The Brain in Health and Disease

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 09.06.06

  1. Unit Guide
  1. Introduction
  2. Background
  3. Objectives
  4. Strategies
  5. Activities
  6. Mouse Brain/Human Brain Demonstration
  7. Appendix A: Implementing District Standards
  8. Appendix B: Unit as a 4MAT Cycle
  9. Appendix C: Right-Brain Compatible/Left-Brain Compatible Teaching Strategies
  10. Appendix D: Multiple Intelligences Preferences and Strategies
  11. Annotated Bibliography
  12. Student Resources
  13. Websites for Student and Parent Use
  14. Notes

This Is Your Brain…This is Your Brain on Fire…Any Questions?

Sharyn Fisher Gray

Published September 2009

Tools for this Unit:

Introduction

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but a lighting of a fire."

-William Butler Yeats

Teachers are always searching for new ways to hold students' attention and light that fire in their minds. In an age where students are subject to ever-increasing stimuli and teachers are constrained by rigid programs and curriculum frameworks, it is difficult to ignite a spark. I think one of the most important strategies we should integrate is to teach students to improve their metacognition, or ability to think about their own thinking, so that they, not we, are in charge of the actual learning process and maintaining the longevity of the content knowledge.

I have long been intrigued by the work of Howard Gardner and other education researchers who study the great variety of "intelligences" and talents that different people possess. Years ago I had the opportunity to attend a workshop with Eric Jensen, researcher and author of Teaching with the Brain in Mind and was fascinated by some of the questions he probes in his research: "Biologically, can you truly expect to get and hold students' attention for long periods of time? Do students actually "forget" what we teach them, or do we ask them to recall information in the wrong way?" 1

Jensen defines "brain-based" education as "…the engagement of strategies based on principles derived from an understanding of the brain." 2 From the perspective that education should be considered from a biological viewpoint, Hideaki Koizumi posits that "…education deals with the external provision of concepts while learning deals with internal generation of concepts in response to external stimuli…a learner is a subject developing independently, but can also be an object of guidance by education." 3 One could then surmise that the role of a teacher is to provide a brain-based education by creating an environment and opportunities that will stimulate the learner in developing a unique information processing system and interpretation of content.

Unfortunately, the requirements and provisions of No Child Left Behind and other educational legislation are standing in the way of many educators who are attempting to implement this model of education. The high-stakes assessment model "…encourages educators to set aside best practices in favor of "teaching to the test" and contradicts much of what we know from the research." 4 Rushton and Rushton even suggest that the inevitable stress (the bad kind) that accompanies standardized testing in fact decreases brain function for both students and teachers. The amygdalae in the midbrain sort incoming impulses for perceived threats (such as excessive stress), and when a threat is found, the brain's ability to interpret, recall, and understand information is impaired. Perhaps the reauthorization should include support for practices that alleviate this unnecessary stress along with a new title: "No Amygdalae Left Behind."

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