10 Brain Based Conceptsfor a new teacher

By: Douglas Rosa

Concept #1: Classroom Climate• When an environment is free from threat, learning occurs more easily.

Threats and Pressure• If a student feels threatened, thoughtful processing comes to a halt and

emotions and/or survival reactions take over. As a new teacher, you’re guaranteed to witness this occurrence throughout the next few years.

• A student under pressure will sometimes get frustrated or angry, stumble, stab at answers, or even resort to violence.

• You (the teacher) have the ability to embarrass, reject, and punish, and these are all perceived threats. Sometimes the simple action of grading is seen as some form of punishment.

• Although all students perceive threats differently, the presence of any threat can affect the learning process greatly.

Reduce the fear of giving a wrong answer!• There are certainly ways to deal with questions and answers, from

students, that reduce fear of providing a wrong answer:– Supply the question to which the wrong answers belongs. (ex. “You would be correct if I

had asked..”)– Give the student some type of prompt which leads to the correct answer.– Ask another student for help.

Making a Better Learning Environment• You (as the teacher) have the ability to develop a better learning

environment within the classroom by trying to avoid threats and establishing democratic climates, in which all students are treated fairly and in which they feel free to relay their opinions during class discussions.

• In an environment such as this:– Students develop trust in the teacher.– Students exhibit more positive behaviors.– Students are less likely to be disruptive.– Students show greater support for school policy.– Students sense that thinking is encouraged and nurtured.

Concept #2: Using Humor• Using humor can enhance the classroom climate and promote retention.

Physiological Benefits• Humor provides more oxygen

– Oxygen and glucose fuel brain cells. We get significantly more oxygen into our bloodstream when we laugh. For this reason, the brain is better fueled.

• Humor causes a surge in Endorphins– Laughter causes the release of endorphins (the body’s natural painkillers) in the blood.– Endorphins also give the person a euphoric feeling.– Additionally, endorphins stimulate the brain’s frontal lobes, which increases the degree

of focus and attention time.

• Humor helps to moderate body functions– Humor decreases stress, regulates pain, relaxes muscle tension, boosts immune

defenses, and decreases blood pressure.

Sociological, Psychological, and Educational Benefits• Humor gets attention

– Gaining/focusing the attention of students is the first thing you (the teacher) must do when starting a lesson.

– The normal human brain loves to laugh, therefore starting your lesson with a humorous tale can be effective in getting the learner’s attention.

– When working with teens, self-deprecating humor has proven particularly effective.

• Humor helps to create a positive climate– You (the teacher) must find ways to help the diverse student populate get along.– When people (you and your students) laugh together, bonding occurs and a community-

like spirit emerges as a result.

• Humor increases retention and recall– Because emotions enhance retention, we can assume the feelings that result from

laughter will increase the probability that students will remember what they learned.

• Humor improves mental health– Taking time to laugh with your students can work to relieve stress and give the students

(and yourself) a better mental attitude, with which they can go about accomplishing their goals.

• Humor can work as an effective discipline tool– If you utilize the correct type of humor, it can be an effective way of reiterating the rules

without raising tension in the classroom.

Avoid Sarcasm!• Wholesome humor, that all can enjoy, will yield the results that I’ve

mentioned; sarcasm will not.• Sarcasm is inevitably destructive to someone.• Sarcasm can undermine the support, that today’s students are seeking

from the school, and turn students against peers, teachers, and the school as a whole.

Concept #3: Creating Meaning• The relevancy that students attach to new learning is known as meaning.• Meaning is the result of how the students relate the new learning to their

past experiences and learnings.

Modeling• A model is an example of the new learning that the learner can perceive in

the classroom, rather than relying on experience.• A model can be either concrete (an engine) or symbolic (a map).• An effective model will:

– Accurately work to highlight the critical points of the new learning.– Be given first by you (the teacher) to ensure that it’s correct. This should be done during a

period of prime time, when retention is highest.– Avoid controversial issues that can bring up strong emotions, and/or divert the learner’s

attention

Drawing From Students’ Experience• Using examples from students’ experience allows these students to bring

previous knowledge into working memory.– This accelerates making sense and attaching meaning to the new learning

• Be sure that examples are clearly relevant and pertaining to the new learning.

