Interactive Workshop by Ewing Coleman Green EDD 8260 CRN Linking Learning and Leadership to Brain Research Nova Southeastern University August 4, 2013

Welcome! Turn Right for Whole Brain Learning Interactive Workshop

21 st Century Learning Emphasis on the right hemisphere

The Past Pink (2006) suggested: The 20 th century Primarily logic, sequence, and analytical skills Advances in science, engineering, and finance (flight, energy generation, capital deployment, globalization) Age of computing, language of code Information technology Focus on product function Left brain powered

The Future Pink (2006) argued: The 21 st century promises to place a premium on Intuitive and holistic thinking supported by logic and analysis Big picture perspective Age of conceptual thinking, language of story Forming creative connections Collaboration Focus on product design Right brain powered

The Future (cont’d) Black and Gregersen (2008) argued: People develop mental maps based on experience 20 th century perspective tended to be self-centric and fixed 21 st century perspective must be juxtapositional and integrated Larger context, contrasting, flexible, and empathetic Requires collaborative seeing, moving, finishing Right brain powered

Neuroscience Advances in brain analysis using techniques such as fMRI, PET, and SPECT are pinpointing brain functioning Executive functioning of the frontal lobes over distributed cognition Integrated yet distinct functioning of the left and right hemispheres

Neuroscience (cont’d) Goldberg (2009) reported: Left hemisphere primarily handles LogicSequence Activating established routines Analysis Right hemisphere primarily handles ContextSynthesis Formulating creative solutions Emotional expression

Left vs. Right

Left vs. Right (cont’d)

Right brain engagers Big picture Emotional expression Flexible grouping Differentiation Collaborative discussion Drawing

Right brain engagers (cont’d) Painting Mind mapping Student relevancy HumorGames Creative repetition

Education needs to ‘turn right’ The research, 21 st century workforce requirements, and advances in neuroscience all point to the need for greater development and deployment of the right hemisphere Education has a key role to play Teacher professional development and student learning engagement must focus more on the right brain

Turn Right for Whole Brain Learning 21 st Century Educational Superhighway

Workshop Sessions 7 right brain oriented purposeful sessions 45 minute duration with discussion Stage: movement and dance — focused on big picture, emotional expression, and flexible grouping Second floor: music— focused on differentiation and collaborative discussion Side room: art — focused on drawing, painting and mind mapping

Sessions (cont’d) Side rooms and both tiers of lobby: (4)— two sessions each focused on the core subjects (language arts, social studies, math, and science Cross-disciplinary content using multi-media audiovisuals Emphasis on student-relevancy, humor, games, and creative repetition

Workshop Content Clockwise foot + 6 Consider these words Vocabulary builder Albert Einstein – for fun What do you see? More on the sides Man in the coffee beans

Workshop Content (cont’d) Man looking in which direction Spinning girl Core subject example – Algebra

Clockwise foot + 6 Sitting where you are, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles with it

Now… Keep doing this, and draw the number 6 in the air with your right hand

Well? Did you foot change directions and begin rotating counter clockwise involuntarily?

Reflection Questions Why did this happen? Which side of our brain controls the right side of our bodies? Which direction does our right hand move in drawing the number 6? What causes this phenomenon? (please respond…)

Consider these words left brain right brain How many words do you see?

Are there 4? left brain right brain 4 > left, brain, right, brain

Slightly different question left brain right brain How many different words do you see?

Are there 3? 3 > left, brain, right

Slightly different question Left brain right brain Without rearranging the letters, how many different words do you see?

Are there 7? left brain right brain 7 > left, brain, right, rain, bra, in, rig

Reflection Questions Why do the answers amongst us differ? What is the influence of question form? Since language is a dual hemispheric endeavor how does individual hemispheric functioning reveal itself here? (please respond…)

Vocabulary builder Heuristic— Enabling a person to discover or learn something for themselves i.e., a hands-on or interactive heuristic approach to learning New Oxford American Dictionary, MacBook Pro This builds a person’s sense of self-efficacy Bandura (1977, 1997) Bandura (1977, 1997)

Albert Einstein “Imagination is more important than knowledge”

What do you see?

