1. Creating Brain Compatible Learning Environments Presented by Garfield Gini-Newman The Critical Thinking Consortium ggininewman@oise.utoronto.ca

2. Some recommended reading

3. Activity 1: How accurately does this cartoon capture the essence of adolescence? Highly Somewhat Not Very Completely Accurate Accurate Accurate Inaccurate _______________________________________________

4. What is meant by a Brain- Compatible Learning Environment? Brain Compatible versus Brain Antagonistic

5. Activity 2: What does an enriched learning environment look and sound like? Looks like…Sounds like…

6. Attributes of a Brain Compatible Classroom:  Provides a moderate to high challenge to students  Is a low threat environment  Engages positive emotions to support learning  Allows for multi-path input  Provides thinking strategies that support students in using information to create products and solve meaningful problems  Includes both novelty and predictability  Allows sufficient time for processing  Provides complex, frequent feedback Attributes of a Brain Compatible Classroom:  Provides a moderate to high challenge to students  Is a low threat environment  Engages positive emotions to support learning  Allows for multi-path input  Provides thinking strategies that support students in using information to create products and solve meaningful problems  Includes both novelty and predictability  Allows sufficient time for processing  Provides complex, frequent feedback

7. How brain- compatible is your classroom?

8. Think of an Adolescent You Know Reflecting on an adolescent you know, how many characteristics of the typical teenager can you list?

9. How do we learn? Communicating Neurons Learning produces physical changes in the brain Plasticity of the brain means that it is continually re-wired – molded by life experiences

10. Neurons that fire together, wire together! Learning is a matter of making connections.

11. The Process of Long Term Potentiation When information (stimuli) is received a trail along a series of neurons is blazed making it easier for subsequent messages to fire along the same path. The more the path is re-fired the more the message or new learning becomes.

12. Each time an activity is repeated the bonds between neurons strengthen and expand, leading to an entire network developing which remembers the skill or information.

13. The Importance of Assessment for Learning The cornerstone of brain compatible assessment is formative feedback. By providing students with guidance and an opportunity to implement suggestions, students feel secure in taking risks, develop confidence in their ability to meet challenges and can set their own goals.

14. Activity 3: How can we provide anchors for student learning in our classrooms?

15. Some anchors to consider: Films, songs, field trips, photographs and paintings, evocative experiences, using manipulative, experiments… Remember: Learning is likely to occur if we move from the concrete to the abstract Learning is likely to occur if we move from the concrete to the abstract Inquiry-based classrooms to help students take ownership over their learning Inquiry-based classrooms to help students take ownership over their learning Genuine collaboration to respects the brain’s need for social interaction Genuine collaboration to respects the brain’s need for social interaction Open ended assessments to provide students choice and allow them to draw on their interests and talents Open ended assessments to provide students choice and allow them to draw on their interests and talents

16. Activity 4: Where does truth lie? Sandy Danny

17. Summer Nights [Danny] Summer loving had me a blast [Sandy] Summer loving happened so fast [Danny] I met a girl crazy for me [Sandy] Met a boy cute as can be [Both] Summer days drifting away, to oh oh the summer nights [Guys] Well-a well-a well-a huh Tell me more, tell me more Did you get very far? Summer Nights [Danny] Summer loving had me a blast [Sandy] Summer loving happened so fast [Danny] I met a girl crazy for me [Sandy] Met a boy cute as can be [Both] Summer days drifting away, to oh oh the summer nights [Guys] Well-a well-a well-a huh Tell me more, tell me more Did you get very far?

