brain connections critical for students with disabilities presented by jill hay highly effective...
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BRAIN CONNECTIONS CRITICAL FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Presented by Jill HayHighly Effective Teaching Master Consultant
Native Texan Living in Sequim, Washington
Sequim, Washington
Lavender
Roosevelt Elk
Gardening
Olympic Peninsula
My Connections to Special Education
Speech Pathologist Teachers
Self-Contained Resource Co-Teaching
Educational Diagnostician
My Profession Spencer, My Son
AGENDA
Why the Time is Now… Prioritizing What is Important Stay focused on the brain
Engaging Emotional and Physical Safety Meaningful Participation Enriching
What Direction Do We Go?
COMMON CORE STANDARDS In June 2010, the final version of the
Common Core State Standards was released. These standards address the following: What students are expected to know and be
able to do . They are designed to be robust and relevant . They reflect the knowledge and skills that all
young people will need for success in college and careers.
OUR CHALLENGE
This goal applies for all students. Students who are receiving special education services are no exception. They too are expected to be challenged to excel within the general education curriculum based on the Common Core State Standards.
This will be accomplished by Use instructional strategies that support student
engagement by presenting information in multiple ways and allowing for students to access and express what they know in a variety of ways
Accommodations provided that focus on the standards and do not lower the expectations for students to successfully accomplish the work.
Assistive technology devices and services to enable access to the standards.
Enduring Understanding
Important to Know and Do
Worth Being Familiar With
Establishing Curricular Priorities
Enduring Understanding
Important to Know and Do
Worth Being Familiar With
Develop the topic with facts, definitions and details.Use linking words and phrasesProvide a concluding statement or section
Write an informative/explanatory text to convey ideas and information clearly using whatever technology necessary.Introduce a topic and group related information together; include illustrations when useful to aiding comprehension.
Be able to write to convey ideas
Establishing Curricular Priorities
Enduring Understanding
Important to Know and Do
Worth Being Familiar With
Identify the counterargument and state:Why people hold that opinionWhy they might be wrong
Be able to state one’s opinion on a topicBe able to identify others’ point-of-view
People do not always agree about issues. They can have opinions.An opinion may not be right or wrong; it is what a person believes.
Establishing Curricular Priorities
Enduring Understanding
Important to Know and Do
Worth Being Familiar With
Solve word problems involving dollar bills, quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies using the dollar and cent sign appropriately.
Know the value of dollar bills, quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies so that amounts of money can be added and subtracted.
Count and use money to meet individual needs
Establishing Curricular Priorities
Enduring Understanding
Important to Know and Do
Worth Being Familiar With
A line that has a slope of 0 is horizontal and parallel to the X axisA line that’s slope is undefined is vertical and is parallel to the Y axisParallel lines have the same slopeTwo lines are perpendicular if the product of their slopes is -1.
The slope of a line can be used to make predictionsThe slope of a line tells us information about linear equationsA slope is the rise over the run: Up to the right is a positive slopeUp to the left is a negative slope
Slope is a measure of steepness/rate of change of a lineExamples of slopes are handicapped ramps, mountainsides, pitch of a roofWe can find the slope from two points on a lineA slope can go up or down
Establishing Curricular Priorities
Brain research has confirmed that strategies benefiting learners with special challenges are suited for engaging and stimulating all learners.
Judy Willis
The is the great equalizer!
RESPONSIBILITY OF AN EDUCATOR
Currently there are 37,000 scientists in over 62 countries producing daily studies that can give educators valuable information about the amazing brain.
Whatis our responsibility?
Some of what we are asked to do in education has absolutely no research basis at all.
Some of what we do is based on out of date or highly biased research.
Every time you experience struggle or poor achievement, there is a mismatch between what you are doing and how the brain really works.
Three Truths, One Solution
Brain responds to sensory input that is engaging
Affective filter in the limbic areadetermines if the information is blocked or moved onHigh stress – noPleasurable & Motivating - yes
The informationthat is passedthrough these filters are codedinto patternsthat can beconnected to existingpathways
Relation, emotion, relevance, learner participationand experience cause frequent activationof new pathways forming long-term memories
CriticalConditionsFor Learning
Brain-Friendly Strategies, Willis, Judy, pg.17
Brain responds to sensory input that is engaging
CriticalConditionsFor Learning
Brain-Friendly Strategies, Willis, Judy, pg.17
“Emotion drives attention which drives learning, memory, problem solving, and just about everything else.”