Artificial Meaning• When common options fail in attaching meaning, you can resort to other

methods to do so.• Mnemonic devices aid students in associating material so they can

remember it.– Ex. When I was learning to play guitar, my guitar teacher used a mnemonic device to help

me remember the strings of the guitar. The device stated “Eat A Darn Good Breakfast Everyday” (representing the E,A,D,G,B, and E strings) and I still refer back to it when tuning.

Concept #4: Utilizing Closure• Closure can be used to enhance sense and meaning.• Closure refers to the process in which students’ working memory

formulates, for itself, a perception of what’s been learned.• It’s normally during closure that a student attaches sense and meaning to

the new learning.

Bringing About Closure• As the lesson draws to a close you must make an effort to initiate closure.• One way to do so is to allow some time for cerebral summarizing, and

following it up with group discussion– Be sure to inform the students how much time they will have for the cerebral

summarizing beforehand. Also identify the concluding activity (in this case, the group discussion) beforehand. By doing so, you will establish student accountability.

– During the discussion, you will be able to judge the quality of what occurred during closure, and also make any necessary adjustments in teaching

Closure vs. ReviewReview• You (the teacher) do most of the work• During review, you will touch upon key concepts (made during the lesson)

once more, and also check again for student understandingClosure• The student does most of the work• During closure, the student will be revisiting and summarizing, those key

concepts, which you’ve taught them, and also making decisions on whether they make sense and/or bear meaning

When should closure be utilized?• Closure isn’t exclusive to the end of the lesson. Closure can occur at

various times in a lesson.• It can occur at the beginning of the lesson

– Open by touching upon material from the previous class and have the students discuss them at the start of the lesson.

• It can happen during the actual lesson– This is called “procedural closure”.– When moving from one sublearning to the next, allow students time to ponder the

material that was just relayed to them

• It should almost always occur at the conclusion of the lesson– Called “terminal closure”.– Use this time to bring all the sublearnings together.

Concept #5: Testing for Long-Term Storage• Information processed by the student during a lesson remain in working

memory where it will eventually be dropped out or saved for long-term storage.

• Research indicates that 70 to 90 percent of new learning is forgotten within 18-24 hours after the lesson.

– If the new learning survives this time period, it’s most likely destined for long-term storage.

– This time requirement verifies that the transfer between working memory and long-term storage requires adequate time.

– For this reason, tomorrow is earliest time in which you can confirm that what was learned today has been retained.

How to Test Students• In order to confirm that information actually has been transferred to long-

term storage, your tests must:– Be administered no sooner than 24 hours after the lesson.– Test precisely what should’ve been retained from the lesson(s).– Bear no warning and allow for no preparation time.

• When you give your students warning about the test, they’re very likely to be reviewing that material just before the test– At that point, students are just cramming and holding as much information in working

memory.

• Some teachers do, in fact, use unannounced tests (pop quizzes) as punishment to get their students back on task– This is an incredible and unfortunate misuse of a valuable tool and there are certainly

alternate approaches.

Test Results• First, analyze the results of the exam to help determine which areas need

to be retaught or rehearsed. • Record the grades from only a few of these assessments.• Finally, decide whether/which memory strategies can help in retention of

the topic.• Further analysis can sometimes reveal areas of the curriculum which

simply need to be reworked or updated.• The analysis of a failed lesson, on the other hand, may uncover false

assumptions about learning that you (the teacher) may have had.

Concept #6: Utilizing Practice• Practice enables your students to use the new skills they’ve acquired in a

new situation with sufficient accuracy.• Before practice, you (the teacher) must guide the class through each step

of the new learning’s application.• You should monitor the students’ early practice to be sure that it’s

accurate.– If it’s not, you must provide near-immediate feedback and correction.

More About Practice• Practice should be limited to the smallest amount of material that bears

the most relevancy for your students.• As students perform guided practice, you should provide specific feedback

on whether the practice is correct or not.• Practice should occur in short, intense periods when your students’

working memory is running on prime-time.• New learning should be practiced a great deal initially.

– This is called “massed practice”.

• If you desire that your students retain the information in active storage, and that they remember accurately how to use it, the learning must continue to be practiced over increasingly longer time intervals.– This is called “distributed practice”.