18. [Gals] Tell me more, tell me more Like does he have a car? [Danny] She swam by me, she got a cramp [Sandy] He ran by me, got my suit damp [Danny] I saved her life, she nearly drowned [Sandy] He showed off, splashing around [Both] Summer sun, something's begun, but oh oh the summer nights [Gals] Tell me more, tell me more Like does he have a car? [Danny] She swam by me, she got a cramp [Sandy] He ran by me, got my suit damp [Danny] I saved her life, she nearly drowned [Sandy] He showed off, splashing around [Both] Summer sun, something's begun, but oh oh the summer nights

19. [Gals] Tell me more, tell me more Was it love at first sight? [Guys] Tell me more, tell me more Did she put a fight? [Danny] Took her bowling in the arcade [Sandy] We went strolling, drank lemonade [Danny] We made out under the dock [Sandy] We stayed out 'till ten o'clock [Both] Summer fling, don't mean a thing, but oh oh the summer nights [Gals] Tell me more, tell me more Was it love at first sight? [Guys] Tell me more, tell me more Did she put a fight? [Danny] Took her bowling in the arcade [Sandy] We went strolling, drank lemonade [Danny] We made out under the dock [Sandy] We stayed out 'till ten o'clock [Both] Summer fling, don't mean a thing, but oh oh the summer nights

20. [Guys] Tell me more, tell me more But you don't have to bragg [Gals] Tell me more, tell me more Cause he sounds like a drag [Sandy] He got friendly, holding my hand [Danny] She got friendly down in the sand [Sandy] He was sweet just turned eighteen [Danny] Well she was good you know what I mean [Both] Summer heat, boy and girl meet, but oh oh the summer nights [Guys] Tell me more, tell me more But you don't have to bragg [Gals] Tell me more, tell me more Cause he sounds like a drag [Sandy] He got friendly, holding my hand [Danny] She got friendly down in the sand [Sandy] He was sweet just turned eighteen [Danny] Well she was good you know what I mean [Both] Summer heat, boy and girl meet, but oh oh the summer nights

21. [Gals] Tell me more, tell me more How much dough did he spend? [Guys] Tell me more, tell me more Could she get me a friend? [Sandy] It turned colder - that's where it ends [Danny] So I told her we'd still be friends [Sandy] Then we made our true love vow [Danny] Wonder what she's doing now [Both] Summer dreams ripped at the seams, but oh those summer nights [Gals] Tell me more, tell me more How much dough did he spend? [Guys] Tell me more, tell me more Could she get me a friend? [Sandy] It turned colder - that's where it ends [Danny] So I told her we'd still be friends [Sandy] Then we made our true love vow [Danny] Wonder what she's doing now [Both] Summer dreams ripped at the seams, but oh those summer nights

22. Neural Pruning...how and why is the behaviour of an adolescent similar to that of a 2 year old?

23. At both stages, the brain is responding to......a massive build up of connections and pruning away excess connections allowing for a more refined and efficient brain.

24. Brain Sculpting Imagine you have set out to capture the essence of who you are in a marble sculpture. Reflect back to what life was like at age 11 or 12. Walk yourself through the defining experiences of your adolescence. While doing so, imagine yourself chipping away the excess marble to allow for the emergence of your adult self.

25. Like sculptor......the brain sculpts itself through its experience with the world. Teenagers need to realize that the brain is the only organ in the body that is sculpted through experience. What they are doing with their brain now is going to determine what their brain is going to become as an adult.

26. Also, remember that... “...if teens are doing music and sports and academics, that’s how brains will be hardwired. If they are doing video games and MTV and lying on the couch, that will be how they are hardwired.” Jay Giedd

27. How effectively will the direction of new curricula in Alberta prepare students to meet the demands of the 21st century? Fortune 500 reports that students entering the workforce in the 21st century will be expected to demonstrate mastery of the following skills: >Teamwork/interpersonal skills >Problem solving/decision making >Oral/written communication >creative thinking >goal setting/motivation >math problem solving >organizational effectiveness Success in all of these depend on frontal lobe activity.

28. How should we respond? Remember... No matter how well planned, how interesting, stimulating, colourful or relevant the lesson, if the teacher does all the interacting with the material the teacher ’ s - not the student ’ s - brain will grow new connections. will grow new connections.

