Thinking about your own teaching tendencies, which brain areas are you most likely, and least likely, to activate in your students? Pages 18-26 Full credit: 25 WBT Certification Points
Partial credit: 10 WBT Certification Points Reminder: Please sign your post with your real first and last name.
This is probably the most important question so far for me to think about and answer. The only problem is that I don’t have any experience implementing WBT yet, so I haven’t put my awesome ideas to the test. The other challenge is that I am a Physical Education teacher at the middle school level. Bring it on! (I can already hear the “Mighty oh yeah!”) The brain areas I am most likely (and sure hope I do) use, are the motor and visual cortexes. I usually demonstrate as I am providing cues to each skill. My goal for this year, and one of the reasons why I decided to use WBT, is to limit my explanations to 30 seconds or less. In order to achieve that, I pulled my plan book to write a few notes. The more videos I watch and the more I read the book, the more I realize that I might have to re-write all my plans because of so many useful notes and necessary changes. Good for me and for the students! The second part of the assignment “which brain area as you least likely to activate in your students” made me realize I needed to activate the pre-frontal cortex (reasoning, planning, decision making) a little more. Instead of telling you why it is the students’ least activated brain area in my class, I will tell you what I will do this year in order to activate all areas of the brain, more specifically the pre-frontal cortex. Fairly simple; I will introduce "Help me" game. Here is the link to the new game explanation: http://www.livestream.com/wholebrainteaching1/share?clipId=pla_61544de5-05d0-47b9-8f97-d11cfb58ef71 I will introduce the five components of fitness and the F.I.T.T. principal to my students using this technique. Here is a sample question: Doing 60 minutes of cardio-respiratory endurance daily is important BECAUSE (clap) ______________ , ______________ , _________________. Furthermore, because students are moving around during my class, I will modify how a traditional class uses “help me” and use it during play. During a PE class, I will let students know they will be able to call "help me" (instead of time-out) during a game. At that time, the team that called "help me" will be able to get the white-board and talk about a play for 30 seconds.
Patrick, How awesome that you have a plan! I love that you didn't offer excuses as to why the pre-frontal cortex is the least activated. The fact you recognize this needs improving and you have thought through your ideas is a huge step forward! Best of luck to you in the coming school year. Here is a 10 finger woo and 25 Certification Points! Save and date this post in a word processing file. In August, we'll post directions for turning it in to redeem your points.
Thinking about my own teaching tendencies, these are the brain areas I think I am most likely, and least likely, to activate in my students.
I think that my tendencies in the past have been most likely to active the Broca / Wernicke areas of the brain for speaking, hearing, and understanding language. I focused more on talking to the students, and having them answer questions to assess their level of understanding. It seemed like I had forgotten how important motor cortex is, activating that part of their brain the least of all. Or I only activated the motor cortex with movements designed to burn off excess energy in a hope to calm them down and refocus them. I had forgotten all I had used with pre-K when I had to work with older children in 4th and 5th grades.
This assignment has taken a lot of introspection of where I've come from and where I want to go with the help of Whole Brain Teaching. I look forward to the new school year where I can use The Big Seven in the classroom that uses all of the students’ brains and my brain too! I want to use Teach-Ok, Switch,and Mirror so that more of their brain is engaged in learning. And I want to use Class - yes and Hands and Eyes to engage their prefrontal cortex so they are ready for instructions, planning and making decisions. With Whole Brain Teaching, next year will be awesome!!
How right you are that the school year is awesome when using WBT! As traditional teachers, we definitely used the Broca and Wernicke areas of the brain. But to make it stick, we need to employ the pre-frontal, motor, and visual cortices as well. 25 Certification points for you! Save and date this post in a word processing file. In August, we'll post directions for turning it in to redeem your points.
As a child growing up, I would meticulously take notes, go home and reread the notes, and then create some mnemonic to remember what I learned. I hated being lectured to! Once I became a teacher, I swore to myself that I would not be a lecturer. I constantly am searching and creating picture slide shows and illustrative notes to promote visual cortex usage. My students are able to see an image we have discussed and they can tell me many facts pertaining to that image. For each SOL we teach, such as Ancient Egypt, life cycle of a frog, or telling time, I have created a song. My students use their visual cortex to see the image, listen to the song and say it in their heads using their Wernicke’s area. Next, my students use their Broca’s area and repeatedly singing the song until they are able to do the song without my help. Lastly, we use our motor cortex to learn movements to the song, which help students remember key facts about what we are learning. While teaching this topic, we review these songs. I even post the video of these songs onto my classroom Facebook site so students can practice at home. Incorporating singing into my lessons has really motivated my students to remember their SOLs. In fact, anytime we go on a field trip, we sing all of our songs the entire way there and back. Many times, I hear students humming these songs and doing the movements during a test, which shows their brains are activated and the information is in their long term memory.
Before beginning Whole Brain Teaching, the hardest area for me to teach was the prefrontal cortex. I am slowly learning to allow students to make decisions about their learning but it is difficult when I have so many SOLs to cover and only 180 days to do it in. I am looking forward to learning more ways to help incorporate the entire brain into my instruction instead of the back and sides of the brain.
Laken, Your classroom sounds like a fun place to learn! Good for you for wanting to make it even better by increasing the engagement of the prefrontal cortex. Here is a 10 finger woo and 25 Certification Points just for you! Save and date this post in a word processing file. In August, we'll post directions for turning it in to redeem your points.
I use Whole Brain Teaching in my classroom everyday which means my students are getting a full brain workout. What a wonderful feeling to have as a teacher knowing that we are activating all the different parts of kids’ brains to be involved learners in their education.
I honestly cannot say that there is one part of the brain my students use the least. This is due to the fact that many of the Whole Brain Teaching strategies we use regularly involve many different parts of the brain. At first I wanted to say that Broca's area would be the part we use less often. But then I started to think of all the techniques used in our classroom that activate Broca's area such as; Teach-Okay, using Class-Yes, practicing the five class rules, and using Switch. It was clear that Broca's area is not only used, but used frequently by my third graders.
The motor cortex along with the mirroring neurons would have to be the two portions of the brain we use most frequently. I know I am a motor cortex learner. I need to be moving and having a gesture to tie into key concepts. Knowing this is how I learn, I am more prone to teach my own students using movements to learn. Many times when I am teaching I use Mirror or Mirror with Words. Not only does this work to ensure students are grasping what I am teaching, but I can also tell who is paying attention rather than making faces to another student across the classroom. My students love using Mirror because we use this method when practicing gestures with many concepts and vocabulary words. I also often make silly movements when talking to use as an attention checker to make sure all students are on track.
After reading about the different parts of the brain in this chapter, it is truly amazing to see all the different parts of the brain that are engaged while using Whole Brain Teaching. The students are being active learners, and are kept engaged to lessen the amount of unwanted classroom behavior.
How right you are Lindsey! Teaching with WBT activates all parts of the brain and if done consistently, none of those areas are really neglected. You've earned 25 certification points! Save and date this post in a word processing file. In August, we'll post directions for turning it in to redeem your points.
This is the toughest exercise yet, to step outside yourself, and analyze how one teaches. I was first introduced to Whole Brain Teaching a year ago and only this year was able to start implementing it into my classroom. As a teacher I previously had a tendency to talk/lecture too much which only utilized the Broca/Wernicke sections of the brain. Since taking Whole Brain instruction I realized I need to activate more sections of the brain in the learning process, especially the visual and prefrontal sections, by getting my students more actively involved in the lesson. This led me to spending last summer looking for slides for the Smart board, songs for parts of speech as I have a large percentage of second language learners and incorporating more movement and student led activities into the lessons. My students’ favorite and the one they became most creative with, was Mirror. As soon as I would hold up both hands in the position they would respond, “Mirror Me!” My first success with this method was early on when the class was struggling to remember the difference between fiction and nonfiction. I devised this little ditty to help them remember with hand motions. Imagine my surprise when during a test asking for the difference when I saw all the silent motions being done to help them remember. Some of them became quite creative at devising new Mirrors for the class to learn. Through the use of Teach and Switch, I was able to better observe what they were taking in of a concept, how they were interpreting it, and their capability to relay information to a classmate. This assessment let me know quickly what needed to be a reteach, without having to drone on with the entire lesson again. I am looking forward to becoming a stronger Whole Brain teacher this year, especially with all the changes coming with the implementation of Common Core. I feel many parts of Whole Brain are second nature to me after using it for a whole year. What I saw this year was a class that was actively involved in the learning process, enjoying school and learning tremendously and hating to see the day come to an end.
Great reflection comparing and contrasting your "old" teaching style with what will come in the new year. Once we start to realize how much better our classrooms can be within the WBT framework, great things will happen. Here's another 25 certification points! Save and date this post in a word processing file. In August, we'll post directions for turning it in to redeem your points.
I have always been one of those teachers that students tend to like. As I re-examine my teaching practices I believe students “like me” because I tend to “speak” to their limbic systems (emotional aspect). They have no doubt how much I care for them and sincerely want to see their success. I believe this has carried me for a number of years.
I have been implementing bits and pieces of Whole Brain Teaching for a number of years now. Thanks to WBT I have definitely increased the amount of time that my students are actively engaging their motor cortex areas and activating their mirror neurons.
Unfortunately I tend to still spend too much time engaging the Wernicke’s area of my students’ brains. I allow my students to critic the class and instructor (myself) at the end of each school year. This past year I had a few students say that they wished I had done more of the ‘Teach-Okay’. In that regard it becomes obvious I need to engage the Broca’s area of their brains more frequently.
One of my main goals for next year is to really hit the 5 brain areas on a consistent basis and effectively increase the long term memory of my students!
Jason, the limbic system draws them in! You've got them emotionally connected, now you just have to make sure that all of those brain areas are working at full speed! The great thing about the Teach-Okay is that it hits all of them! You're students were right to ask for more! Here are 20 Certification Points for you. In future points, be careful of word choice (critic/critique).
This was a tough question for me. Last year, I tried to implement some of the Whole Brain Teaching in to my classroom. I used the five rules, Class-Yes, and Hands and Eyes all year. I started out using the Scoreboard, but found it didn't work for me. I'm looking forward to that chapter of the book, however, to get a deeper understanding of it. I also tried the Teach-Okay and had some problems with it. Again, I'm looking forward to that chapter for further understanding. In addition, I printed off all of the gestures I could find. I found that I would start with the gestures and then forget to use them. As the first semester progressed, I found myself reverting back to my old way of teaching. I would talk, ask questions, and then see what the students retained. I continued to use the Class-Yes and Hands and Eyes, but that's about it. Therefore, I pretty much wasn't using all of their brain, mainly just the auditory and visual parts. Last year, I tried to do WBT along with the Daily Five. I chose to do this because WBT and Daily Five both say that students only listen for short amounts of time. So I would do a short lesson, then the students would read or go to a center. We had three short lessons and three break out sessions. They seemed to enjoy this. I like the Daily Five, but I would like to add more of the WBT into my lessons. Next year, I want to use more of the WBT in all subject areas. That's why I purchased the book and joined this book club. I'm hoping to have a more in-depth understanding of the different components so that I can implement them in next year's teaching. I want my students to be actively engaged in their learning. I think it will be more fun for them, too. I especially want to engage the students in the Teach-Okay since this engages five of the brain areas: visual cortex, motor cortex, Broca's area, Wernicke's area, and the limbic system. My first and most important goal for next year is to consistently and effectively use the five brain areas to increase my students' long term memory.
Cheryl, we are so glad that you have found WBT, and are working to more fully engage your students!.Ten finger woo to you! The scoreboard and teach-okay are key components that will drive you right into Teacher Heaven. I can't wait to see your posts in those chapters! Here are 25 Certification Points for you!
My mentor teacher during my student teaching used songs, chants, and visuals to deliver her lessons. As I took over the class, I also followed her pattern and used songs, chants, and visuals. The areas which I am most likely to activate are Wernicke’s area, visual cortex, and Broca’s area. For example, one song which the students and I enjoyed singing was the 5 Parts of a Friendly Letter song. First, students had a visual (seeing and mirroring actions) of a completed friendly letter and each other to use as a model for singing along. Second, the student sang (speaking) along and used gestures and movements (Wernicke’s area and mirroring words) to connect a movement to one of the parts of a friendly letter. For example, part 3 (the body) students would use a thick voice meanwhile rubbing their bellies and then positioning their arms to their sides as questioning themselves. As these movements were made students would repeat the verse twice.
One of the areas which I am less likely to activate is the prefrontal cortex. One of my tendencies is to impart knowledge and assess students’ learning. Many assessments can be used to assess mastery of skills. But, most importantly is to assess students’ reasoning which supports their understanding. One of the techniques which I plan to integrate is the Prove It! I would like for students to prove their reasoning for sharing an answer to the class. Another important aspect is for students to become problem solvers! I sometimes find myself solving issues for students (I don’t have a pencil, I can’t find my .., so and so is being mean to me) and yet I expect them to make smart choices. I need to develop their decision making skills by guiding and teaching students to become problem solvers.
Nancy ... this is an excellent post! Good assessment of your strengths and weakness as an instructor in regard to brain areas. Here's another 25 WBT Certification Points for you ... keep on posting!
I try to use as much of the brain in my history classes. My students and I make up motions to learn key concepts such as, the physical features of the Great Plains. The motor cortex as well as the prefrontal cortex is being used. I use many visuals such as, photographs, political cartoons, as well as, charts and graphs for students to analyze using again, the prefrontal cortex, as well as, the visual cortex. Students give oral reports and engage in class discussions to which they are using the Broca and Wernicke areas of the brain. Music and dance are incorporated into many lessons. Students learn the Charleston during my Roaring Twenties unit. Students review to music when we play a version of musical chairs. Each desk has a question relating to a topic of study. As the music is being played, students answer the question in front of them. Once the music stops, they move to the next question. Once all the questions are answered, I go around and read each question and allow students to answer. Any misconceptions are addressed at this time. Mnemonics are used to help students recall facts. As you can see, most of the brain is being used within my lessons. With WBT next year, my students’ brains will really get a workout. Grow dendrites grow! The limbic system will need to be added to my daily routine and lessons. Getting students emotionally involved will allow them to get personally involved and take ownership of their learning. The five classroom rules and scoreboard will help me use the limbic system of the brain. WBT will allow me to use this part of the brain I let get dusty. If I continue to do what I have done in the past and add WBT to the mix, my students will become life long leaners and will become academically successful. I cannot wait until next year to see how much my students will grow and get excited about learning history. I can already feel next year will be my best year ever. Thanks WBT!
Debora, How cool that your classroom is already so active. But hold on to your seat because WBT is about to make it even better! I think you'll find the scoreboard is going to complete your classroom. Here are 25 certification points just for you!
When I think of my own teaching tendencies, the area of the brain I use most is the limbic system and the area I use least would probably be the motor cortex.
I have always used the motor cortex quite a bit. One has to in the primary grades. However, I could use it much more. For example, by using the Teach-OK technique more, there would be an increase in motor cortex activity. And if the “golden thread of fun” weaves throughout the whole day, it would give a kick to the limbic system, which would, in turn, charge the motor cortex, thus creating a "funtricical" circuit.
Another way I have noticed a shortage of motor cortex activity is in the using of gestures. It was a huge revelation this year to see students using gestures as they read in small groups. Kids that were very intelligent but “don’t really like to read” connected to the story consistently through the use of gestures. However, when using Mirror with Words, I often noticed kids making gestures when I was not! How embarrassing! That cost me quite a few points on the scoreboard!
As for the area of the brain that gets used most, it would be the limbic system. I tend to favor the limbic system because, sad to say, I was the kind of student who made trouble for the teacher when not having fun. So, I can empathize with students who need to engage emotionally. Elementary students are pretty good at being honest and will tell you things like, “That story made me tiiiirrred.” So, if you don’t engage the limbic system, your days are numbered! We compete against a tremendous amount of advertising that appeals to the limbic system. Raising my own kids, I learned to set up boundaries that were reinforced with connections to the limbic system.
Next year, will be even better. I am especially looking forward to more activation of the motor cortex. I plan to improve at the Teach-Ok technique and gesturing.
Andy, Great reflection of your teaching tendencies! The motor cortex and limbic system are some of the least used areas in traditional education (snore!). So glad you have set goals to make them a big part of your classroom! Here are your 25 certification points!
This question gave me a chance to reflect on my own teaching tendencies. This past year I started implementing some of the Whole Brain Teaching strategies and have already seen improvements in my students. After reading this chapter, I can understand why they work so well.
The two brain areas that I most likely activate in my students are the motor cortex and visual cortex. During my lessons, I have my students use gestures for many of the concepts that we are learning. We will work together to create a gesture. The gesture is modeled and students practice. Then I use “Teach-Okay” and the students teach each other the particular concept or skill. I have noticed that when I review the concept the next day, students remember the gesture. I have seen them use the gestures weeks and months later. When I teach vocabulary, we use gestures and pictures as well. We look at different pictures and I ask my students if the picture is demonstrating the vocabulary word. We create gestures for each word and use them often.
I believe that there are two brain areas that I am least likely to activate. These brain areas are Wernicke and Broca. I feel like I do not give my students enough opportunities to talk to each other and discuss what they are learning. The “Switch” strategy is something I plan on using to encourage my students to verbalize their thoughts (Broca) and hear what their peers are saying (Wernicke). Every year I have those students that are the passive learners. They will not share. They do their best to hide themselves so you do not call on them. By using the “Switch” strategy, I can teach all of my students to be good speakers and good listeners.
Elissa, Great reflection of your teaching style! I am so excited that you'll get to see even more changes in your class as you go into your 2nd year of WBT. Each year, each month, it will be come smoother and more engaging for both you and your kiddos. Here are your 25 certification points!
Wow! This has been a tough question that I have thought long and hard about for the past week. I knew immediately what type of learner I was; a visual learner, but I really reflected on how I teach to my students. True to form, I teach with a lot of pictures. I am constantly drawing images on the board, looking for pictures on the Internet, and assigning visual projects to my students. If I can’t see something I don’t understand it. Being a visual learner and teacher is also why I make my students follow along visually when we are reading aloud. I want to hear and see the words being spoken, so I can have a better understanding of the material. I also incorporate fun in teaching using the limbic system, I proud to be known as the “fun” teacher. It is sad to say the least area of the brain I use with my students is the prefrontal cortex, the decision making brain. I tend to be overbearing and not challenge my students to make their own decisions; it is easier to make decisions for them. Last year, my first with WBT, I started to change this in my classroom. Rule 4 is perfect for this “make smart choices”. For example, I gave several choices for assignments trying to incorporate the many different learning styles. Students could write, draw, teach a lesson, or create model of the assignment. This book has given me new insights to the learning brain and I will, in the next years of my career, integrate all learning styles.
Kathy, Great reflection of your teaching style. With WBT it is so easy to make sure all brain areas are engaged! Check out your sentence about the "fun" teacher for a writing glitch. Here are 20 certification points just for you!
As I think about my own teaching style, I am more likely to activate the visual cortex (seeing), the Motor Cortex (movement), the Wernicke's Area (listenting), and the Limbic System (Emotions) parts of the brain. Most teachers tend to incorporate lessons that include the learning style they like best, and I am no different. I am a very visual learner, so I use images and video clips a lot in my lessons. I have always tried, though, to incorporate other learning styles, too, although my lessons lean toward auditory and visual. I have been told by former students that I am called the 'Color-Coding Nazi.' Ha! Ha! I do think that color, as opposed to black and white, 'wakes the brain.' We chant and march, sing, listen to music, and many students even create their own lyrics. I also have students create their own podcasts (digital voice recordings) that we listen to as a group. Act-It-Outs are a part of my lesson planning, too. Students take a topic, often a problem in history, and present a short skit (often moderated by a news host-me) to the class. I use a great deal of maps in my lessons, as well. I have student led lessons that allow the kids to mark on large U.S. and world maps about what we have been studying.
I also use an interactive notebook with my history students. Essentially, the left side of the notebook is the instructional side, and the right side of the notebook is the student side. (Left side: input, right side: output) We color code a lot in our notebooks. I have used the term 'mental model' since the beginning of my teaching career to describe to students mental images we see in our head when we hear certain terms, ideas, and vocabulary words. I even have students draw 'mental models' on their notes and on their 'output' notebook side. There are many 'student side' activities that help learners process new information for later recall.
Until I found Whole Brain Teaching, I was least likely to activate the Pre-Frontal Cortex (the brain's light switch), the Amygdala (pleasure/pain), and the Broca's Area (Speaking). Let's face it! It is very difficult to get middle school students interested in learning content material. My whole group discussions rarely ever included half the class. However, since implementing WBT strategies on a 'consistent basis' this spring, I am more alert during my planning of lessons. Using WBTs Core Four and The Big Seven has helped me be more relaxed and more humorous, an attribute my sixth graders love and appreciate. I am a better teacher because I think I am activating more parts of my own brain. Now, I can't imagine teaching without using WB!
Melinda, Your classroom sounds like a fun place to learn! If you think it's good now, wait until the next school year. You'll be amazed at how much growth you'll see as you implement WBT more and more! Here are 25 certification points plus 5 BONUS POINTS for an insightful response!
In the last year of teach “WBT Style” I feel I have made so many adjustments to how I teach. In turn, this helped my students be able to learn to high standards by activating all parts of their brain. We tested, tried, failed, and practiced so many strategies. I definitely have my favorites!
The area of the brain I most likely use is the visual cortex. I am a visual learner, thus I need the visuals to teach. In this world of technology, my classroom was furnished with a 2-1 ratio of students to computers. Next year I will have a 1-1 iPad classroom. This assists the learners in visual cortex processing since they are looking at and constructing understanding. They do this through analyzing text and images, as well as creating their own visual representations of their understanding using computer programs and the Internet.
In an eMINTS (computer based) classroom, the standard of learning isn’t to play games; it is to create, construct, and use reasoning to complete PBL (project based learning). This utilizes the prefrontal cortex, which controls reasoning, planning and decision-making. This model of teaching may be hard for those students who like to ‘jump right in’ but it is a necessary skill in life!
Finding an area I use this least is difficult. I have attempted this year to utilize many of the strategies of WBT that I remember utilizing strategies from each part of the brain. The area that I teach the least (yet still a lot of use) would be the motor cortex. I taught the Crazy Professor Game and many students used this while we would read in class, but the majority of the students didn’t utilize this unless asked. It was difficult for the students to read a book and hold the pages while going through the motions of what they were reading. Some of my ‘cool’ students didn’t want to do this because it wasn’t ‘cool’. They would use this as expected in class but it wasn’t their choice on their own time.
Krystal, I found myself with similar tendencies as yours. So many teachers, it seems, are visual learners! Like you, I also have an eMINTS classroom. How cool that you get to go 1-1 next year!
Sally, I love finding other teachers like me. We are a group of individuals that put forth a great deal of energy and planning to make each lesson count. I found myself connected to the topic in one of our previous discussions about planning and having everything ready to keep classroom control. I don't know about you but one thing is for sure, in an eMINTS classroom, if your not prepared your lessons are twice as difficult to get through. I am looking forward to iPADs and hoping for a great few years where we can put technology in the hands of students who may not have this in their home life! At this rate we need to embrace technology to the fullest and show students the way to their future!
Krystal, Sounds like you'll be engaging that pre-frontal cortex much more this coming year! As you implement WBT more and more, you'll find greater growth in your classroom. Check your first and last paragraphs for some pesky writing errors. Here are 10 certification points for you!
I am 43 and have only been teaching for four years with an Alternative Certification. Two of those years I was a long term substitute. My first two years I was teaching kindergarten at a private school with 10 students in my classroom. Even though my students excelled, I knew I needed help! I have a tendency to talk too long, share too much information and expect too much.
This year I am teaching kindergarten at a high-risk Title-1 school. I have been told from the get go that these students are like no other. This chapter has really given me an understanding of how the brain works and WHY WBT is effective. I plan to stick to the Big Seven. Probably the most important sentence in this chapter for me is; Repetition equals dendrite growth equals learning. I have a tendency to assume or expect children to "get-it" because they are supposed to be listening!! If I repeated something over and over and over, I felt like my students we in Lala Land and I wasting my time. It's a good thing I am patient and kind! But now I understand what was happening! I might make a good teacher after all! I wish I was privy to these techniques as a trainer with the corporate world!
Now that I also have an understanding that our emotions can control our reason much more easily that our reason can control our emotions I can take steps to minimize undesirable kindergarten behavior. Keeping students engaged and keeping my emotions in check will certainly help with that. Inviting my class to mirror, teach, switch are perfect for keeping them engaged. I will not have any problem keeping up with the scoreboard. I have used marbles in a jar, warm fuzzies, table points, play money, you name it! I love the concept of the scoreboard and I love that WBT doesn't "call-out" or require embarrassing or upsetting a student by moving "down" his or her color or clip! I am not a fan of that. The scoreboard and I will be great friends and is a key to keeping emotions in check.
I am very animated and I think I will do good job in activating the pre-frontal cortex and visual cortex while teaching. Often I use Smoulder, my pet dragon, (puppet) to help me teach. I have to be careful with that though, because sometimes Smoulder gets all the attention and the focus isn't on the lesson but on her! Perhaps Smoulder can observe this year and give out points on the scoreboard during "teach-okay" and "switch".
Overall, I am encouraged and have an understanding of how important all components of WBT work together. By taking what I do best (engaging the prefrontal, motor and visual cortex) and spending the summer organizing and practicing that parts where I may have a tendency to drop the ball,(the limbic system and repetition, organized classroom) I think this coming year will be a success.
I have been using Whole Brain Teaching strategies off and on throughout the entire school year this past year. My goal this year is to use more WBT components in my classroom all the time. Thinking about the different parts of the brain, I feel as if my students use each part of their brain in some way, shape, or form on probably a daily basis, but there is a lot of room to grow and use each part more and get a total brain workout. My teaching tendencies are very geared toward activating the visual cortex in my students brains. I am very much a visual learner and so my teaching is also geared in that manner. We watch videos on websites such as Brain Pop to enhance the lesson and allow students to make a connection to what we are learning. Our math curriculum also uses a daily video/animation as part of the lesson - another way of activating the visual cortex. Because I use Teach Okay on a regular basis, my students are activating 5 parts of their brain in this partner activity - visual, motor, Broca's area, Wernicke's area, and the limbic system. I use Teach Okay! mostly during our math lesson, when we introduce a new vocabulary term, but I want to use Teach Okay more this coming year in all areas that I teach. As I sit here and write this post, I can think of so many ways to use Teach Okay throughout the school day - I just have to commit to doing it! Thinking about how I teach, I think the area of the brain that is least activated in my students is the prefrontal cortex. I need to use Class Yes and Hands & Eyes more throughout my lessons to ensure that my students brains are engaged and ready to learn. These short attention getters have shown to refocus students' attentions to you and the lesson. One technique I found online and tried with my students this year is when I see that students are not focused on the lesson or the person talking, I will say "eyes up here" and point to where I want students to focus their attention. Students will then say "eyes up there" and point to where their attention should be. It did help them to refocus their attention, but reflecting back, if I had been using class yes and hands and eyes more consistently throughout the lesson in addition to teaching in shorter chunks, this would probably not be a problem in the first place. Another way that I can help my students strengthen their prefrontal cortex is to allow them to become leaders by leading the class in things such as class yes, and teaching their peers using mirroring. Allowing my students to become more independent is going to be hard for me because I fear allowing them to make too many decisions on their own will lead to arguments over someone not getting their way. For example, I decide and make a schedule for students to follow for Daily 5 rotations because I want all students to go to all rotations each week and not argue over being last and not getting a choice. I do allow students to choose their activities for each rotation, so they are planning and decision making in that respect. I hope that by "growing" leaders, I can allow myself to feel more comfortable with allowing students to make decisions on their own more often. I will be interested to reflect back on this question again a year from now and see how I have improved in activating the different parts of my students brains.
Allyson, Excellent reflection of your teaching tendencies! Don't feel badly about keeping some parts of your classroom highly structured (your rotations). That is all part of good classroom management. It seems as though you have thought deeply about what you do and how you do it. That is so stinking awesome! Here are 25 certification points for you plus a whopping 5 BONUS POINTS for a tremendous post!
This coming school year will be my first year using the Whole Brain Teaching strategies. I am excited to begin this new adventure implementing what I have been learning through WBT and this book club, and comparing my year's success to my previous years as a teacher.
Reflecting on my previous years teaching Middle School English, I find I am more likely activating my student's Wernicke's area, the visual cortex, and the Broca's area. As an English teacher, communicating and understanding language is vital. My students discuss and share in literature circles, participate in a class blog, and share through journal writing. My students use their creativity in several projects throughout the year that activate these areas of the brain, including creating a PSA, creating a PowerPoint presentation and numerous book projects. I also feel that my students are able to activate their limbic system quite frequently as students share their opinions and feelings about literature, characters, hot topics, and through journal prompts. I attempt to make my class engaging, fun and challenging.
An area that I find that I least likely activate is the motor cortex. I realize that my students rarely receive an opportunity to move or gesture. On some occasions, my students will act out a fable or a drama, or play charades using vocabulary words, but I realize I need to activate this region of the brain more frequently and deliberately.
I am excited to begin WBT strategies into my classroom this year and see the growth of my students as they activate their WHOLE BRAIN on a more regular, frequent basis.
Amanda, Good reflection about how you teach. I love that you are going to be looking for growth! English is a tough subject for many students. Remember to use that scoreboard to engage the limbic system. Don't just rely on your kids to do it for themselves! The limbic system can be sad, sad, sad when a subject is hard. We want to keep it riding that roller coaster so there is constant motivation. Check your last sentence for a pesky writing error. Here are 20 certification points for you!
Thinking about the different parts of the brain and how they all interact with each other to help students learn is important as a teacher. I found that I used to teach more the lecture way. I would have students listen to my lecture and interact with each other in pairs or groups to complete an activity based upon the concept I was trying to teach. I found that only half the class was getting it and the other half was either not paying attention or just didn’t understand. I was frustrated and didn’t know what to do to reach all of my students. I went searching for different brain based techniques that I could use in class that would make learning fun for my students and fun for me to teach again. Last summer I found WBT on Pinterest and looked up the website and started watching all the videos and taking many notes. I was excited to teach again. The very first day of school I incorporated the class, yes and the five rules. Students were laughing and enjoying their first day of school experience. The first three weeks of school I focused on the constant repetition of the class-yes, teach-okay, the five class rules, the score board, and hands-eyes. My students were having fun learning and they were doing exactly what I wanted them to do. I was actually reaching all parts of the brain in my students and they were having fun learning. I found that the repetition was growing dendrites in my students and it equaled them learning while having fun. The best comment I ever received in my 15 years of teaching was from a parent who said, “Mrs. Opio, Brianna was coming home all excited couldn’t wait to show me all the cool gestures that matched with what she was learning. I was so impressed and she actually loves coming to school and teaching us what she has learned. Thank you for that.” I was speechless, the first time ever. I couldn’t find words to say at first. Then it came to me “It is all do to the fact that I incorporated Whole Brain Teaching and Brianna knew what she had to do to grow those dendrites.”
Good reflection of your teaching style! Isn't it amazing what one little positive comment can do for us as teachers? Here are 25 certification points for you! Save and date this post in a word processing file. In August, we'll post directions for turning it in to redeem your points.
I am at a very interesting point in my career. For the past two years I have worked for the district mentoring and evaluating novice teachers. It was through this work that I was first introduced to Whole Brain Teaching.
Immediately I fell in love with it, began researching, and have attended two national conventions in Pineville, Louisiana. Whole Brain Teaching is one of the reasons I decided to go back to my classroom next year. My plan is to get back into my classroom, use all of the strategies I have learned, and then return to my job with the district where I can help novices use Whole Brain Teaching in their own classrooms.
I have always had high levels of student engagement in my classroom and was aware that this increased student achievement, but did so in a haphazard manner. Now I will be much more aware of the areas of the brain being activated in my students and able to implement strategies designed to do so.
When I return in the August, I plan to use all of the “Big Seven,” therefore my students will be using all parts of their brains. I will deliberately plan lessons and consider which parts of the brain are being activated.
As far as areas I see myself activating more easily, I would say Broca’s (verbalizing) and Wernicke’s (hearing) because Teach-Okay is a strategy I plan to use as much as possible in all areas.
The area I believe I will struggle with is the visual cortex(seeing gestures) because I am not used to teaching this way and am not always successful at creating gestures on the spot. It will take planning in this area as well as assistance from students.
Whole Brain Teaching came at a perfect time in my career and I am looking forward to strategically activating my students’ brains for years to come.
Sandy, Good thinking ahead for what is to come! Sometimes I make up gestures for what we are learning and sometimes I allow my kids to create them. You will be amazed at what they come up with! Double check the first sentence of you 4th paragraph. Here are 20 certification points for you!
