 What can learning about the brain teach us about how we learn?  How can examining our own dispositions help us achieve a better understanding of how we learn?  How can we develop strategies to help us with the process of learning?

1.What do you think you know about your learning and brain? 2.What questions or puzzles do you have? 3.What does the topic make you want to explore?

For each metaphor, ask yourself....  What are some things that you believe about the brain that the metaphor captures?  What are some implications about you as a learner that follow from this metaphor?

 Can you come up with your own metaphor for learning and the brain?  In what way does your metaphor capture your thinking about the brain?

 Food, water, nutrition, sleep and exercise are critical to learning.  We are “holistic” learners - the body and mind interact

We are products of genetics and experience The brain works better when facts and skills are embedded in real experiences

 The brain’s priority is always survival - at the expense of higher order thinking  Stress should be kept to a manageable level  Provide opportunities to make changes to your life  Have high, but reasonable expectations

 Each person seeks to make sense out of what he/she sees or hears  Capitalize on this quality! Present ideas, experiences that may NOT follow what one expects:  Speculate Question  Experiment Hypothesize

 Tie learning to prior knowledge  Use thinking routines and reflect on your own thinking  Start from the “big” questions to be answered.

The brain develops better in concert with others When learners have to talk to others about information, they retain the information longer and more efficiently! Make use of small groups, discussions, teams, pairings, and question and answer situations

 Retrieval often depends upon how the information was stored.  Relevancy is one key to both storage and retrieval  Connect to what you know, what you are interested in  Provide examples

 When objects and events are registered by several senses, they can be stored in several interrelated memory networks.  This type of memory becomes more accessible and powerful.  Conversation helps us link ideas/thoughts to our own related memories. Students need time for this to happen!! Storytelling- Conversations Debates- Role playing Simulations - Songs Games- Films

 Define the “gist” - OVERVIEW  Sequence events  Plot out pictorially the information  Tell the information to others in own words - TALK Peer teaching/tutoring  Amplify by giving examples  Use multiple parts of the brain (emotional, factual, physical) Auditory, Visual, Kinesthetic Combine  Use color effectively Yellow and orange as attention-getters

 Brain is malleable, our experiences help shape it.  It is like a muscle – the more you exercise it, the stronger it becomes.  Every time you try hard and learn something new, your brains form new connections that,over time, make you more clever.  Intellectual development is not the natural unfolding of intelligence, but rather the formation of new connections brought through EFFORT & LEARNING!

If you were to write a headline to capture the core of your learning over the past 6 seminars, what would that headline be?

Reflect upon your own thinking about Learning and the Brain. How Has Brain Research Influenced Your Approach to Learning? Draw a Mind Map.

 What can learning about the brain teach us about how we learn?  How can examining our own dispositions help us achieve a better understanding of how we learn?  How can we develop strategies to help us with the process of learning?

 Society for Neuroscience  Short guides and articles from the New Scientist site about the brain:  Thinking Routines & Visible Thinking  Neuroscience for Kids  The Brain from Top to Bottom  The DANA Foundation  The Triune Brain  Secret life of the brain: 3D tour  How Memory Works