29. Activity 5:How would your students respond to the following task? Which lifestyle would you have preferred - that of the habitants, priests or nuns, or the coureurs des bois? From Bain, Colin M., Canadian History 7, Pearson, 2007

31. The Process of Myelination

32. Which part of a colt’s brain do you think gets myelinated first.

33. The Role of Glial Cells: A fatty, waxy substance that wraps itself around the axon called myelin myelin insulates the electrical impulse so that it travels more efficiently glial cells unlike neurons regenerate (makes up 90% of the brain) in response to new connection the more you use your brain, the more glial cells you will have Important to know about myelination: the neurons you need to survive will myelinate first it makes your brain get bigger before a neuron is myelinated it is called immature myelination results in the creation of a more efficient brain

34. Important Observations for Understanding Adolescence The frontal lobes are the last to be myelinated occurring as late as the early 20’s. Myelinated neurons fire 150 times more quickly, making the brain more efficient. Once an area of the brain is myelinated it is much more specialized and efficient at carrying out tasks. But… It appears as neurons become myelinated they also become more rigid making acquisition of new skills more difficult i.e. acquiring a new language after the age 13-14

35. Students need to solve problems and practice decision making. >Have students apply learning to solve “real challenges” >Teach students to use decision making models >Provide a clear purpose to student learning >Have students consider purpose and audience

36. We need to allow students to “fail forward” Students need to have the opportunity to learn from their mistakes without being penalized Identifying errors is an important part of the learning process

37. Provide the necessary scaffolding to ensure success. Avoid asking adolescents to multi-task until the learning has been internalized Use graphic organizers to assist students in gathering and organizing information i.e. Lecture road maps, mindmaps Integrate technology as appropriate i.e. Power Point, Mindjet

38. Assist students in seeing patterns and relationships. Venn diagrams Concept Formation and Concept Maps Concept Attainment

39. List AList B In South Africa, policy prohibited blacks from living in homes in areas designated as “white only” neighbourhoods. In Canada, the First Nations People were denied access to most classy cafes. In Germany, during World War II, Jews were required by law to have travel passes in order to move about their community. In North America, it is not unusual to have all white juries hear a case of a non-white person. In Canada, during World War II, legislation was passed that sent Japanese Canadians to special camps. In some states in the U.S. if a black person killed a white person, that person was almost always found guilty. If a white killed a black, that person was almost always found innocent. In the United States, blacks were obliged by law to sit at the back of the bus. In Israel, a Jew was walking down the street and was shot by a terrorist. Activity 6

40. Testers: Which list would each of these belong to? 1.In Malaysia, if your hair is longer than a certain length you will not be served until everyone else in the bank has been served. 2.As set out in legislation in some countries, women are not allowed to terminate a pregnancy without permission.

42. Concept Attainment can be used in all subjects… Math - prime numbers English - parts of speech Art - styles, movements Science - classifying living things

43. Movement and cognition are closely entwined, and movement can enhance thinking and learning. How do/can you integrate movement into your classroom?

44. The Role of Emotion in Adolescent Learning

45. Emotions, the Amygdala and the Teenage Brain Any information received by the brain travels first to the amygdala The amygdala holds emotional memory - it tells you how you feel about things In the teenage brain, the amygdala is developing faster than the frontal lobes So teenagers tend to be reactive not reflective

46. Reading Facial Expressions

47. “Emotion drives attention and attention drives learning” In her book Brain Matters, Pat Wolfe noted: “The brain is biologically programmed to attend first to information that has a strong emotional content. It is also programmed to remember this information longer.”

48. Activity 7: So, we know positive emotions enhance learning and negative emotions inhibit learning… How can we engage student emotions? How can be remove unnecessary stress?

49. Activity 8: Rank order the 3 tweaks you could make to your classroom to further support student learning. Criteria : Feasible, effective, inclusive Activity 8: Rank order the 3 tweaks you could make to your classroom to further support student learning. Criteria : Feasible, effective, inclusive

50. Provides a moderate to high challenge to students Is a low threat environment Engages positive emotions to support learning Allows for multi-path input Provides thinking strategies that support students in using information to create products and solve meaningful problems Includes both novelty and predictability Allows sufficient time for processing Provides complex, frequent feedback Provides a moderate to high challenge to students Is a low threat environment Engages positive emotions to support learning Allows for multi-path input Provides thinking strategies that support students in using information to create products and solve meaningful problems Includes both novelty and predictability Allows sufficient time for processing Provides complex, frequent feedback