Chapter 5 highlights six main areas of the brain: the prefrontal cortex, the motor cortex, the visual cortex, Broca's area, Wernicke's area, and the limbic system. I like to teach using a language acquisition model called GLAD. GLAD was also developed with the brain in mind, knowing that student basic needs have to be met before learning can occur, that students learn best through cooperation with others, and that students need time to process information and can’t be expected to listen for long periods of time. Many of the thoughts on learning I know from GLAD also cross over to Whole Brain Teaching. When thinking about the areas of the brain that activated when I teach, I would say that definitely the visual cortex, Broca’s area, and Wernicke’s area are used. I do a lot of “turn and talk” and “explain to your neighbor” activities. They are not as structured as Teach-Okay or Mirror, so I am excited to use these next year instead. I know I need to add in more motor cortex activities, but I do try to use gestures with core vocabulary words. We also did the Five Rules this past year, so students were able to do the motions that went with those. When thinking of the limbic system, I try to organize and decorate my classroom in a pleasing way. Students, parents, and other teachers always comment on how much they like my classroom. If students like the room, they will want to be there. If there are exciting materials in the classroom, students will want to explore with them. I hope that by the way that I arrange my room, that not only will I want to spend more time at school, that my students will, as well. I also work hard to create an atmosphere where students feel welcomed and accepted. This is a big idea from my work with project GLAD: if students feel safe and secure, they can begin to learn. I think that I am on my way to creating a well-run classroom and I am so excited to employ more WBT strategies next year to make my classroom even better! Nicole Whole Brain Teaching With Style
Nicole, Good reflection about your teaching! I can't wait for you to read Chapter 11 about the scoreboard. Instant limbic system activator! Double check the first sentence of your 2nd paragraph. Here are 20 certification points for you!
My teaching strategies tend to target the visual area of the brain, since I naturally prefer visuals as a learning tool. I am always making visuals, such as power pix, or centers to enhance our classroom learning. As a teacher, I also naturally talk a lot, so this activates my Broca’s (speech) area, while my students have to use the Wernike’s (hearing) area to process what they are hearing and to understand the information. This is also a very traditional style of teaching; teachers that talk and students that listen.
The more I have been using Whole Brain Teaching, the more I realize that once the other areas of the brain have been engaged in the learning activity there will be an increase in memory formation and recall. The areas I have to work at, to incorporate in my teaching methods, are Broca’s area (speech), the motor cortex, the limbic system, and the prefrontal cortex. Some students prefer a learning style where they get to talk out loud to help with the process the information; thus I need to give them more opportunity to talk about their work. Teach-Ok is the perfect solution to this problem.
The motor cortex carries out movement, thus using gestures, standing when talking, or acting are great ways to activate this area in the brain. The motor cortex is the most powerful memory center in the brain and in Whole Brain Teaching we activate it all day long with many of the activities mentioned above. The limbic system (emotional control center) is probably always engaged in some subconscious way; however I need to take more care to use the limbic system in an advantageous way in class. The perfect way to engage emotions is through the scoreboard, and by being excited about our work. Last but not least is the prefrontal cortex, where decisions are made, which can be better engaged through getting my students to practice thinking critically about their work or the particular topic of discussion.
Pioneer, Great reflection about the areas of the brain! How right you are about traditional teaching (snore). Here are 25 certification points for you!
My teaching tendencies are most likely to activate the back of the brain which is the visual cortex and the motor cortex on the top of the brain. I am a very visual and kinesthetic learner so it makes sense that I tend to teach to the visual and kinesthetic learners in my classroom. My teaching tendencies are least likely to activate the Broca’s and Wernicke’s area which is on the left side of the brain. This past year I had 17 out of 28 students who did not speak English. I was very animated in my lessons but I was doing a lot of talking. I am reminded of Coach B’s saying, “the longer we talk, the more students we lose” (Biffle, 2013, p. 6) during the lesson. If I only knew then, what I know now. After the 2013 National Whole Brain Teaching Conference in Alexandria, I feel whole as an educator. I have dabbled in the Genius Ladder, 5 Classroom Rules and the Class-Yes in the past. At the conference, I was able to put all the pieces together. “Eureka, I think I’ve got it!” I thought to myself, “This makes perfect sense! Why am I complicating my life as a teacher?” I know after implementing Whole Brain Teaching in my classroom, my teaching tendencies are very likely to activate all the parts of the brain. I will be activating my students’ brains using the Big Seven. Each lesson begins with Class-Yes which activates the prefrontal cortex in the front of the brain. Teach-Okay helps me improve on my weak area of activating the Broca’s area for speaking and the Wernicke’s area for listening. It will also stimulate the hippocampus to promote long term memory. I recently learned about the limbic system in Ms. Shipley’s breakout sessions at the conference. The limbic system demonstrates emotion which is stimulated by the reaction to the Scoreboard. The Scoreboard (Mighty Groan! and the Mighty Oh Yeah!) helps promote the use of emotion during instruction. Switch, Hands and Eyes promote use of the Broca’s area and the Wernicke’s area for speaking and listening. I am a visual and kinesthetic learner. Therefore, it makes sense that Mirror and Mirror with words is my absolute favorite teaching tool (Whole Brain Teaching, 2013, p. 17). Can I get a ten finger woo? I learned so much from this conference because the WBT was used to teach it. I was exhausted after each day because I was using my whole brain. I am so proud of myself because I learned about the parts of the brain from Ms. Shipley. The lesson took less than fifteen minutes. I feel like a pirate that just found the treasure. My teaching tendencies will be geared to the whole brain from now on. “You heard me, Coach B!”
As a veteran teacher (but very new to WBT), I've certainly developed my own teaching tendencies. Some easily fit into the WBT system. Others...well, I'm working hard to "unlearn" them. :)
Based on my early attempts at using WBT, I have identified two areas of the brain that I am most likely to activate in my students. First, the visual cortex. Not a surprise since I am a visual learner. It's my default mode. My classroom walls are plastered with lots of signs, posters and colors. The other area would be Wernicke's area, crucial in hearing and understanding language. I love using words to communicate ideas and encouraging my students to develop rich vocabularies.
Conversely, I've been weak in accessing the brain's motor cortex. What a shame given how powerful it is! Fortunately that's all changed once I learned about Power Pix and gesturing. Another weakness was not tapping into the limbic system as often as my students needed it. Given my very task-oriented approach to life, it was all too easy to have a checklist mentality towards my day. Now, however, I am learning to more consistently provide that emotional reward through the Scoreboard and Super Improvers Wall.
As a music teacher of 12 years, I can see that my teaching tends to activate the motor cortex and Wernicke's area. From the very first day in music class, we are singing, listening to music, playing instruments, and moving. I always leave large areas in my classroom available for movement and dancing. Physical movement is one of the easiest ways for students to demonstrate that the understand musical concepts when verbalizing these abstract concepts may prove difficult. I often remind my students that good musicians know how to listen. We use Wernicke's area to listen to performances of our classmates and other musicians.
On the other hand, I find myself so grounded in these areas that I often neglect the visual cortex. Being a musician, I have learned to rely on my ears and muscle memory through the years. I don't need to see something to remember it. However, that's not the way my students work. I have to be very intentional in my use of visuals. It's difficult for me but I am slowly making headway.
Gwenn, Good reflection of your teaching tendencies! We would love to hear more about how you would incorporate visuals into your music class and how you think it would help your students. Give us more! Double check your sentence about physical movement. Here are 20 certification points for you!
When I think back to memories of my school years, most memories I have are tied to the limbic system. As I was reading this chapter I was most enlightened by this piece of information. While in elementary school I remember a teacher bringing in music to explain figurative language. It was quite an engaging lesson that my classmates took beyond what the teacher had planned. We asked for more music, which was allowed as long as we tore it apart looking for alliterations, rhymes, metaphors, personifications, hyperboles, idioms, themes, and speaker's messages. I recall begin disgusted by the frogs we had to dissect, nervous about performing Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address (I still have most of it memorized decades later), and saddened by the baby pig being almost slaughtered as my teacher read aloud Charlotte’s Web.
I have studied Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences and been schooled by NAEYC in educating the whole child, however it is difficult to incorporate those ideas into each and every one of my lessons. I find that with Whole Brain Teaching, I am able to infuse what research proves successful into each lesson. It is exciting to know that I am able to reach the parts of the brain necessary for long term memories to form.
Currently I believe that I’m teaching mostly to the Broca /Wernicke areas. I have students repeat what say (We call it “Give me Five” and they put up a finger each time they chant the concept), done rolling numbers to learn our multiplication facts (so fun for them and wonderful to use while you wait in line for specials/lunch), added actions to Robust Vocabulary words and incorporated activities like think-pair-share. I have already implemented practicing the Five Rules, Class-Yes and Teach-Okay all of which incorporate many parts of the brain. However, I have not involved the motor cortex or the limbic system to the extent I could. This will be my focus in the fall! In addition, after reading the research you referred to on mirror neurons I am excited to become more comfortable with implementing Mirror into our daily instruction.
Catherine, this is a good post showing your strengths and weaknesses, as well as your goals for the future, Nice job! Here are 25 Certification Points for you!
When thinking of my teaching tendencies and the areas of the brain that I have activated in students over the past 10 years, I’ve realized that I’ve grown and developed as a teacher. In the past, I was most likely to only activate the prefrontal cortex and least likely to activate all the remaining parts of the brain. This upcoming school year I hope to activate all parts of the brain as I implement more methods of WBT in my 4th grade classroom.
My teaching tendencies in the past have been activating only the prefrontal cortex with an attention getter. I didn’t know till two years ago when first being introduced to WBT that there were more fun and exciting ways to activate the whole brain in your students and keep them engaged.
Two years ago, I began using a few WBT methods in my classroom. I activated the prefrontal cortex for decision-making, planning and focus of attention using the Class-Yes, and the 3 areas of the brain when using Teach-Okay (visual cortex, Broca’s area (verbal) and Wernicke’s area (hearing). As you can see, I only used 3 out of the 5 areas of the brain these past two years when using Teach-Okay. For example, when I would say Teach students would turn to their partner and verbally tell their partner what they were learning, ask/answer questions, or teach their partner how to use the new skill. The motor cortex and the limbic system were not being activated in students. I have learned from this chapter that there are “more connections from the limbic system to the prefrontal cortex than vice versa”. Due to students prefrontal cortex not completely developing till their 20s it is very important to activate the limbic system with their prefrontal cortex. And I know how emotional some of my 4th graders can be. So, my plan for this current year is to involve the limbic system, (giving emotional content to lessons) and the motor cortex (making gestures).
However, I did activate the 5 areas of the students’ brains and involved the mirror neurons at the beginning of the year and during the middle of the year when teaching students the 5 Class rules. I plan to continue this and to also add more methods to my classroom throughout the entire year such as: Mirror, Switch, and most importantly the Scoreboard to activate my students’ whole brain.
I am excited to use all of the “Big Seven” in my classroom and to know that I will be activating all parts of my students’ brain and my brain too.
Mrs. Shepherd, This is a good reflection on your strengths and weaknesses as related to stimulating brain areas. The limbic system and amygdala are so important! You have a great goal for the future to engage those areas more fully! Here are your 25 Certification Points.
Since I teach special education and many of my students are on the autism spectrum, my teaching tendencies tend to involve the Visual Cortex. It is a reliable memory area of the brain since “pictures” of information are stored (such as what an object looks like) in a more trustworthy part of the brain. The Visual Cortex does not store the labels or names of those objects, however so I have to pair these visual images and examples with words or songs to activate the Auditory Cortex. If I include motion (which I usually do), I have utilized the Visual Cortex, the Auditory Cortex and the Motor Cortex to grow dentrites and build long-term memory.
Again, since I teach students with special needs most of my students have deficits in auditory processing or other receptive language skills. Activating the Wernicke’s area (hearing and understanding language) is a goal for my teaching practices but until I was introduced to WBT, I think my teaching strategies often fell short of activating the Wernicke’s area or activating multiple areas of the brain so that these could work in unison to provide opportunities for my students to move information from short-term memory to long-term memory. Unfortunately there is a real difference in hearing and in understanding language. I am always looking for ways to maximize my time with my students and being able to activate five areas of the brain with the Five Classroom Rules is just mindboggling to me. Then, to know that we are also involving the brain’s mirror neurons by frequent repetition is an added bonus for developing long-term memory and real learning. The more I know about the brain the more I want to know. Oh, sweet mama WBT is contagious and I’ve got the WBT fever!
I am a visual learner and I tend to teach this way. My daughter has Cerebral Palsy and I had to learn how to do many medical techniques to take care of her. I would watch the nurses and the techniques they used, and I had a better feel for what I was doing. If I read about it in a book, I never would have been as successful taking care of her. I feel many of my students learn this way too.
I am most comfortable teaching when I can show my students what they are to learn and give them many visuals along the way to help them grasp the concept I’m trying to teach. The visual cortex is definitely stimulated in my classroom with pictures and short video clips. We also use the motor cortex because we act out many of the standards we are learning about. The Wernicke’s area is used when students are listening to instructions or hearing about a new topic.
Last year was my first year using WBT. I felt I was able to use all the areas of the brain to help my students learn. However, I was still using many of my old techniques because I still needed to gain confidence using the WBT techniques the way they were intended to be used. I can’t wait to start a new year and watch my students grow while we use the Big Seven and repetition to grow those wonderful dendrites.
Marty, You have a great reflection on the brain areas that you have activated in the past! You touched on a great point, that most teachers teach in the way that they learn. It would have been great to hear examples of how you will activate the other areas of the brain as well. In your future points try to give just a little more detail. Here are 20 Certification Points for you!
In previous years, I could be found dipping my toes and slowly wading in the WBT pool. In the new year, I plan to fully submerge my class in WBT in hopes that all parts of the day are brain friendly. Chapter five mentions, that “more repetition equals more dendrite growth equals more learning”(20). I teach kindergarten and am, therefore, in constant repetition. I also naturally strive to include as many intelligences as possible from kinesthetic and musical to auditory and visual. This ensures that I am activating the motor cortex, visual cortex, and auditory cortex of the brain. I attempt to be sensitive to natural stages of cognitive development in my every day lessons. My face illuminates at the sound of a talking classroom (on task discussion of course) because I know language development is directly tied to reasoning, critical thinking, reading and writing abilities. WBT allows for language enrichment which aids me in activating Wernicke’s area and Broca’s area of the brain. Children are naturally predisposed to be more emotional thinkers than logical thinkers due to their immature prefrontal cortexes. In the classroom, every action and thought is presented as a choice, which allows me to activate the prefrontal cortex of their brains. I do not punish but rather discuss their choices and repercussions of those choices. We practice behaviors as needed and hold academies for rehearsals. I adore the fact the WBT encourages students at all ages to think for themselves! I attempt to appeal to their reasoning by means of positive interactions and intrinsic rewards. Unfortunately, I have fallen victim to the “treasure box” and “treat baskets” found in many classroom towards the end of the school year. I, like the slug, fell into the trap of habituation as I struggled to enforce a no longer stimulating management system. WBT keeps the management system fresh and engaging in a way that will allow me to remain positive and rewarding without having to turn to the tangible sweets. With the biopsychological model in mind, I attempt to appeal to the mind’s more positive emotional reactions to rewards and refrain from the negative punishments that may cause those emotional mood swings. In kindergarten, I tend to see the embodiment of these negative responses in the form of tantrums. The tantrums are a downward spiral that disrupt not only that student’s learning but also the learning of their peers. WBT will allow me to more consistently appeal to the students’ limbic system in an intrinsic and more positive way. I am fully intrigued by cognitive development and neuroscience. It is this interest in the brain that led me to WBT. Although, I strive to activate many areas of the brain, WBT will allow me to become even more brain friendly.
I just wanted to make a side note to those of you who are big reading nerds like me. A couple of years ago, my journey to Teaching Heaven crossed the path of two amazing behavioral psychologists by the names of Ray Levy, Ph.D., and Bill O'Hanlon, M.S., L.M.F.T. Together, with Tyler Norris Goode, these men wrote a book titled Try and Make Me! I know that it is aimed toward childing rearing, but I found it tramendously helpful when interacting with my "tough" students year in and year out. It directly relates to the limbic system and prefrontal cortex by means of choices and positive interactions. Not to mention that it is laugh out loud funny! I give it a 10 finger and 10 toe WHOOO!!!You should look it up!!!!
Looking back, my students rarely visited the area of the Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area. I believe there were many times I was the “Charlie Brown teacher”. (I told that once to a reading consultant who was working in our school. Needless to say, I got into a bit of trouble for saying what the other teachers were feeling!) I stood in front of the classroom and did the talking. Fortunately for me, I know that it is one area that I need to work on AND that it is very important for students to do the talking/learning. Enter . . . WBT. Teach-Okay is one component of WBT that I’ve been extremely hesitant in integrating. Why, because I teach in an open concept school. I’m afraid the sound would be too distracting for neighboring classrooms. I’m hoping to find ways to implement this piece of WBT through this book club, the questions area and of course Chapter 8. I’ve realized for many years that a student being energetic in their learning has positive effects. It’s just that I‘ve been a bit apprehensive in learning techniques like Teach-Okay to control that energy in an open concept school. I do ‘turn and talk’ to your neighbor but not to the extent of Teach-Okay. So, on my professional goal list for 2013-2014 is to stimulate the visual cortex, the motor cortex, Broca’s area, Wernicke’s area AND the limbic system! In terms of WBT I’ve mostly tapped into the prefrontal cortex and that has proven to be very successful for me in the classroom! In previous years I’ve applied the Class-Yes and was amazed at how it worked. However, I think habituation set in and I started using it less and less. I actually had a student ask me ‘Why aren’t we saying that anymore?’ I was very surprised he even noticed and possibly more surprised that I didn’t realize I wasn’t using it! I’m beginning to better understand the relationship between the whole brain and The Big Seven, and how it all comes together in such a powerful force.
Whole Brain Teaching techniques sets the stage for all students to be using all areas of the brain. As a new WBT teacher, I plan on implementing all techniques. Using gestures will come easy as I know Sign Language and am very energetic. A challenge for me will be to shorten the lesson to smaller chunks before I ask student to Teach-Okay. As stated in chapter 5 of Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids, our short term memory needs information to be chunked. To accomplish this I will need to put breaks into my lessons where to stop and add a Teach-okay.
Last year I used gestures during spelling dictation by breaking them into syllables. This was followed by writing them in parts. Students were using only their Wernicke area of the brain. Their voices or gestures were not included in the learning process. Had I used WBT, asking students to mirror and teach-okay, students would have been using visual cortex, motor cortex, Broca, and Wernicke areas of their brain.
Chapter 5 provided insight to why some of my students did not perform well in spelling. They were only partially engaged in the initial process. This next year begins with the 5 Rules followed by frequent Mirror-mirror, and Teach-Okay. I am for activating all the brain and having student mirror positive behavior.
Mrs. C, Out of the mouths of babes! I think when students request different parts of WBT, that is the biggest indicator this whole program works! To work within your open classroom concept, try using a Volume Meter. Instead of teaching your kids to be "loud and proud", teach them to be quiet but exuberant. They can whisper or speak in a low voice and still gesture with great enthusiasm. I know there are other teachers who use WBT in a classroom like yours. I might even suggest posting a note on the Forum so you could all discuss how this is handled more intricately. Here are your 25 certification points!
Diana, I can't wait for you to read the Bonus Chapter about the 5 step lesson plan! It will help you put your thoughts into what you are actually going to teach your students. It sounds like WBT will be new in your classroom. How will this be different in activating the parts of the brain compared to how you taught this past year? This is an important part of this prompt. Also, watch out for those sneaky writing errors. Here are 10 certification points for you!
Amazingly, many of the Whole Brain Teaching techniques are the same as a dyslexia therapy program I just completed. The research, including brain scans of dyslexic students trying to read, confirms much of this multisensory approach to teaching. In dyslexia therapy we strive to engage the motor cortex, visual cortex, Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas, mirror neurons, and increasing dendrites. Until I worked through the 800 hour practicum in dyslexia therapy, I didn’t have any idea how important it was to engage multiple areas of the brain. I have used multisensory teaching in the special education classroom successfully, but inconsistently.
The usual daily classroom routine included some lecture, some discussion, some worksheets, and a barely motivated class. It used the visual cortex, Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas, but little else. Obviously, it couldn’t activate much learning but did activate much creative disruption (hello, immature pre-frontal cortex and limbic system). Once in a while, I could find a lesson that added the motor cortex and some teamwork, so we all had a great day.
The dyslexia therapy students, using multisensory teaching techniques, experience incredible success. The repetition, the quick changes in lesson elements, large motor skill elements, and small incremental steps all lead to basically reprogramming the brain to use the right parts of brain in phonological processing, leading to reading fluency.
Whole Brain Teaching is on that same path and is providing me a structure to teach any class more effectively than I ever have. The additional understanding of brain science broken down in Chapter 5 will enhance my efforts in teaching reading in special education and dyslexia therapy.
As a substitute teacher, I have had the opportunity to try out Class-Yes, which activates the prefrontal cortex, which helps switch the brain on so I could quickly grab their attention! I also had the opportunity to try out the Scoreboard, which activated the limbic system when I gave them a smiley or frowny face on the scoreboard.
I am looking most forward to trying out Teach-Okay when I get a class of my own. Teach-Okay keeps children completely engaged as it is energetic and fun. It engages them as they use gestures while teaching and listening to their partner. Teach-Okay uses five areas of the brain: visual cortext (where they see the gestures), motor cortex (where they make the gestures), Broca's area (where they verbalize a lesson), Wernicke's area (where they hear a lesson), and the limbic system (which gives emotional content to the lesson). At times I know that I talk a lot and lose my students. I need to work on talking less, which Teach-Okay and the 5 Step Lesson Plan will enable me to do.
Brian, Isn't it amazing that substitutes can use this during their day as well? I would encourage you to try the Teach-Okay when you sub. It only takes a few minutes to introduce to get them to a point where it is workable for that day. Don't worry if it's not perfect. It will be far better than "worksheeting" them to death! Here are your 25 certification points!
I agree as I hate worksheeting them to death. The only problem is the district says I have to follow the teacher's lesson plans so if I have worksheets to give out, I have to do them. :( Hoping to get that dream job next year and can then teach as I please!
In reflecting on my teaching tendencies, I realize I use Broca's area (speaking) and Wernicke's area (listening), the prefrontal cortex, and limbic system most often. However, I love and often use "Teach-Okay" with my students, and am happy to learn that activates all areas of the brain! I started using Whole Brain Teaching last year and my students responded well to the short chunks of instruction followed by time to talk to their partner and repeat, repeat, repeat! My students grew dendrites!! I engaged the Broca's and Wernicke's areas often as my students shared their thinking and listened to their buddies ideas all day long. I put my students' prefrontal cortex to work through my frequent use of "Class-Yes" and the Scoreboard. Additionally, this activated their limbic system too (I used the Super Improvers' Wall daily).
The brain areas I neglected most were the motor cortex and the visual cortex. I need to get those areas working in my students! Through reading this book and attending the National WBT Conference, I realize the need to increase my use of gestures while teaching skills and concepts. This will allow my students' brains to be visual stimulated as they view my and their partners' gestures, while engaging their motor cortex in demonstrating the movements. I used many gestures on my reading power pix wall and have the goal of using the math power pix plus more this year! Along similar lines, I also would like to incorporate more "mirror," "mirror with words," and "magic mirror" into my instruction. I used "mirror" last year and my students greatly enjoyed it! I know sign language and often found myself using the sign for any gestures I didn't know. My students even began making up their own gestures! I see power in activating the motor and visual cortex this way, and am committed to using this technique more frequently next year.
At the WBT conference, I loved the way Deb explained the different parts of the brain. I plan to teach this to my second graders next year as I introduce the different techniques!
Good comparison of where you have been and where you are going! Definitely teach the parts of the brain to your students. It helps them understand why we do what we do. :) In your 2nd paragraph you have one tiny error. Here are 20 certification points for you plus 5 BONUS POINTS for a well thought out response.
This question really got me thinking. It’s quite a tough one to answer as I have faithfully implemented the techniques of Whole Brain Teaching in my classroom and they have worked superbly! The difference I see in my teaching and in my students learning makes me want to cry tears of joy on daily basis.
Before I knew that the incredible instructional delivery method of Whole Brain Teaching existed, the areas I was most likely to activate in my students were the visual cortex and motor cortex. I myself am a visual learner and after lacing my fingers together, as I was instructed to in this awesome chapter, and wiggling my thumbs, I was able to visualize which area of the brain the visual cortex occupies. I teach a second language to English speaking children and to enhance my lessons I would make lots of visual props and use hand movements to go along with the new vocabulary that I was teaching.
The First Great Law of Whole Brain Teaching: The longer we talk, the more students we lose, was a real I opener for me. Before I learned this, the area of the brain that I would least activate in my students was Broca’s area. Of course once I learned Teach-Okay, a most incredible and powerful language development skill, that all changed. I absolutely LOVE watching my students teach each other. They are incredibly engaged and their voices fill the room with the sweet sounds of learning. Due to this incredible technique, my students have far surpassed my expectations in all areas of the curriculum this year.
Rivky, Good reflection about your teaching style. I would like to know more about how you activated the visual and motor cortices in your classroom prior to WBT. Give us a little more critical thinking with regard to evaluating the ideas in the prompt. Also, check your final paragraph for a spelling error. Here are 10 certification points for you!
I have been implementing WBT for a month now, so there have been some changes in how I teach and how my students' learn. Being a teacher of primary children, I routinely use the Limbic system, motor cortex, Wernicke’s and hippocampus parts of the brain during teaching. Incorporating emotions, music (with some gestures), memory and repetition along with listening have been my daily way of teaching. Now however, I use as much of the brain as I possibly can. The student engagement and using the Big Seven in our class room have been nothing short of amazing. Knowing the areas of the brain I am activating while teaching is very exciting and motivating. Let those bushy dendrites grow! I have been routinely preparing my lessons in chunks and applying the Teach Okay and the Mirror technique. Who would have ever guessed, we could do so much in one simple exercise? This technique exercises 4 parts of the brain, seeing (visual cortex), saying (Broca’s area), hearing (auditory cortex) and doing (motor cortex).
My personal weakness at this point would be, using the motor cortex because I do not naturally teach using so many gestures. I enjoy challenging myself, finding fun useful ways of incorporating the gestures into the lesson plan. I have a much better understanding of how to use the whole brain, while teaching and how it can affect the out-come of long term memory. My goal this year will be to plan, practice and implement more of what I am learning with Whole Brain Teaching. Seeing all the smiles and laughter as we learn, has me excited about teaching again.
Julie, Good reflection about your classroom's strengths and weaknesses. I would be interested to hear what you see as the biggest differences between your "old" style of teaching and WBT. Here are 25 certification points for you!
In my classroom pre-WBT I can say I definitely did not activate many parts of my students' brains simultaneously. Sure, I targeted different modalities with various activities throughout the day, but definitely not all together and definitely not effectively. Because I am visual and verbal, I tend to target the visual cortex with visual aids like PowerPoint, Prezi, or Mimio files on the computer and anchor charts around the room on large poster paper. I also am fairly adept (as most teachers are) at talking a LOT (too much even)and activating Wernike's area. During my first year of teaching I learned about turn-and-talk and have been using it ever since. It targets Broca's area, but I definitely don't use it as often as I should. I have also noticed that during plain turn-and-talk, most students fall into either the listening or talking category, and do not get practice in both.
Once I began to implement WBT into my classroom, Teach-Okay became an INSTANT hit with my kiddos, and they love it every year. I love using Switch! to ensure that everyone gets an opportunity to both talk and listen, thus activating BOTH Broca's and Wernike's areas instead of only one. The scoreboard is also amazing at jolting their limbic systems to get their attention and help them zoom in on their learning. Class-Yes and Hands and Eyes are also very powerful. Even teachers at my school who aren't completely on the WBT train use these two things, since they hear me say them so frequently. It is VERY common to hear Class-Yes from anywhere in my school and every student knows how to respond. By adding Hands and Eyes to that when you have a superbly important announcement, or especially during instruction, the students eliminate distractions and put their prefrontal cortex in charge, allowing them to make rational decisions and focus on learning.
As I continue to more deeply implement WBT I need to work on my gestures. I naturally talk with my hands, but not in a "productive" way that helps to show meaning. My kids are typically better at the gestures than I am; therefore, I learn from them and use their gestures from year to year. By adding the gestures I can more fully target the motor cortex, improving overall student engagement and content retention. Once I add that to my growing WBT repertoire, I know that even more challenging behaviors can be avoided because my kiddos' brains become even busier on the task and the learning at hand! With all of these techniques combined, I feel like this year I am on the road to Teacher Heaven!!
Addie, This is a great post showing both your strengths and weaknesses associated with the brain area. Ten finger rolling woo to you! Here are 25 Certification Points, plus 5 BONUS POINTS for a very thoughtful and reflective post.
Why do people get x-rays? People generally get x-rays when something does not feel right. But again, why an x-ray? The answer is quite simple, to see what is not visible to the naked eye. Well, if we could take x-rays of our students’ brains while we are teaching, what would we see? Would we see a lot of activity or would we see parts of the brain sitting there dormant? As teachers we spend hours planning and preparing lessons that we think our students will just absorb. You know the ones with picture-filled power points and interactive study guides. The ones where every minute of the lesson is packed full of all the skills, facts, and terms necessary to “pass the test.” That x-ray may show all parts of the brain are actively involved at some point of the lesson, but as teachers our goal should be to have the whole brain active throughout the entire lesson. I had the unique opportunity to introduce whole brain teaching to my students the last quarter of the year. So I had first-hand knowledge of how whole brain lessons compared to my traditional lessons. Before WBT, I used power points and study guides to introduce lessons which activated the visual cortex and Wernicke’s area. Then, as the unit went on, I added some picture or word sorts or some other type of hands-on activities that engaged the motor and visual cortex. After that, I assigned a writing assignment which had the students tell why the skills or concepts taught were important to everyday life. This got several areas of the brain engaged especially the prefrontal cortex and the motor cortex. I concluded with the students orally presenting their written assignments which stimulated Broca’s area and the limbic system since I had a very animated class that loved to perform. I feel that throughout the unit, the whole brain was involved. However, after creating lessons that were centered on the WBT 5-Step Lesson Plan, I realized the injustice I was doing to not only my students, but also to me. All of a sudden, I became a teacher and not just a presenter. I knew I was more effective in the classroom when my students began asking me to do “that stuff” again. When I asked what they meant and they responded, “Teach us in that fun way; the way that we get to teach each other,” I knew I had made a change for the better. When it came time to “pass the test,” I again knew that I had made a good change. After a careful review of the before x-ray, the one before whole brain lessons, and the after x-ray, the one with a dose of whole brain teaching, it is obvious that WBT is just what the doctor order. As the prescription states, “Continue using daily until funtricity takes over the class and continue using as long as you want to be in teacher heaven.”
Newly Energized, What an excellent response! I love the comparison to the x-ray. You have one little typo in the last paragraph (order/ordered). Here are 20 certification points plus 5 BONUS POINTS for you!
Any suggestions on an proofreading program. I used 2 different grammar check programs and it did not pick the mistake up. After reading this so many times, I know what it is supposed to say and just missed it. I even proofread backwards. But thanks for the bonus!! :)
Hmmm... I have only used MS Word and Pages so I'm not sure which other program to suggest. Perhaps a 2nd set of eyes? If you know of someone who has good grammar skills you could have them look it over. Sometimes it's also good to let it sit for a day and then come back to it (if you don't do that already.) Don't be discouraged by one little typo. That is a small thing and there are plenty of points to be had! I admire that you are putting extra effort into making your posts flawless! Keep up the great work!
Before discovering Whole Brain Teaching, I was a typical teacher who did way too much talking and my students did way too much pretending to listen. Now that WBT is such an integral part of my classroom, my students' whole brain lights up during lessons. It is a remarkable feeling to know that their learning experiences are so enhanced by teaching the Whole Brain way.
Everyday in my classroom, Class-Yes, Teach-Okay, Mirrors, and Switch permeate the lessons. The prefrontal cortex is engaged hundreds of times a day as the brain is switched on and readied to learn. Teach-Okay awakens several different brain areas. The visual cortex focuses on watching and interpreting the gestures made by partners. As students make the gestures, their motor cortex lights up. By verbalizing the lesson, the brain's Broca's area fires. Since pairs are talking to each other, the Wernicke's area is also stimulated. As with Teach-Okay, Mirrors activates mirror neurons scattered throughout the brain as the teacher and students engage in mimicking gestures and words. By utilizing Switch, students are required to switch from one brain area to another, verbal (Broca's) to auditory (Wernicke's) and vise versa.
In the past year, I believe the area that was least activated was the limbic system. Learning to effectively and fluidly use the scoreboard has been a struggle. In lessons that I successfully utilized smiley and frowny points, students were highly engaged. I could really get them excited with positive points or redirect their enthusiasm with frowny points. Learning to give up the idea that the students earn points was difficult. Once I embraced the scoreboard as a way to manipulate the energy in the class, my skill to activate the limbic system increased. My goal is to activate this part of the brain of my students by consistently using the scoreboard with its levels to avoid habituation.
Karen, You are not alone in underutilizing the Scoreboard! Beginning users of WBT techniques don't always realize the strength of this tool. Your highly detailed post has earned you 25 points and a Bonus of 5 more!
As a language teacher, I believe I am most often activating Wernicke’s area and Broca’s area--definitely left brain! Students hear and speak a lot of Spanish, as well as some English for directions. Students also sing a lot, as I find songs to be a useful way to teach vocabulary and even some grammar concepts.
I use a lot of videos, pictures, and objects which activate the visual cortex. These are often accompanied by songs. Elena Mannes in her book: The Power of Music: Pioneering Discoveries in the New Science of Song (Walker & Co.), contends that music stimulates more parts of the brain than any other human function.
The area of the brain that I feel I activate inconsistently is the motor cortex. This is especially challenging because my class periods are 45 minutes long. I feel I do this well with my youngest students (2nd grade). I build in small and large motor movement into my lessons. As my students get older, I have fewer opportunities for them to move. I started using the WBT gestures that go with the rules, teach-OK, and mirror with all grades. I need to increase the movement in the lessons for all grades. I plan to do this by increasing gestures for vocabulary items. I already use them for weather and I’ve found them to be very helpful.
