Gain More Brain Power

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Gain More Brain Power
You never grow old until youve lost all your
marvels. -Merry Browne
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Contact Info

• Donna Sawyer
• North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
• Instructional Technology Division, Resources
  Development and Evaluation
• dsawyer_at_dpi.state.nc.us

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Handout

• Shopping List
• Online Interactive Notes
• Kaleidoscope Poster
• www.ncwiseowl.org/kscope

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Burning Question

• How much forgetfulness is TOO much?
• DONT WORRY occasional memory lapses
• WORRY pattern of blanking
• Dr. Barry Gordon of Johns Hopkins Memory Clinic
  says,
• "Miss an exit on the highway once, that happens.
  Miss it five times and thats another story."

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Nutrition Exercise

• HUNDREDS of studies prove that poor nutrition and
  lack of exercise lead to lower academic
  achievement.

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1. Exercise

• Cross Laterals
• Activates both brain hemispheres simultaneously
• Stimulates alertness
• Activates the same neural connections the brain
  uses to read, write, and compute math

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1. Exercise

• Activates the release of BDNF, a neurotropic
  growth factor that enhances cognition
• Has unlimited storage (motor memory)
• Requires minimal review (98 of learning is
  through the body)
• Reduces stress, levels emotions, improves memory
• Feeds the brain glucose and oxygen which builds
  greater connections between neurons
• Strengthens particular areas of the brain
• Doubled neurons in brains of rats

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Resources

• Energizers, NCPE4ME! (integrate movement with
  academic concepts)
• Smart Moves Why Learning is not all in Your
  Head, by Carla Hannaford
• Awaken Your Brain, by Donna Noland and Becky Ross
• Action-Based Learning, by Jean Blaydes Madigan
• Online Notes links take you directly to the
  resources

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2. Eat Right

• Omega-3 Fatty Acids
• Affect Mental speed and learning
• Boost body metabolism
• Increase IQ
• Lessen early signs of Alzheimers
• Result in smarter babies (from breast milk)

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Omega-3 Fatty Acids

• Salmon (The coloring added to farm-raised salmon
  is toxic. Farm raised salmon should be gray in
  color.)
• Fish oils
• Flax seed (ground) 2 tablespoons a day for
  depression
• Sardines
• Bluefish
• Herring
• Mackerel
• Tuna
• Olive Oil

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Water

• Promotes efficient thinking and focused attention
  (Irving, 1995)
• Boosts metabolism
• Fights against daytime fatigue
• A mere 2 drop in body water causes fuzzy
  short-term memory and difficulty focusing.

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B Vitamins

• Deficiency results in impaired memory, higher
  levels of anxiety, irritability, and depression
• 800 mg. folate - pharmaceutical brand (associated
  with working memory and verbal fluency)

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B Vitamins

• Folate, B12, B6
• Improve memory performance in all age groups
• Amount speed of information processing, verbal
  ability
• www.ConsumerLab.com
• Fatigued to Fantastic Daily Energy B Complex
• Froogle.com www.nutricraze.com

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Foods High in B
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Aging Process

• Aging causes the brain to lose its ability to
  protect itself from the abuse we give it every
  day.
• Amyloid plaque (fibrous substance much like fur
  balls in the brain) plays a key role in
  Alzheimers disease.
• Plaque builds up-- causes more oxidation
  inflammation --- kills off brain cells

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Aging Process

• Oxidation and inflammation allow free radicals to
  attach themselves to cells.
• Free radicals are highly active molecules that
  damage cells.
• Brain cells often stop communicating with each
  other.

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Solution? Antioxidants

• protect against free radicals and give fruits and
  vegetables their bright colors,
• slow the oxidation process,
• act as anti-inflammatory agents,
• improve the communication between neurons, and
• allow the brain to regenerate.

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Antioxidants

• Blueberries (wild blueberries have more
  brain-saving bioflavonoids)
• Raspberries
• Blackberries
• Other dark-skinned fruits
• Curcumin, spice used in India, known for its
  anti-inflammatory effects and its protection
  against memory loss

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Bioflavonoids

• Green tea (effectively combats degenerative
  brain diseases)
• Black, green, and orange pekoe teas
• Red wine
• Gingko (It combats free radicals and promotes
  circulation to the tiny capillaries of the brain.
  Decreased blood flow to the brain is usually
  age-related.)

