeleteWe also discussed how the block schedule didn't lend itself to incorporating exercise (students sometimes are expected to sit for 1 1/2 hours several times a day). However, on the flip side of this with science labs students can get the opportunity to get out of their seats for a spell. I do see a problem with exercise in the academy classes though as they are so short as it is. Instruction time is very valuable!
I thought I already posted a blog to this but guess it didn't appear...for whatever reason.
ReplyDeleteCh1 Exercise
This section was very informative and useful. I find myself wishing I was more active as I age. I tend to find excuses not to exercise, being a single dad (to my mom) takes work and time, but I still need to find that 1hr a day to get and exercise. I gotta get it done. I know I feel so much better, get to think while I bike ride or walk, and feel soooooooo much better. This relates directly to the learning process. My students should feel better coming to class if they had some sort of physical activity. I think we should make gym class mandatory, make it a year long, and make it a skinny with study hall. If we get rid of block, then students should go to gym all year.