Wilkes University Ed 515, Cognition, Day 2

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Wilkes UniversityEd 515, Cognition, Day 2
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Brain Dominance Survey
What did you learn about yourself?
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12 Brain Rules

• Exercise
• Online Clip

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Rhythms of the BrainDo you have the BEAT?

• The brain has a natural rhythm that is
• activity and rest or focus and diffusion
• Do you agree? Reflect!
• Biological rhythms
• There are times of the day when students are not
• good for class work and times when they are ON!

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Believe it or not?

• Overall intellectual performance such as thinking
  and problem solving, debating, peak in late
  afternoon.
• Comprehension increases and day progresses.
• Reading speed decreases.

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Compute

• Your peak of night time sleep
• and daytime drowsiness,
• follows a 12-hour cycle.
• You are groggiest about 12 hours after the
• midpoint of your previous nights sleep!
• Check out your cycle and see if this is true for
  you or not?

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Fluctuations

• In mineral,vitamin, glucose, and hormone levels
  can vary by 500 affecting brains efficiency and
  learning.
• Short term memory is best in morning, least
  effective in the afternoon.
• Long-term memory is best in afternoon.

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Medications

• Keep on schedule.
• Take two hours before daily blood-pressure rhythm
  peaks.

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Cycles

• Breathing one nostril for three hours until
  tissues is engorged, then other side.
• Impact on left-right brain dominant learning
• When breathing is left-side dominant, our
  learning will be right-brain dominant, etc.

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Attentional Cycle

• Do you notice natural attentional highs and lows
  in your day?
• Brains key cycles if 90 minutes, so 16 every 24
  hours.
• Light and deep sleep
• High and low arousal-rest cycles
• Movement helps refocus attention if drowsy.

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90 Minute High and Low Cycle

• Blood flow and breathing vary and breathing
  alternates between efficient verbal and
  spatial processing.
• Therefore, testing at wrong time of day impacts
  performance.
• To do Give learners choices!!
• Cross laterals
• Assessment options

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Dual Cycles

• Low to high energy cycle
• Relaxation to tension cycle
• Focus better in late morning and early evening
• Pessimistic in middle to late afternoon.

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Optimum learning Focus diffused then
focused again!

• 1. Content acquisition
• Young learners -- 5-10 minutes
• Adolescents -- 10-15 minutes
• Adults -- 25 minutes
• 2. Elaboration activity such a mind mapping, pair
  share, model building
• 3. Downtime with walking, stretching, cleanup,
  recess

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Physiological Effects on Learning

• Functional Differences??

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Physiological Effects on Learning

• Male

• Female

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Humor and Gender Differences
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Impact of Physical Movement and the Brain
What might you add?
What do you already do?
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Stress and Threat
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Memories from your school days!Eustress?
Distress?
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Stress

• We know
• Positive or moderate stress is good for learning.
• Distress and threat are not.
• Chronic stress causes illness.

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Cortisol

• Is a hormone that is a temporary source
• of energy.
• For a half hour or a few hours it is helpful.
• Over longer periods of time, days, weeks, months,
  high levels of cortisol damage the brain.

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Chronic stress

• Linked with low seratonin levels which are
  suspected risk factor for violent and aggressive
  behavior.

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Atrophy levels of 8-24

• In hippocampus of Vietnam War veterans with
  posttraumatic stress disorder.

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If threated, the brain jumps into high gear

• Chemical imbalances are triggered
• 1. Seratonin Reduced seratonin levels, which
  strongly modulates emotions and subsequent
  behaviors. If seratonin levels fall, violence
  often rises.
• 2. Vasopressin If vasopressin levels are
  elevated, aggression may occur.

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What might you do that creates a threat to some?
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What might you do to put and end to treats?
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Empowering students

• Choices
• Initiate affirming rituals
• Opportunities for students to set their own
  ground rules and classroom standards.
• Generous feedback
• Self-evaluation
• Peer review

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Relaxation
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Relaxation

• 16 Energizers?? Have fun! Page 51

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Sensory Contributions to Learning

• Jigsaw Activity 4 groups
• In trios select a sense and discuss
• The impact of the role of your topic/sense in
  learning
• Application of the sense in learning
• Personal experiences with the sense in your
  classroom and life
• Prepare and present a visual and creative
  presentation with
• it to teach the class about your sense and its
  importance in
• learning.

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