Senora Keith, I can't wait to hear about the results with your older students after you institute more gestures into their instruction! Nice job! Here are 25 points for you!
This year I jumped headfirst into Whole Brain Teaching, so I think, no, I know my teaching tendencies changed. Before, I was most likely to activate the Wernicke’s area and the visual cortex of the brain. My students had to listen and learn. Alongside with that, I would write on the board, or use a smart board, or give out a study guide that would engage students’ visual cortexes. Now don’t get me wrong, there was some repetition of facts or sometimes there were sayings or songs to help students to remember, but it was not consistent through all learning. None of these were to the level of repetition as done in Whole Brain Teaching. Remembering any of what was learned for any length of time was mostly short term for my students.
I was least likely to activate the prefrontal cortex. Students had not much need for reasoning or decision making. At our school, we do have constructed response questions on our tests where some thinking is involved, but we usually had gone over something similar to it in class prior to the test.
This year I was cognizant of using the whole brain to teach. I was most amazed in how much students loved teaching each other. Of course on Bloom’s Taxonomy, teaching is the highest level of learning, so it makes sense that the students would get the most out of this. I think this is so because it utilizes the most areas of your brain. I will continue, this year, to use gestures, repetition, mirror, switch, class-ok, teach, the class rules, and more to activate all of the areas of the brain.
Lisa, Good reflection of the differences between teaching with and without WBT. I believe you will be amazed at how well your students craft answers on those tests if you use the critical thinking piece of WBT throughout the year. Here are 25 certification points for you!
If I want to understand which areas of the brain I am most likely to naturally activate in my students, I first must look at how I like to learn. I have discovered over the years that I learn best (or am most comfortable in learning) when my motor cortex, visual cortex, and Broca's area are activated. This means that I can do just fine without fully activating or engaging my prefrontal cortex, Wernicke's area, or limbic system. This reflection is important because it is easy to assume that the students I teach think and learn like me. This kind of thinking would guide me into teaching my students only in the way that I like to learn and in activating only those areas of the brain. This is actually one of the great mistakes that teachers can make. Every person "likes" to learn differently. For this reason alone I can sell anyone on how awesome Whole Brain Teaching is. As a reflective teacher I am always asking myself the question of "did I engage all of my students and did they learn for the long term?" WBT helps me to be sure that my answer is yes, most of the time (I am human after all.) When I began teaching I was not aware that I was doing this disservice to my students. What I was aware of though was that I was not engaging all of my students while I was "teaching". This, along with behavior management problems, caused me to search for a better way. I have been studying Whole Brain Teaching for 3 years so now I make a very conscious effort to activate all areas of my students' brains. For the most part I begin with the limbic system and from there work toward activating all the other areas. My lessons are very lively and sometimes a little loud but most of the time I have 100% student engagement and my students tend to remember the content for the long haul. Even though Whole Brain Teaching gives me the tools to activate all the parts of the brain through my lessons, I still have to remember that I have a preference. If I am not paying attention or if I am impulse teaching I will have the tendency to activate only the motor cortex, the visual cortex, and the Broca's area.
Sarah, Great honest reflection about your teaching tendencies! It is so true that teachers tend to instruct in the manner which they learn best. Isn't it wonderful that with WBT, no student falls through the black hole? Here are your 25 certification points!
Because I am primarily a visual-kinesthetic learner, my lesson plans are highly geared toward the visual and kinesthetic learners. When I first started teaching, I knew I was reaching the visual and auditory learners. (Though I didn’t know it at the time, I was teaching to the visual cortex and Wernicke’s area.) I provided lots of visuals and realia (real-life examples or pictures of what we were learning, an ESL term) in my lessons, and I used descriptive language as I talked about the visuals. I was stumped as how to reach my kinesthetic learners.
When I found WBT, I was thrilled with the Mirror and the Teach-Okay. Now I felt I was involving all of the learning styles. Now the motor cortex was engaged! Not only that, but so was the visual cortex, Broca’s area, Wernicke’s area, and the limbic system. And implementing Mirror and Teach-Okay was what I felt made my test scores skyrocket.
Looking forward into next year, a goal my school has is activating the prefrontal cortex. We want to do this by creating math tasks for students to work through. They take a real-life situation and work in groups with little to no teacher instruction to solve the problem. I can also take this prefrontal cortex reasoning, planning, and decision making into literature discussion groups and science experiments. This is the area I find the hardest to activate because I love to talk. I’m really going to have to rein myself in (30 seconds of talking!) in order to allow the students to buy into their own learning through inquiry and discussion.
(Perhaps I should get a giant timer in the back of my room with 30 seconds always on the clock. I need motivation and reminders!)
Meredith, Another great post! WBT extends across the board to reach all of our students' learning styles in dynamic ways! Here are 25 points and 5 point Bonus!
In my teaching, the brain areas I am most likely to activate are the visual cortex and Wernicke’s area. I use many PowerPoint activities with my class, some that they look at, others that are for me to look at while students’ backs are turned. I talk a lot (more than I should, I’m learning). I have taught with Whole Brain Teaching for one very successful year, and I incorporated quite a bit of students teaching one another into my lessons, activating Broca’s area. The areas of the brain I incorporate in my classroom more sporadically are the prefrontal cortex and the motor cortex. I honestly forget to use mirror and to talk with gestures. I am planning my curriculum to more fully incorporate PowerPix with their corresponding gestures and planned gestures for students to mirror. This way, I don’t have to think of gestures (which don’t come naturally) on the fly. I need to remember that, although I am a largely visual and auditory learner, my students are not me. I also need to remember that after I learned my rules and taught them to my class, when a co-worker asked me what they were, I COULD NOT tell her without making the gestures! Such a powerful learning tool definitely needs to be incorporated more fully! Using Class/Yes helps to activate the prefrontal cortex, but I need to remember to vary the tone and have student leaders have their turns to participate to avoid habituation. This will also amp up students’ limbic systems, which is the brain area that is most difficult for me to remember to activate.
Jeni, Good reflection about the brain areas and your teaching style. Keep working towards Teacher Heaven. Practice will make permanent! I can't wait for you to read the chapter about the 5 step lesson plan. It will help you progress to where you want to be. Here are your 25 certification points!
Unfortunately, even though the motor cortex represents, “the brain's most reliable memory area” (p. 19), this is the area of the brain that I am least likely to activate in my students. As a librarian, I often shy away from using movement in the teaching of my students, with the exception of my early primary students. However, upon reflecting on the instances when I have used movement in my teaching, it has indeed been very successful.
Over the years I have used a little rhyme that has some sign language movements that go along with it to prepare students to attend to our read-aloud story. As the year progresses I find it often falls to the wayside, even though students will often remind me that, “we didn't sing the song”. I have discovered that the early primary students are crazy about finger plays (songs or poems with accompanying movements), such as “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”, and they never seem to tire of repeating them. It is clear to me that I need to use movement in all the grades that I teach, up to and including 8th grade. Even though I fear that the middle-school students might think that it's “babyish” and refuse to participate, I need to make a concerted effort to regularly include movement in my lessons, especially since the motor cortex is so critical for remembering and hence learning.
The areas that I am most likely to activate in my primary students are the Broca's area, used for speaking, the Wernicke's area for listening and understanding language, and the visual cortex, often referred to as the “seeing brain”. Since I am a childrens' librarian, I often teach reading using picture books for read-alouds, which involve projecting the book onto a screen so that all of the students can enjoy the wonderful illustrations. Through some combination of my reading and/or my students reading along silently and/or aloud with me, we read the story together. We often stop and analyze the pictures to augment our understanding of the text, for example by making inferences or predictions about the story based upon the Illustrations and what we have read so far.
Because non-fiction books play an important part of teaching at all grade-levels, and since pictures are an important part of understanding the non-fiction text through text elements like captions, diagrams, or charts, students are regularly using their visual cortices to help them make sense of the information they read and see. And finally, when my students do research, I have the students present what they have learned in some sort of a visual format, be it creating a short animation, a power point book, or perhaps a digital poster. Students work in pairs and/or small groups to complete this work, so in addition to activating the visual cortex, they are also listening and speaking to one another during the creation as well as the presentation of these culminating activities, engaging both the Broca's and Wernicke's areas of the brain.
Heidi, Nice job determining what brain areas you already utilize within your students and where you need to put more effort. Here are your 25 certification points!
This is a good question to really examine the areas of the brain I have actually activated in my students. This past year was my first year teaching 1st grade. I was so worried about missing pieces in the assigned curriculum I think I was more a Charlie Brown teacher (blah, blah, blah), spewing out information but not really offering much more. Based on this, I think I mainly activated the Wernicke and Broca areas of the brain with a little sprinkle of visual cortex and limbic system mixed in. After reading and rereading this chapter I can see why I had so many behavior problems with my previous class resulting in loss of key learning time. I only utilized the motor cortex when I gave my students “brain breaks”. Since I wasn’t activating my students’ prefrontal cortex, the students were using it to make poor behavior decisions. I am a visual learner and had great plans to have visual cues to go along with my instruction. Being a new teacher in 1st grade, I felt like I was in front of a fire hose with all this information coming at me and I was barely keeping my head above water getting through everything and trying to keep the chaos down. I didn’t utilize visual cues as I had hoped to. Now that I have had a year working with the assigned curriculum and participating in the book study this summer, I will definitely be changing my instruction so that all areas of the brain are activated. I discovered WBT at the end of the school year. I practiced the class/yes but was not consistent. I have learned how important this will be when implementing WBT. I already had class rules so I didn’t change them the last month of school, but will be using WBT rules next year. As with class/yes, I tried the scoreboard and feel this will be the only way to go in the future for motivation and on task behavior of the students. I had dipped my toe in the teach/okay water but really didn’t do it correctly. I did not even try the hands/eyes, mirror nor the switch yet. Now that I have a deeper understanding, I will be making sure that I activate all areas of my student’s brains next year. The more I learn and understand about WBT, the more I can’t wait to get started.
Terri, Good understanding of how traditional education works the brain vs. WBT. I think you will be amazed at the difference in your students as you use more and more WBT. Here are your 25 certification points!
When looking at my own teaching tendencies, I have 2 definite strengths and 2 areas that are less likely to be engaged. The areas that I'm most likely to activate in my students are Broca's area (speaking) and the limbic system (emotions). I've always allowed students in any of my classrooms to be able to discuss what we are learning. I've always believed that students who teach each other remember more of what was taught. Talking has always been a major component of my classroom, but now with the WBT structure it will be more successful. I'm emotionally involved in my kids as well. Every morning I meet my students at the door and ask them questions about themselves. "How was your baseball game? Did you enjoy the weekend with at your dad's?" After reading and researching WBT I now have a better understanding of the limbic system and how it connects to the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is an area that is least likely to be activated in my classroom along with the motor cortex. This year, my class will be doing a lot of Mirror and Teach-Okay! Thanks to WBT my students' whole brain will be activated and engaged during the whole lesson. Not just one area at a time, but altogether. When my students hear 'Teach-Okay' their prefrontal cortex will be activated, they will be listening to their partner (Wernicke's area), seeing gestures (visual cortex), making gestures (motor cortex), mirror their partner's words (Broca's area), and when their gestures are big and dramatic they are having fun (limbic system)! As I look at my teaching tendencies I realize that although I do have strengths and weaknesses WBT will help me activate ALL areas of the brain. YES!
Sara, It is important to recognize gaps in daily classroom instruction. Your post today contained grammar mistakes. One example is, "Did you enjoy the weekend with at your dad's?" Another example involved verb agreement, "When my students hear 'Teach-Okay' their prefrontal cortex will be activated, they will be listening to their partner (Wernicke's area), seeing gestures (visual cortex), making gestures (motor cortex), mirror their partner's words (Broca's area), and when their gestures are big and dramatic they are having fun (limbic system)!" Here are 10 points.
I remember as a child and college student being lectured to. I was bored out of my mind and really had no idea what the teacher was talking about. I didn’t want to be a teacher like that, but it seems I have fell into the same pattern because of time. But now that I have the foundation of WBT I am looking forward to a classroom where all students are engaged. The area of the brain my students use most is the cortex and visual. Teaching Kindergarten, throughout the day, I use many songs and poems with gestures. The area that my students use the least is the Wemicke and Broca. I don’t offer my students the opportunity to talk to each other sharing what they have learned. After attending the conference this summer, watching webcast and this book study, I am looking forward to implementing WBT in my classroom where all students will be engaged.
Lori, Many of us can relate to your story of growing up in a traditional classroom. You mentioned you use the cortex most with your kids. I was wondering which cortex you meant, pre-frontal, motor, or visual. Give us more information on your statements. Why are the Broca's and Wernicke's areas used the least? We are looking for college level literacy in our responses so don't be shy about including strong explanations! Lookout for those writing errors, too. (..it seems I have fell into the same pattern..) Here are 10 certification points.
I used Whole Brain Teaching methods all year last year and I would say that my students were actively using all of their brain areas the majority of the time. This is easy to see as I walk through the room and experience their learning! No longer are they glassy eyed and doodling. I love that as they participate in “Class-Yes” they are switching their brains on to learn, using the prefrontal cortex. During my favorite activity, “Teach-Okay”, they are learning from each other, using gestures for vocabulary and concepts, all the while moving information into their long term memory through repetition. In that one activity we are activating their visual cortex as they see their partner, motor cortex as they gesture, Broca’s area as they teach, Wernicke’s area as they listen, and even their limbic system as they connect to their partner as they learn. Wow! We use the “Mirror” throughout the day often, and my favorite is when the students are able to stand in front of the class and lead this. When we use the scoreboard we are connecting to those emotions again using the limbic system. As I type this I realize what a change this has made in my classroom environment! How wonderful that these kids can be so engaged and have fun while learning! Although I have always previously included songs and video clips in my lessons, I feel that adding all of the motor cortex enhancing gestures has taken the class to a whole new level of brain activation, moving my class from the past of sitting, looking and listening, to up and moving and actively learning! Michelle Shelton
Michelle, Nice reflection on your use of specific brain areas in your classroom instruction. WBT and high student engagement go hand in hand! Here are 25 points for you!
In the past I have looked at research about the different types of learner: visual, auditory and kinaesthetic. I know that I myself am an auditory learner - I talk and talk about things and listen to lectures. Perhaps that’s why I became a teacher?! But I realise that my job, as a facilitator for learning, is to help my students grow no matter what sort of learner they are. In fact, in spite of what sort of learner they are. Although I have always had a tendency to focus on the Broca and Wernicke areas of the brain, I have come to realise that that is what works for me, not necessarily for my students.
I think it is much more helpful to let students experience all sorts of learning activities and that is one of the reasons why Whole Brain Teaching excites me so much. Here we have mirroring actions (and children creating new gestures) that develops the motor cortex - bringing on board those kinaesthetic learners. We see repeated actions by both teacher and student, backed up with ‘Power Pix’ that excite the visual cortex for those types of learners. Of course there is always talking, my area of choice - but now in bite size chunks that are easier to remember, rather than a lecture. Just what the auditory learners require!
Through all this, each and every student is experiencing the learning in, not just the way that helps them to remember, but in all ways, making them a much more rounded learner. I am so excited to be introducing this in my classroom and I look forward to building dendrites throughout the year along with them!
Using Whole Brain Teaching has allowed me to realize there were many parts of the brain I needed to reach. In my own teaching, I activate the visual cortex and Wernicke’s area often. My downfall comes from activation of the motor cortex and Broca’s area.
In my lessons, I tend to use many PowerPoint slides with pictures and explanation from me or videos of topics being covered. These are great for getting the visual cortex in tune with the listening area of the brain, but lack the involvement of so many other areas. These missing areas can potentially be a cause for students to miss important information.
Since the visual and listening areas are targeted, students get fidgety. I know now that the problem lies in the lack of activation in movement and personal verbalizing of the material being presented. To work these into lessons, it will be important for me to ask students to talk with their partners about what they saw and heard with enthusiastic gestures. Then, I can select pairs to share their thoughts with the class as a whole to bring the key components together.
This school year, I plan to still incorporate the videos and pictures as I have in the past, but I will be sure to focus on having the students actively express what they have taken from those items. Doing so will allow me to better judge what my students are gathering and what important topics I may need to reinforce.
After reading Chapter 5, I realize how little I understood about the different areas of the brain and their roles in learning. I teach reading to 3rd grade students who have mild to moderate learning disabilities, so I have included things like brain gym and brain breaks in my daily classroom schedule. I provide my students with frequent breaks and opportunities to move around, but I have never included physical movement with instruction. I believe that all students will be more engaged learners with the Big 7, but I am thrilled to think of the possibilities with my students who mostly “HATE” school by reaching the 3rd grade. I think I most likely activate the visual cortex and Broca’s area. Using pictures, images, and video clips I try to involve students’ visual cortex through sight. I also encourage students to repeat short words and phrases and utilize Broca’s area of the brain. While utilizing these two areas are important to learning, the whole brain should be involved! Activating students’ prefrontal cortex, Wernicke’s area and the motor cortex have been more difficult for me. I believe that WBT’s Big 7 are going to help me activate my students’ whole brain more often. Teach-okay sessions involvement of 5 areas of the brain is exciting to me because I realize I have not been a teacher who have involved the whole brain. I am so thankful that I discovered this teaching method. I am looking to the coming school year with GREAT excitement!
Gena, Whole brain will be excellent for not only getting your students to learn more but to enjoy school! Dig deeper and tell us more about why using the Big 7 will be beneficial for your kids. Be careful of those writing errors. (I realize I have not been a teacher who have involved the whole brain.) Here are 20 certification points!
When teaching I rely most heavily on activities that stimulate the visual cortex and Broca’s area of the brain. There are also times when Wernicke’s area is being stimulated during a lesson. Traditionally, I have tried to do my best to not present a “boring” lesson to my students. I try to introduce a lesson/concept with a question to help me assess what my students know already or have retained from previous lessons. Then, I try to have a portion of the class dedicated to reading about the current subject/concept and practicing using the skill we’re learning about through a written activity. And finally, I almost ALWAYS try to incorporate an interactive SmartBoard activity. After reading chapter five however, I do see at least one major flaw with my past teaching practices. I rarely use activities that stimulate the motor cortex. The flaw in this is that ideally I would like my students to learn from my lessons and the motor cortex is, “...the most reliable memory area.” and the one I, as a teacher have been neglecting to stimulate! Having read chapter five and having reflected on my teaching practices, I will strive to stimulate as many areas of the brain as possible in each lesson because, “The more brain areas involved, the more dendrites are grown, the deeper and more lasting your learning.”.
Katherine, Good reflection on your previous teaching practices! More fully utilizing the motor cortex is a great goal. It would have been great to hear your plans on doing this. Here are 20 Certification Points for you.
Reflecting on my own teaching tendencies, I have a couple areas of the brain that I am more likely and less likely to activate in my students during lessons. I have a tendency to try and use a lot of models when appropriate and visual aids seem to help a lot of students when presenting information. Therefore, I am most likely to activate the visual cortex. While doing so, the students are seeing information in an organized way while also hearing it, thus also activating the Wernicke's area of the brain. I'm sure this is good for students, but I see myself needing to improve in areas of allowing the students to take this information and express it in their own way. I am least likely, with my current teaching tendencies, to allow students to use the Broca's area of the brain relating to speaking. I am one of those teachers that related a quite classroom to one that is easier to focus in. Unfortunately that is probably because it is a preference of my own and not necessarily what it best for my students. I am learning that in order for the information I teach to make it to my student's long term memory that they need to be able to use as many areas of the brain as possible, even if it means sacrificing a little quite time! I think that this will allow the student's prefrontal cortex to grow by utilizing more brain areas and make them better decision makers.
Cheyanne, You are so right! Many decisions we make, as teachers, are decisions that help us, and not necessarily help the students. Great job recognizing this! It would have been great to hear about the motor cortex too. Do you currently include activities to stimulate it? If not, how will you in the future? Be careful of small writing errors (quite/quiet). Here are 20 Certification Points for you!
The question for Chapter 5 is a great introspection tool for thinking about my own teaching tendencies. The brain area that I most likely activate in my students is the visual cortex (seeing), not so much gestures but visual supports such as pictures. The other areas would be Broca’s area (verbalizing a lesson), and Wernicke’s area (hearing a lesson). The least likely brain areas that I activate in my students are, visual cortex (seeing gestures), motor cortex (making gestures), and the limbic system (giving emotional content to a lesson). By adding to my instruction the areas of visual and motor cortex stimulation as well as giving emotional content to my lessons I will improve my students learning experiences. By incorporating the Big Seven I will gain more student attention through the use of Class-Yes, actively involve my students in their own learning with the Teach-Okay pattern, and have five short, concise rules for my students to follow. Using Hands and Eyes will decrease distractions and Mirror will provide my special needs students with much needed repetition. Due to a large percentage of students with language delays, I am most excited to teach and observe my students using Switch and Teach-Okay to encourage language use with their peers. According to Biffle, 2013, “The more brain areas involved, the more dendrites are grown, the deeper and more lasting your learning.” By accessing the whole brain in my teaching, I believe that more learning will take place, my students will have a happier, active role in learning, and we will all grow more dendrites.
In analyzing my traditional teaching methods I would say that I most consistently activate the visual cortex, Wernicke’s area, and Broca’s area of the brain. Because I teach kindergarten, I spend a lot of time and effort teaching basic skills such as numeral, alphabet, and sight word recognition. Of course my students use the visual cortex to see these symbols. I also use many songs and poems that go along with teaching these skills. They use the Wernicke’s area to hear and understand the language in the songs and poems and the Broca’s area in order to actually speak and sing the words. I always repeat the activities many times giving the children ample opportunities to commit these skills to long-term memory. I am a newcomer to the Whole Brain Teaching method and am very excited to implement strategies that involve and develop all areas of the brain. I believe by adding a few more elements like hand motions or dancing that I can stimulate the motor cortex and limbic system as well creating lessons that are more memorable and much more fun. I have to admit that the hardest area of the brain for me to teach is the prefrontal cortex. I think this is because I plan my lessons in advance and it is hard for me to relinquish some of that power to my students. Like many other teachers I know, I am a bit of a control freak. I sincerely hope by learning and implementing Whole Brain Teaching strategies that I can give my children more opportunities for reasoning, planning and making decisions about their learning and thus stimulate the entire brain.
Julia, Good thoughts about brain activation! Releasing responsibility to the students is so important to learning! The sections of the book dealing with critical thinking will show you ways to put learning into the hands of the children. Here are 25 certification points!
Because I am ADD myself, I find that I am always trying to create gestures for concepts or vocabulary. In doing this I activate the motor cortex area of the brain the most. In my class we are always moving, whether it’s asking a question by going from one side of the room to another to show your answer choice, doing gestures for concepts, playing vocabulary 4 corners, or just having a brain break, we are always busy! When we begin a new unit or story I create gestures for the vocabulary. For example, if we are talking about an ant colony I might have my fingers “walk” in the air to show many ants together. After going through all the vocabulary words, I will put the definition up around the room. After counting to twenty, I will give a word and anyone at that definition will sit down. From there I put the word up and give them a definition. They enjoy this and it helps them remember the words. The brain breaks I learned when I had autistic students in my class because the behavior therapist told me it was a good way to get the energy out. We do desk push-ups, jumping jacks, Simon Says, or any number of other ways to move when we need it! While I have tried to incorporate it more, the partner share/speaking is what I want to improve upon. That is why Whole Brain Teaching is so exciting for me. It gives me a structured way to incorporate Broca’s area of the brain. Speaking and teaching concept to a partner will really increase the students’ ability to remember what they have learned. Case and point, when I was younger math was really difficult for me. Now that I am older and have had to teach it, it is much easier. And I know all kinds of strategies that I can share with the kids!
Shannon, Your classroom sounds fun! Do you think you will incorporate any other areas of the brain besides the motor cortex and the Broca's area? The great thing about WBT is it activates all areas of the brain on a consistent basis. Here are 25 certification points.
Whole Brain Teaching is a model that allows practitioners to involve multiple areas of the brain, simultaneously, to maximize learning retention. I find it particularly important to build from my brain’s areas of strengths, while also developing the areas of my brain that I am least likely to activate in my students. Whole Brain Teaching gives me a set of powerful tools to do just that.
First, I am most likely to use my pre-frontal and visual cortices when teaching. As an analytical thinker, I find that lecturing is natural to me. I enjoy giving and listening to lively and engaging lectures as well as taking copious notes. Because I am also a visual learner, I need lectures to be presented with supportive graphic aids, such as PowerPoint presentations, pictures, and analogies. As a result, Class-Yes and Teach-Okay were easy for me to learn and integrate into my teaching. When I started using WBT, I began with these two techniques only, and was able to experience first-hand how they help raise student engagement. Micro-lecturing (as opposed to the traditional mini-lessons I used to teach) is also key to maximize retention, in my opinion.
On the other hand, utilizing my limbic system and motor cortex when teaching was much more of an acquired practice, in my case, albeit well worth it. The Scoreboard, coupled with Mighty Oh Yeah-Mighty Groan, has helped me deal with some of my challenging students. Specifically, the Scoreboard allows me to minimize power struggles that sometimes occur when dealing with my frequent rule breakers. Indeed, with Scoreboard, the rest of the class tends to rally around the rules and automatically calls them out, at every infraction, so I don’t even have to. Furthermore, utilizing my motor cortex by creating teaching gestures with my kids was also something completely new to me. Even though it took me a while to get used to, I don’t even think I could teach without using my hands, now! I particularly enjoy seeing my kids gesture to jog their memory.
In a nutshell, it is natural to have a dominant learning style that we tend to rely on. Yet, as teachers, we need to learn to activate multiple areas of the brain to maximize student engagement and long-term retention. As Chris Biffle said in chapter 5, “You can’t learn to cha-cha by listening to a lecture on dance history.” Oh yeah!
In my class I definitely activate the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex controls decision-making and attention getting. My students are excellent with “Class-Yes” showing they are making a decision and I can get their attention. They are so good with “Class-Yes” that other teachers with no Whole Brain Teaching experience or practice with the students can use “Class-Yes” if we share the same students. I am also likely to activate the visual cortex because I have incorporated many pictures and diagrams and I do show the students the hand movements to use. My students also activate their motor cortex because I do have them mirror my movements and teach each other the movements. Finally, I activate the limbic system because my students are very invested in the scoreboard and the reward or consequence they will be receiving. Also, with all the fun we have with the movements, “Class-Yes” and the scoreboard I am also activating the limbic system, which controls emotions. I do feel I don’t activate the mirror neurons or increase dendrite growth enough. I do have the students mirror my movements and teach each other but I don’t feel I have them practice the movements enough causing a lack of dendrite growth. Along with that I also feel I don’t activate Wernicke’s area or Broca’s area enough either. Generally, I have the students mirror my words and motions and teach each other once. However, there are also times where I only have them mirror without the “Teach-Okay.” I also feel that I talk too much. I need to step back and allow the students to practice the motions more by teaching each other and even begin to create their own motions after reading passages. By teaching each other the motions and words I will be able to activate both Wernicke’s and Broca’s areas more.
Erin, As you progress with your WBT this year, you'll find that being aware of those areas that are lacking will start to pick up and improve. Best of luck with the upcoming school year! Here are 25 certification points.
In my time as a teacher, the parts of the brain I have activated most are probably the Broca's and Werneke's areas as well as the visual cortex. Since I spent a lot of time teaching students who were learning English, I focused heavily on speaking and listening skills which came primarily from verbal communication and rote memorization. Additionally, my students learned using visuals such as flashcards and picture books. They also spent time on a computer-based language program which essentially taught the same way.
The part of the brain that was most neglected in my students was the prefrontal cortex. I thought it would have been difficult to have my students display reasoning skills when they could barely speak the language. That being said, my school really focused on "higher order thinking" and by the end of the year, they were able to hold more complex discussions.
I look forward to activating all parts of the brain as I begin to implement Whole Brain Teaching with my class. Since I'm a naturally expressive person, I'll get to make up songs and movements and not seem like a total goofball!
This is my fourteenth year of teaching, and I have never been so excited to implement a new teaching strategy. Whole Brain Teaching makes so much sense to me, but I just wish I had learned about it years ago. I feel like I could have made a bigger difference in my past students’ lives. I am a visual learner, and I believe that I have a tendency to activate my student's visual cortex more than any other part of the brain. My classroom is full of models, posters, and pictures. I usually introduce a lesson with a picture or video. I do not activate my student's motor cortex as often as I should; however, I plan to change this deficiency with all that I am learning about WBT. The gestures and acting throughout the school day will activate the motor cortex of the brain and help students remember the information I am trying to teach them.
I must admit to my own detriment that I have had very little instruction in how the brain actually works in concert with its parts. This is one of the reasons I became interested in WBT. As I reflect on my own actions as a teacher I find that I have spent too much time on the Broca/Wernicke’s areas of the brain. I have my student listening and hearing, but not enough time doing and seeing.
I believe as educators we have had to hurry, hurry, hurry through a lesson when we need to slow down and let the student practice what we are trying to teach. I have been guilty of saying we don’t have time to practice for mastery, when I have just been approaching my teaching in the wrong way. I am going to spend our precious class time using more of Teach-Okay. This will get my young students involve in their learning by using the visual (seeing gestures), motor (making gestures) and limbic systems (giving emotion to the lesson). Of course this also includes my old stand-by of Broca/Wernicke but I have to keep it to no more than 30 seconds at a time, that way we have more time for my students to practice to mastery.
Last year I started playing with WBT in my classroom. I had read some from the website and thought why not. I implemented the class rules, we also did scoreboard, class-yes, and teach-okay. Looking back I see that I was not using the child’s whole brain which may have been why I may not have seen all the benefits of the system. After reading the chapter I see that the most often accessed regions of the brain, for me, are the cortex (auditory, visual, and motor) as well as the limbic system. I also think that I will often use the mirror neurons to keep my kids engaged and attuned to the lessons. I had a harder time, after reading, determining which areas would be the least tapped. I am thinking that the short-term memory will be very seldom used. My hope is that all my teaching and with using WBT methods that my students will take what is given to them and put it into their long-term memory. I plan to incorporate a lot of songs and other teaching tools to really use the limbic system and get an emotional response and connection from the children to their learning. If they are invested and find meaning in their work, then the work will improve dramatically!
Erin, Nice reflection on your previous experiences, and your future goals for helping students use more areas of the brain! Here are 25 points for you!
As I reflect back on my years of teaching, the areas of the brain that I’m most likely to activate are the prefrontal and visual cortexes. I use a teaching model called “Taylor Talents,” which is all about brainstorming, forecasting, decision-making, planning and reasoning. I also tend to focus on the visual cortex since this is my strong learning style. I can remember taking a workshop on the Multiple Intelligences and trying to figure out each of my students’ individual learning styles. It was so time consuming on my part trying to develop multiple lessons for each of the different learning styles. I felt very unproductive and over worked. In just one week, I teach more than 100 gifted students and am in need something simple and effective. So out the window Multiple Intelligences went! The areas I think I am least likely to use effectively are Broca and Wernicke. When I introduce a unit, I tend to talk and explain way more than engage. No wonder my students are disruptive! The longer you talk, the more your students lose interest (They need to be a part of the learning process)! I need to learn to chunk my information overloads and practice the technique switch to actively engage my students in the learning process. This assignment has helped me notice some of the weak points in my lessons and how I can implement new strategies to create “teachable” moments. I am so excited to start the year off with WBT. When I use The Big Seven and the 5 Class Rules I will be engaging all parts of the brain! Okay…I thought I would never hear myself say this but, “Hurry up August 19th I’m ready for school!”
Julia, Good reflection of your teaching style. You will be amazed at how implementation of WBT increases knowledge retention and decreases misbehavior. Teacher heaven! Here are 25 certification points!
When thinking about the brain and whole brain teaching I noticed that I was more likely to activate certain parts of the brain. In my own teaching I have students organize, illustrate, and write about what they read. This activates their Broca's, Wernickes, visual cortex, and prefrontal cortex. They also conduct experiments and teach their partners what they learned. This activates their Broca's, Wernickes, visual cortex, and prefrontal cortex. In addition it activates their limbic and motor cortex. I noticed that there were parts of the brain that I was less likely to activate on a regular basis. This past year I switched to teaching fifth grade in the public school system. I was focused on learning the curriculum, and was less likely to intentionally activate the positive energy that is most useful to the limbic system. I also got away from using gestures. I noticed that one of the major differences between my teaching and Whole Brain Teaching is that Whole Brain activates the different parts of the brain simultaneously, where as my activated them more sequentially. I'll opt for whole brain activation. Amy Blamires
Amy, Nice reflection on your teaching methods! Activating the areas simultaneously will help your fifth graders soar this year! Here are 25 certification points!
Through my teaching, I feel that I activate many different brain areas of my students. My teaching differs from Whole Brain, however, because I don’t activate many areas simultaneously. My personal tendencies are visual. I rely on visual aides to help me learn new things, so this naturally flows into my teaching tendencies. I activate my students’ visual cortex throughout the school day. Through personal experience I have found that students retain concepts better when given the opportunity to do activities. These activities activate my students’ motor cortex. I give my students many opportunities to listen and speak to each other which activate their Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area. They enjoy the chance to teach each other. The brain area I probably least likely activate is my students’ prefrontal cortex. I am trying to give my students more opportunities to plan and make decisions about their learning.