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Vitamin E

• Doctors found that those who consumed the most
  vitamin E (from foods like nuts wheat germ)
  were almost 70 less likely to develop
  Alzheimers than those who consumed the least.
  (Journal of the American Medical Association)

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Nuts

• Several large studies show a 30-50 lower risk of
  sudden cardiac death and cardiovascular disease
  in those who ate nuts several times a week.
• Nuts are full of vitamin E, folic acid,
  potassium, fiber and arginine, amino acid
  (relaxes blood vessels and eases blood flow)

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Fruits

• High in vitamin C
• Help ward off the effects of cumulative stress
  (Stress kills brain cells!)

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Lunch

• Dr. Daniel Amen
• Eliminate all simple carbs at lunch (sugar,
  white bread, or other products made from white
  flour)
• Greater focus
• More energy

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Neurons Caffeine

• Chemical communication between neurons sacs of
  chemicals, neurotransmitters, are released to
  move across the synapse, bump into the next
  neuron, and cause it to fire its own electrical
  impulse

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Neurons Caffeine

• Neurotransmitters either speed up or slow down
  this communication process
• Agonist speeds up
• Antagonist slows down
• Good days surplus of one of the agonists
• Bad days too many antagonists

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Neurons Caffeine

• Caffeine enters nervous system and acts like an
  agonistic neurotransmitter making messages move
  quicker between neurons
• Homeostasis body seeks to restore balance
• Neurons say, Why bother making this stuff?
  Shell dump another pot of coffee in tomorrow and
  well be off and running!
• Neurons cease making their own supply!

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Neurons Caffeine

• First fully grown population raised on chronic
  use of artificial neurotransmitters
• Limited to U.S. - one of the few countries to
  allow soft drink industry to add caffeine
• Mt. Dew in Canada

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Resources

• Dr. Kathie Nunleys Articles for use in school
  newsletters (Caffeine, Brain Biology,
  Giftedness, Stress and Memory, Sleep Deprivation,
  and more)
• http//help4teachers.com/articles.htm

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3. Sleep

• Cells repair
• Brain maintenance in full swing
• Nerve cells branch to cement the days learning

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Sleep Needs

• Middle and high school biological tendency to
  stay up late and get up late
• Adult (33-45 years) 7 hours
• 9-12 need 8.5 hours sleep
• 6-8 need 10 hours sleep
• 1-5 need 10.5 hours sleep
• Preschoolers need 11 hours sleep
• (Huffman, 1994)

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Sleep Deprivation

• Irritability
• Decreased attention span
• Slower response time
• Memory gaps
• Impaired judgment
• Fatigue

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Sleep Learning

• It appears that different types of learning may
  be facilitated within the different types of
  sleep REM sleep is important to procedural
  memory formation of tasks such as typing and
  playing the piano.
• (Chapter 6 Regain an Agile Brain)

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Resources

• Youre Feeling Very Sleepy by Dr. Kathie F.
  Nunley
• http//help4teachers.com/sleep.htm
• Kaleidoscope - Parents Page
• www.ncwiseowl.org/kscope/parents.html
• Internet Safety

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4. Manage Stress

• Stress kills brain cells.
• Long-term and chronic stress shrinks the
  hippocampus, the memory center of the brain.
• Learners in a state of fear or threat will always
  have a difficult time learning.

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4. Manage Stress

• Chronic childhood stress creates permanent
  changes in the brains neurotransmitter levels.
• In severe cases of trauma it takes dozens of
  successful opportunities to rewire the brain for
  new, more positive ways of thinking.