—Robert Sylwester
EE 2.1
Engagement:Student to Content
Element of surprise Bag or box
Dramatization Sensory Input
Experiences Items Pictures Video
Use songs Start with a question
Metaphors Universal Truths Common Factors Make a real world connection
Use quotes Personal stories Teacher’s enthusiasm
Offer choice
Reflecting To Make Connections
Personally, reflect upon curriculum you have taught in the past that students have shown little or no interest
Choose an idea that would make the curriculum more engaging
Brain responds to sensory input that is engaging
Affective filter in the limbic areadetermines if the information is blocked or moved onHigh stress – noPleasurable & Motivating - yes
CriticalConditionsFor Learning
Brain-Friendly Strategies, Willis, Judy.
•The amygdala values safety, success and social comfort
•Help students find commonalities•Create community •Establish consistent routines especially for admission, dismissal, and lunch
•Responds to gestures, open body language, calm tones and inflection •Things learned, using emotion, are remembered
•Amygdala does not like learning things it does not know. Get over it becauseit will soon pass.•Once the amygdala has a chemical response it will hold on to it forever.•The amygdala is aroused by differences. •Threat separates the emotional and thinking brain.
I Didn’t Know!
Pair up with another participant that you do not know very well.
Take 30 seconds to find three things you have in common.
At the command, join with another team and find 3 things you have in common. Share.
Reflection: What did you learn about yourself? Others?
Business [email protected], 2005
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
Peer Interviews Interview your partner then share what you have learned with the class
Class Interest Graphs Have students fill out an interest survey and then graph some of the results, have the students discuss commonalities
Class Expert or Resident Expert Charts Students identify their expertise whether academic, artistic, physical, dramatic, or social. This information could be included in the students created Expert Yellow Pages.
PATTERNS AND PROGRAMS
Learning is a two-step process:
•Detecting and understanding patterns-a process through which our brain creates meaning and
•Developing meaningful mental programs to use what is understood and to store it in long term memory-the capacity to use what is understood with assistance and then automatically.
© Susan Kovalik & Associates, 2003 Pg. 35
PREMISE SHIFT
1. Student learned too much of the wrong behavior
4. Student has not had enough practice of the appropriate behavior
3. Student never truly learned the appropriate behavior or was never taught
2. Student does not understand the need for the appropriate behavior
Misbehavior should be viewed as a learning problem and not a delinquency problem for the following reasons:
Pat Belvel, Education Consultant
Trustworthiness: To act in a manner that makes one worthy of confidence
Truthfulness: To act with personal responsibility and mental accountability
Active Listening: To listen with attention and intention
No Put-Downs: To never use words, actions and/or body language that degrade, humiliate, or dishonor others
Personal Best: To do one’s best given the circumstances and available resources
Lifelong Lifelong GuidelinesLifelong Lifelong Guidelines
2.6
• INTEGRITY: To act according to what’s right and wrong
• INITIATIVE: To do something because it needs to be done
• FLEXIBILITY: The ability to alter plans when necessary
• PERSEVERANCE: To keep at it• ORGANIZATION: To work in an orderly way• SENSE OF HUMOR: To laugh and be playful without hurting others
• EFFORT: To do your best• COMMON SENSE: To think it through• PROBLEM SOLVING: To seek solutions• RESPONSIBILITY: To do what’s right• PATIENCE: To wait calmly• FRIENDSHIP: To make and keep a friend through mutual trust and caring
• CURIOSITY: To investigate and seek understanding• COOPERATION: To work together toward a common goal (purpose)
• CARING: To show/feel concern• COURAGE: To act according to one’s beliefs• PRIDE: Satisfaction from doing your personal best• RESOURCEFULNESS: To respond to challenges in creative ways
• CREATIVITY: Is the mental process of coming up with new ideas
LLIIFFEESSKKIILLLLSS
EE p. 9.13
2.7
Creating A Common Language
Target a specific skill Prepare students to show the skill
What would this skill look like if it was being shown?
Acknowledge when it is being shown Redirect when it is not being shown Use students as examples of the skill being shown
Students evaluate their use of the skill Goal Setting
The Bully Could be a student who has experienced abuse and been exposed to violence
The bully’s behavior correlates to the past emotional experiences to which they have been exposed.
The stress experienced by the bully can cause them to lash out at others
They will look for those who will react with fear to their bullying
What to do Teach social skills, develop procedures, help student’s find commonalities, teach students to say what they need
A Brain-Based Approach to Closing the Achievement Gap, Sanchez, Horacio.