Amanda, Isn't it nice when the kids enjoy the teach/okay? It is such a great teaching tool! Try to provide more details in your next post. What activities did you do to activate the motor cortex? How will you activate the prefontal cortex? Give us more information :) Here are 20 certification points!
I love this chapter and I am sure I will refer to it often in order to grow neuronal dendrites to learn to become a better teacher! I think I tend to teach by engaging the Wernicke, Broca area but I am guilty of involving my limbic system too much. I like to think I am passionate about the learning of my students so I let my emotions control my reason too easily. I do a lot of verbal teaching and have my students practice, but my I talk too much and do not give them enough time to actively put the information into their long term memory.
The Big Seven is helping me to steer away from using my limbic system too much. This school year I have already noticed that behavior in my classroom is improved in comparison to past years because I am changing the balance of my own brain to use more prefrontal cortex. Moreover, with the practicing of The Big Seven strategies my students are enjoying learning and progressing quickly.
Joy, You can capitalize on your strengths (using the limbic system) to provide a fun and engaging classroom! It is so helpful when we can recognize our own strengths and weaknesses as you have pointed out. You had a minor writing error, " I tend to teach by engaging the Wernicke, Broca area but..". Here are 20 certification points!
I must admit that I was fairly clueless on the how the brain actually worked until this summer. I have a thirty-five year old friend who had a stroke this summer opened my eyes, and then I read chapter five. I really wish I would have learned this years ago. This is my thirteenth year teaching and I am excited to learn something new and use it to make my students more successful. I have spent the last few years teaching in the Broca and Wernicke’s area where I verbalize a lesson and they hear a lesson. I am guilty of the longer teachers’ talk, the more students we lose. I have occasionally engaged in visual and motor cortex, I make up hand gestures to teach some skills in math. My student’s laugh at me and get into the lesson, I never thought to do it more or what all it involved. I would like to blame my teaching techniques on all the standards we have to teach in the short amount of time we have to teach it in, the demands the state is putting on us to make our children successful, and how it is tied to our jobs. My student’s make gains and are successful with my method, however I am excited to incorporate more Whole Brain teaching this year. I will teach smaller portions, have the student’s teach each other, make up hand gestures for skills, and have my students engage their whole brain in learning. With Whole Brain teaching and my experience I am sure my children will score higher than ever.
Tonya, Even after thirteen years of experience, WBT can revitalize your classroom! You had a few minor writing errors, “I have a thirty-five year old friend who had a stroke this summer opened my eyes..” and “I am guilty of the longer teachers’ talk, the more students we lose”. Watch those pesky apostrophes- “student’s laugh at me”, “student’s make gains” and “teachers’ talk”. Unfortunately, due to the number of errors, I am unable to award any points for this post, but it’s cool, you have many more chapters ahead of you!
The particular brain region I utilize the most is the visual cortex. I always present a visual or have my students draw a picture to help remember a concept. Then my students would explain what they drew to a partner thus activating Broca’s area. As an ESE teacher, I love using learning maps for breaking down concepts. This would also activate the Wernicke’s area of language understanding. Of course I also do a lot of talking (too much) and this too activates Wernicke’s area. I now know there is no guarantee that students will remember what they have heard from my lesson or instructions without activating any other region of the brain. Unfortunately, the region I tend to utilize least is the motor cortex. When I think of my own learning I realize I learned best when doing. I still remember poems, certain facts and concepts because I actively participated in the learning. Also, I realize that I hesitate to activate my students’ prefrontal cortex which controls reasoning, planning and decision making. I feel this is due to many years of planning for my students and not relinquishing control of the lesson. I am looking forward to changing that by using the Big Seven of WBT. I know that “mirror” engages the visual and motor cortex thus producing a powerful learning opportunity. I can’t wait to use it more in my class. Another technique I am looking forward to using most in my class is “teach-okay”. Teaching someone else is the best way to remember the skill or lesson and by utilizing five brain regions in one learning session the students will remember more of the lesson for a longer period of time. (And will have fun doing it!!)
Anne, Great reflection about your own teaching methods! Using these WBT techniques will help your students soar this year! Here are 25 certification points!
I am most likely to consistently maintain The Scoreboard. I have already seen a positive impact with this particular Whole Brain activity. The book says that the scoreboard will unify students behind my leadership and that the classroom unity will provide peer pressure for my most challenging students to comply with the rules. In just the two weeks that I have been implanting Whole Brain I can already see that this is the case. I believe this will be my first year that I do not change the way I manage classroom behavior. Instead I have actually found a system that I can and will use the entire year! As of right now (two weeks in), I think I am least likely to use the Switch Whole Brain activity. It happens to be the only Whole Brain activity that I have not introduced thus far. I do feel confident with Whole Brain teaching being that I have now incorporated six out of seven routines and we are only in the second week of school!! Fortunately another area that I am also consistent with and can see that I will continue utilizing every singe day are the Five Classroom Rules. By using this procedure in the Big Seven I am still helping my students activate the Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas within the brain.
Stephanie, I’m glad you have found a system that is working for your class! WBT won’t let you down! You had a few minor errors, “that I have been implanting Whole Brain “(did you mean implementing?) and “every singe day are”. You didn’t completely address the focus of the prompt, which was what brain areas you are most likely and least likely to activate in your students. Here are 10 certification points for your effort.
I would like to start off by saying I am extremely interested in how the brain works. I am so excited there is a program out there that engages seeing, hearing, doing, speaking and feeling simultaneously, like WBT does! Knowing that students are learning best when all of these areas are being addressed, has spurred me on to discovering how I can best implement these strategies in my classroom.
I am a very visual person who likes to talk with her hands, so I would have to say the areas of the brain I am most likely to activate in my students are their visual and motor cortex. Having said that, I teach Kindergarten, so I have a tendency to rely heavily on Wernicke's area, with regard to language and understanding. Broca's area is highly activated as well, due to the amount of speaking occurring on a daily basis. Through the use of "Teach Okay" I plan to implement more student ownership of the lessons being taught and activate these areas of my students' brains more effectively. I absolutely love this aspect of WBT and have already used it several times a day over the past 9 days! It just makes sense for my little ones to be given the opportunity to be fully engaged in the lessons presented.
The area of the brain I am least likely to activate in my students would have to be the pre-frontal cortex. At this point in the school year, there is a lot of speaking (on my end) and a lot of listening (on their end). I am hoping that as this program becomes more and more comfortable for me to use, I am able to "let go of the reins" and allow my students to activate this most necessary part of the brain. I feel student ownership is crucial to learning engagement, and with the tools available through WBT, we will all be very successful this school year!
When I reflect on my teaching, I realize quickly that I definitely used to teach only activating certain parts of the brain. I know that I, personally, am a very visual person. When I teach, I often lean towards more visual activities with my students, such as pictures, webs, manipulatives, etc. These are all great things because I know that I am activating the visual cortex which is one of the most trustworthy memory areas (Biffle, 2013, pg. 19). However, I now see that I’m completely neglecting other parts of the brain. I am most likely to neglect activating Broca’s Area, which is speaking. I think as a new teacher, I was afraid to get my students speaking because I didn’t want to lose control of behavior. Since I did that in the beginning of my teaching, it eventually stuck. I always heard about all of these fun turn-and-talk activities that I knew would be beneficial but I always strayed away. After reading all of this brain research and actually trying some speaking activities in my classroom, I see that it definitely needs to be focused on more in my own classroom!
Kasey, It will be exciting for you to implement the teach/okay, mirror activities, and oral writing in your classroom! These speaking activities will be a great motivator for your students! Here are 25 certification points!
About a month ago I was introduced to the Whole Brain Teaching concept at a training that my principal had me attend. Since the beginning of school, two weeks ago, I have just now begun using the WBT techniques in my classroom. I would say that previously I used mostly Broca’s area (verbalizing a lesson), Wernicke’s area (hearing a lesson) and on occasion the limbic system (giving emotional content to a lesson) in my classroom. Since reading the Whole Brain Teaching book and watching videos online I have implemented many of the strategies which have increased the number of brain areas I activate in my students on a daily basis. In addition to the brain areas I engaged prior to using WBT I now also activate the visual cortex (seeing gestures) and the motor cortex (making gestures) throughout the day for my students. In the short amount of time that I have been putting WBT into practice I have seen an immeasurable increase in the engagement of my students and I have fewer behavior issues than ever before. So far, I am very pleased with the results and look forward to more of what the future has to bring.
I’m thankful for the opportunity to implement Whole Brain Teaching. As I think about my past teaching tendencies, the brain areas I am most likely to activate in my students are the visual cortex and Wernicke’s area. I use hand gestures when eliciting responses. I have found hand gestures to be engaging for a high percentage of my students. I make a statement or ask a question, then use a drop hand gesture, and wait for the students’ responses. I also tend to activate Wernicke’s area. I do too much talking and expect my students to simply absorb everything I expertly impart. I am least likely to activate motor cortex and Broca’s area. Even though I use gestures when I’m teaching, I have never expected the students to gesture. I will now. I plan to activate the motor cortex by introducing the “five classroom rules” and “teach-okay.” I am also least likely to activate Broca’s area. I have not expected my students to mirror what I teach. As I practice WBT techniques, I really want to focus on having students mirror my teaching thus activating Broca’s area. It’s a new day for me. I will do my best to activate all the areas of my students’ brains using WBT.
Kay, There is definitely a difference between traditional teaching and WBT when considering the brain! Good work. Here are your 25 certification points!
I love the WBT. My students love WBT. The brain area that I have most likely use to activate my students is the visual cortex. It is very crucial that I provide some type visual (pictures or thinking maps), especially for the students who are reading below grade level. The brain area that I have less likely use to activate my students is the Broca. At times, I'd talk way too much and the students didn't get an opportunity to communicate their answers or thoughts with their group. Recently, I have implemented different strategies (teach-okay and switch) which allow the students to communicate effectively in the classroom. WBT is a key component that ties everything together.
Chentell, Your passion for WBT is evident so give us more detail about your thoughts an what you see in your classroom. Remember, outstanding posts get bonus points! Unfortunately, there are too many writing errors in this post to award you points.
Chapter 5 Which brain areas am I most likely, and least likely, to activate in my students
As I reflected on my teaching I was very surprised when I realized I use nearly all of the brain when I teach writing. I have always had strong writing scores and I believe my scores can be directly attributed to unknowingly using Whole Brain Teaching (WBT) techniques. When I teach writing, it is verbally engaging (Broca). A great deal of conversation occurs between the teacher and the students, as well as small group student conversation. As I model writing an essay, (Visual Cortex) the topic is usually something the children have connected with emotionally (Limbic). I read essays aloud everyday, and I always have music playing as children write (Wernicke). Sometimes we move around and take thirty-second dance/brain breaks. What I have not done in the past is activate the motor cortex by creating gestures to correspond with the elements of writing. In the future, I plan to activate the motor cortex by creating specific movements such as a five-step dance to teach the basic parts of an expository essay. My hope is to transfer the success I have had with writing to other subject areas by incorporating WBT into every lesson I teach.
As I reflect on my own teaching style, I realize that my natural tendency is to activate the visual cortex (seeing), the Wernicke's Area (listening), and the Limbic System (emotions) parts of the brain. I have been more likely to focus on visual and auditory learning, while attempting to make learning fun.
Out of necessity in Kindergarten, I began to activate the Motor Cortex (movement) and Broca’s area (speaking/singing). Honestly, I have been less likely to activate these areas of the brain without intentional thought, planning and collaboration with fellow teachers. I now see that much of my natural style has to do with my personality and the ways I have learned in the past. It is good to be broadening my horizons!
Now that I have discovered Whole Brain Teaching, I am implementing the Class-Yes, Teach-Okay, the Scoreboard, the Class Rules, and Hands and Eyes daily. Although I am using gestures and having my students do some mirroring, I have not formally introduced that strategy to my Kindergarteners. So far, I love the response and engagement I am seeing as I utilize these methods. Since the children’s whole brains are being activated, they are more interested and involved.
I am already seeing the validity of the statement “Repetition equals dendrite growth equals learning.” For example, as I am using Teach-Okay as I introduce letters and sounds, the students already seem to be learning more quickly than previous classes. I am excited to see how much they learn as I employ more WBT strategies and engage their whole brains throughout the year!
Several years ago, my teenaged nephew was involved in a terrible automobile accident. As a result of the accident, he suffered a prefrontal cortex injury, as well as the loss of a leg. The physicians explained to my sister that while the injury was not severe brain damage, the prefrontal cortex injury would likely result in a dramatic personality change, manifested in inappropriate and risky behaviors, violent tendencies, difficulties following rules, and a poor attention span. Sadly, my nephew has struggled in school, exhibited violent behavior, and has dealt with substance abuse. Prior to the accident, he was an honors student, had never been in trouble in school, and was an excellent golfer.
As I sought to help my sister find help for my nephew, I became very interested in many aspects of brain functions. This was a major factor in my decision to participate in the Whole Brain Teaching training. I want to better understand how the brain works and how I can better help my students using science-based research.
A quote, that has helped to mold my own teaching style, reads like this: “We Learn 10% of what we read, 20% of what we hear, 30% of what we see, 50% of what we see and hear, 70% of what we discuss, 80% of what we experience, and 95% of what we teach others.” The author of this is widely disputed. No one seems to know exactly who said it, there are slightly different versions, and research support is debated. But this quote is widely used in many in-service presentations and educational readings. Now, through Whole Brain Teaching, the science behind this quote is more evident.
In my own schooling this quote rings true. I am a hands-on and active learner. I tune out lectures, can rarely recall what I hear, and become easily bored. I have to write down everything just to be able to retain even a small amount. However, I thrive in group settings, where I am actively engaged in mutual learning and teaching situations with peers. I decided early on in my teaching career, that I would create a classroom where students were active participants in their own learning. Because of my own experiences, I am most likely to activate these five areas of the brain, visual cortex, motor cortex, Broca’s area, Wernicke’s area, and the limbic system, in unison, much like the description of the Teach-Okay teaching technique. I implement teaching methods, such as cooperative learning groups and team teaching, in which students teach one another the topic of study. I strongly adhere to the belief that too much teacher lecture will “lose the students”. I provide students with minimal instruction, guide them towards appropriate research materials, and suggest ways to teach their topics to their classmates, but they are active participants in their own learning. The visual and motor cortex interaction, as described by the Mirror technique, are probably the areas of the brain that I am least likely to activate with my students. I rarely have students mimic my behaviors, but I am excited to explore ways to implement the Mirror technique my classroom. I believe that this can help greatly with student presentations and proper laboratory techniques.
Lori, My heart breaks for your family. Thank you for sharing your story and how it lead you to WBT. You are so right that WBT makes the science happen. Here are your 25 certification points plus 5 BONUS POINTS!
I teach Kindergarten, so movement and repetition are great ways to teach effectively. The two areas I am most likely to activate are the Motor Cortex while students make gestures and the Hippocampus while they make memory formation. The area I am least likely to activate in my students is Wernicke's Area, since they will be listening briefly to learn what they need to teach their partner.
Krissa, While you answered the prompt we are looking for some critical thinking. Why are the motor cortex and hippocampus the most activated brain areas in your classroom? What do you see as a result? Why is the Wernicke's area the least activated? How can you change this? Here are 10 certification points.
The Motor Cortex and Hippocampus are the most activated brain areas in my classroom because I incorporate movement and repetition as much as possible. For example, when we learned the word one, I modeled, "We spell 1 (hold index finger up) o (touch shoulder) n (touch elbow area) e (touch hand). Repeat this sequence. Then teach to your partner. This is both repetitive and uses movement to activate memory. As a result, my students master the material more effectively and with an increase in student engagement. Since Wernicke's Area is activated by listening, and I will not deliver instruction using the lecture format (monotone monologue), I conclude it is the least activated. To clarify, it is not that I do not want my students to listen, it is that I want to briefly teach (30 seconds or less), and then have students teach each other using the Whole Brain method. Krissa White
Krissa, That is an excellent way to teach the spelling of "one"! Even though you are teaching in short chunks, you are still activating the Wernicke's Area. The students listen as you present the material, and then listen again and again as they practice teach/okay, and mirror with words, practicing oral writing etc. As the students are teaching each other repeatedly, they are listening and activating! Here are 25 certification points.
Though I do use a variety of strategies to activate learning in my students, I do have a tendency to use the visual cortex and Wernicke’s area (hearing a lesson) more than others. That is true especially in math instruction. In math, I am less likely to use the motor cortex (hands on activities).
In language arts and science I am much more likely to use Broca’s area (verbalizing a lesson), Wernicke’s area (hearing a lesson), and the motor cortex (completing an experiment or crafting an example).
Though I do incorporate Broca’s area (verbalizing a lesson through the use of Kagan strategies, I realize that I must increase the use of this area through Whole Brain Teaching. Most importantly, I must increase the use of the motor cortex in my math lessons.
Another area that I see need for improvement is moving those short-term memory items to the long-term memory. While I’ve always known that repetitions lead to more retention of information, what I didn’t realize was that bringing all the parts of the brain into play would greatly increase the number of dendrites. Increased growth of dendrites equates to more retention of information in the long-term memory so I will place more focus on activating the entire brain.
The brain areas I’m most likely to activate in my students are the visual and motor cortex because I myself have always been more of a visual learner. I learn more effectively when I connect what I see with a new concept. I also use many gestures and hand movements when I speak to others so acting out new concepts and terms to students comes easily for me. I have enjoyed this part of learning in the classroom tremendously because students who may typically struggle with remembering ideas, now are capable of remembering through gestures they make. A brain area I will least likely activate in my students or at least need to work on in my classroom is the limbic system because I struggle with students’ connecting emotions during learning. Allowing students to have emotions and reactions to a reading story or new concept being taught is important. Reminding students to connect it to their own personal life and how they felt during something similar is just one way to help.
Liz, You are right, it is very important to activate the limbic system so that the students can make better connections to the materials being taught! You had a couple of minor writing errors, “I have enjoyed this part of learning in the classroom tremendously because students who may typically struggle with remembering ideas,” (comma needed after students), and “students’ connecting” (no apostrophe needed). Here are 10 certification points.
I am new to teaching WBT this year. I am excited about using it in my classroom. This question caused me to think about my own learning style, and the styles that I use in my classroom. I realized that I learn using my visual cortex and my motor cortex. This hasn’t been the area that I have been most likely to activate in my classroom. I know from experience that my students have a better grasp of the material when I show visuals, and I physically involve them in the lesson. I think, out of habit, I haven’t used these methods on all of my lessons. I am working on changing that. My students have really enjoyed going over the rules and doing the movements. They laugh and have fun while we go over them, but they remember and do a great job of following them. I have a tendency to activate the Wernicke’s area and the Broca’s area. I teach lessons to my students and then I ask questions. I feel like this is something that I fall into very easily. I plan on doing less of this and getting the students more involved in my lesson.
Reflecting on my teaching methods and strategies is something that I do often as a teacher. I feel that it is important to do so in order to grow professionally. After using some of the Whole Brain techniques in the classroom, I will for sure continue to use the class-yes method for grabbing the attention of my class. I was so impressed with how my students repeated "yes" after me, using the same tone as I did. My students know that I will be giving directions or instructions after I call "class." I have the five rules posted in my classroom, and we reviewed the rules over and over daily for the first two weeks of school using hands and eyes. Now when students fail to remember the rules I will remind the students of the rules and conference with them rather than review each rule daily with the whole class.
Irish, It sounds like you are off to a good start using class/yes and the five rules! Unfortunately, you did not address the prompt "Thinking about your own teaching tendencies, which brain areas are you most likely, and least likely, to activate in your students?", (to learn about the specific brain areas see Chapter 5). Although I am unable to award any points for this post, it's cool - you have several chapters ahead of you!
Using this method of teaching (WBT) I have come to realize just how effective it is. My students are much more engaged this year than previous years. “Why?” some people ask, I tell them it’s because I am making them use their brain. I am most likely to activate the student’s Wernicke’s area, Broca’s area, and limbic system. I give my students directions twice and then I tell them to tell their partner what we are about to do, especially if it has to do with the following: cutting, coloring or moving around the room. When I am giving my students directions they are using the Wernicke’s area. They are listening and as the teacher I expect them to be able to repeat the directions. When they tell their neighbor what we are about to do, the students are using the Broca’s area of the brain, which is “crucial in speaking.” I make a conscious effort every day to relay a positive since of energy. I encourage my students to smile and “make smart choices.” I never realized it before today but now I know that I am stimulating their limbic system. I want them to enjoy coming to school feel accomplished at the end of the day. As a teacher I am least likely to activate the dendrites in the brain. I hope that I activate those dendrites in other ways than repetition. I try not to use a lot of repetition. We repeat the Whole Brain Teaching Rules every day and sometimes two or three times a day depending on the activities we have going on in the classroom. I’ve heard that repetition does not lead to complete understanding. It’s just memorized and later forgotten.
Brandi, It is wonderful that you make an effort to stimulate your students' limbic system by encouraging them to smile as they are learning. You had a small spelling error in the 3rd paragraph "...to relay a positive since of energy" (sense). I would encourage you to reread pages 19-20 in reference to dendrite growth. The dendrites are growing when you are processing information. "The more you know about a subject, the more you have repeated activities associated with a subject, the more interconnected are your neuronal dendrites. Repetition equals dendrite growth equals learning." For more information, check out chapter 28 (research on WBT), and page 186 (student centered learning). Here are 10 certification points.
As a speech-language pathologist, the areas of the brain that I most likely activate in my students are the motor cortex, Broca’s area, and the visual cortex. I apply many oral motor exercises to stimulate the lips, tongue, and vocal cords. I also pair articulation sounds with particular hand gestures to facilitate the correct production of sounds, which activates both the motor cortex and the visual cortex. Additionally, the Broca’s area is stimulated as I have my students speak and say their sounds out loud.
The areas that I least likely activate in my students are the prefrontal cortex and the limbic system. Unfortunately, I believe that my students tend to become habituated with some of my lessons and therapy activities. At times they just go through the repetitive motions while not making any emotional connection or improving critical thinking or planning skills. I need to implement more of the Whole Brain Teaching techniques in order to keep learning exciting, keep my students focused, and to develop stronger critical thinking and reasoning skills, especially for my language impaired students.
Michelle, I gree, many of our students do tend to become habituated with our lessons. Thankfully, we now have these great tools to help us tune up our own methods of delivery! Here are 25 certification points!
I am definitely a visual and motor cortex learner/teacher with limbic system tendencies. As long as I can remember, visual representations, large gestures and personal connections were a natural aspect of my teaching practice. Designing, creating, building, dancing, and sharing characterized my teaching and personal learning styles. The majority of students seemed to appreciate and have fun with the projects we completed each year. My students have been aliens, pirates, and molecules bumping about the classroom. Now I know that my brain has been the reason!
I use a variety of strategies to kindle learning in my classroom. I favor hands-on learning activities (motor cortex) in science and in math. Some of these activities include large dice for math computations and place value as well as hand-crafted scientific tools (such as hand magnifying lenses made from plastic wrap and water). Making connections and visual representations with historical figures or story characters in reading, writing, and Social Studies are a large component of daily classroom endeavors. (Visual cortex/limbic system)
I began this year with WBT activities and I believe I need to spend more of my time converting short term memory to long term. I am looking forward to “Mirroring” and using “Teach-Okay” frequently this year.
Deborah, What a fun learning environment you have created! You will love the mirror and teach-okay when you implement them in your lessons. The students truly do retain the material faster, and longer when using these strategies! Here are 25 certification points!
I am excited to incorporate Whole Brain Teaching into every part of my day. I allow my students to work in cooperative groups so I know that I am growing and producing "bushy" dendrites. Typically, cooperative groups are reteaching a skill or learning a new way to solve a problem. I excited to know this! We start every lesson with a Class-Yes attention-getter. This means we are engaging the "brains boss." As I give my students directions they are using the Wernicke’s area. Then, when they are able to repeat/teach their partner, I know that they are fully engaged. The gestures I am incorporating into the Whole Brain lessons, further engages and become more embedded in their long term memory. I will continue to try to use all of the areas of the brain as I use the Whole Brain Teaching!
Dana, It sounds like you are introducing many WBT skills in your classroom! Don't be afraid to use Class-Yes several times during every lesson (not just to introduce the lesson). It is a very effective way to keep the students on task. You may need to reword the second to last sentence so it will be clear. Also, you didn't address the last part of the prompt (the brain area you are least likely to activate in your lessons). Here are 10 certification points.
As an ESE teacher, I have always known the importance of using different parts of the brain to reach students who might be having difficulty learning. I have always tried to get to know my students’ diverse learning styles and channel lessons toward their strengths.
When in the classroom, I focus on reaching students through their visual cortex, auditory cortex and motor cortex. I also try to focus on a lot of repetition to make what is being taught “stick”.
In the future, I plan to incorporate lessons that involve the mirror neurons and the limbic system. I will use the Scoreboard system that will engage the students’ emotional center. I plan to have my class mirror my gestures and repeat my words to engage the visual and motor cortex of their brains. Using Class-Yes to engage the prefrontal cortex will help to get my students’ focused and ready to learn. I understand the importance of having a primary attention-getter to activate the brain’s boss.
Lori, The Scoreboard is one of my favorite tools to engage their emotions! You will find it to be an invaluable resource! I'm glad you plan to focus on those less activated areas by using mirrors as well. Here are 25 certification points!
As I am reviewing all the different functions of each section of the brain, I am amazed that my subject area (music) involves all parts of the brain. Many of the songs/chants/games that the children learn have movement that goes along with them – involving the motor cortex. To learn these movements, they are using their visual cortex to mirror me as a model. The Amygdala and the Limbic System are involved when discussing song lyrics, especially if the lyrics are about something emotional that the students can relate to their own lives. The act of singing itself is activating the Broca’s Area. When the student’s listen to a new piece of music for the first time, or critique different versions of the same song, Wiernicke’s Area is activated. Every time we talk about the form of music or play an instrument, the Hippocampus is being utilized.
However, teaching and learning music in more complicated than singing and moving to songs or analyzing the lyrics. I think my strengths are engaging the Motor Cortex and Visual Cortex. I have found that students have more fun making music if there is body movement that reflects the lyrics of a song. They often have partners or a “student teacher” to mirror as they perform. Many of my presentations have visual references or manipulates to help students understand and practice concepts.
Since starting Whole Brain Teaching, the Class-Yes has already made my class so much easier. It was always difficult for me to regain my students’ attention (pre-frontal cortex) after a song ended or after a transition. I tried clapping a rhythm one year, I practiced it – but the kids just looked at me, repeated the pattern and resumed talking. It has been fun coming up with new ways to say “class”. I have used body percussion and voice inflection. Implementing it as a vocal warm-up at the beginning of class has become a fun and uniquely music way of Class-Yes.
I think the area of the brain that I am least likely to activate during my teaching is the Broca’s area. I have such a short amount of time with my students each week, so I tend to power through lessons without giving kids a chance to internalize what I have just taught. Inserting spots in my lesson for Teach-Okay is going to give my students a wonderful way to show what they know.
Chapter 5: In reading over this chapter I was awe struck by how AWESOME the brain truly is. In the past I've read articles regarding the brain and how we learn,hold on to information, and recall things. I can honestly say that I never paid that much attention to it until reading this chapter. Our brains are very powerful and complex. It was interesting to read that our brains have no single area dedicated to memory.(Biffle,pg.20) The hippocampus, in the region of your limbic system, processes memories and then sends that information back to the region where it originated.(Biffle,pg.20) As an educator I realize how important it is that while teaching I use methods that require students being actively engaged in the learning process. That requires them to hear something or listen (Wernicke's area),seeing gestures and making gestures (using the visual and motor cortex),and verbalizing (Broca's area) (Biffle,pg.22) This part of teach-okay ensures that students have the opportunity to practice what they've learned;thus, the more they practice the deeper the lesson will be imbedded in their memory. In reflecting on my own teaching tendencies I have been guilty in the past of just shoveling information to my students and not really doing an adequate job to ensure that they actually "get it" or comprehend what I've taught. This takes me back to cramming for an exam in high school (many times over) and realizing that I held onto the information just long enough to take the test and when the test was over I couldn't tell who, what, where, when, why or how. Classic example of short term memory and learning that was not meaningful. This is something that I do not want to repeat with my students this year as I am already guilty of that, been there, done that. Some of the brain areas that I most likely activate in my kids are the prefrontal cortex(Class-Yes) and the visual and motor cortex(seeing and making gestures),Broca's area, Wernicke's area. I use the scoreboard which employs the limbic system; however,I am not consistent enough with it and need to definitely improve in that area. I am a work in progress, much like my students. The more you know about a subject,the more you have repeated activities associated with a subject. Repetition equals dendrite growth equals learning.(Biffle,pg.19) In a nutshell, in order to make learning meaningful, practice makes perfect. However, we have the responsibility to make the practice fun and whole brain teaching methods do just that. Students learning will be more meaningful when all of the whole brain teaching techniques are used consistently. This is what I intend to do this year.
This is our third week of teaching and I have already begun to implement: Class-Yes, Teach-Okay, the Five Classroom Rules, the Scoreboard, and Mirror with fidelity. I am having some difficulty incorporating Hands and Eyes according to the Whole Brain Teaching approach. I may need to do some tweaking "to make it feel right" in my classroom. I attended two sessions of Kagan training and am conditioned to "switch" in a different manner. It will take practice at home with the family. I teach at a low performing, poverty school, were in the past, a student's behavior was governed by his appetites, elements, and desires (limbic system). Now, using WBT, the positive interactions are reigning in the student's actions allowing for harmony in the classroom (prefrontal cortex). Cathy Gibson
This question has been particularly challenging and thought provoking to me. I had never before thought about the specific areas of the brain my students were using during my teaching.
I believe the areas of the brain I am most likely to activate in my students are Broca’s area, Wernicke’s area, and the visual cortex. In my class I like to use pictures, maps, and video clips to introduce or enhance lessons. These activities use the visual cortex. I talk a lot to my students and have them read and repeat chorally, do think-pair-shares, and make presentations to their group or the class. These activities would use Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area.
The area I believe I have been least likely to engage is the motor cortex. In the past I never gave any thought to creating gestures to enhance student learning. Since I have begun incorporating Whole Brain Teaching into my classroom this year, I have been using gestures for the Five Classroom Rules as well as for Teach-Okay. This has been eye opening for me. Students not only enjoy using the gestures I have taught them, but they love making up their own. Even better, it has had a big impact on their retention of material. I am a believer!
This is probably the most important question so far for me to think about and answer. The only problem is that I don’t have any experience implementing WBT yet, so I haven’t put my awesome ideas to the test. The other challenge is that I am a Physical Education teacher at the middle school level. Bring it on! (I can already hear the “Mighty oh yeah!”) The brain areas I am most likely (and sure hope I do) use, are the motor and visual cortexes. I usually demonstrate as I am providing cues to each skill. My goal for this year, and one of the reasons why I decided to use WBT, is to limit my explanations to 30 seconds or less. In order to achieve that, I pulled my plan book to write a few notes. The more videos I watch and the more I read the book, the more I realize that I might have to re-write all my plans because of so many useful notes and necessary changes. Good for me and for the students!
ReplyDeleteThe second part of the assignment “which brain area as you least likely to activate in your students” made me realize I needed to activate the pre-frontal cortex (reasoning, planning, decision making) a little more. Instead of telling you why it is the students’ least activated brain area in my class, I will tell you what I will do this year in order to activate all areas of the brain, more specifically the pre-frontal cortex. Fairly simple; I will introduce "Help me" game. Here is the link to the new game explanation: http://www.livestream.com/wholebrainteaching1/share?clipId=pla_61544de5-05d0-47b9-8f97-d11cfb58ef71
I will introduce the five components of fitness and the F.I.T.T. principal to my students using this technique. Here is a sample question: Doing 60 minutes of cardio-respiratory endurance daily is important BECAUSE (clap) ______________ , ______________ , _________________.
Furthermore, because students are moving around during my class, I will modify how a traditional class uses “help me” and use it during play. During a PE class, I will let students know they will be able to call "help me" (instead of time-out) during a game. At that time, the team that called "help me" will be able to get the white-board and talk about a play for 30 seconds.
Patrick,
DeleteHow awesome that you have a plan! I love that you didn't offer excuses as to why the pre-frontal cortex is the least activated. The fact you recognize this needs improving and you have thought through your ideas is a huge step forward! Best of luck to you in the coming school year. Here is a 10 finger woo and 25 Certification Points! Save and date this post in a word processing file. In August, we'll post directions for turning it in to redeem your points.
Thinking about my own teaching tendencies, these are the brain areas I think I am most likely, and least likely, to activate in my students.
ReplyDeleteI think that my tendencies in the past have been most likely to active the Broca / Wernicke areas of the brain for speaking, hearing, and understanding language. I focused more on talking to the students, and having them answer questions to assess their level of understanding. It seemed like I had forgotten how important motor cortex is, activating that part of their brain the least of all. Or I only activated the motor cortex with movements designed to burn off excess energy in a hope to calm them down and refocus them. I had forgotten all I had used with pre-K when I had to work with older children in 4th and 5th grades.
This assignment has taken a lot of introspection of where I've come from and where I want to go with the help of Whole Brain Teaching. I look forward to the new school year where I can use The Big Seven in the classroom that uses all of the students’ brains and my brain too! I want to use Teach-Ok, Switch,and Mirror so that more of their brain is engaged in learning. And I want to use Class - yes and Hands and Eyes to engage their prefrontal cortex so they are ready for instructions, planning and making decisions. With Whole Brain Teaching, next year will be awesome!!