A goblet, two opposing faces, or both?

Now…try this Move your eyes back and forth from the black facial images, left to right, right to left, and so on back and forth a few times…

Do you feel it? Do you feel your occipital lobe working to make sense of the image and fix one representation? You are exercising your brain and seriously engaging your corpus collosum!

More on the sides…

This one is tough Can you find the man in the coffee beans?

Here he is…

Perhaps… The man in the coffee beans overloads our brain and locks our right brain in an endless loop There are excessive possibilities given the coloration, varying bean shapes, and combinations of clusters Success is found here by engaging more of the left brain

One more visual… Is the man looking at you or to his right?

Spinning Girl

Clockwise or Counter Clockwise? Spinning girl URL brain-right-brain-and-the-spinning-girl/

One more time… Spinning girl URL brain-right-brain-and-the-spinning-girl/ Hint: Look down at the reflection in the floor for a while and your brain may reverse the rotation from clockwise to counter clockwise

These exercises serve to… provide evidence of the gradiental, highly distributed nature of our brains operating in a massively parallel and interconnected way (Goldberg, 2009, p. 59) help you feel and practice loaded right hemispheric functioning

Core Subject Example-- Algebra How to make learning quadratics fun! Let’s play with gravity! Basic mathematics model: What the heck does that mean and how do you use it in real life??

Team Ball Toss

Making the connection

Making the connection (cont’d)

Conclusion Turn right for whole brain learning! Maximizes cognition Prepares students for 21 st century demands

References Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood, NJ: Prentice Hall. Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York, NY: W. H. Freeman and Company. Black, J. S., & Gregersen, H. B. (2008). It starts with one: Changing individuals changes organizations. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Wharton School Publishing. Goldberg, E. (2009). The new executive brain: Frontal lobes in a complex world. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Pink, D. H. (2006). A whole new mind: Why right-brainers will rule the future. New York, NY: Penguin.

Image URLs Slide 2. Brain. Retrieved from bthumb/CSP/CSP990/k jpg Slide 9. Left vs. Right 1. Retrieved from com/images/brainorg.jpg Slide 10. Left vs. Right 2. Retrieved from system/idea_thumbnails/45642/headline/rightbrain.jpg? Slide 14. School bus. Retrieved from q=school+bus+highway Slide 14. Right turn blinker. Retrieved from imgres?q=school+bus+right+blinker

Image URLs (cont’d) Slide 19. Right foot. Retrieved from Slide 19. Right foot. Retrieved from Slide 20. Right hand. Retrieved from Slide 20. Right hand. Retrieved from Slide 20. Number 6. Retrieved from Slide 20. Number 6. Retrieved from Slide 31. Einstein. Retrieved from Slide 31. Einstein. Retrieved from images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSmJD5QswC4mfaX9uqX3ZYx6M41_473 NO2M0TDXFNrlfYljqHmhg Slides 32, 33, and 34. Goblet or faces. Retrieved from Slides 32, 33, and 34. Goblet or faces. Retrieved from tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSxlTikSe3rdErsVGzEgBS O_Au_5n5D2XPMQ0TkFh36_v6h6carA

Image URLs (cont’d) Slide 36. More on the sides. Retrieved from uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/left-brain-right-brain-mind.jpg Slides 37 and 38. Man in the coffee beans. Retrieved from theness.com/images/blogimages/beans.jpg Slide 40. Man looking at you or to his right. Retrieved from Slide 40. Man looking at you or to his right. Retrieved from encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRVq3y244TqVIP gDf5dV5R_6wCjnngP2eIvc4YYU2K2ugOIMGjqRw Slides 41 and 42. Spinning girl. Retrieved from Slides 41 and 42. Spinning girl. Retrieved from neurologicablog/index.php/left-brain-right-brain-and-the-spinning- girl/ Slide 46. Author’s material