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HYPO
Fear Anger Aggression Fight or flight Hunger Thirs
t Water balance Body temperature Sex drive Eat,
kill, have sex.
Reptilian Brain Most primitive region of the
brain _at_Birth - fully functioning Controls
primitive      emotions
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AMY
Communicates with HYPO Present at birth
but Function develops during childhood
based on environmental cues, modeling,
parenting JOB Overrule Hypo
Amygdala Sophisticated emotions Love Jealo
usy Attraction Kindness Compassion Empathy
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Amy 2nd Voice
Hypo 1st Voice
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Student yells obscenity at you

• HYPO (first voice) Perhaps the world would
  be a better place with one less child in it!
• AMY (2nd voice) You wanted to be a teacher
  because you love children and you want to help
  them.

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Baby Thumbelina

• Birthday Party - 5 years old
• Prized Possession - a baby Thumbelina doll
• Brother - 3 years old
• Creepy Crawler Goo
• Feet colored green
• Mother intervenes, Hes only three. He loves
  you. He didnt mean to hurt your doll.

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Baby Thumbelina

• If appropriate behavior other than aggression
  was modeled for you in your early years, the
  amygdalas voice is a strong one and will
  overrule the hypothalamus in most cases.
• A Students Brain, by Kathie Nunley

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Hypothalamus

• Hypo - more primitive
• Survival situation - resort to primitive areas
• Hypothalamus-driven Person
• Tend to be male
• Larger in males
• Product of testosterone
• Grew up in eat or be eaten world

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Reptilian Brain

• when you make a decision in this state of mind,
  you are thinking with all the wisdom of a
  turtle.
• (Nunley, page 45)

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In the Classroom

• Erika, I am so angry right now that I do not
  feel comfortable discussing this. Can you please
  go sit down until I calm down enough and can
  think more clearly?

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In the Classroom

• www.disciplinehelp.com

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Optimal Learning

• Relaxed Alertness
• Underperformance
• Too little stress (sleep, apathy)
• Too much stress (anxiety, distress)

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Resources

• Teachleys Amazing Talking Brain
  http//www.ncwiseowl.org/kscope/TeacherHut/Teachle
  y/index.html
• Kaleidoscopes Mood Pencils http//www.ncwiseowl.o
  rg/kscope/Moods/index.htm
• Kaleidoscopes Hangout for Students
  http//www.ncwiseowl.org/kscope/students.html
• The Trouble Terminator http//www.ncwiseowl.org/ks
  cope/techknowpark/Trouble/index.html
• Kaleidoscopes Spa.Calm http//www.ncwiseowl.org/
  kscope/TeacherHut/TableofContents/PersnlNote.html
  spa

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5. Learn New Things

• Neuroplasticity
• You can create your brain from the input you
  get.
• (Paula Tallal, co-director of the Center for
  Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience at Rutgers)

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Carol Dweck

• My research shows that students who believe
  their intelligence is fixed (they have only so
  much and that's that) tend to worry about how
  smart they really are. Their motivation and
  engagement are tentative--when a task gets too
  hard, they lose interest and flee.

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Carol Dweck

• But students who believe their intelligence can
  be developed get deeply involved in learning and
  remain engaged in the face of difficulty. We have
  shown in many studies that their engagement and
  intrinsic motivation is hardier.

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Peak Development

• Regions of the cortex in peak development during
  various ages
• Great opportunity to shape the brain
• Do not close completely
• Critical time periods - windows of opportunity
• Parents and educators can have a great influence
  on development.

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Windows of Opportunity

• Birth to Age 3 Vocabulary
• Children in households rich in vocabulary and
  conversation before age 3 dedicate a large
  portion of the cortex to vocabulary and tend to
  be more successful readers.

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Windows of Opportunity

• Birth to Age 4 Math and Logical Reasoning
• Music stimulates the same region.

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Windows of Opportunity

• Birth to Age 6 Gross Motor Development
• Children need plenty of opportunities to move
  during this time period. Best baby gifts toys
  to buy involve large muscle movements.
• (Sit and Spin)

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Windows of Opportunity

• Before Age 10 Learn a Second Language
• Simply hearing the second language, like playing
  tapes singing songs establishes pathways for
  later learning.