How right you are that the school year is awesome when using WBT! As traditional teachers, we definitely used the Broca and Wernicke areas of the brain. But to make it stick, we need to employ the pre-frontal, motor, and visual cortices as well. 25 Certification points for you! Save and date this post in a word processing file. In August, we'll post directions for turning it in to redeem your points.
DeleteAs a child growing up, I would meticulously take notes, go home and reread the notes, and then create some mnemonic to remember what I learned. I hated being lectured to! Once I became a teacher, I swore to myself that I would not be a lecturer. I constantly am searching and creating picture slide shows and illustrative notes to promote visual cortex usage. My students are able to see an image we have discussed and they can tell me many facts pertaining to that image. For each SOL we teach, such as Ancient Egypt, life cycle of a frog, or telling time, I have created a song. My students use their visual cortex to see the image, listen to the song and say it in their heads using their Wernicke’s area. Next, my students use their Broca’s area and repeatedly singing the song until they are able to do the song without my help. Lastly, we use our motor cortex to learn movements to the song, which help students remember key facts about what we are learning. While teaching this topic, we review these songs. I even post the video of these songs onto my classroom Facebook site so students can practice at home. Incorporating singing into my lessons has really motivated my students to remember their SOLs. In fact, anytime we go on a field trip, we sing all of our songs the entire way there and back. Many times, I hear students humming these songs and doing the movements during a test, which shows their brains are activated and the information is in their long term memory.
ReplyDeleteBefore beginning Whole Brain Teaching, the hardest area for me to teach was the prefrontal cortex. I am slowly learning to allow students to make decisions about their learning but it is difficult when I have so many SOLs to cover and only 180 days to do it in. I am looking forward to learning more ways to help incorporate the entire brain into my instruction instead of the back and sides of the brain.
Laken,
ReplyDeleteYour classroom sounds like a fun place to learn! Good for you for wanting to make it even better by increasing the engagement of the prefrontal cortex. Here is a 10 finger woo and 25 Certification Points just for you! Save and date this post in a word processing file. In August, we'll post directions for turning it in to redeem your points.
I use Whole Brain Teaching in my classroom everyday which means my students are getting a full brain workout. What a wonderful feeling to have as a teacher knowing that we are activating all the different parts of kids’ brains to be involved learners in their education.
ReplyDeleteI honestly cannot say that there is one part of the brain my students use the least. This is due to the fact that many of the Whole Brain Teaching strategies we use regularly involve many different parts of the brain. At first I wanted to say that Broca's area would be the part we use less often. But then I started to think of all the techniques used in our classroom that activate Broca's area such as; Teach-Okay, using Class-Yes, practicing the five class rules, and using Switch. It was clear that Broca's area is not only used, but used frequently by my third graders.
The motor cortex along with the mirroring neurons would have to be the two portions of the brain we use most frequently. I know I am a motor cortex learner. I need to be moving and having a gesture to tie into key concepts. Knowing this is how I learn, I am more prone to teach my own students using movements to learn. Many times when I am teaching I use Mirror or Mirror with Words. Not only does this work to ensure students are grasping what I am teaching, but I can also tell who is paying attention rather than making faces to another student across the classroom. My students love using Mirror because we use this method when practicing gestures with many concepts and vocabulary words. I also often make silly movements when talking to use as an attention checker to make sure all students are on track.
After reading about the different parts of the brain in this chapter, it is truly amazing to see all the different parts of the brain that are engaged while using Whole Brain Teaching. The students are being active learners, and are kept engaged to lessen the amount of unwanted classroom behavior.
How right you are Lindsey! Teaching with WBT activates all parts of the brain and if done consistently, none of those areas are really neglected. You've earned 25 certification points! Save and date this post in a word processing file. In August, we'll post directions for turning it in to redeem your points.
DeleteThis is the toughest exercise yet, to step outside yourself, and analyze how one teaches. I was first introduced to Whole Brain Teaching a year ago and only this year was able to start implementing it into my classroom.
ReplyDeleteAs a teacher I previously had a tendency to talk/lecture too much which only utilized the Broca/Wernicke sections of the brain. Since taking Whole Brain instruction I realized I need to activate more sections of the brain in the learning process, especially the visual and prefrontal sections, by getting my students more actively involved in the lesson.
This led me to spending last summer looking for slides for the Smart board, songs for parts of speech as I have a large percentage of second language learners and incorporating more movement and student led activities into the lessons.
My students’ favorite and the one they became most creative with, was Mirror. As soon as I would hold up both hands in the position they would respond, “Mirror Me!” My first success with this method was early on when the class was struggling to remember the difference between fiction and nonfiction. I devised this little ditty to help them remember with hand motions. Imagine my surprise when during a test asking for the difference when I saw all the silent motions being done to help them remember. Some of them became quite creative at devising new Mirrors for the class to learn.
Through the use of Teach and Switch, I was able to better observe what they were taking in of a concept, how they were interpreting it, and their capability to relay information to a classmate. This assessment let me know quickly what needed to be a reteach, without having to drone on with the entire lesson again.
I am looking forward to becoming a stronger Whole Brain teacher this year, especially with all the changes coming with the implementation of Common Core. I feel many parts of Whole Brain are second nature to me after using it for a whole year. What I saw this year was a class that was actively involved in the learning process, enjoying school and learning tremendously and hating to see the day come to an end.
Great reflection comparing and contrasting your "old" teaching style with what will come in the new year. Once we start to realize how much better our classrooms can be within the WBT framework, great things will happen. Here's another 25 certification points! Save and date this post in a word processing file. In August, we'll post directions for turning it in to redeem your points.
DeleteI have always been one of those teachers that students tend to like. As I re-examine my teaching practices I believe students “like me” because I tend to “speak” to their limbic systems (emotional aspect). They have no doubt how much I care for them and sincerely want to see their success. I believe this has carried me for a number of years.
ReplyDeleteI have been implementing bits and pieces of Whole Brain Teaching for a number of years now. Thanks to WBT I have definitely increased the amount of time that my students are actively engaging their motor cortex areas and activating their mirror neurons.
Unfortunately I tend to still spend too much time engaging the Wernicke’s area of my students’ brains. I allow my students to critic the class and instructor (myself) at the end of each school year. This past year I had a few students say that they wished I had done more of the ‘Teach-Okay’. In that regard it becomes obvious I need to engage the Broca’s area of their brains more frequently.
One of my main goals for next year is to really hit the 5 brain areas on a consistent basis and effectively increase the long term memory of my students!
Jason, the limbic system draws them in! You've got them emotionally connected, now you just have to make sure that all of those brain areas are working at full speed! The great thing about the Teach-Okay is that it hits all of them! You're students were right to ask for more! Here are 20 Certification Points for you. In future points, be careful of word choice (critic/critique).
DeleteThis was a tough question for me. Last year, I tried to implement some of the Whole Brain Teaching in to my classroom. I used the five rules, Class-Yes, and Hands and Eyes all year. I started out using the Scoreboard, but found it didn't work for me. I'm looking forward to that chapter of the book, however, to get a deeper understanding of it. I also tried the Teach-Okay and had some problems with it. Again, I'm looking forward to that chapter for further understanding. In addition, I printed off all of the gestures I could find. I found that I would start with the gestures and then forget to use them.
ReplyDeleteAs the first semester progressed, I found myself reverting back to my old way of teaching. I would talk, ask questions, and then see what the students retained. I continued to use the Class-Yes and Hands and Eyes, but that's about it. Therefore, I pretty much wasn't using all of their brain, mainly just the auditory and visual parts.
Last year, I tried to do WBT along with the Daily Five. I chose to do this because WBT and Daily Five both say that students only listen for short amounts of time. So I would do a short lesson, then the students would read or go to a center. We had three short lessons and three break out sessions. They seemed to enjoy this. I like the Daily Five, but I would like to add more of the WBT into my lessons.
Next year, I want to use more of the WBT in all subject areas. That's why I purchased the book and joined this book club. I'm hoping to have a more in-depth understanding of the different components so that I can implement them in next year's teaching. I want my students to be actively engaged in their learning. I think it will be more fun for them, too. I especially want to engage the students in the Teach-Okay since this engages five of the brain areas: visual cortex, motor cortex, Broca's area, Wernicke's area, and the limbic system.
My first and most important goal for next year is to consistently and effectively use the five brain areas to increase my students' long term memory.
Cheryl, we are so glad that you have found WBT, and are working to more fully engage your students!.Ten finger woo to you! The scoreboard and teach-okay are key components that will drive you right into Teacher Heaven. I can't wait to see your posts in those chapters! Here are 25 Certification Points for you!
DeleteMy mentor teacher during my student teaching used songs, chants, and visuals to deliver her lessons. As I took over the class, I also followed her pattern and used songs, chants, and visuals. The areas which I am most likely to activate are Wernicke’s area, visual cortex, and Broca’s area. For example, one song which the students and I enjoyed singing was the 5 Parts of a Friendly Letter song. First, students had a visual (seeing and mirroring actions) of a completed friendly letter and each other to use as a model for singing along. Second, the student sang (speaking) along and used gestures and movements (Wernicke’s area and mirroring words) to connect a movement to one of the parts of a friendly letter. For example, part 3 (the body) students would use a thick voice meanwhile rubbing their bellies and then positioning their arms to their sides as questioning themselves. As these movements were made students would repeat the verse twice.
ReplyDeleteOne of the areas which I am less likely to activate is the prefrontal cortex. One of my tendencies is to impart knowledge and assess students’ learning. Many assessments can be used to assess mastery of skills. But, most importantly is to assess students’ reasoning which supports their understanding. One of the techniques which I plan to integrate is the Prove It! I would like for students to prove their reasoning for sharing an answer to the class. Another important aspect is for students to become problem solvers! I sometimes find myself solving issues for students (I don’t have a pencil, I can’t find my .., so and so is being mean to me) and yet I expect them to make smart choices. I need to develop their decision making skills by guiding and teaching students to become problem solvers.
Nancy ... this is an excellent post! Good assessment of your strengths and weakness as an instructor in regard to brain areas. Here's another 25 WBT Certification Points for you ... keep on posting!
DeleteI try to use as much of the brain in my history classes. My students and I make up motions to learn key concepts such as, the physical features of the Great Plains. The motor cortex as well as the prefrontal cortex is being used. I use many visuals such as, photographs, political cartoons, as well as, charts and graphs for students to analyze using again, the prefrontal cortex, as well as, the visual cortex. Students give oral reports and engage in class discussions to which they are using the Broca and Wernicke areas of the brain. Music and dance are incorporated into many lessons. Students learn the Charleston during my Roaring Twenties unit. Students review to music when we play a version of musical chairs. Each desk has a question relating to a topic of study. As the music is being played, students answer the question in front of them. Once the music stops, they move to the next question. Once all the questions are answered, I go around and read each question and allow students to answer. Any misconceptions are addressed at this time. Mnemonics are used to help students recall facts. As you can see, most of the brain is being used within my lessons. With WBT next year, my students’ brains will really get a workout. Grow dendrites grow!
ReplyDeleteThe limbic system will need to be added to my daily routine and lessons. Getting students emotionally involved will allow them to get personally involved and take ownership of their learning. The five classroom rules and scoreboard will help me use the limbic system of the brain. WBT will allow me to use this part of the brain I let get dusty.
If I continue to do what I have done in the past and add WBT to the mix, my students will become life long leaners and will become academically successful. I cannot wait until next year to see how much my students will grow and get excited about learning history. I can already feel next year will be my best year ever. Thanks WBT!
Debora,
DeleteHow cool that your classroom is already so active. But hold on to your seat because WBT is about to make it even better! I think you'll find the scoreboard is going to complete your classroom. Here are 25 certification points just for you!
When I think of my own teaching tendencies, the area of the brain I use most is the limbic system and the area I use least would probably be the motor cortex.
ReplyDeleteI have always used the motor cortex quite a bit. One has to in the primary grades. However, I could use it much more. For example, by using the Teach-OK technique more, there would be an increase in motor cortex activity. And if the “golden thread of fun” weaves throughout the whole day, it would give a kick to the limbic system, which would, in turn, charge the motor cortex, thus creating a "funtricical" circuit.
Another way I have noticed a shortage of motor cortex activity is in the using of gestures. It was a huge revelation this year to see students using gestures as they read in small groups. Kids that were very intelligent but “don’t really like to read” connected to the story consistently through the use of gestures. However, when using Mirror with Words, I often noticed kids making gestures when I was not! How embarrassing! That cost me quite a few points on the scoreboard!
As for the area of the brain that gets used most, it would be the limbic system. I tend to favor the limbic system because, sad to say, I was the kind of student who made trouble for the teacher when not having fun. So, I can empathize with students who need to engage emotionally. Elementary students are pretty good at being honest and will tell you things like, “That story made me tiiiirrred.” So, if you don’t engage the limbic system, your days are numbered! We compete against a tremendous amount of advertising that appeals to the limbic system. Raising my own kids, I learned to set up boundaries that were reinforced with connections to the limbic system.
Next year, will be even better. I am especially looking forward to more activation of the motor cortex. I plan to improve at the Teach-Ok technique and gesturing.
Andy,
DeleteGreat reflection of your teaching tendencies! The motor cortex and limbic system are some of the least used areas in traditional education (snore!). So glad you have set goals to make them a big part of your classroom! Here are your 25 certification points!
This question gave me a chance to reflect on my own teaching tendencies. This past year I started implementing some of the Whole Brain Teaching strategies and have already seen improvements in my students. After reading this chapter, I can understand why they work so well.
ReplyDeleteThe two brain areas that I most likely activate in my students are the motor cortex and visual cortex. During my lessons, I have my students use gestures for many of the concepts that we are learning. We will work together to create a gesture. The gesture is modeled and students practice. Then I use “Teach-Okay” and the students teach each other the particular concept or skill. I have noticed that when I review the concept the next day, students remember the gesture. I have seen them use the gestures weeks and months later. When I teach vocabulary, we use gestures and pictures as well. We look at different pictures and I ask my students if the picture is demonstrating the vocabulary word. We create gestures for each word and use them often.
I believe that there are two brain areas that I am least likely to activate. These brain areas are Wernicke and Broca. I feel like I do not give my students enough opportunities to talk to each other and discuss what they are learning. The “Switch” strategy is something I plan on using to encourage my students to verbalize their thoughts (Broca) and hear what their peers are saying (Wernicke). Every year I have those students that are the passive learners. They will not share. They do their best to hide themselves so you do not call on them. By using the “Switch” strategy, I can teach all of my students to be good speakers and good listeners.
Elissa,
DeleteGreat reflection of your teaching style! I am so excited that you'll get to see even more changes in your class as you go into your 2nd year of WBT. Each year, each month, it will be come smoother and more engaging for both you and your kiddos. Here are your 25 certification points!
Wow! This has been a tough question that I have thought long and hard about for the past week. I knew immediately what type of learner I was; a visual learner, but I really reflected on how I teach to my students. True to form, I teach with a lot of pictures. I am constantly drawing images on the board, looking for pictures on the Internet, and assigning visual projects to my students. If I can’t see something I don’t understand it. Being a visual learner and teacher is also why I make my students follow along visually when we are reading aloud. I want to hear and see the words being spoken, so I can have a better understanding of the material. I also incorporate fun in teaching using the limbic system, I proud to be known as the “fun” teacher.
ReplyDeleteIt is sad to say the least area of the brain I use with my students is the prefrontal cortex, the decision making brain. I tend to be overbearing and not challenge my students to make their own decisions; it is easier to make decisions for them. Last year, my first with WBT, I started to change this in my classroom. Rule 4 is perfect for this “make smart choices”. For example, I gave several choices for assignments trying to incorporate the many different learning styles. Students could write, draw, teach a lesson, or create model of the assignment.
This book has given me new insights to the learning brain and I will, in the next years of my career, integrate all learning styles.
Kathy,
DeleteGreat reflection of your teaching style. With WBT it is so easy to make sure all brain areas are engaged! Check out your sentence about the "fun" teacher for a writing glitch. Here are 20 certification points just for you!
As I think about my own teaching style, I am more likely to activate the visual cortex (seeing), the Motor Cortex (movement), the Wernicke's Area (listenting), and the Limbic System (Emotions) parts of the brain. Most teachers tend to incorporate lessons that include the learning style they like best, and I am no different. I am a very visual learner, so I use images and video clips a lot in my lessons. I have always tried, though, to incorporate other learning styles, too, although my lessons lean toward auditory and visual. I have been told by former students that I am called the 'Color-Coding Nazi.' Ha! Ha! I do think that color, as opposed to black and white, 'wakes the brain.' We chant and march, sing, listen to music, and many students even create their own lyrics. I also have students create their own podcasts (digital voice recordings) that we listen to as a group. Act-It-Outs are a part of my lesson planning, too. Students take a topic, often a problem in history, and present a short skit (often moderated by a news host-me) to the class. I use a great deal of maps in my lessons, as well. I have student led lessons that allow the kids to mark on large U.S. and world maps about what we have been studying.
ReplyDeleteI also use an interactive notebook with my history students. Essentially, the left side of the notebook is the instructional side, and the right side of the notebook is the student side. (Left side: input, right side: output) We color code a lot in our notebooks. I have used the term 'mental model' since the beginning of my teaching career to describe to students mental images we see in our head when we hear certain terms, ideas, and vocabulary words. I even have students draw 'mental models' on their notes and on their 'output' notebook side. There are many 'student side' activities that help learners process new information for later recall.
Until I found Whole Brain Teaching, I was least likely to activate the Pre-Frontal Cortex (the brain's light switch), the Amygdala (pleasure/pain), and the Broca's Area (Speaking). Let's face it! It is very difficult to get middle school students interested in learning content material. My whole group discussions rarely ever included half the class. However, since implementing WBT strategies on a 'consistent basis' this spring, I am more alert during my planning of lessons. Using WBTs Core Four and The Big Seven has helped me be more relaxed and more humorous, an attribute my sixth graders love and appreciate. I am a better teacher because I think I am activating more parts of my own brain. Now, I can't imagine teaching without using WB!
Melinda,
DeleteYour classroom sounds like a fun place to learn! If you think it's good now, wait until the next school year. You'll be amazed at how much growth you'll see as you implement WBT more and more! Here are 25 certification points plus 5 BONUS POINTS for an insightful response!
In the last year of teach “WBT Style” I feel I have made so many adjustments to how I teach. In turn, this helped my students be able to learn to high standards by activating all parts of their brain. We tested, tried, failed, and practiced so many strategies. I definitely have my favorites!
ReplyDeleteThe area of the brain I most likely use is the visual cortex. I am a visual learner, thus I need the visuals to teach. In this world of technology, my classroom was furnished with a 2-1 ratio of students to computers. Next year I will have a 1-1 iPad classroom. This assists the learners in visual cortex processing since they are looking at and constructing understanding. They do this through analyzing text and images, as well as creating their own visual representations of their understanding using computer programs and the Internet.
In an eMINTS (computer based) classroom, the standard of learning isn’t to play games; it is to create, construct, and use reasoning to complete PBL (project based learning). This utilizes the prefrontal cortex, which controls reasoning, planning and decision-making. This model of teaching may be hard for those students who like to ‘jump right in’ but it is a necessary skill in life!
Finding an area I use this least is difficult. I have attempted this year to utilize many of the strategies of WBT that I remember utilizing strategies from each part of the brain. The area that I teach the least (yet still a lot of use) would be the motor cortex. I taught the Crazy Professor Game and many students used this while we would read in class, but the majority of the students didn’t utilize this unless asked. It was difficult for the students to read a book and hold the pages while going through the motions of what they were reading. Some of my ‘cool’ students didn’t want to do this because it wasn’t ‘cool’. They would use this as expected in class but it wasn’t their choice on their own time.
Krystal, I found myself with similar tendencies as yours. So many teachers, it seems, are visual learners! Like you, I also have an eMINTS classroom. How cool that you get to go 1-1 next year!
DeleteSally,
DeleteI love finding other teachers like me. We are a group of individuals
that put forth a great deal of energy and planning to make each lesson
count. I found myself connected to the topic in one of our previous
discussions about planning and having everything ready to keep
classroom control. I don't know about you but one thing is for sure,
in an eMINTS classroom, if your not prepared your lessons are twice as
difficult to get through.
I am looking forward to iPADs and hoping for a great few years where
we can put technology in the hands of students who may not have this
in their home life! At this rate we need to embrace technology to the
fullest and show students the way to their future!
Krystal,
DeleteSounds like you'll be engaging that pre-frontal cortex much more this coming year! As you implement WBT more and more, you'll find greater growth in your classroom. Check your first and last paragraphs for some pesky writing errors. Here are 10 certification points for you!
I am 43 and have only been teaching for four years with an Alternative Certification. Two of those years I was a long term substitute. My first two years I was teaching kindergarten at a private school with 10 students in my classroom. Even though my students excelled, I knew I needed help! I have a tendency to talk too long, share too much information and expect too much.
ReplyDeleteThis year I am teaching kindergarten at a high-risk Title-1 school. I have been told from the get go that these students are like no other. This chapter has really given me an understanding of how the brain works and WHY WBT is effective. I plan to stick to the Big Seven. Probably the most important sentence in this chapter for me is; Repetition equals dendrite growth equals learning. I have a tendency to assume or expect children to "get-it" because they are supposed to be listening!! If I repeated something over and over and over, I felt like my students we in Lala Land and I wasting my time. It's a good thing I am patient and kind! But now I understand what was happening! I might make a good teacher after all! I wish I was privy to these techniques as a trainer with the corporate world!
Now that I also have an understanding that our emotions can control our reason much more easily that our reason can control our emotions I can take steps to minimize undesirable kindergarten behavior. Keeping students engaged and keeping my emotions in check will certainly help with that. Inviting my class to mirror, teach, switch are perfect for keeping them engaged. I will not have any problem keeping up with the scoreboard. I have used marbles in a jar, warm fuzzies, table points, play money, you name it! I love the concept of the scoreboard and I love that WBT doesn't "call-out" or require embarrassing or upsetting a student by moving "down" his or her color or clip! I am not a fan of that. The scoreboard and I will be great friends and is a key to keeping emotions in check.
I am very animated and I think I will do good job in activating the pre-frontal cortex and visual cortex while teaching. Often I use Smoulder, my pet dragon, (puppet) to help me teach. I have to be careful with that though, because sometimes Smoulder gets all the attention and the focus isn't on the lesson but on her! Perhaps Smoulder can observe this year and give out points on the scoreboard during "teach-okay" and "switch".
Overall, I am encouraged and have an understanding of how important all components of WBT work together. By taking what I do best (engaging the prefrontal, motor and visual cortex) and spending the summer organizing and practicing that parts where I may have a tendency to drop the ball,(the limbic system and repetition, organized classroom) I think this coming year will be a success.
Chelsea,
DeleteGood reflection of your teaching tendencies! Here are 25 certification points just for you!
I have been using Whole Brain Teaching strategies off and on throughout the entire school year this past year. My goal this year is to use more WBT components in my classroom all the time. Thinking about the different parts of the brain, I feel as if my students use each part of their brain in some way, shape, or form on probably a daily basis, but there is a lot of room to grow and use each part more and get a total brain workout.
ReplyDeleteMy teaching tendencies are very geared toward activating the visual cortex in my students brains. I am very much a visual learner and so my teaching is also geared in that manner. We watch videos on websites such as Brain Pop to enhance the lesson and allow students to make a connection to what we are learning. Our math curriculum also uses a daily video/animation as part of the lesson - another way of activating the visual cortex.
Because I use Teach Okay on a regular basis, my students are activating 5 parts of their brain in this partner activity - visual, motor, Broca's area, Wernicke's area, and the limbic system. I use Teach Okay! mostly during our math lesson, when we introduce a new vocabulary term, but I want to use Teach Okay more this coming year in all areas that I teach. As I sit here and write this post, I can think of so many ways to use Teach Okay throughout the school day - I just have to commit to doing it!
Thinking about how I teach, I think the area of the brain that is least activated in my students is the prefrontal cortex. I need to use Class Yes and Hands & Eyes more throughout my lessons to ensure that my students brains are engaged and ready to learn. These short attention getters have shown to refocus students' attentions to you and the lesson. One technique I found online and tried with my students this year is when I see that students are not focused on the lesson or the person talking, I will say "eyes up here" and point to where I want students to focus their attention. Students will then say "eyes up there" and point to where their attention should be. It did help them to refocus their attention, but reflecting back, if I had been using class yes and hands and eyes more consistently throughout the lesson in addition to teaching in shorter chunks, this would probably not be a problem in the first place.
Another way that I can help my students strengthen their prefrontal cortex is to allow them to become leaders by leading the class in things such as class yes, and teaching their peers using mirroring. Allowing my students to become more independent is going to be hard for me because I fear allowing them to make too many decisions on their own will lead to arguments over someone not getting their way. For example, I decide and make a schedule for students to follow for Daily 5 rotations because I want all students to go to all rotations each week and not argue over being last and not getting a choice. I do allow students to choose their activities for each rotation, so they are planning and decision making in that respect. I hope that by "growing" leaders, I can allow myself to feel more comfortable with allowing students to make decisions on their own more often.
I will be interested to reflect back on this question again a year from now and see how I have improved in activating the different parts of my students brains.
Allyson,
DeleteExcellent reflection of your teaching tendencies! Don't feel badly about keeping some parts of your classroom highly structured (your rotations). That is all part of good classroom management. It seems as though you have thought deeply about what you do and how you do it. That is so stinking awesome! Here are 25 certification points for you plus a whopping 5 BONUS POINTS for a tremendous post!
This coming school year will be my first year using the Whole Brain Teaching strategies. I am excited to begin this new adventure implementing what I have been learning through WBT and this book club, and comparing my year's success to my previous years as a teacher.
ReplyDeleteReflecting on my previous years teaching Middle School English, I find I am more likely activating my student's Wernicke's area, the visual cortex, and the Broca's area. As an English teacher, communicating and understanding language is vital. My students discuss and share in literature circles, participate in a class blog, and share through journal writing. My students use their creativity in several projects throughout the year that activate these areas of the brain, including creating a PSA, creating a PowerPoint presentation and numerous book projects. I also feel that my students are able to activate their limbic system quite frequently as students share their opinions and feelings about literature, characters, hot topics, and through journal prompts. I attempt to make my class engaging, fun and challenging.
An area that I find that I least likely activate is the motor cortex. I realize that my students rarely receive an opportunity to move or gesture. On some occasions, my students will act out a fable or a drama, or play charades using vocabulary words, but I realize I need to activate this region of the brain more frequently and deliberately.
I am excited to begin WBT strategies into my classroom this year and see the growth of my students as they activate their WHOLE BRAIN on a more regular, frequent basis.
Amanda,
DeleteGood reflection about how you teach. I love that you are going to be looking for growth! English is a tough subject for many students. Remember to use that scoreboard to engage the limbic system. Don't just rely on your kids to do it for themselves! The limbic system can be sad, sad, sad when a subject is hard. We want to keep it riding that roller coaster so there is constant motivation. Check your last sentence for a pesky writing error. Here are 20 certification points for you!
Thinking about the different parts of the brain and how they all interact with each other to help students learn is important as a teacher. I found that I used to teach more the lecture way. I would have students listen to my lecture and interact with each other in pairs or groups to complete an activity based upon the concept I was trying to teach. I found that only half the class was getting it and the other half was either not paying attention or just didn’t understand. I was frustrated and didn’t know what to do to reach all of my students. I went searching for different brain based techniques that I could use in class that would make learning fun for my students and fun for me to teach again. Last summer I found WBT on Pinterest and looked up the website and started watching all the videos and taking many notes. I was excited to teach again.
ReplyDeleteThe very first day of school I incorporated the class, yes and the five rules. Students were laughing and enjoying their first day of school experience. The first three weeks of school I focused on the constant repetition of the class-yes, teach-okay, the five class rules, the score board, and hands-eyes. My students were having fun learning and they were doing exactly what I wanted them to do. I was actually reaching all parts of the brain in my students and they were having fun learning. I found that the repetition was growing dendrites in my students and it equaled them learning while having fun. The best comment I ever received in my 15 years of teaching was from a parent who said, “Mrs. Opio, Brianna was coming home all excited couldn’t wait to show me all the cool gestures that matched with what she was learning. I was so impressed and she actually loves coming to school and teaching us what she has learned. Thank you for that.” I was speechless, the first time ever. I couldn’t find words to say at first. Then it came to me “It is all do to the fact that I incorporated Whole Brain Teaching and Brianna knew what she had to do to grow those dendrites.”
Good reflection of your teaching style! Isn't it amazing what one little positive comment can do for us as teachers? Here are 25 certification points for you! Save and date this post in a word processing file. In August, we'll post directions for turning it in to redeem your points.
DeleteI am at a very interesting point in my career. For the past two years I have worked for the district mentoring and evaluating novice teachers. It was through this work that I was first introduced to Whole Brain Teaching.
ReplyDeleteImmediately I fell in love with it, began researching, and have attended two national conventions in Pineville, Louisiana. Whole Brain Teaching is one of the reasons I decided to go back to my classroom next year. My plan is to get back into my classroom, use all of the strategies I have learned, and then return to my job with the district where I can help novices use Whole Brain Teaching in their own classrooms.
I have always had high levels of student engagement in my classroom and was aware that this increased student achievement, but did so in a haphazard manner. Now I will be much more aware of the areas of the brain being activated in my students and able to implement strategies designed to do so.
When I return in the August, I plan to use all of the “Big Seven,” therefore my students will be using all parts of their brains. I will deliberately plan lessons and consider which parts of the brain are being activated.
As far as areas I see myself activating more easily, I would say Broca’s (verbalizing) and Wernicke’s (hearing) because Teach-Okay is a strategy I plan to use as much as possible in all areas.
The area I believe I will struggle with is the visual cortex(seeing gestures) because I am not used to teaching this way and am not always successful at creating gestures on the spot. It will take planning in this area as well as assistance from students.
Whole Brain Teaching came at a perfect time in my career and I am looking forward to strategically activating my students’ brains for years to come.
Sandy,
DeleteGood thinking ahead for what is to come! Sometimes I make up gestures for what we are learning and sometimes I allow my kids to create them. You will be amazed at what they come up with! Double check the first sentence of you 4th paragraph. Here are 20 certification points for you!
Chapter 5 highlights six main areas of the brain: the prefrontal cortex, the motor cortex, the visual cortex, Broca's area, Wernicke's area, and the limbic system. I like to teach using a language acquisition model called GLAD. GLAD was also developed with the brain in mind, knowing that student basic needs have to be met before learning can occur, that students learn best through cooperation with others, and that students need time to process information and can’t be expected to listen for long periods of time. Many of the thoughts on learning I know from GLAD also cross over to Whole Brain Teaching.
ReplyDeleteWhen thinking about the areas of the brain that activated when I teach, I would say that definitely the visual cortex, Broca’s area, and Wernicke’s area are used. I do a lot of “turn and talk” and “explain to your neighbor” activities. They are not as structured as Teach-Okay or Mirror, so I am excited to use these next year instead. I know I need to add in more motor cortex activities, but I do try to use gestures with core vocabulary words. We also did the Five Rules this past year, so students were able to do the motions that went with those.
When thinking of the limbic system, I try to organize and decorate my classroom in a pleasing way. Students, parents, and other teachers always comment on how much they like my classroom. If students like the room, they will want to be there. If there are exciting materials in the classroom, students will want to explore with them. I hope that by the way that I arrange my room, that not only will I want to spend more time at school, that my students will, as well. I also work hard to create an atmosphere where students feel welcomed and accepted. This is a big idea from my work with project GLAD: if students feel safe and secure, they can begin to learn.
I think that I am on my way to creating a well-run classroom and I am so excited to employ more WBT strategies next year to make my classroom even better!
Nicole
Whole Brain Teaching With Style
Nicole,
DeleteGood reflection about your teaching! I can't wait for you to read Chapter 11 about the scoreboard. Instant limbic system activator! Double check the first sentence of your 2nd paragraph. Here are 20 certification points for you!
My teaching strategies tend to target the visual area of the brain, since I naturally prefer visuals as a learning tool. I am always making visuals, such as power pix, or centers to enhance our classroom learning. As a teacher, I also naturally talk a lot, so this activates my Broca’s (speech) area, while my students have to use the Wernike’s (hearing) area to process what they are hearing and to understand the information. This is also a very traditional style of teaching; teachers that talk and students that listen.
ReplyDeleteThe more I have been using Whole Brain Teaching, the more I realize that once the other areas of the brain have been engaged in the learning activity there will be an increase in memory formation and recall. The areas I have to work at, to incorporate in my teaching methods, are Broca’s area (speech), the motor cortex, the limbic system, and the prefrontal cortex. Some students prefer a learning style where they get to talk out loud to help with the process the information; thus I need to give them more opportunity to talk about their work. Teach-Ok is the perfect solution to this problem.
The motor cortex carries out movement, thus using gestures, standing when talking, or acting are great ways to activate this area in the brain. The motor cortex is the most powerful memory center in the brain and in Whole Brain Teaching we activate it all day long with many of the activities mentioned above. The limbic system (emotional control center) is probably always engaged in some subconscious way; however I need to take more care to use the limbic system in an advantageous way in class. The perfect way to engage emotions is through the scoreboard, and by being excited about our work. Last but not least is the prefrontal cortex, where decisions are made, which can be better engaged through getting my students to practice thinking critically about their work or the particular topic of discussion.