"I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. As a teacher, I possess
tremendous power. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument
of inspiration." ---Dr. Haim Ginott, 1976
As a reminder…
Brain responds to sensory input that is engaging
Affective filter in the limbic areadetermines if the information is blocked or moved onHigh stress – noPleasurable & Motivating - yes
The informationthat is passedthrough these filters are codedinto patternsthat can beconnected to existingpathways
CriticalConditionsFor Learning
Finding Out The Known
1. Tell, draw, or write what you know about….
2. Fist to 5 rate how much you know about…
3. Who do you know that knows about this?
4. Do you think this will be interesting? Why? Why not?
5. What is the purpose for learning this?
Brain responds to sensory input that is engaging
Affective filter in the limbic areadetermines if the information is blocked or moved onHigh stress – noPleasurable & Motivating - yes
The informationthat is passedthrough these filters are codedinto patternsthat can beconnected to existingpathways
Relation, emotion, relevance, learner participationand experience cause frequent activationof new pathways forming long-term memories
CriticalConditionsForLearning
Brain-Friendly Strategies, Willis, Judy, pg.17
GUIDELINES FOR DIRECT INSTRUCTION OF NEW CONTENT
K-2 5-8 minutes
Grades 3-5 8-12 minutes
Grades 6-8 12-15 minutes
Grades 9-12 12-15 minutes
Adult learners 15-18 minutes
Active Learning vs. Passive Learning Think, Pair, Share
Rally Robin Round Robin Share Face or Shoulder Partner
Take 7 and Tell Instruct 1 minute per year of age and then act on the information
Ask a question and call for hands
One teacher talking to one student
All other brains are thinking about lunch
Lecture indefinitely
Passive to Active Reading
Lowest to highest level of metabolic brain activity Independent reading Read aloud with students following the words visually
Make connections between the story and their lives
Retelling the story to someone else
Four Square VocabularyFour Square Vocabulary
Name ItName It Define ItDefine It
Picture ItPicture It Connect To ItConnect To It
The human brain is plastic and can changestructurally and functionally as a result of learning and experience. There is increased neuronal growth associated with enriched, stimulating environments, and activities.
Actual Photograph of a NEURON
© 2005 Susan Kovalik & Associates – Ph. 253.631.4400 – www.kovalik.com
HET - The Center for Effective Learning
SIX KINDS OF SENSORY INPUTSIX KINDS OF SENSORY INPUT
BEING THERE
IMMERSION
HANDS ON with the real thing
HANDS ONof representational items
S Y M B O L I C E = MC2 Adverbs
2nd HAND
© Exceeding Expectations by Susan Kovalik & Karen D. Olsen, p. 1.9
Enriched Learning
Look at your school and the area around it with new eyes Hallways as opportunities for math skills
Nature walks to support science
Collect items to investigate and use as a focus for writing
Cafeteria to observe measurement in action
School store to practice money skills
Language Arts Math
Social Studies
•10 words to describe your favorite car•Descriptive paragraph•Persuasive report•Read about the inventor of the car, cars run by alternative fuels•Alphabetize car makes•Identification of letters on license plate•Write a creative story about a car
•Measure the H, W, & D of a car•Circumference, radius, diameter of tires•Compute miles per tank of gas•Compute interest on a car loan•Place value through car price•License plate addition, subtraction,
multiplication, and division•Area/Perimeter of parking space
•Impact the car has had on society•Historical events during the time the car
was invented•Establish needs and wants of a family•Scarcity and abundance (hybrid)•Who was Carl Benz and other people associated with the invention of the car•Transportation laws•Purpose of laws for safety•Types of transportation
•Fossil fuels•Conversion of Energy•Force and Motion•Conservation of Energy•Pollution•Global Warming•Impact of humans on the environment•Alternative forms of energy to run cars
Brain-Friendly Strategies, Willis, Judy.
PREDICTIONING FUTURE BRAIN CONNECTIONS
It is predicted that during the next few decades, the neuroscience of learning will continue to provide evidence supporting three core ideas
The instructional strategies reaping the most success are those that teach for meaning and understanding
The most learning-conducive classrooms are those that are low in threat yet high in reasonable challenge
Students who are actively engaged and motivated will devote more effort to strive for meaningful goals
“WHEN WE KNOW BETTER, WE DO BETTER.”
– Maya Angelou
Students with disabilities will be able to: Live independently Enjoy self-determination Make choices Pursue meaningful careers Enjoy full inclusion and integration in the economic, political, social, cultural and educational mainstream of American Society