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The Brain and Reading Comprehension

• How short-term, active, and long-term memory
  impact reading comprehension
• All Kinds of Minds, Schools Attuned
• www.allkindsofminds.org/Category.aspx?categoryID2

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Memory Trick

• Stephen Scott
• Mentored by a Millionaire
• Master Strategies of Super Achievers

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Resources

• Reflection Activities
• http//www.ncwiseowl.org/kscope/TeacherHut/Tableof
  Contents/reflections/index.html
• The Memory Booster www.ncwiseowl.org/kscope/Hoverc
  raft/MemoryBooster/index.htm
• The Express Reactor www.ncwiseowl.org/kscope/Hove
  rcraft/XpressReactor/index.htm

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6. Kill ANTs

• Automatic Negative Thoughts (Dr. Daniel Amen)
• These daily, automatic, repetitive thought
  patterns can lie to us!
• Repetition -- myelination -- fatty covering
  for neurons -- transmit electricity up to 10
  times faster than non-myelinated neurons

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Four Species of ANTs

• Mind Reading
• Fortune Telling
• Always or Never Thinking
• Guilt Beatings
• What species do you have?

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Mind Reading

• you know what the other person is thinking
• (usually the worst)

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Fortune Telling

• Predicting a bad outcome to a situation before it
  takes place
• (Your mind makes happen what it sees.)

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Always or Never

• You routinely think or use the words always,
  never, every time, everyone.

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Guilt Beatings

• I should have. . .
• Im bad because . . .
• I wish I had . . .

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Today Matters, by John Maxwell

• We over-exaggerate yesterday.
• Define ourselves by past accomplishments
• We overestimate tomorrow.
• Ill start the diet on New Years Day.
• We underestimate today.
• Success is determined by your daily agenda.

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Resources

• I Cant Burial Site
• www.ncwiseowl.org/kscope/techknowpark/Dream/Burial
  Site.html

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7. Tap into Passion

• 12th Graders
• Perceptions of High School
• U.S. Department of Education
• National Center for Education Statistics
• 2002

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Relevance

• If we consider a task to be irrelevant,
  uninteresting or unimportant, how long will we
  stick with it?
• When was the last time you had to work on
  something that you felt was not meaningful or
  worth your time?
• How much (genuine) effort did you put into it?

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Strengths

• In helping children overcome weaknesses, we tend
  to neglect to cultivate their strengths. Every
  child has strengths. They simply await
  discovery. Strengths keep kids afloat when they
  are struggling to overcome the effects of their
  weaknesses.

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Strengths

• When a child has learning difficulties, the
  pursuit of a strength can go far to alleviate and
  prevent low self-esteem due to academic
  underachievement. (Dr. Mel Levine)

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Achievement

• 25 ____ 25____ 50____
• 25 IQ
• 25 Experience and Opportunity
• 50 Self-Esteem

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Affinities

• Affinities are areas of knowledge toward which a
  child feels strong attachment.
• It is critical that every child develop at least
  one area of intellectual passion that they
  sustain over time.
• Affinities should evolve into domains of
  expertise.

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Expertise

• Mastery in the area of an affinity allows the
  child to experience the intense satisfaction that
  comes with being a true scholar.
• Strengths and affinities do not come forth and
  grow automatically.
• Adults must work with students to help them find
  and sustain their strengths and affinities.

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• http//www.ncwiseowl.org/kscope/techknowpark/Dream
  /index.html

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Learner Puzzle

• file///Users/donnasawyer/Documents/Kaleidoscope/t
  echknowpark/Kiosk/profile_puzzle.html

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www.ncwiseowl.org/kscope

• Questions?
• Donna Sawyer
• 910.814.4331
• dsawyer_at_dpi.state.nc.us

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• The end

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• Extra slides (pulled out of this presentation)

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(Image Source SurgeonGeneral.gov)
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Meet Mark.

• Incarcerated twice by the age of 17
• Sent to juvenile detention center for drug
  dealing and other antisocial offenses
• Suffered serious delays in reading, written
  output, spelling and math
• The thought of writing elicited rage
• Appeared not the least bit inclined to succeed at
  anything

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• What would happen to Mark at your school?

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Attuning Process

• Private sketchbook
• Artistic talent and originality
• Designing and building forts
• Remarkable intuition in problem-solving,
  especially in the domain of construction
• Community college in art and technology

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Marks Letter