Pioneer,
DeleteGreat reflection about the areas of the brain! How right you are about traditional teaching (snore). Here are 25 certification points for you!
My teaching tendencies are most likely to activate the back of the brain which is the visual cortex and the motor cortex on the top of the brain. I am a very visual and kinesthetic learner so it makes sense that I tend to teach to the visual and kinesthetic learners in my classroom. My teaching tendencies are least likely to activate the Broca’s and Wernicke’s area which is on the left side of the brain. This past year I had 17 out of 28 students who did not speak English. I was very animated in my lessons but I was doing a lot of talking. I am reminded of Coach B’s saying, “the longer we talk, the more students we lose” (Biffle, 2013, p. 6) during the lesson. If I only knew then, what I know now.
ReplyDeleteAfter the 2013 National Whole Brain Teaching Conference in Alexandria, I feel whole as an educator. I have dabbled in the Genius Ladder, 5 Classroom Rules and the Class-Yes in the past. At the conference, I was able to put all the pieces together. “Eureka, I think I’ve got it!” I thought to myself, “This makes perfect sense! Why am I complicating my life as a teacher?”
I know after implementing Whole Brain Teaching in my classroom, my teaching tendencies are very likely to activate all the parts of the brain. I will be activating my students’ brains using the Big Seven. Each lesson begins with Class-Yes which activates the prefrontal cortex in the front of the brain. Teach-Okay helps me improve on my weak area of activating the Broca’s area for speaking and the Wernicke’s area for listening. It will also stimulate the hippocampus to promote long term memory. I recently learned about the limbic system in Ms. Shipley’s breakout sessions at the conference. The limbic system demonstrates emotion which is stimulated by the reaction to the Scoreboard. The Scoreboard (Mighty Groan! and the Mighty Oh Yeah!) helps promote the use of emotion during instruction. Switch, Hands and Eyes promote use of the Broca’s area and the Wernicke’s area for speaking and listening. I am a visual and kinesthetic learner. Therefore, it makes sense that Mirror and Mirror with words is my absolute favorite teaching tool (Whole Brain Teaching, 2013, p. 17).
Can I get a ten finger woo? I learned so much from this conference because the WBT was used to teach it. I was exhausted after each day because I was using my whole brain. I am so proud of myself because I learned about the parts of the brain from Ms. Shipley. The lesson took less than fifteen minutes. I feel like a pirate that just found the treasure. My teaching tendencies will be geared to the whole brain from now on. “You heard me, Coach B!”
Excellent post Faten! Isn't it amazing how attending a conference just puts all the pieces together? Here are 25 certification points for you!
DeleteAs a veteran teacher (but very new to WBT), I've certainly developed my own teaching tendencies. Some easily fit into the WBT system. Others...well, I'm working hard to "unlearn" them. :)
ReplyDeleteBased on my early attempts at using WBT, I have identified two areas of the brain that I am most likely to activate in my students. First, the visual cortex. Not a surprise since I am a visual learner. It's my default mode. My classroom walls are plastered with lots of signs, posters and colors. The other area would be Wernicke's area, crucial in hearing and understanding language. I love using words to communicate ideas and encouraging my students to develop rich vocabularies.
Conversely, I've been weak in accessing the brain's motor cortex. What a shame given how powerful it is! Fortunately that's all changed once I learned about Power Pix and gesturing. Another weakness was not tapping into the limbic system as often as my students needed it. Given my very task-oriented approach to life, it was all too easy to have a checklist mentality towards my day. Now, however, I am learning to more consistently provide that emotional reward through the Scoreboard and Super Improvers Wall.
Good reflection on your teaching tendencies! Here are 25 certification points for you!
DeleteAs a music teacher of 12 years, I can see that my teaching tends to activate the motor cortex and Wernicke's area. From the very first day in music class, we are singing, listening to music, playing instruments, and moving. I always leave large areas in my classroom available for movement and dancing. Physical movement is one of the easiest ways for students to demonstrate that the understand musical concepts when verbalizing these abstract concepts may prove difficult. I often remind my students that good musicians know how to listen. We use Wernicke's area to listen to performances of our classmates and other musicians.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I find myself so grounded in these areas that I often neglect the visual cortex. Being a musician, I have learned to rely on my ears and muscle memory through the years. I don't need to see something to remember it. However, that's not the way my students work. I have to be very intentional in my use of visuals. It's difficult for me but I am slowly making headway.
Gwenn,
ReplyDeleteGood reflection of your teaching tendencies! We would love to hear more about how you would incorporate visuals into your music class and how you think it would help your students. Give us more! Double check your sentence about physical movement. Here are 20 certification points for you!
When I think back to memories of my school years, most memories I have are tied to the limbic system. As I was reading this chapter I was most enlightened by this piece of information. While in elementary school I remember a teacher bringing in music to explain figurative language. It was quite an engaging lesson that my classmates took beyond what the teacher had planned. We asked for more music, which was allowed as long as we tore it apart looking for alliterations, rhymes, metaphors, personifications, hyperboles, idioms, themes, and speaker's messages. I recall begin disgusted by the frogs we had to dissect, nervous about performing Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address (I still have most of it memorized decades later), and saddened by the baby pig being almost slaughtered as my teacher read aloud Charlotte’s Web.
ReplyDeleteI have studied Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences and been schooled by NAEYC in educating the whole child, however it is difficult to incorporate those ideas into each and every one of my lessons. I find that with Whole Brain Teaching, I am able to infuse what research proves successful into each lesson. It is exciting to know that I am able to reach the parts of the brain necessary for long term memories to form.
Currently I believe that I’m teaching mostly to the Broca /Wernicke areas. I have students repeat what say (We call it “Give me Five” and they put up a finger each time they chant the concept), done rolling numbers to learn our multiplication facts (so fun for them and wonderful to use while you wait in line for specials/lunch), added actions to Robust Vocabulary words and incorporated activities like think-pair-share. I have already implemented practicing the Five Rules, Class-Yes and Teach-Okay all of which incorporate many parts of the brain. However, I have not involved the motor cortex or the limbic system to the extent I could. This will be my focus in the fall! In addition, after reading the research you referred to on mirror neurons I am excited to become more comfortable with implementing Mirror into our daily instruction.
Catherine, this is a good post showing your strengths and weaknesses, as well as your goals for the future, Nice job! Here are 25 Certification Points for you!
DeleteWhen thinking of my teaching tendencies and the areas of the brain that I have activated in students over the past 10 years, I’ve realized that I’ve grown and developed as a teacher. In the past, I was most likely to only activate the prefrontal cortex and least likely to activate all the remaining parts of the brain. This upcoming school year I hope to activate all parts of the brain as I implement more methods of WBT in my 4th grade classroom.
ReplyDeleteMy teaching tendencies in the past have been activating only the prefrontal cortex with an attention getter. I didn’t know till two years ago when first being introduced to WBT that there were more fun and exciting ways to activate the whole brain in your students and keep them engaged.
Two years ago, I began using a few WBT methods in my classroom. I activated the prefrontal cortex for decision-making, planning and focus of attention using the Class-Yes, and the 3 areas of the brain when using Teach-Okay (visual cortex, Broca’s area (verbal) and Wernicke’s area (hearing). As you can see, I only used 3 out of the 5 areas of the brain these past two years when using Teach-Okay. For example, when I would say Teach students would turn to their partner and verbally tell their partner what they were learning, ask/answer questions, or teach their partner how to use the new skill. The motor cortex and the limbic system were not being activated in students. I have learned from this chapter that there are “more connections from the limbic system to the prefrontal cortex than vice versa”. Due to students prefrontal cortex not completely developing till their 20s it is very important to activate the limbic system with their prefrontal cortex. And I know how emotional some of my 4th graders can be. So, my plan for this current year is to involve the limbic system, (giving emotional content to lessons) and the motor cortex (making gestures).
However, I did activate the 5 areas of the students’ brains and involved the mirror neurons at the beginning of the year and during the middle of the year when teaching students the 5 Class rules. I plan to continue this and to also add more methods to my classroom throughout the entire year such as: Mirror, Switch, and most importantly the Scoreboard to activate my students’ whole brain.
I am excited to use all of the “Big Seven” in my classroom and to know that I will be activating all parts of my students’ brain and my brain too.
Mrs. Shepherd,
DeleteThis is a good reflection on your strengths and weaknesses as related to stimulating brain areas. The limbic system and amygdala are so important! You have a great goal for the future to engage those areas more fully! Here are your 25 Certification Points.
Since I teach special education and many of my students are on the autism spectrum, my teaching tendencies tend to involve the Visual Cortex. It is a reliable memory area of the brain since “pictures” of information are stored (such as what an object looks like) in a more trustworthy part of the brain. The Visual Cortex does not store the labels or names of those objects, however so I have to pair these visual images and examples with words or songs to activate the Auditory Cortex. If I include motion (which I usually do), I have utilized the Visual Cortex, the Auditory Cortex and the Motor Cortex to grow dentrites and build long-term memory.
ReplyDeleteAgain, since I teach students with special needs most of my students have deficits in auditory processing or other receptive language skills. Activating the Wernicke’s area (hearing and understanding language) is a goal for my teaching practices but until I was introduced to WBT, I think my teaching strategies often fell short of activating the Wernicke’s area or activating multiple areas of the brain so that these could work in unison to provide opportunities for my students to move information from short-term memory to long-term memory. Unfortunately there is a real difference in hearing and in understanding language. I am always looking for ways to maximize my time with my students and being able to activate five areas of the brain with the Five Classroom Rules is just mindboggling to me. Then, to know that we are also involving the brain’s mirror neurons by frequent repetition is an added bonus for developing long-term memory and real learning. The more I know about the brain the more I want to know. Oh, sweet mama WBT is contagious and I’ve got the WBT fever!
Kathy,
DeleteOnce you catch the WBT fever you'll never be cured! Your students are lucky to have you! Here are 25 Certification Points for you!
I am a visual learner and I tend to teach this way. My daughter has Cerebral Palsy and I had to learn how to do many medical techniques to take care of her. I would watch the nurses and the techniques they used, and I had a better feel for what I was doing. If I read about it in a book, I never would have been as successful taking care of her. I feel many of my students learn this way too.
ReplyDeleteI am most comfortable teaching when I can show my students what they are to learn and give them many visuals along the way to help them grasp the concept I’m trying to teach. The visual cortex is definitely stimulated in my classroom with pictures and short video clips. We also use the motor cortex because we act out many of the standards we are learning about. The Wernicke’s area is used when students are listening to instructions or hearing about a new topic.
Last year was my first year using WBT. I felt I was able to use all the areas of the brain to help my students learn. However, I was still using many of my old techniques because I still needed to gain confidence using the WBT techniques the way they were intended to be used. I can’t wait to start a new year and watch my students grow while we use the Big Seven and repetition to grow those wonderful dendrites.
Marty,
DeleteYou have a great reflection on the brain areas that you have activated in the past! You touched on a great point, that most teachers teach in the way that they learn. It would have been great to hear examples of how you will activate the other areas of the brain as well. In your future points try to give just a little more detail. Here are 20 Certification Points for you!
In previous years, I could be found dipping my toes and slowly wading in the WBT pool. In the new year, I plan to fully submerge my class in WBT in hopes that all parts of the day are brain friendly. Chapter five mentions, that “more repetition equals more dendrite growth equals more learning”(20). I teach kindergarten and am, therefore, in constant repetition. I also naturally strive to include as many intelligences as possible from kinesthetic and musical to auditory and visual. This ensures that I am activating the motor cortex, visual cortex, and auditory cortex of the brain. I attempt to be sensitive to natural stages of cognitive development in my every day lessons. My face illuminates at the sound of a talking classroom (on task discussion of course) because I know language development is directly tied to reasoning, critical thinking, reading and writing abilities. WBT allows for language enrichment which aids me in activating Wernicke’s area and Broca’s area of the brain. Children are naturally predisposed to be more emotional thinkers than logical thinkers due to their immature prefrontal cortexes. In the classroom, every action and thought is presented as a choice, which allows me to activate the prefrontal cortex of their brains. I do not punish but rather discuss their choices and repercussions of those choices. We practice behaviors as needed and hold academies for rehearsals. I adore the fact the WBT encourages students at all ages to think for themselves! I attempt to appeal to their reasoning by means of positive interactions and intrinsic rewards. Unfortunately, I have fallen victim to the “treasure box” and “treat baskets” found in many classroom towards the end of the school year. I, like the slug, fell into the trap of habituation as I struggled to enforce a no longer stimulating management system. WBT keeps the management system fresh and engaging in a way that will allow me to remain positive and rewarding without having to turn to the tangible sweets. With the biopsychological model in mind, I attempt to appeal to the mind’s more positive emotional reactions to rewards and refrain from the negative punishments that may cause those emotional mood swings. In kindergarten, I tend to see the embodiment of these negative responses in the form of tantrums. The tantrums are a downward spiral that disrupt not only that student’s learning but also the learning of their peers. WBT will allow me to more consistently appeal to the students’ limbic system in an intrinsic and more positive way. I am fully intrigued by cognitive development and neuroscience. It is this interest in the brain that led me to WBT. Although, I strive to activate many areas of the brain, WBT will allow me to become even more brain friendly.
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to make a side note to those of you who are big reading nerds like me. A couple of years ago, my journey to Teaching Heaven crossed the path of two amazing behavioral psychologists by the names of Ray Levy, Ph.D., and Bill O'Hanlon, M.S., L.M.F.T. Together, with Tyler Norris Goode, these men wrote a book titled Try and Make Me! I know that it is aimed toward childing rearing, but I found it tramendously helpful when interacting with my "tough" students year in and year out. It directly relates to the limbic system and prefrontal cortex by means of choices and positive interactions. Not to mention that it is laugh out loud funny! I give it a 10 finger and 10 toe WHOOO!!!You should look it up!!!!
ReplyDeleteJennifer,
ReplyDeleteGreat explanation of how you engage your students' brains! Here are 25 certification points for you!
Looking back, my students rarely visited the area of the Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area. I believe there were many times I was the “Charlie Brown teacher”. (I told that once to a reading consultant who was working in our school. Needless to say, I got into a bit of trouble for saying what the other teachers were feeling!) I stood in front of the classroom and did the talking. Fortunately for me, I know that it is one area that I need to work on AND that it is very important for students to do the talking/learning. Enter . . . WBT.
ReplyDeleteTeach-Okay is one component of WBT that I’ve been extremely hesitant in integrating. Why, because I teach in an open concept school. I’m afraid the sound would be too distracting for neighboring classrooms. I’m hoping to find ways to implement this piece of WBT through this book club, the questions area and of course Chapter 8. I’ve realized for many years that a student being energetic in their learning has positive effects. It’s just that I‘ve been a bit apprehensive in learning techniques like Teach-Okay to control that energy in an open concept school. I do ‘turn and talk’ to your neighbor but not to the extent of Teach-Okay. So, on my professional goal list for 2013-2014 is to stimulate the visual cortex, the motor cortex, Broca’s area, Wernicke’s area AND the limbic system!
In terms of WBT I’ve mostly tapped into the prefrontal cortex and that has proven to be very successful for me in the classroom! In previous years I’ve applied the Class-Yes and was amazed at how it worked. However, I think habituation set in and I started using it less and less. I actually had a student ask me ‘Why aren’t we saying that anymore?’ I was very surprised he even noticed and possibly more surprised that I didn’t realize I wasn’t using it!
I’m beginning to better understand the relationship between the whole brain and The Big Seven, and how it all comes together in such a powerful force.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteWhole Brain Teaching techniques sets the stage for all students to be using all areas of the brain. As a new WBT teacher, I plan on implementing all techniques. Using gestures will come easy as I know Sign Language and am very energetic. A challenge for me will be to shorten the lesson to smaller chunks before I ask student to Teach-Okay. As stated in chapter 5 of Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids, our short term memory needs information to be chunked. To accomplish this I will need to put breaks into my lessons where to stop and add a Teach-okay.
DeleteLast year I used gestures during spelling dictation by breaking them into syllables. This was followed by writing them in parts. Students were using only their Wernicke area of the brain. Their voices or gestures were not included in the learning process. Had I used WBT, asking students to mirror and teach-okay, students would have been using visual cortex, motor cortex, Broca, and Wernicke areas of their brain.
Chapter 5 provided insight to why some of my students did not perform well in spelling. They were only partially engaged in the initial process. This next year begins with the 5 Rules followed by frequent Mirror-mirror, and Teach-Okay. I am for activating all the brain and having student mirror positive behavior.
Diana Galloway
Mrs. C,
DeleteOut of the mouths of babes! I think when students request different parts of WBT, that is the biggest indicator this whole program works! To work within your open classroom concept, try using a Volume Meter. Instead of teaching your kids to be "loud and proud", teach them to be quiet but exuberant. They can whisper or speak in a low voice and still gesture with great enthusiasm. I know there are other teachers who use WBT in a classroom like yours. I might even suggest posting a note on the Forum so you could all discuss how this is handled more intricately. Here are your 25 certification points!
Diana,
DeleteI can't wait for you to read the Bonus Chapter about the 5 step lesson plan! It will help you put your thoughts into what you are actually going to teach your students. It sounds like WBT will be new in your classroom. How will this be different in activating the parts of the brain compared to how you taught this past year? This is an important part of this prompt. Also, watch out for those sneaky writing errors. Here are 10 certification points for you!
Amazingly, many of the Whole Brain Teaching techniques are the same as a dyslexia therapy program I just completed. The research, including brain scans of dyslexic students trying to read, confirms much of this multisensory approach to teaching. In dyslexia therapy we strive to engage the motor cortex, visual cortex, Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas, mirror neurons, and increasing dendrites. Until I worked through the 800 hour practicum in dyslexia therapy, I didn’t have any idea how important it was to engage multiple areas of the brain. I have used multisensory teaching in the special education classroom successfully, but inconsistently.
ReplyDeleteThe usual daily classroom routine included some lecture, some discussion, some worksheets, and a barely motivated class. It used the visual cortex, Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas, but little else. Obviously, it couldn’t activate much learning but did activate much creative disruption (hello, immature pre-frontal cortex and limbic system). Once in a while, I could find a lesson that added the motor cortex and some teamwork, so we all had a great day.
The dyslexia therapy students, using multisensory teaching techniques, experience incredible success. The repetition, the quick changes in lesson elements, large motor skill elements, and small incremental steps all lead to basically reprogramming the brain to use the right parts of brain in phonological processing, leading to reading fluency.
Whole Brain Teaching is on that same path and is providing me a structure to teach any class more effectively than I ever have. The additional understanding of brain science broken down in Chapter 5 will enhance my efforts in teaching reading in special education and dyslexia therapy.
Russ,
DeleteSo good that you could make such a solid connection between WBT and your area of expertise! Here are 25 certification points for you!
As a substitute teacher, I have had the opportunity to try out Class-Yes, which activates the prefrontal cortex, which helps switch the brain on so I could quickly grab their attention! I also had the opportunity to try out the Scoreboard, which activated the limbic system when I gave them a smiley or frowny face on the scoreboard.
ReplyDeleteI am looking most forward to trying out Teach-Okay when I get a class of my own. Teach-Okay keeps children completely engaged as it is energetic and fun. It engages them as they use gestures while teaching and listening to their partner. Teach-Okay uses five areas of the brain: visual cortext (where they see the gestures), motor cortex (where they make the gestures), Broca's area (where they verbalize a lesson), Wernicke's area (where they hear a lesson), and the limbic system (which gives emotional content to the lesson). At times I know that I talk a lot and lose my students. I need to work on talking less, which Teach-Okay and the 5 Step Lesson Plan will enable me to do.
Brian Hopkins
Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings
Brian,
DeleteIsn't it amazing that substitutes can use this during their day as well? I would encourage you to try the Teach-Okay when you sub. It only takes a few minutes to introduce to get them to a point where it is workable for that day. Don't worry if it's not perfect. It will be far better than "worksheeting" them to death! Here are your 25 certification points!
Kate,
DeleteI agree as I hate worksheeting them to death. The only problem is the district says I have to follow the teacher's lesson plans so if I have worksheets to give out, I have to do them. :( Hoping to get that dream job next year and can then teach as I please!
Brian
In reflecting on my teaching tendencies, I realize I use Broca's area (speaking) and Wernicke's area (listening), the prefrontal cortex, and limbic system most often. However, I love and often use "Teach-Okay" with my students, and am happy to learn that activates all areas of the brain! I started using Whole Brain Teaching last year and my students responded well to the short chunks of instruction followed by time to talk to their partner and repeat, repeat, repeat! My students grew dendrites!! I engaged the Broca's and Wernicke's areas often as my students shared their thinking and listened to their buddies ideas all day long. I put my students' prefrontal cortex to work through my frequent use of "Class-Yes" and the Scoreboard. Additionally, this activated their limbic system too (I used the Super Improvers' Wall daily).
ReplyDeleteThe brain areas I neglected most were the motor cortex and the visual cortex. I need to get those areas working in my students! Through reading this book and attending the National WBT Conference, I realize the need to increase my use of gestures while teaching skills and concepts. This will allow my students' brains to be visual stimulated as they view my and their partners' gestures, while engaging their motor cortex in demonstrating the movements. I used many gestures on my reading power pix wall and have the goal of using the math power pix plus more this year! Along similar lines, I also would like to incorporate more "mirror," "mirror with words," and "magic mirror" into my instruction. I used "mirror" last year and my students greatly enjoyed it! I know sign language and often found myself using the sign for any gestures I didn't know. My students even began making up their own gestures! I see power in activating the motor and visual cortex this way, and am committed to using this technique more frequently next year.
At the WBT conference, I loved the way Deb explained the different parts of the brain. I plan to teach this to my second graders next year as I introduce the different techniques!
Good comparison of where you have been and where you are going! Definitely teach the parts of the brain to your students. It helps them understand why we do what we do. :) In your 2nd paragraph you have one tiny error. Here are 20 certification points for you plus 5 BONUS POINTS for a well thought out response.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! I am very curious about the error, just because my friend is an editor and reviewed it before I submitted. Thanks so much! :)
DeleteThanks for asking. The word "visual" should be "visually". :)
DeleteThis question really got me thinking. It’s quite a tough one to answer as I have faithfully implemented the techniques of Whole Brain Teaching in my classroom and they have worked superbly! The difference I see in my teaching and in my students learning makes me want to cry tears of joy on daily basis.
ReplyDeleteBefore I knew that the incredible instructional delivery method of Whole Brain Teaching existed, the areas I was most likely to activate in my students were the visual cortex and motor cortex. I myself am a visual learner and after lacing my fingers together, as I was instructed to in this awesome chapter, and wiggling my thumbs, I was able to visualize which area of the brain the visual cortex occupies. I teach a second language to English speaking children and to enhance my lessons I would make lots of visual props and use hand movements to go along with the new vocabulary that I was teaching.
The First Great Law of Whole Brain Teaching: The longer we talk, the more students we lose, was a real I opener for me. Before I learned this, the area of the brain that I would least activate in my students was Broca’s area. Of course once I learned Teach-Okay, a most incredible and powerful language development skill, that all changed. I absolutely LOVE watching my students teach each other. They are incredibly engaged and their voices fill the room with the sweet sounds of learning. Due to this incredible technique, my students have far surpassed my expectations in all areas of the curriculum this year.
Rivky,
DeleteGood reflection about your teaching style. I would like to know more about how you activated the visual and motor cortices in your classroom prior to WBT. Give us a little more critical thinking with regard to evaluating the ideas in the prompt. Also, check your final paragraph for a spelling error. Here are 10 certification points for you!
I have been implementing WBT for a month now, so there have been some changes in how I teach and how my students' learn. Being a teacher of primary children, I routinely use the Limbic system, motor cortex, Wernicke’s and hippocampus parts of the brain during teaching. Incorporating emotions, music (with some gestures), memory and repetition along with listening have been my daily way of teaching. Now however, I use as much of the brain as I possibly can. The student engagement and using the Big Seven in our class room have been nothing short of amazing. Knowing the areas of the brain I am activating while teaching is very exciting and motivating. Let those bushy dendrites grow! I have been routinely preparing my lessons in chunks and applying the Teach Okay and the Mirror technique. Who would have ever guessed, we could do so much in one simple exercise? This technique exercises 4 parts of the brain, seeing (visual cortex), saying (Broca’s area), hearing (auditory cortex) and doing (motor cortex).
ReplyDeleteMy personal weakness at this point would be, using the motor cortex because I do not naturally teach using so many gestures. I enjoy challenging myself, finding fun useful ways of incorporating the gestures into the lesson plan. I have a much better understanding of how to use the whole brain, while teaching and how it can affect the out-come of long term memory. My goal this year will be to plan, practice and implement more of what I am learning with Whole Brain Teaching. Seeing all the smiles and laughter as we learn, has me excited about teaching again.
Julie,
DeleteGood reflection about your classroom's strengths and weaknesses. I would be interested to hear what you see as the biggest differences between your "old" style of teaching and WBT. Here are 25 certification points for you!
In my classroom pre-WBT I can say I definitely did not activate many parts of my students' brains simultaneously. Sure, I targeted different modalities with various activities throughout the day, but definitely not all together and definitely not effectively. Because I am visual and verbal, I tend to target the visual cortex with visual aids like PowerPoint, Prezi, or Mimio files on the computer and anchor charts around the room on large poster paper. I also am fairly adept (as most teachers are) at talking a LOT (too much even)and activating Wernike's area. During my first year of teaching I learned about turn-and-talk and have been using it ever since. It targets Broca's area, but I definitely don't use it as often as I should. I have also noticed that during plain turn-and-talk, most students fall into either the listening or talking category, and do not get practice in both.
ReplyDeleteOnce I began to implement WBT into my classroom, Teach-Okay became an INSTANT hit with my kiddos, and they love it every year. I love using Switch! to ensure that everyone gets an opportunity to both talk and listen, thus activating BOTH Broca's and Wernike's areas instead of only one. The scoreboard is also amazing at jolting their limbic systems to get their attention and help them zoom in on their learning. Class-Yes and Hands and Eyes are also very powerful. Even teachers at my school who aren't completely on the WBT train use these two things, since they hear me say them so frequently. It is VERY common to hear Class-Yes from anywhere in my school and every student knows how to respond. By adding Hands and Eyes to that when you have a superbly important announcement, or especially during instruction, the students eliminate distractions and put their prefrontal cortex in charge, allowing them to make rational decisions and focus on learning.
As I continue to more deeply implement WBT I need to work on my gestures. I naturally talk with my hands, but not in a "productive" way that helps to show meaning. My kids are typically better at the gestures than I am; therefore, I learn from them and use their gestures from year to year. By adding the gestures I can more fully target the motor cortex, improving overall student engagement and content retention. Once I add that to my growing WBT repertoire, I know that even more challenging behaviors can be avoided because my kiddos' brains become even busier on the task and the learning at hand! With all of these techniques combined, I feel like this year I am on the road to Teacher Heaven!!
Addie,
DeleteThis is a great post showing both your strengths and weaknesses associated with the brain area. Ten finger rolling woo to you! Here are 25 Certification Points, plus 5 BONUS POINTS for a very thoughtful and reflective post.
Why do people get x-rays? People generally get x-rays when something does not feel right. But again, why an x-ray? The answer is quite simple, to see what is not visible to the naked eye. Well, if we could take x-rays of our students’ brains while we are teaching, what would we see? Would we see a lot of activity or would we see parts of the brain sitting there dormant?
ReplyDeleteAs teachers we spend hours planning and preparing lessons that we think our students will just absorb. You know the ones with picture-filled power points and interactive study guides. The ones where every minute of the lesson is packed full of all the skills, facts, and terms necessary to “pass the test.” That x-ray may show all parts of the brain are actively involved at some point of the lesson, but as teachers our goal should be to have the whole brain active throughout the entire lesson.
I had the unique opportunity to introduce whole brain teaching to my students the last quarter of the year. So I had first-hand knowledge of how whole brain lessons compared to my traditional lessons. Before WBT, I used power points and study guides to introduce lessons which activated the visual cortex and Wernicke’s area. Then, as the unit went on, I added some picture or word sorts or some other type of hands-on activities that engaged the motor and visual cortex. After that, I assigned a writing assignment which had the students tell why the skills or concepts taught were important to everyday life. This got several areas of the brain engaged especially the prefrontal cortex and the motor cortex. I concluded with the students orally presenting their written assignments which stimulated Broca’s area and the limbic system since I had a very animated class that loved to perform. I feel that throughout the unit, the whole brain was involved. However, after creating lessons that were centered on the WBT 5-Step Lesson Plan, I realized the injustice I was doing to not only my students, but also to me. All of a sudden, I became a teacher and not just a presenter. I knew I was more effective in the classroom when my students began asking me to do “that stuff” again. When I asked what they meant and they responded, “Teach us in that fun way; the way that we get to teach each other,” I knew I had made a change for the better. When it came time to “pass the test,” I again knew that I had made a good change.
After a careful review of the before x-ray, the one before whole brain lessons, and the after x-ray, the one with a dose of whole brain teaching, it is obvious that WBT is just what the doctor order. As the prescription states, “Continue using daily until funtricity takes over the class and continue using as long as you want to be in teacher heaven.”
Spaces between paragraphs got lost in transferring it over. I guess next time I need to double space between paragraphs.
ReplyDeleteNewly Energized,
DeleteWhat an excellent response! I love the comparison to the x-ray. You have one little typo in the last paragraph (order/ordered). Here are 20 certification points plus 5 BONUS POINTS for you!
Any suggestions on an proofreading program. I used 2 different grammar check programs and it did not pick the mistake up. After reading this so many times, I know what it is supposed to say and just missed it. I even proofread backwards. But thanks for the bonus!! :)
ReplyDeleteHmmm... I have only used MS Word and Pages so I'm not sure which other program to suggest. Perhaps a 2nd set of eyes? If you know of someone who has good grammar skills you could have them look it over. Sometimes it's also good to let it sit for a day and then come back to it (if you don't do that already.) Don't be discouraged by one little typo. That is a small thing and there are plenty of points to be had! I admire that you are putting extra effort into making your posts flawless! Keep up the great work!
DeleteBefore discovering Whole Brain Teaching, I was a typical teacher who did way too much talking and my students did way too much pretending to listen. Now that WBT is such an integral part of my classroom, my students' whole brain lights up during lessons. It is a remarkable feeling to know that their learning experiences are so enhanced by teaching the Whole Brain way.
ReplyDeleteEveryday in my classroom, Class-Yes, Teach-Okay, Mirrors, and Switch permeate the lessons. The prefrontal cortex is engaged hundreds of times a day as the brain is switched on and readied to learn. Teach-Okay awakens several different brain areas. The visual cortex focuses on watching and interpreting the gestures made by partners. As students make the gestures, their motor cortex lights up. By verbalizing the lesson, the brain's Broca's area fires. Since pairs are talking to each other, the Wernicke's area is also stimulated. As with Teach-Okay, Mirrors activates mirror neurons scattered throughout the brain as the teacher and students engage in mimicking gestures and words. By utilizing Switch, students are required to switch from one brain area to another, verbal (Broca's) to auditory (Wernicke's) and vise versa.
In the past year, I believe the area that was least activated was the limbic system. Learning to effectively and fluidly use the scoreboard has been a struggle. In lessons that I successfully utilized smiley and frowny points, students were highly engaged. I could really get them excited with positive points or redirect their enthusiasm with frowny points. Learning to give up the idea that the students earn points was difficult. Once I embraced the scoreboard as a way to manipulate the energy in the class, my skill to activate the limbic system increased. My goal is to activate this part of the brain of my students by consistently using the scoreboard with its levels to avoid habituation.
Karen,
DeleteYou are not alone in underutilizing the Scoreboard! Beginning users of WBT techniques don't always realize the strength of this tool. Your highly detailed post has earned you 25 points and a Bonus of 5 more!
As a language teacher, I believe I am most often activating Wernicke’s area and Broca’s area--definitely left brain! Students hear and speak a lot of Spanish, as well as some English for directions. Students also sing a lot, as I find songs to be a useful way to teach vocabulary and even some grammar concepts.
ReplyDeleteI use a lot of videos, pictures, and objects which activate the visual cortex. These are often accompanied by songs. Elena Mannes in her book: The Power of Music: Pioneering Discoveries in the New Science of Song (Walker & Co.), contends that music stimulates more parts of the brain than any other human function.
The area of the brain that I feel I activate inconsistently is the motor cortex. This is especially challenging because my class periods are 45 minutes long. I feel I do this well with my youngest students (2nd grade). I build in small and large motor movement into my lessons. As my students get older, I have fewer opportunities for them to move. I started using the WBT gestures that go with the rules, teach-OK, and mirror with all grades. I need to increase the movement in the lessons for all grades. I plan to do this by increasing gestures for vocabulary items. I already use them for weather and I’ve found them to be very helpful.
Senora Keith,
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to hear about the results with your older students after you institute more gestures into their instruction! Nice job! Here are 25 points for you!
This year I jumped headfirst into Whole Brain Teaching, so I think, no, I know my teaching tendencies changed. Before, I was most likely to activate the Wernicke’s area and the visual cortex of the brain. My students had to listen and learn. Alongside with that, I would write on the board, or use a smart board, or give out a study guide that would engage students’ visual cortexes. Now don’t get me wrong, there was some repetition of facts or sometimes there were sayings or songs to help students to remember, but it was not consistent through all learning. None of these were to the level of repetition as done in Whole Brain Teaching. Remembering any of what was learned for any length of time was mostly short term for my students.