Concept # 7: Utilizing Wait-Time• Wait-time can be defined as the period of silence that follows the posing

of a question from you (the teacher) before the first student is chosen to provide a response.

• One study revealed that high school teachers have a wait-time of approximately one second and that elementary school teachers have a wait-time of approximately three seconds.– One to three seconds isn’t nearly enough time for slower retrievers, many of whom

actually know the correct answer.

Varying Wait-Time• As soon as you call on the first student, the remaining student bring their

retrieval process to a halt, and therefore lose the opportunity to relearn the information at hand.

• Studies show that when 5 seconds (or more) of wait-time are provided:– The length and quality of student responses increased.– There were more higher-order responses.– Students used more evidence to support their responses.– There was an increase in participation by slower learners.

*these results remained constant through all grade levels and in all subjects*

Teacher Benefit• Studies also showed positive changes in the behavior of teachers who

utilize a longer wait-time.• These teachers:

– Improved their expectations for the performance of slower learns.– Used more higher-order questioning.– Demonstrated much more flexibility in evaluating responses.

• Wait-time can be utilized well in the Think-Pair-Share method.– In this strategy, you will first ask your students to think about the question at hand.– After a reasonable amount of wait-time, have the students form pairs and exchange the

results of their thinking.

Concept #8: Connecting Past Learnings• Transfer helps you get a feel for what the students already know about the

new material.• Transfer aids students in making connections between what they already

know and the new learning. – Connections are of value only if they are relevant to the students’ past.– If students already possess a good understanding for the upcoming material, you (the

teacher) should make necessary adjustments and possibly move on.

• Transfer also works to alert you of any prior knowledge that could possibly interfere with new learning

Discovering What Students Already Know• These are a few activities/assignments to help uncover what students

already know, and, at the same time, use past experience to facilitate positive transfer:– Models. Your students students sketch or build models to demonstrate what they know.– Mural or Collage. Murals and collages can help your students communicate their current

knowledge.– Interviews (Specifically in a think-pair-share format). Your students will interview their

peers to determine knowledge levels.– Student Ideas. Your students may, sometimes, suggest alternate means of showing what

they know. It may come in the form of a painting, a poem, etc.– Music Activity. Allow your students to write song based around, or telling of, their prior

knowledge.– Graphic Organizers. Your students will select an appropriate graphic organizer to

explain, as well as relate, their past learning.– Short Stories. Allow your students to write short stories describing what they currently

know about the topic.

Concept #9: Similar Concepts• You should always avoid teaching concepts that are very similar!• Although it’s normal to use similarity when introducing new topics, you

must do so with caution.• When similarities (between concepts) outnumber the differences, you run

the risk that your students will be unable to differentiate between the two concepts.– (ex. Mitosis and meiosis)– Students, in this case, may attach the same retrieval cues to both concepts. Rendering

them unable to differentiate which is correct.

Dealing With This Problem• First, ponder the two similar concepts yourself.

– Make a list of the similarities and differences between the two concepts. If the number of similarities and differences are relatively even, there is less chance your students will be confused.

• Try teaching the differences first.– This method works better with older students who possess enough prior learning to

recognize subtle differences between the concepts.– Focusing on and practicing the differences, between the concepts, provides your students

with the warnings and cues needed to separate the two similar concepts.

• Try teaching the concepts at separate times.– Teach the first concept and be sure that your students thoroughly understand the concept

and practice it correctly. – Be sure to teach a related concept of two before moving on to the second similar concept.– Teach the second concept a few weeks later.– The learning from the first concept will hopefully serve as positive transfer when learning

the second concept.

Concept #10: Bridging• Bridging is a technique for teachers to aid in positive transfer.• In bridging, you (the teacher) bring about transfer by helping your

students realize the connection, from what they already know, to other new learning.

Ways of Bridging• Brainstorming. When introducing your topic, ask your students to

brainstorm other situations in which the learning can be applied.• Metacognition. During problem solving, call upon your students to

investigate alternate ways of approaching the solutions.– Also have them discuss the advantages and disadvantages for each

• Analogies. After teaching a new topic, use analogies to examine the similarities and differences between once system and another.