ReplyDeleteI was least likely to activate the prefrontal cortex. Students had not much need for reasoning or decision making. At our school, we do have constructed response questions on our tests where some thinking is involved, but we usually had gone over something similar to it in class prior to the test.
This year I was cognizant of using the whole brain to teach. I was most amazed in how much students loved teaching each other. Of course on Bloom’s Taxonomy, teaching is the highest level of learning, so it makes sense that the students would get the most out of this. I think this is so because it utilizes the most areas of your brain. I will continue, this year, to use gestures, repetition, mirror, switch, class-ok, teach, the class rules, and more to activate all of the areas of the brain.
Lisa,
ReplyDeleteGood reflection of the differences between teaching with and without WBT. I believe you will be amazed at how well your students craft answers on those tests if you use the critical thinking piece of WBT throughout the year. Here are 25 certification points for you!
If I want to understand which areas of the brain I am most likely to naturally activate in my students, I first must look at how I like to learn. I have discovered over the years that I learn best (or am most comfortable in learning) when my motor cortex, visual cortex, and Broca's area are activated. This means that I can do just fine without fully activating or engaging my prefrontal cortex, Wernicke's area, or limbic system. This reflection is important because it is easy to assume that the students I teach think and learn like me. This kind of thinking would guide me into teaching my students only in the way that I like to learn and in activating only those areas of the brain. This is actually one of the great mistakes that teachers can make. Every person "likes" to learn differently. For this reason alone I can sell anyone on how awesome Whole Brain Teaching is.
ReplyDeleteAs a reflective teacher I am always asking myself the question of "did I engage all of my students and did they learn for the long term?" WBT helps me to be sure that my answer is yes, most of the time (I am human after all.)
When I began teaching I was not aware that I was doing this disservice to my students. What I was aware of though was that I was not engaging all of my students while I was "teaching". This, along with behavior management problems, caused me to search for a better way. I have been studying Whole Brain Teaching for 3 years so now I make a very conscious effort to activate all areas of my students' brains. For the most part I begin with the limbic system and from there work toward activating all the other areas. My lessons are very lively and sometimes a little loud but most of the time I have 100% student engagement and my students tend to remember the content for the long haul.
Even though Whole Brain Teaching gives me the tools to activate all the parts of the brain through my lessons, I still have to remember that I have a preference. If I am not paying attention or if I am impulse teaching I will have the tendency to activate only the motor cortex, the visual cortex, and the Broca's area.
~ Sarah King
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteGreat honest reflection about your teaching tendencies! It is so true that teachers tend to instruct in the manner which they learn best. Isn't it wonderful that with WBT, no student falls through the black hole? Here are your 25 certification points!
Because I am primarily a visual-kinesthetic learner, my lesson plans are highly geared toward the visual and kinesthetic learners. When I first started teaching, I knew I was reaching the visual and auditory learners. (Though I didn’t know it at the time, I was teaching to the visual cortex and Wernicke’s area.) I provided lots of visuals and realia (real-life examples or pictures of what we were learning, an ESL term) in my lessons, and I used descriptive language as I talked about the visuals. I was stumped as how to reach my kinesthetic learners.
ReplyDeleteWhen I found WBT, I was thrilled with the Mirror and the Teach-Okay. Now I felt I was involving all of the learning styles. Now the motor cortex was engaged! Not only that, but so was the visual cortex, Broca’s area, Wernicke’s area, and the limbic system. And implementing Mirror and Teach-Okay was what I felt made my test scores skyrocket.
Looking forward into next year, a goal my school has is activating the prefrontal cortex. We want to do this by creating math tasks for students to work through. They take a real-life situation and work in groups with little to no teacher instruction to solve the problem. I can also take this prefrontal cortex reasoning, planning, and decision making into literature discussion groups and science experiments. This is the area I find the hardest to activate because I love to talk. I’m really going to have to rein myself in (30 seconds of talking!) in order to allow the students to buy into their own learning through inquiry and discussion.
(Perhaps I should get a giant timer in the back of my room with 30 seconds always on the clock. I need motivation and reminders!)
Meredith Pearson
Meredith,
ReplyDeleteAnother great post! WBT extends across the board to reach all of our students' learning styles in dynamic ways! Here are 25 points and 5 point Bonus!
In my teaching, the brain areas I am most likely to activate are the visual cortex and Wernicke’s area. I use many PowerPoint activities with my class, some that they look at, others that are for me to look at while students’ backs are turned. I talk a lot (more than I should, I’m learning). I have taught with Whole Brain Teaching for one very successful year, and I incorporated quite a bit of students teaching one another into my lessons, activating Broca’s area. The areas of the brain I incorporate in my classroom more sporadically are the prefrontal cortex and the motor cortex. I honestly forget to use mirror and to talk with gestures. I am planning my curriculum to more fully incorporate PowerPix with their corresponding gestures and planned gestures for students to mirror. This way, I don’t have to think of gestures (which don’t come naturally) on the fly. I need to remember that, although I am a largely visual and auditory learner, my students are not me. I also need to remember that after I learned my rules and taught them to my class, when a co-worker asked me what they were, I COULD NOT tell her without making the gestures! Such a powerful learning tool definitely needs to be incorporated more fully! Using Class/Yes helps to activate the prefrontal cortex, but I need to remember to vary the tone and have student leaders have their turns to participate to avoid habituation. This will also amp up students’ limbic systems, which is the brain area that is most difficult for me to remember to activate.
ReplyDeleteSigned, Jeni Anderson
DeleteJeni,
DeleteGood reflection about the brain areas and your teaching style. Keep working towards Teacher Heaven. Practice will make permanent! I can't wait for you to read the chapter about the 5 step lesson plan. It will help you progress to where you want to be. Here are your 25 certification points!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, even though the motor cortex represents, “the brain's most reliable memory area” (p. 19), this is the area of the brain that I am least likely to activate in my students. As a librarian, I often shy away from using movement in the teaching of my students, with the exception of my early primary students. However, upon reflecting on the instances when I have used movement in my teaching, it has indeed been very successful.
ReplyDeleteOver the years I have used a little rhyme that has some sign language movements that go along with it to prepare students to attend to our read-aloud story. As the year progresses I find it often falls to the wayside, even though students will often remind me that, “we didn't sing the song”. I have discovered that the early primary students are crazy about finger plays (songs or poems with accompanying movements), such as “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”, and they never seem to tire of repeating them. It is clear to me that I need to use movement in all the grades that I teach, up to and including 8th grade. Even though I fear that the middle-school students might think that it's “babyish” and refuse to participate, I need to make a concerted effort to regularly include movement in my lessons, especially since the motor cortex is so critical for remembering and hence learning.
The areas that I am most likely to activate in my primary students are the Broca's area, used for speaking, the Wernicke's area for listening and understanding language, and the visual cortex, often referred to as the “seeing brain”. Since I am a childrens' librarian, I often teach reading using picture books for read-alouds, which involve projecting the book onto a screen so that all of the students can enjoy the wonderful illustrations. Through some combination of my reading and/or my students reading along silently and/or aloud with me, we read the story together. We often stop and analyze the pictures to augment our understanding of the text, for example by making inferences or predictions about the story based upon the Illustrations and what we have read so far.
Because non-fiction books play an important part of teaching at all grade-levels, and since pictures are an important part of understanding the non-fiction text through text elements like captions, diagrams, or charts, students are regularly using their visual cortices to help them make sense of the information they read and see. And finally, when my students do research, I have the students present what they have learned in some sort of a visual format, be it creating a short animation, a power point book, or perhaps a digital poster. Students work in pairs and/or small groups to complete this work, so in addition to activating the visual cortex, they are also listening and speaking to one another during the creation as well as the presentation of these culminating activities, engaging both the Broca's and Wernicke's areas of the brain.
Heidi,
DeleteNice job determining what brain areas you already utilize within your students and where you need to put more effort. Here are your 25 certification points!
July 7, 2013
ReplyDeleteThis is a good question to really examine the areas of the brain I have actually activated in my students.
This past year was my first year teaching 1st grade. I was so worried about missing pieces in the assigned curriculum I think I was more a Charlie Brown teacher (blah, blah, blah), spewing out information but not really offering much more. Based on this, I think I mainly activated the Wernicke and Broca areas of the brain with a little sprinkle of visual cortex and limbic system mixed in. After reading and rereading this chapter I can see why I had so many behavior problems with my previous class resulting in loss of key learning time. I only utilized the motor cortex when I gave my students “brain breaks”. Since I wasn’t activating my students’ prefrontal cortex, the students were using it to make poor behavior decisions. I am a visual learner and had great plans to have visual cues to go along with my instruction. Being a new teacher in 1st grade, I felt like I was in front of a fire hose with all this information coming at me and I was barely keeping my head above water getting through everything and trying to keep the chaos down. I didn’t utilize visual cues as I had hoped to. Now that I have had a year working with the assigned curriculum and participating in the book study this summer, I will definitely be changing my instruction so that all areas of the brain are activated. I discovered WBT at the end of the school year. I practiced the class/yes but was not consistent. I have learned how important this will be when implementing WBT. I already had class rules so I didn’t change them the last month of school, but will be using WBT rules next year. As with class/yes, I tried the scoreboard and feel this will be the only way to go in the future for motivation and on task behavior of the students. I had dipped my toe in the teach/okay water but really didn’t do it correctly. I did not even try the hands/eyes, mirror nor the switch yet. Now that I have a deeper understanding, I will be making sure that I activate all areas of my student’s brains next year. The more I learn and understand about WBT, the more I can’t wait to get started.
Terri,
DeleteGood understanding of how traditional education works the brain vs. WBT. I think you will be amazed at the difference in your students as you use more and more WBT. Here are your 25 certification points!
When looking at my own teaching tendencies, I have 2 definite strengths and 2 areas that are less likely to be engaged.
ReplyDeleteThe areas that I'm most likely to activate in my students are Broca's area (speaking) and the limbic system (emotions). I've always allowed students in any of my classrooms to be able to discuss what we are learning. I've always believed that students who teach each other remember more of what was taught. Talking has always been a major component of my classroom, but now with the WBT structure it will be more successful. I'm emotionally involved in my kids as well. Every morning I meet my students at the door and ask them questions about themselves. "How was your baseball game? Did you enjoy the weekend with at your dad's?" After reading and researching WBT I now have a better understanding of the limbic system and how it connects to the prefrontal cortex.
The prefrontal cortex is an area that is least likely to be activated in my classroom along with the motor cortex. This year, my class will be doing a lot of Mirror and Teach-Okay! Thanks to WBT my students' whole brain will be activated and engaged during the whole lesson. Not just one area at a time, but altogether. When my students hear 'Teach-Okay' their prefrontal cortex will be activated, they will be listening to their partner (Wernicke's area), seeing gestures (visual cortex), making gestures (motor cortex), mirror their partner's words (Broca's area), and when their gestures are big and dramatic they are having fun (limbic system)! As I look at my teaching tendencies I realize that although I do have strengths and weaknesses WBT will help me activate ALL areas of the brain. YES!
Sara,
ReplyDeleteIt is important to recognize gaps in daily classroom instruction. Your post today contained grammar mistakes. One example is, "Did you enjoy the weekend with at your dad's?" Another example involved verb agreement, "When my students hear 'Teach-Okay' their prefrontal cortex will be activated, they will be listening to their partner (Wernicke's area), seeing gestures (visual cortex), making gestures (motor cortex), mirror their partner's words (Broca's area), and when their gestures are big and dramatic they are having fun (limbic system)!" Here are 10 points.
I remember as a child and college student being lectured to. I was bored out of my mind and really had no idea what the teacher was talking about. I didn’t want to be a teacher like that, but it seems I have fell into the same pattern because of time. But now that I have the foundation of WBT I am looking forward to a classroom where all students are engaged.
ReplyDeleteThe area of the brain my students use most is the cortex and visual. Teaching Kindergarten, throughout the day, I use many songs and poems with gestures.
The area that my students use the least is the Wemicke and Broca. I don’t offer my students the opportunity to talk to each other sharing what they have learned.
After attending the conference this summer, watching webcast and this book study, I am looking forward to implementing WBT in my classroom where all students will be engaged.
Lori,
ReplyDeleteMany of us can relate to your story of growing up in a traditional classroom. You mentioned you use the cortex most with your kids. I was wondering which cortex you meant, pre-frontal, motor, or visual. Give us more information on your statements. Why are the Broca's and Wernicke's areas used the least? We are looking for college level literacy in our responses so don't be shy about including strong explanations! Lookout for those writing errors, too. (..it seems I have fell into the same pattern..) Here are 10 certification points.
I used Whole Brain Teaching methods all year last year and I would say that my students were actively using all of their brain areas the majority of the time. This is easy to see as I walk through the room and experience their learning! No longer are they glassy eyed and doodling. I love that as they participate in “Class-Yes” they are switching their brains on to learn, using the prefrontal cortex. During my favorite activity, “Teach-Okay”, they are learning from each other, using gestures for vocabulary and concepts, all the while moving information into their long term memory through repetition. In that one activity we are activating their visual cortex as they see their partner, motor cortex as they gesture, Broca’s area as they teach, Wernicke’s area as they listen, and even their limbic system as they connect to their partner as they learn. Wow! We use the “Mirror” throughout the day often, and my favorite is when the students are able to stand in front of the class and lead this. When we use the scoreboard we are connecting to those emotions again using the limbic system. As I type this I realize what a change this has made in my classroom environment! How wonderful that these kids can be so engaged and have fun while learning! Although I have always previously included songs and video clips in my lessons, I feel that adding all of the motor cortex enhancing gestures has taken the class to a whole new level of brain activation, moving my class from the past of sitting, looking and listening, to up and moving and actively learning!
ReplyDeleteMichelle Shelton
Michelle,
ReplyDeleteNice reflection on your use of specific brain areas in your classroom instruction. WBT and high student engagement go hand in hand! Here are 25 points for you!
In the past I have looked at research about the different types of learner: visual, auditory and kinaesthetic. I know that I myself am an auditory learner - I talk and talk about things and listen to lectures. Perhaps that’s why I became a teacher?! But I realise that my job, as a facilitator for learning, is to help my students grow no matter what sort of learner they are. In fact, in spite of what sort of learner they are. Although I have always had a tendency to focus on the Broca and Wernicke areas of the brain, I have come to realise that that is what works for me, not necessarily for my students.
ReplyDeleteI think it is much more helpful to let students experience all sorts of learning activities and that is one of the reasons why Whole Brain Teaching excites me so much. Here we have mirroring actions (and children creating new gestures) that develops the motor cortex - bringing on board those kinaesthetic learners. We see repeated actions by both teacher and student, backed up with ‘Power Pix’ that excite the visual cortex for those types of learners. Of course there is always talking, my area of choice - but now in bite size chunks that are easier to remember, rather than a lecture. Just what the auditory learners require!
Through all this, each and every student is experiencing the learning in, not just the way that helps them to remember, but in all ways, making them a much more rounded learner. I am so excited to be introducing this in my classroom and I look forward to building dendrites throughout the year along with them!
Laura Ward
Laura,
ReplyDeleteGood thinking about the areas of the brain as it relates to traditional education and WBT. Here are 25 certification points!
Using Whole Brain Teaching has allowed me to realize there were many parts of the brain I needed to reach. In my own teaching, I activate the visual cortex and Wernicke’s area often. My downfall comes from activation of the motor cortex and Broca’s area.
ReplyDeleteIn my lessons, I tend to use many PowerPoint slides with pictures and explanation from me or videos of topics being covered. These are great for getting the visual cortex in tune with the listening area of the brain, but lack the involvement of so many other areas. These missing areas can potentially be a cause for students to miss important information.
Since the visual and listening areas are targeted, students get fidgety. I know now that the problem lies in the lack of activation in movement and personal verbalizing of the material being presented. To work these into lessons, it will be important for me to ask students to talk with their partners about what they saw and heard with enthusiastic gestures. Then, I can select pairs to share their thoughts with the class as a whole to bring the key components together.
This school year, I plan to still incorporate the videos and pictures as I have in the past, but I will be sure to focus on having the students actively express what they have taken from those items. Doing so will allow me to better judge what my students are gathering and what important topics I may need to reinforce.
Julie Gustin aka Southern Teacher
Julie,
DeleteNice reflection on your lesson strengths and weaknesses in terms of brain use. Here are 25 points for you!
After reading Chapter 5, I realize how little I understood about the different areas of the brain and their roles in learning. I teach reading to 3rd grade students who have mild to moderate learning disabilities, so I have included things like brain gym and brain breaks in my daily classroom schedule. I provide my students with frequent breaks and opportunities to move around, but I have never included physical movement with instruction.
ReplyDeleteI believe that all students will be more engaged learners with the Big 7, but I am thrilled to think of the possibilities with my students who mostly “HATE” school by reaching the 3rd grade.
I think I most likely activate the visual cortex and Broca’s area. Using pictures, images, and video clips I try to involve students’ visual cortex through sight. I also encourage students to repeat short words and phrases and utilize Broca’s area of the brain. While utilizing these two areas are important to learning, the whole brain should be involved!
Activating students’ prefrontal cortex, Wernicke’s area and the motor cortex have been more difficult for me. I believe that WBT’s Big 7 are going to help me activate my students’ whole brain more often. Teach-okay sessions involvement of 5 areas of the brain is exciting to me because I realize I have not been a teacher who have involved the whole brain.
I am so thankful that I discovered this teaching method. I am looking to the coming school year with GREAT excitement!
Gena Parkison
Gena,
ReplyDeleteWhole brain will be excellent for not only getting your students to learn more but to enjoy school! Dig deeper and tell us more about why using the Big 7 will be beneficial for your kids. Be careful of those writing errors. (I realize I have not been a teacher who have involved the whole brain.) Here are 20 certification points!
When teaching I rely most heavily on activities that stimulate the visual cortex and Broca’s area of the brain. There are also times when Wernicke’s area is being stimulated during a lesson.
ReplyDeleteTraditionally, I have tried to do my best to not present a “boring” lesson to my students. I try to introduce a lesson/concept with a question to help me assess what my students know already or have retained from previous lessons. Then, I try to have a portion of the class dedicated to reading about the current subject/concept and practicing using the skill we’re learning about through a written activity. And finally, I almost ALWAYS try to incorporate an interactive SmartBoard activity.
After reading chapter five however, I do see at least one major flaw with my past teaching practices. I rarely use activities that stimulate the motor cortex. The flaw in this is that ideally I would like my students to learn from my lessons and the motor cortex is, “...the most reliable memory area.” and the one I, as a teacher have been neglecting to stimulate!
Having read chapter five and having reflected on my teaching practices, I will strive to stimulate as many areas of the brain as possible in each lesson because, “The more brain areas involved, the more dendrites are grown, the deeper and more lasting your learning.”.
Katherine,
DeleteGood reflection on your previous teaching practices! More fully utilizing the motor cortex is a great goal. It would have been great to hear your plans on doing this. Here are 20 Certification Points for you.
Reflecting on my own teaching tendencies, I have a couple areas of the brain that I am more likely and less likely to activate in my students during lessons.
ReplyDeleteI have a tendency to try and use a lot of models when appropriate and visual aids seem to help a lot of students when presenting information. Therefore, I am most likely to activate the visual cortex. While doing so, the students are seeing information in an organized way while also hearing it, thus also activating the Wernicke's area of the brain. I'm sure this is good for students, but I see myself needing to improve in areas of allowing the students to take this information and express it in their own way.
I am least likely, with my current teaching tendencies, to allow students to use the Broca's area of the brain relating to speaking. I am one of those teachers that related a quite classroom to one that is easier to focus in. Unfortunately that is probably because it is a preference of my own and not necessarily what it best for my students. I am learning that in order for the information I teach to make it to my student's long term memory that they need to be able to use as many areas of the brain as possible, even if it means sacrificing a little quite time! I think that this will allow the student's prefrontal cortex to grow by utilizing more brain areas and make them better decision makers.
Cheyanne Forbes
Cheyanne,
ReplyDeleteYou are so right! Many decisions we make, as teachers, are decisions that help us, and not necessarily help the students. Great job recognizing this! It would have been great to hear about the motor cortex too. Do you currently include activities to stimulate it? If not, how will you in the future? Be careful of small writing errors (quite/quiet). Here are 20 Certification Points for you!
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ReplyDeleteThe question for Chapter 5 is a great introspection tool for thinking about my own teaching tendencies. The brain area that I most likely activate in my students is the visual cortex (seeing), not so much gestures but visual supports such as pictures. The other areas would be Broca’s area (verbalizing a lesson), and Wernicke’s area (hearing a lesson).
DeleteThe least likely brain areas that I activate in my students are, visual cortex (seeing gestures), motor cortex (making gestures), and the limbic system (giving emotional content to a lesson). By adding to my instruction the areas of visual and motor cortex stimulation as well as giving emotional content to my lessons I will improve my students learning experiences.
By incorporating the Big Seven I will gain more student attention through the use of Class-Yes, actively involve my students in their own learning with the Teach-Okay pattern, and have five short, concise rules for my students to follow. Using Hands and Eyes will decrease distractions and Mirror will provide my special needs students with much needed repetition. Due to a large percentage of students with language delays, I am most excited to teach and observe my students using Switch and Teach-Okay to encourage language use with their peers.
According to Biffle, 2013, “The more brain areas involved, the more dendrites are grown, the deeper and more lasting your learning.” By accessing the whole brain in my teaching, I believe that more learning will take place, my students will have a happier, active role in learning, and we will all grow more dendrites.
Bethany Kirkland
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteBethany,
DeleteGood job comparing traditional teaching and WBT with regard to the brain! Here are 25 certification points.
In analyzing my traditional teaching methods I would say that I most consistently activate the visual cortex, Wernicke’s area, and Broca’s area of the brain. Because I teach kindergarten, I spend a lot of time and effort teaching basic skills such as numeral, alphabet, and sight word recognition. Of course my students use the visual cortex to see these symbols. I also use many songs and poems that go along with teaching these skills. They use the Wernicke’s area to hear and understand the language in the songs and poems and the Broca’s area in order to actually speak and sing the words. I always repeat the activities many times giving the children ample opportunities to commit these skills to long-term memory. I am a newcomer to the Whole Brain Teaching method and am very excited to implement strategies that involve and develop all areas of the brain. I believe by adding a few more elements like hand motions or dancing that I can stimulate the motor cortex and limbic system as well creating lessons that are more memorable and much more fun.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that the hardest area of the brain for me to teach is the prefrontal cortex. I think this is because I plan my lessons in advance and it is hard for me to relinquish some of that power to my students. Like many other teachers I know, I am a bit of a control freak. I sincerely hope by learning and implementing Whole Brain Teaching strategies that I can give my children more opportunities for reasoning, planning and making decisions about their learning and thus stimulate the entire brain.
Julia,
DeleteGood thoughts about brain activation! Releasing responsibility to the students is so important to learning! The sections of the book dealing with critical thinking will show you ways to put learning into the hands of the children. Here are 25 certification points!
Because I am ADD myself, I find that I am always trying to create gestures for concepts or vocabulary. In doing this I activate the motor cortex area of the brain the most. In my class we are always moving, whether it’s asking a question by going from one side of the room to another to show your answer choice, doing gestures for concepts, playing vocabulary 4 corners, or just having a brain break, we are always busy!
ReplyDeleteWhen we begin a new unit or story I create gestures for the vocabulary. For example, if we are talking about an ant colony I might have my fingers “walk” in the air to show many ants together. After going through all the vocabulary words, I will put the definition up around the room. After counting to twenty, I will give a word and anyone at that definition will sit down. From there I put the word up and give them a definition. They enjoy this and it helps them remember the words.
The brain breaks I learned when I had autistic students in my class because the behavior therapist told me it was a good way to get the energy out. We do desk push-ups, jumping jacks, Simon Says, or any number of other ways to move when we need it!
While I have tried to incorporate it more, the partner share/speaking is what I want to improve upon. That is why Whole Brain Teaching is so exciting for me. It gives me a structured way to incorporate Broca’s area of the brain. Speaking and teaching concept to a partner will really increase the students’ ability to remember what they have learned. Case and point, when I was younger math was really difficult for me. Now that I am older and have had to teach it, it is much easier. And I know all kinds of strategies that I can share with the kids!
Shannon,
ReplyDeleteYour classroom sounds fun! Do you think you will incorporate any other areas of the brain besides the motor cortex and the Broca's area? The great thing about WBT is it activates all areas of the brain on a consistent basis. Here are 25 certification points.
Whole Brain Teaching is a model that allows practitioners to involve multiple areas of the brain, simultaneously, to maximize learning retention. I find it particularly important to build from my brain’s areas of strengths, while also developing the areas of my brain that I am least likely to activate in my students. Whole Brain Teaching gives me a set of powerful tools to do just that.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I am most likely to use my pre-frontal and visual cortices when teaching. As an analytical thinker, I find that lecturing is natural to me. I enjoy giving and listening to lively and engaging lectures as well as taking copious notes. Because I am also a visual learner, I need lectures to be presented with supportive graphic aids, such as PowerPoint presentations, pictures, and analogies. As a result, Class-Yes and Teach-Okay were easy for me to learn and integrate into my teaching. When I started using WBT, I began with these two techniques only, and was able to experience first-hand how they help raise student engagement. Micro-lecturing (as opposed to the traditional mini-lessons I used to teach) is also key to maximize retention, in my opinion.
On the other hand, utilizing my limbic system and motor cortex when teaching was much more of an acquired practice, in my case, albeit well worth it. The Scoreboard, coupled with Mighty Oh Yeah-Mighty Groan, has helped me deal with some of my challenging students. Specifically, the Scoreboard allows me to minimize power struggles that sometimes occur when dealing with my frequent rule breakers. Indeed, with Scoreboard, the rest of the class tends to rally around the rules and automatically calls them out, at every infraction, so I don’t even have to. Furthermore, utilizing my motor cortex by creating teaching gestures with my kids was also something completely new to me. Even though it took me a while to get used to, I don’t even think I could teach without using my hands, now! I particularly enjoy seeing my kids gesture to jog their memory.
In a nutshell, it is natural to have a dominant learning style that we tend to rely on. Yet, as teachers, we need to learn to activate multiple areas of the brain to maximize student engagement and long-term retention. As Chris Biffle said in chapter 5, “You can’t learn to cha-cha by listening to a lecture on dance history.” Oh yeah!
Sophie Gourdon
Sophie,
DeleteExcellent essay about the areas of the brain. Here are 25 certification points.
In my class I definitely activate the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex controls decision-making and attention getting. My students are excellent with “Class-Yes” showing they are making a decision and I can get their attention. They are so good with “Class-Yes” that other teachers with no Whole Brain Teaching experience or practice with the students can use “Class-Yes” if we share the same students. I am also likely to activate the visual cortex because I have incorporated many pictures and diagrams and I do show the students the hand movements to use. My students also activate their motor cortex because I do have them mirror my movements and teach each other the movements. Finally, I activate the limbic system because my students are very invested in the scoreboard and the reward or consequence they will be receiving. Also, with all the fun we have with the movements, “Class-Yes” and the scoreboard I am also activating the limbic system, which controls emotions.
ReplyDeleteI do feel I don’t activate the mirror neurons or increase dendrite growth enough. I do have the students mirror my movements and teach each other but I don’t feel I have them practice the movements enough causing a lack of dendrite growth. Along with that I also feel I don’t activate Wernicke’s area or Broca’s area enough either. Generally, I have the students mirror my words and motions and teach each other once. However, there are also times where I only have them mirror without the “Teach-Okay.” I also feel that I talk too much. I need to step back and allow the students to practice the motions more by teaching each other and even begin to create their own motions after reading passages. By teaching each other the motions and words I will be able to activate both Wernicke’s and Broca’s areas more.
Erin,
DeleteAs you progress with your WBT this year, you'll find that being aware of those areas that are lacking will start to pick up and improve. Best of luck with the upcoming school year! Here are 25 certification points.
In my time as a teacher, the parts of the brain I have activated most are probably the Broca's and Werneke's areas as well as the visual cortex. Since I spent a lot of time teaching students who were learning English, I focused heavily on speaking and listening skills which came primarily from verbal communication and rote memorization. Additionally, my students learned using visuals such as flashcards and picture books. They also spent time on a computer-based language program which essentially taught the same way.
ReplyDeleteThe part of the brain that was most neglected in my students was the prefrontal cortex. I thought it would have been difficult to have my students display reasoning skills when they could barely speak the language. That being said, my school really focused on "higher order thinking" and by the end of the year, they were able to hold more complex discussions.
I look forward to activating all parts of the brain as I begin to implement Whole Brain Teaching with my class. Since I'm a naturally expressive person, I'll get to make up songs and movements and not seem like a total goofball!
Jozey,
DeleteI predict prefrontal cortex Funtricity in your classroom this year! I hope you share your experiences with us! Here are 25 points for you!
This is my fourteenth year of teaching, and I have never been so excited to implement a new teaching strategy. Whole Brain Teaching makes so much sense to me, but I just wish I had learned about it years ago. I feel like I could have made a bigger difference in my past students’ lives.
ReplyDeleteI am a visual learner, and I believe that I have a tendency to activate my student's visual cortex more than any other part of the brain. My classroom is full of models, posters, and pictures. I usually introduce a lesson with a picture or video.
I do not activate my student's motor cortex as often as I should; however, I plan to change this deficiency with all that I am learning about WBT. The gestures and acting throughout the school day will activate the motor cortex of the brain and help students remember the information I am trying to teach them.
Carrie,
DeleteNice job! Using those gestures this year will make a huge difference in your students' engagement and learning. Here are 25 points for you!
I must admit to my own detriment that I have had very little instruction in how the brain actually works in concert with its parts. This is one of the reasons I became interested in WBT. As I reflect on my own actions as a teacher I find that I have spent too much time on the Broca/Wernicke’s areas of the brain. I have my student listening and hearing, but not enough time doing and seeing.
ReplyDeleteI believe as educators we have had to hurry, hurry, hurry through a lesson when we need to slow down and let the student practice what we are trying to teach. I have been guilty of saying we don’t have time to practice for mastery, when I have just been approaching my teaching in the wrong way. I am going to spend our precious class time using more of Teach-Okay. This will get my young students involve in their learning by using the visual (seeing gestures), motor (making gestures) and limbic systems (giving emotion to the lesson). Of course this also includes my old stand-by of Broca/Wernicke but I have to keep it to no more than 30 seconds at a time, that way we have more time for my students to practice to mastery.
Elaine,
DeleteWell stated! Whole Brain Teaching takes you to a brand new playing field in educating students! Here are 25 points for you!
Last year I started playing with WBT in my classroom. I had read some from the website and thought why not. I implemented the class rules, we also did scoreboard, class-yes, and teach-okay. Looking back I see that I was not using the child’s whole brain which may have been why I may not have seen all the benefits of the system.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the chapter I see that the most often accessed regions of the brain, for me, are the cortex (auditory, visual, and motor) as well as the limbic system. I also think that I will often use the mirror neurons to keep my kids engaged and attuned to the lessons.
I had a harder time, after reading, determining which areas would be the least tapped. I am thinking that the short-term memory will be very seldom used. My hope is that all my teaching and with using WBT methods that my students will take what is given to them and put it into their long-term memory.
I plan to incorporate a lot of songs and other teaching tools to really use the limbic system and get an emotional response and connection from the children to their learning. If they are invested and find meaning in their work, then the work will improve dramatically!
Erin Eckholt
Erin,
DeleteNice reflection on your previous experiences, and your future goals for helping students use more areas of the brain! Here are 25 points for you!
Julia Berry | Chapter 5 | August
ReplyDeleteAs I reflect back on my years of teaching, the areas of the brain that I’m most likely to activate are the prefrontal and visual cortexes. I use a teaching model called “Taylor Talents,” which is all about brainstorming, forecasting, decision-making, planning and reasoning. I also tend to focus on the visual cortex since this is my strong learning style. I can remember taking a workshop on the Multiple Intelligences and trying to figure out each of my students’ individual learning styles. It was so time consuming on my part trying to develop multiple lessons for each of the different learning styles. I felt very unproductive and over worked. In just one week, I teach more than 100 gifted students and am in need something simple and effective. So out the window Multiple Intelligences went!
The areas I think I am least likely to use effectively are Broca and Wernicke. When I introduce a unit, I tend to talk and explain way more than engage. No wonder my students are disruptive! The longer you talk, the more your students lose interest (They need to be a part of the learning process)!
I need to learn to chunk my information overloads and practice the technique switch to actively engage my students in the learning process.
This assignment has helped me notice some of the weak points in my lessons and how I can implement new strategies to create “teachable” moments. I am so excited to start the year off with WBT. When I use The Big Seven and the 5 Class Rules I will be engaging all parts of the brain! Okay…I thought I would never hear myself say this but, “Hurry up August 19th I’m ready for school!”
Julia,
DeleteGood reflection of your teaching style. You will be amazed at how implementation of WBT increases knowledge retention and decreases misbehavior. Teacher heaven! Here are 25 certification points!
⦿Chapter 5: The Brain on Whole Brain Teaching
ReplyDeleteWhen thinking about the brain and whole brain teaching I noticed that I was more likely to activate certain parts of the brain. In my own teaching I have students organize, illustrate, and write about what they read. This activates their Broca's, Wernickes, visual cortex, and prefrontal cortex. They also conduct experiments and teach their partners what they learned. This activates their Broca's, Wernickes, visual cortex, and prefrontal cortex. In addition it activates their limbic and motor cortex.
I noticed that there were parts of the brain that I was less likely to activate on a regular basis. This past year I switched to teaching fifth grade in the public school system. I was focused on learning the curriculum, and was less likely to intentionally activate the positive energy that is most useful to the limbic system. I also got away from using gestures. I noticed that one of the major differences between my teaching and Whole Brain Teaching is that Whole Brain activates the different parts of the brain simultaneously, where as my activated them more sequentially. I'll opt for whole brain activation.
Amy Blamires
Amy,
DeleteNice reflection on your teaching methods! Activating the areas simultaneously will help your fifth graders soar this year! Here are 25 certification points!
Through my teaching, I feel that I activate many different brain areas of my students. My teaching differs from Whole Brain, however, because I don’t activate many areas simultaneously.
ReplyDeleteMy personal tendencies are visual. I rely on visual aides to help me learn new things, so this naturally flows into my teaching tendencies. I activate my students’ visual cortex throughout the school day.
Through personal experience I have found that students retain concepts better when given the opportunity to do activities. These activities activate my students’ motor cortex.
I give my students many opportunities to listen and speak to each other which activate their Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area. They enjoy the chance to teach each other.
The brain area I probably least likely activate is my students’ prefrontal cortex. I am trying to give my students more opportunities to plan and make decisions about their learning.
Amanda,
DeleteIsn't it nice when the kids enjoy the teach/okay? It is such a great teaching tool! Try to provide more details in your next post. What activities did you do to activate the motor cortex? How will you activate the prefontal cortex? Give us more information :) Here are 20 certification points!
I love this chapter and I am sure I will refer to it often in order to grow neuronal dendrites to learn to become a better teacher! I think I tend to teach by engaging the Wernicke, Broca area but I am guilty of involving my limbic system too much. I like to think I am passionate about the learning of my students so I let my emotions control my reason too easily. I do a lot of verbal teaching and have my students practice, but my I talk too much and do not give them enough time to actively put the information into their long term memory.
ReplyDeleteThe Big Seven is helping me to steer away from using my limbic system too much. This school year I have already noticed that behavior in my classroom is improved in comparison to past years because I am changing the balance of my own brain to use more prefrontal cortex. Moreover, with the practicing of The Big Seven strategies my students are enjoying learning and progressing quickly.
Joy,
DeleteYou can capitalize on your strengths (using the limbic system) to provide a fun and engaging classroom! It is so helpful when we can recognize our own strengths and weaknesses as you have pointed out. You had a minor writing error, " I tend to teach by engaging the Wernicke, Broca area but..". Here are 20 certification points!
I must admit that I was fairly clueless on the how the brain actually worked until this summer. I have a thirty-five year old friend who had a stroke this summer opened my eyes, and then I read chapter five. I really wish I would have learned this years ago. This is my thirteenth year teaching and I am excited to learn something new and use it to make my students more successful. I have spent the last few years teaching in the Broca and Wernicke’s area where I verbalize a lesson and they hear a lesson. I am guilty of the longer teachers’ talk, the more students we lose. I have occasionally engaged in visual and motor cortex, I make up hand gestures to teach some skills in math. My student’s laugh at me and get into the lesson, I never thought to do it more or what all it involved. I would like to blame my teaching techniques on all the standards we have to teach in the short amount of time we have to teach it in, the demands the state is putting on us to make our children successful, and how it is tied to our jobs. My student’s make gains and are successful with my method, however I am excited to incorporate more Whole Brain teaching this year. I will teach smaller portions, have the student’s teach each other, make up hand gestures for skills, and have my students engage their whole brain in learning. With Whole Brain teaching and my experience I am sure my children will score higher than ever.
ReplyDeleteTonya,
DeleteEven after thirteen years of experience, WBT can revitalize your classroom! You had a few minor writing errors, “I have a thirty-five year old friend who had a stroke this summer opened my eyes..” and “I am guilty of the longer teachers’ talk, the more students we lose”. Watch those pesky apostrophes- “student’s laugh at me”, “student’s make gains” and “teachers’ talk”. Unfortunately, due to the number of errors, I am unable to award any points for this post, but it’s cool, you have many more chapters ahead of you!
Anne Corrigan-8/26/13
ReplyDeleteThe particular brain region I utilize the most is the visual cortex. I always present a visual or have my students draw a picture to help remember a concept. Then my students would explain what they drew to a partner thus activating Broca’s area. As an ESE teacher, I love using learning maps for breaking down concepts. This would also activate the Wernicke’s area of language understanding. Of course I also do a lot of talking (too much) and this too activates Wernicke’s area. I now know there is no guarantee that students will remember what they have heard from my lesson or instructions without activating any other region of the brain.
Unfortunately, the region I tend to utilize least is the motor cortex. When I think of my own learning I realize I learned best when doing. I still remember poems, certain facts and concepts because I actively participated in the learning. Also, I realize that I hesitate to activate my students’ prefrontal cortex which controls reasoning, planning and decision making. I feel this is due to many years of planning for my students and not relinquishing control of the lesson. I am looking forward to changing that by using the Big Seven of WBT. I know that “mirror” engages the visual and motor cortex thus producing a powerful learning opportunity. I can’t wait to use it more in my class. Another technique I am looking forward to using most in my class is “teach-okay”. Teaching someone else is the best way to remember the skill or lesson and by utilizing five brain regions in one learning session the students will remember more of the lesson for a longer period of time. (And will have fun doing it!!)
Anne,
DeleteGreat reflection about your own teaching methods! Using these WBT techniques will help your students soar this year! Here are 25 certification points!
I am most likely to consistently maintain The Scoreboard. I have already seen a positive impact with this particular Whole Brain activity. The book says that the scoreboard will unify students behind my leadership and that the classroom unity will provide peer pressure for my most challenging students to comply with the rules. In just the two weeks that I have been implanting Whole Brain I can already see that this is the case. I believe this will be my first year that I do not change the way I manage classroom behavior. Instead I have actually found a system that I can and will use the entire year!
ReplyDeleteAs of right now (two weeks in), I think I am least likely to use the Switch Whole Brain activity. It happens to be the only Whole Brain activity that I have not introduced thus far. I do feel confident with Whole Brain teaching being that I have now incorporated six out of seven routines and we are only in the second week of school!! Fortunately another area that I am also consistent with and can see that I will continue utilizing every singe day are the Five Classroom Rules. By using this procedure in the Big Seven I am still helping my students activate the Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas within the brain.
Stephanie,
DeleteI’m glad you have found a system that is working for your class! WBT won’t let you down! You had a few minor errors, “that I have been implanting Whole Brain “(did you mean implementing?) and “every singe day are”. You didn’t completely address the focus of the prompt, which was what brain areas you are most likely and least likely to activate in your students. Here are 10 certification points for your effort.
I would like to start off by saying I am extremely interested in how the brain works. I am so excited there is a program out there that engages seeing, hearing, doing, speaking and feeling simultaneously, like WBT does! Knowing that students are learning best when all of these areas are being addressed, has spurred me on to discovering how I can best implement these strategies in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteI am a very visual person who likes to talk with her hands, so I would have to say the areas of the brain I am most likely to activate in my students are their visual and motor cortex. Having said that, I teach Kindergarten, so I have a tendency to rely heavily on Wernicke's area, with regard to language and understanding. Broca's area is highly activated as well, due to the amount of speaking occurring on a daily basis. Through the use of "Teach Okay" I plan to implement more student ownership of the lessons being taught and activate these areas of my students' brains more effectively.
I absolutely love this aspect of WBT and have already used it several times a day over the past 9 days! It just makes sense for my little ones to be given the opportunity to be fully engaged in the lessons presented.
The area of the brain I am least likely to activate in my students would have to be the pre-frontal cortex. At this point in the school year, there is a lot of speaking (on my end) and a lot of listening (on their end). I am hoping that as this program becomes more and more comfortable for me to use, I am able to "let go of the reins" and allow my students to activate this most necessary part of the brain. I feel student ownership is crucial to learning engagement, and with the tools available through WBT, we will all be very successful this school year!
Tami,
DeleteNice reflection on your teaching habits! I agree, student ownership is very crucial for them to be engaged! Here are 25 certification points!
When I reflect on my teaching, I realize quickly that I definitely used to teach only activating certain parts of the brain. I know that I, personally, am a very visual person. When I teach, I often lean towards more visual activities with my students, such as pictures, webs, manipulatives, etc. These are all great things because I know that I am activating the visual cortex which is one of the most trustworthy memory areas (Biffle, 2013, pg. 19). However, I now see that I’m completely neglecting other parts of the brain. I am most likely to neglect activating Broca’s Area, which is speaking. I think as a new teacher, I was afraid to get my students speaking because I didn’t want to lose control of behavior. Since I did that in the beginning of my teaching, it eventually stuck. I always heard about all of these fun turn-and-talk activities that I knew would be beneficial but I always strayed away. After reading all of this brain research and actually trying some speaking activities in my classroom, I see that it definitely needs to be focused on more in my own classroom!
ReplyDeleteKasey,
DeleteIt will be exciting for you to implement the teach/okay, mirror activities, and oral writing in your classroom! These speaking activities will be a great motivator for your students! Here are 25 certification points!
About a month ago I was introduced to the Whole Brain Teaching concept at a training that my principal had me attend. Since the beginning of school, two weeks ago, I have just now begun using the WBT techniques in my classroom. I would say that previously I used mostly Broca’s area (verbalizing a lesson), Wernicke’s area (hearing a lesson) and on occasion the limbic system (giving emotional content to a lesson) in my classroom. Since reading the Whole Brain Teaching book and watching videos online I have implemented many of the strategies which have increased the number of brain areas I activate in my students on a daily basis. In addition to the brain areas I engaged prior to using WBT I now also activate the visual cortex (seeing gestures) and the motor cortex (making gestures) throughout the day for my students. In the short amount of time that I have been putting WBT into practice I have seen an immeasurable increase in the engagement of my students and I have fewer behavior issues than ever before. So far, I am very pleased with the results and look forward to more of what the future has to bring.
ReplyDeleteKristen,
DeleteI'm so happy to hear that you are having such success with WBT! Here are 25 certification points!
I’m thankful for the opportunity to implement Whole Brain Teaching.
ReplyDeleteAs I think about my past teaching tendencies, the brain areas I am most likely to activate in my students are the visual cortex and Wernicke’s area. I use hand gestures when eliciting responses. I have found hand gestures to be engaging for a high percentage of my students. I make a statement or ask a question, then use a drop hand gesture, and wait for the students’ responses. I also tend to activate Wernicke’s area. I do too much talking and expect my students to simply absorb everything I expertly impart.
I am least likely to activate motor cortex and Broca’s area. Even though I use gestures when I’m teaching, I have never expected the students to gesture. I will now. I plan to activate the motor cortex by introducing the “five classroom rules” and “teach-okay.”
I am also least likely to activate Broca’s area. I have not expected my students to mirror what I teach. As I practice WBT techniques, I really want to focus on having students mirror my teaching thus activating Broca’s area.
It’s a new day for me. I will do my best to activate all the areas of my students’ brains using WBT.
Kay,
DeleteThere is definitely a difference between traditional teaching and WBT when considering the brain! Good work. Here are your 25 certification points!
I love the WBT. My students love WBT. The brain area that I have most likely use to activate my students is the visual cortex. It is very crucial that I provide some type visual (pictures or thinking maps), especially for the students who are reading below grade level.
ReplyDeleteThe brain area that I have less likely use to activate my students is the Broca. At times, I'd talk way too much and the students didn't get an opportunity to communicate their answers or thoughts with their group. Recently, I have implemented different strategies (teach-okay and switch) which allow the students to communicate effectively in the classroom. WBT is a key component that ties everything together.
Chentell,
DeleteYour passion for WBT is evident so give us more detail about your thoughts an what you see in your classroom. Remember, outstanding posts get bonus points! Unfortunately, there are too many writing errors in this post to award you points.
Chapter 5
ReplyDeleteWhich brain areas am I most likely, and least likely, to activate in my students
As I reflected on my teaching I was very surprised when I realized I use nearly all of the brain when I teach writing. I have always had strong writing scores and I believe my scores can be directly attributed to unknowingly using Whole Brain Teaching (WBT) techniques.
When I teach writing, it is verbally engaging (Broca). A great deal of conversation occurs between the teacher and the students, as well as small group student conversation. As I model writing an essay, (Visual Cortex) the topic is usually something the children have connected with emotionally (Limbic). I read essays aloud everyday, and I always have music playing as children write (Wernicke). Sometimes we move around and take thirty-second dance/brain breaks.
What I have not done in the past is activate the motor cortex by creating gestures to correspond with the elements of writing. In the future, I plan to activate the motor cortex by creating specific movements such as a five-step dance to teach the basic parts of an expository essay. My hope is to transfer the success I have had with writing to other subject areas by incorporating WBT into every lesson I teach.
Dian,
DeleteGreat evaluation of brain activation in your classroom. Here are your 25 certification points!
As I reflect on my own teaching style, I realize that my natural tendency is to activate the visual cortex (seeing), the Wernicke's Area (listening), and the Limbic System (emotions) parts of the brain. I have been more likely to focus on visual and auditory learning, while attempting to make learning fun.
ReplyDeleteOut of necessity in Kindergarten, I began to activate the Motor Cortex (movement) and Broca’s area (speaking/singing). Honestly, I have been less likely to activate these areas of the brain without intentional thought, planning and collaboration with fellow teachers. I now see that much of my natural style has to do with my personality and the ways I have learned in the past. It is good to be broadening my horizons!
Now that I have discovered Whole Brain Teaching, I am implementing the Class-Yes, Teach-Okay, the Scoreboard, the Class Rules, and Hands and Eyes daily. Although I am using gestures and having my students do some mirroring, I have not formally introduced that strategy to my Kindergarteners. So far, I love the response and engagement I am seeing as I utilize these methods. Since the children’s whole brains are being activated, they are more interested and involved.
I am already seeing the validity of the statement “Repetition equals dendrite growth equals learning.” For example, as I am using Teach-Okay as I introduce letters and sounds, the students already seem to be learning more quickly than previous classes. I am excited to see how much they learn as I employ more WBT strategies and engage their whole brains throughout the year!
Kelty,
DeleteGreat writing! Here are your 25 certification points!
Several years ago, my teenaged nephew was involved in a terrible automobile accident. As a result of the accident, he suffered a prefrontal cortex injury, as well as the loss of a leg. The physicians explained to my sister that while the injury was not severe brain damage, the prefrontal cortex injury would likely result in a dramatic personality change, manifested in inappropriate and risky behaviors, violent tendencies, difficulties following rules, and a poor attention span. Sadly, my nephew has struggled in school, exhibited violent behavior, and has dealt with substance abuse. Prior to the accident, he was an honors student, had never been in trouble in school, and was an excellent golfer.
ReplyDeleteAs I sought to help my sister find help for my nephew, I became very interested in many aspects of brain functions. This was a major factor in my decision to participate in the Whole Brain Teaching training. I want to better understand how the brain works and how I can better help my students using science-based research.
A quote, that has helped to mold my own teaching style, reads like this:
“We Learn 10% of what we read, 20% of what we hear, 30% of what we see, 50% of what we see and hear, 70% of what we discuss, 80% of what we experience, and 95% of what we teach others.” The author of this is widely disputed. No one seems to know exactly who said it, there are slightly different versions, and research support is debated. But this quote is widely used in many in-service presentations and educational readings. Now, through Whole Brain Teaching, the science behind this quote is more evident.
In my own schooling this quote rings true. I am a hands-on and active learner. I tune out lectures, can rarely recall what I hear, and become easily bored. I have to write down everything just to be able to retain even a small amount. However, I thrive in group settings, where I am actively engaged in mutual learning and teaching situations with peers. I decided early on in my teaching career, that I would create a classroom where students were active participants in their own learning.
Because of my own experiences, I am most likely to activate these five areas of the brain, visual cortex, motor cortex, Broca’s area, Wernicke’s area, and the limbic system, in unison, much like the description of the Teach-Okay teaching technique. I implement teaching methods, such as cooperative learning groups and team teaching, in which students teach one another the topic of study. I strongly adhere to the belief that too much teacher lecture will “lose the students”. I provide students with minimal instruction, guide them towards appropriate research materials, and suggest ways to teach their topics to their classmates, but they are active participants in their own learning.
The visual and motor cortex interaction, as described by the Mirror technique, are probably the areas of the brain that I am least likely to activate with my students. I rarely have students mimic my behaviors, but I am excited to explore ways to implement the Mirror technique my classroom. I believe that this can help greatly with student presentations and proper laboratory techniques.
Lori,
DeleteMy heart breaks for your family. Thank you for sharing your story and how it lead you to WBT. You are so right that WBT makes the science happen. Here are your 25 certification points plus 5 BONUS POINTS!
I teach Kindergarten, so movement and repetition are great ways to teach effectively. The two areas I am most likely to activate are the Motor Cortex while students make gestures and the Hippocampus while they make memory formation. The area I am least likely to activate in my students is Wernicke's Area, since they will be listening briefly to learn what they need to teach their partner.
ReplyDeleteKrissa White
Krissa,
ReplyDeleteWhile you answered the prompt we are looking for some critical thinking. Why are the motor cortex and hippocampus the most activated brain areas in your classroom? What do you see as a result? Why is the Wernicke's area the least activated? How can you change this? Here are 10 certification points.
The Motor Cortex and Hippocampus are the most activated brain areas in my classroom because I incorporate movement and repetition as much as possible. For example, when we learned the word one, I modeled, "We spell 1 (hold index finger up) o (touch shoulder) n (touch elbow area) e (touch hand). Repeat this sequence. Then teach to your partner. This is both repetitive and uses movement to activate memory. As a result, my students master the material more effectively and with an increase in student engagement.
ReplyDeleteSince Wernicke's Area is activated by listening, and I will not deliver instruction using the lecture format (monotone monologue), I conclude it is the least activated. To clarify, it is not that I do not want my students to listen, it is that I want to briefly teach (30 seconds or less), and then have students teach each other using the Whole Brain method.
Krissa White
Krissa,
DeleteThat is an excellent way to teach the spelling of "one"! Even though you are teaching in short chunks, you are still activating the Wernicke's Area. The students listen as you present the material, and then listen again and again as they practice teach/okay, and mirror with words, practicing oral writing etc. As the students are teaching each other repeatedly, they are listening and activating! Here are 25 certification points.
Though I do use a variety of strategies to activate learning in my students, I do have a tendency to use the visual cortex and Wernicke’s area (hearing a lesson) more than others. That is true especially in math instruction. In math, I am less likely to use the motor cortex (hands on activities).
ReplyDeleteIn language arts and science I am much more likely to use Broca’s area (verbalizing a lesson), Wernicke’s area (hearing a lesson), and the motor cortex (completing an experiment or crafting an example).
Though I do incorporate Broca’s area (verbalizing a lesson through the use of Kagan strategies, I realize that I must increase the use of this area through Whole Brain Teaching. Most importantly, I must increase the use of the motor cortex in my math lessons.
Another area that I see need for improvement is moving those short-term memory items to the long-term memory. While I’ve always known that repetitions lead to more retention of information, what I didn’t realize was that bringing all the parts of the brain into play would greatly increase the number of dendrites. Increased growth of dendrites equates to more retention of information in the long-term memory so I will place more focus on activating the entire brain.
Steve Sublett
Steve,
DeleteExcellent reflection on activating the areas of the brain in your teaching! Here are 25 certification points!
The brain areas I’m most likely to activate in my students are the visual and motor cortex because I myself have always been more of a visual learner. I learn more effectively when I connect what I see with a new concept. I also use many gestures and hand movements when I speak to others so acting out new concepts and terms to students comes easily for me. I have enjoyed this part of learning in the classroom tremendously because students who may typically struggle with remembering ideas, now are capable of remembering through gestures they make. A brain area I will least likely activate in my students or at least need to work on in my classroom is the limbic system because I struggle with students’ connecting emotions during learning. Allowing students to have emotions and reactions to a reading story or new concept being taught is important. Reminding students to connect it to their own personal life and how they felt during something similar is just one way to help.
ReplyDeleteLiz Cheney
Liz,
DeleteYou are right, it is very important to activate the limbic system so that the students can make better connections to the materials being taught! You had a couple of minor writing errors, “I have enjoyed this part of learning in the classroom tremendously because students who may typically struggle with remembering ideas,” (comma needed after students), and “students’ connecting” (no apostrophe needed). Here are 10 certification points.
I am new to teaching WBT this year. I am excited about using it in my classroom. This question caused me to think about my own learning style, and the styles that I use in my classroom. I realized that I learn using my visual cortex and my motor cortex. This hasn’t been the area that I have been most likely to activate in my classroom. I know from experience that my students have a better grasp of the material when I show visuals, and I physically involve them in the lesson. I think, out of habit, I haven’t used these methods on all of my lessons. I am working on changing that. My students have really enjoyed going over the rules and doing the movements. They laugh and have fun while we go over them, but they remember and do a great job of following them.
ReplyDeleteI have a tendency to activate the Wernicke’s area and the Broca’s area. I teach lessons to my students and then I ask questions. I feel like this is something that I fall into very easily. I plan on doing less of this and getting the students more involved in my lesson.
Lander Murphy
Lander,
ReplyDeleteYou have recognized some important areas to focus on this year! Here are 25 certification points!
Reflecting on my teaching methods and strategies is something that I do often as a teacher. I feel that it is important to do so in order to grow professionally. After using some of the Whole Brain techniques in the classroom, I will for sure continue to use the class-yes method for grabbing the attention of my class. I was so impressed with how my students repeated "yes" after me, using the same tone as I did. My students know that I will be giving directions or instructions after I call "class." I have the five rules posted in my classroom, and we reviewed the rules over and over daily for the first two weeks of school using hands and eyes. Now when students fail to remember the rules I will remind the students of the rules and conference with them rather than review each rule daily with the whole class.
ReplyDeleteIrish,
DeleteIt sounds like you are off to a good start using class/yes and the five rules! Unfortunately, you did not address the prompt "Thinking about your own teaching tendencies, which brain areas are you most likely, and least likely, to activate in your students?", (to learn about the specific brain areas see Chapter 5). Although I am unable to award any points for this post, it's cool - you have several chapters ahead of you!
Using this method of teaching (WBT) I have come to realize just how effective it is. My students are much more engaged this year than previous years. “Why?” some people ask, I tell them it’s because I am making them use their brain. I am most likely to activate the student’s Wernicke’s area, Broca’s area, and limbic system.
ReplyDeleteI give my students directions twice and then I tell them to tell their partner what we are about to do, especially if it has to do with the following: cutting, coloring or moving around the room. When I am giving my students directions they are using the Wernicke’s area. They are listening and as the teacher I expect them to be able to repeat the directions. When they tell their neighbor what we are about to do, the students are using the Broca’s area of the brain, which is “crucial in speaking.”
I make a conscious effort every day to relay a positive since of energy. I encourage my students to smile and “make smart choices.” I never realized it before today but now I know that I am stimulating their limbic system. I want them to enjoy coming to school feel accomplished at the end of the day.
As a teacher I am least likely to activate the dendrites in the brain. I hope that I activate those dendrites in other ways than repetition. I try not to use a lot of repetition. We repeat the Whole Brain Teaching Rules every day and sometimes two or three times a day depending on the activities we have going on in the classroom. I’ve heard that repetition does not lead to complete understanding. It’s just memorized and later forgotten.
Brandi,
DeleteIt is wonderful that you make an effort to stimulate your students' limbic system by encouraging them to smile as they are learning. You had a small spelling error in the 3rd paragraph "...to relay a positive since of energy" (sense). I would encourage you to reread pages 19-20 in reference to dendrite growth. The dendrites are growing when you are processing information. "The more you know about a subject, the more you have repeated activities associated with a subject, the more interconnected are your neuronal dendrites. Repetition equals dendrite growth equals learning." For more information, check out chapter 28 (research on WBT), and page 186 (student centered learning). Here are 10 certification points.
As a speech-language pathologist, the areas of the brain that I most likely activate in my students are the motor cortex, Broca’s area, and the visual cortex. I apply many oral motor exercises to stimulate the lips, tongue, and vocal cords. I also pair articulation sounds with particular hand gestures to facilitate the correct production of sounds, which activates both the motor cortex and the visual cortex. Additionally, the Broca’s area is stimulated as I have my students speak and say their sounds out loud.
ReplyDeleteThe areas that I least likely activate in my students are the prefrontal cortex and the limbic system. Unfortunately, I believe that my students tend to become habituated with some of my lessons and therapy activities. At times they just go through the repetitive motions while not making any emotional connection or improving critical thinking or planning skills. I need to implement more of the Whole Brain Teaching techniques in order to keep learning exciting, keep my students focused, and to develop stronger critical thinking and reasoning skills, especially for my language impaired students.
Michelle Fernandez
Michelle,
DeleteI gree, many of our students do tend to become habituated with our lessons. Thankfully, we now have these great tools to help us tune up our own methods of delivery! Here are 25 certification points!
I am definitely a visual and motor cortex learner/teacher with limbic system tendencies. As long as I can remember, visual representations, large gestures and personal connections were a natural aspect of my teaching practice. Designing, creating, building, dancing, and sharing characterized my teaching and personal learning styles. The majority of students seemed to appreciate and have fun with the projects we completed each year. My students have been aliens, pirates, and molecules bumping about the classroom. Now I know that my brain has been the reason!
ReplyDeleteI use a variety of strategies to kindle learning in my classroom. I favor hands-on learning activities (motor cortex) in science and in math. Some of these activities include large dice for math computations and place value as well as hand-crafted scientific tools (such as hand magnifying lenses made from plastic wrap and water). Making connections and visual representations with historical figures or story characters in reading, writing, and Social Studies are a large component of daily classroom endeavors. (Visual cortex/limbic system)
I began this year with WBT activities and I believe I need to spend more of my time converting short term memory to long term. I am looking forward to “Mirroring” and using “Teach-Okay” frequently this year.
Deborah Gardner
Deborah,
DeleteWhat a fun learning environment you have created! You will love the mirror and teach-okay when you implement them in your lessons. The students truly do retain the material faster, and longer when using these strategies! Here are 25 certification points!
I am excited to incorporate Whole Brain Teaching into every part of my day. I allow my students to work in cooperative groups so I know that I am growing and producing "bushy" dendrites. Typically, cooperative groups are reteaching a skill or learning a new way to solve a problem. I excited to know this! We start every lesson with a Class-Yes attention-getter. This means we are engaging the "brains boss." As I give my students directions they are using the Wernicke’s area. Then, when they are able to repeat/teach their partner, I know that they are fully engaged. The gestures I am incorporating into the Whole Brain lessons, further engages and become more embedded in their long term memory. I will continue to try to use all of the areas of the brain as I use the Whole Brain Teaching!
ReplyDeleteI added my name but it didn't appear
DeleteDana Hoewt
Dana,
DeleteIt sounds like you are introducing many WBT skills in your classroom! Don't be afraid to use Class-Yes several times during every lesson (not just to introduce the lesson). It is a very effective way to keep the students on task. You may need to reword the second to last sentence so it will be clear. Also, you didn't address the last part of the prompt (the brain area you are least likely to activate in your lessons). Here are 10 certification points.
As an ESE teacher, I have always known the importance of using different parts of the brain to reach students who might be having difficulty learning. I have always tried to get to know my students’ diverse learning styles and channel lessons toward their strengths.
ReplyDeleteWhen in the classroom, I focus on reaching students through their visual cortex, auditory cortex and motor cortex. I also try to focus on a lot of repetition to make what is being taught “stick”.
In the future, I plan to incorporate lessons that involve the mirror neurons and the limbic system. I will use the Scoreboard system that will engage the students’ emotional center. I plan to have my class mirror my gestures and repeat my words to engage the visual and motor cortex of their brains. Using Class-Yes to engage the prefrontal cortex will help to get my students’ focused and ready to learn. I understand the importance of having a primary attention-getter to activate the brain’s boss.
I forgot to put my name at the end of the above post.
DeleteLori Crigler
Lori,
DeleteThe Scoreboard is one of my favorite tools to engage their emotions! You will find it to be an invaluable resource! I'm glad you plan to focus on those less activated areas by using mirrors as well. Here are 25 certification points!
As I am reviewing all the different functions of each section of the brain, I am amazed that my subject area (music) involves all parts of the brain. Many of the songs/chants/games that the children learn have movement that goes along with them – involving the motor cortex. To learn these movements, they are using their visual cortex to mirror me as a model. The Amygdala and the Limbic System are involved when discussing song lyrics, especially if the lyrics are about something emotional that the students can relate to their own lives. The act of singing itself is activating the Broca’s Area. When the student’s listen to a new piece of music for the first time, or critique different versions of the same song, Wiernicke’s Area is activated. Every time we talk about the form of music or play an instrument, the Hippocampus is being utilized.
ReplyDeleteHowever, teaching and learning music in more complicated than singing and moving to songs or analyzing the lyrics. I think my strengths are engaging the Motor Cortex and Visual Cortex. I have found that students have more fun making music if there is body movement that reflects the lyrics of a song. They often have partners or a “student teacher” to mirror as they perform. Many of my presentations have visual references or manipulates to help students understand and practice concepts.
Since starting Whole Brain Teaching, the Class-Yes has already made my class so much easier. It was always difficult for me to regain my students’ attention (pre-frontal cortex) after a song ended or after a transition. I tried clapping a rhythm one year, I practiced it – but the kids just looked at me, repeated the pattern and resumed talking. It has been fun coming up with new ways to say “class”. I have used body percussion and voice inflection. Implementing it as a vocal warm-up at the beginning of class has become a fun and uniquely music way of Class-Yes.
I think the area of the brain that I am least likely to activate during my teaching is the Broca’s area. I have such a short amount of time with my students each week, so I tend to power through lessons without giving kids a chance to internalize what I have just taught. Inserting spots in my lesson for Teach-Okay is going to give my students a wonderful way to show what they know.
Kimberly Gandrup
Chapter 5: In reading over this chapter I was awe struck by how AWESOME the brain truly is. In the past I've read articles regarding the brain and how we learn,hold on to information, and recall things. I can honestly say that I never paid that much attention to it until reading this chapter. Our brains are very powerful and complex.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to read that our brains have no single area dedicated to memory.(Biffle,pg.20) The hippocampus, in the region of your limbic system, processes memories and then sends that information back to the region where it originated.(Biffle,pg.20) As an educator I realize how important it is that while teaching I use methods that require students being actively engaged in the learning process. That requires them to hear something or listen (Wernicke's area),seeing gestures and making gestures (using the visual and motor cortex),and verbalizing (Broca's area)
(Biffle,pg.22) This part of teach-okay ensures that students have the opportunity to practice what they've learned;thus, the more they practice the deeper the lesson will be imbedded in their memory.
In reflecting on my own teaching tendencies I have been guilty in the past of just shoveling information to my students and not really doing an adequate job to ensure that they actually "get it" or comprehend what I've taught. This takes me back to cramming for an exam in high school (many times over) and realizing that I held onto the information just long enough to take the test and when the test was over I couldn't tell who, what, where, when, why or how. Classic example of short term memory and learning that was not meaningful. This is something that I do not want to repeat with my students this year as I am already guilty of that, been there, done that.
Some of the brain areas that I most likely activate in my kids are the prefrontal cortex(Class-Yes) and the visual and motor cortex(seeing and making gestures),Broca's area, Wernicke's area. I use the scoreboard which employs the limbic system; however,I am not consistent enough with it and need to definitely improve in that area. I am a work in progress, much like my students. The more you know about a subject,the more you have repeated activities associated with a subject. Repetition equals dendrite growth equals learning.(Biffle,pg.19) In a nutshell, in order to make learning meaningful, practice makes perfect. However, we have the responsibility to make the practice fun and whole brain teaching methods do just that. Students learning will be more meaningful when all of the whole brain teaching techniques are used consistently. This is what I intend to do this year.
Forgot to post my name: Karlyn Davis
ReplyDeleteThis is our third week of teaching and I have already begun to implement: Class-Yes, Teach-Okay, the Five Classroom Rules, the Scoreboard, and Mirror with fidelity.
ReplyDeleteI am having some difficulty incorporating Hands and Eyes according to the Whole Brain Teaching approach. I may need to do some tweaking "to make it feel right" in my classroom.
I attended two sessions of Kagan training and am conditioned to "switch" in a different manner. It will take practice at home with the family.
I teach at a low performing, poverty school, were in the past, a student's behavior was governed by his appetites, elements, and desires (limbic system). Now, using WBT, the positive interactions are reigning in the student's actions allowing for harmony in the classroom (prefrontal cortex).
Cathy Gibson
This question has been particularly challenging and thought provoking to me. I had never before thought about the specific areas of the brain my students were using during my teaching.
ReplyDeleteI believe the areas of the brain I am most likely to activate in my students are Broca’s area, Wernicke’s area, and the visual cortex. In my class I like to use pictures, maps, and video clips to introduce or enhance lessons. These activities use the visual cortex. I talk a lot to my students and have them read and repeat chorally, do think-pair-shares, and make presentations to their group or the class. These activities would use Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area.
The area I believe I have been least likely to engage is the motor cortex. In the past I never gave any thought to creating gestures to enhance student learning. Since I have begun incorporating Whole Brain Teaching into my classroom this year, I have been using gestures for the Five Classroom Rules as well as for Teach-Okay. This has been eye opening for me. Students not only enjoy using the gestures I have taught them, but they love making up their own. Even better, it has had a big impact on their retention of material. I am a believer!