Engaging All Students: An Introduction to WHOLE BRAIN TEACHING

EngagingAll

Students:An

Introductionto

WHOLE BRAIN TEACHING

WHOLE BRAIN

TEACHING

WorkshopFacilitated

byMaurice Azzano MA, BA, B.Ed.

Maurice.Azzano@GeorgianCollege.ca

PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF TO YOUR

NEIGHBOUR.TELL YOUR

NEIGHBOUR WHAT DIRECTION THE BALLERINA IS

DANCING.CLOCKWISE?

COUNTERCLOCKWISE?

BOTH DIRECTIONS?CAN YOU CHANGE THE DIRECTION?

KEY QUESTIONS:

Do my studentsbelieve they have

the ABILITYto learn in my class?

KEY QUESTIONS:

How doI know

this to be true?

Do we perceive our students as they really are?

Perception:What You See Is What You Get

THIS HAS BEEN MY

EXPERIENCE IN TEACHING.

THE LONGERI TALK … THE MORE STUDENTS

I LOSE!

I’VE GOT AN ENTIRE CLASS

OF CHALLENGING

STUDENTS!

THEY WON’T TAKE PART IN DISCUSSIONS!

THEY CAN’T THINK CRITICALLY!

THEY’RE NOT VERY GOOD AT

PROBLEM-SOLVING!

ISN’T THERE ANYONE WHO

CAN HELP ME??!!

THERE MUST BE SOMETHING

THAT I CAN DO TO ENGAGE MY STUDENTS …

… AND ENHANCE

THEIR LEARNING.

DO YOU WANT TO TRY

SOMETHING REALLY

DRASTIC?

TELL ME WHAT YOU NEED …

WHAT I NEED IS SOME MASSIVE

DOSES OF WHOLE BRAIN

TEACHING!

OMG! I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT

WHOLE BRAIN TEACHING IS!

HELP!

HELP!

HELP ME!

DON’T WORRY.

WE’RE HERE TO HELP...

BUILD RELATIONSHIPS

BASED ON TRUST AND RESPECT.

THE FIVE FINGER CONTRACT

SAFETY

COMMITMENT

RESPECTRESPONSIBILITY

ENCOURAGEMENT

CHALLENGEBY

CHOICE

AHELPING

GAME

DOUBLE

THIS

THAT

DOUBLE, DOUBLE, THIS, THIS.DOUBLE, DOUBLE, THAT, THAT.DOUBLE THIS.DOUBLE THAT.DOUBLE, DOUBLE, THIS, THAT!Now pick up some speed!

“IF A STUDENT’S WHOLE BRAIN IS INVOLVED IN LEARNING ...

... THERE ISN’T ANY MENTAL AREA LEFT FOR ANYTHING ELSE.”

CHRIS BIFFLE

THE DIVIDED BRAINIAIN MCGILCHRIST

RIGHT HEMISPHERE

LEFT HEMISPHERE

FORIMAGINATION

YOU NEEDBOTH

HEMISPHERES

FORREASON YOU NEED

BOTH HEMISPHERES

Let’s test the strength of our divided brain.

Point to

your thumb.

Rotate your right leg clockwise.

Draw a #6 in the air.

Switch.

THE TRIUNE BRAINPAUL MCLEAN

THE THINKING BRAIN: The Neo-Cortex creates and interprets meaning out of our life experiences, and is the center of our cognitive functions, such as thought.

THE EMOTIONAL BRAIN: We are emotional creatures. This is the Limbic System: it fosters attachment, empathy, and mediating emotions.

THE SURVIVAL BRAIN: The brain stem and spinal cord are responsible for our most basic survival mechanisms, such as sensory perception, safety and the "Fight or Flight" response to perceived danger.

LEARNING AND THE TRIUNE BRAIN

BRAIN STEM Hold your fist in the air

Touch your wrist

Say: “BRAIN STEM”

LEARNING AND THE TRIUNE BRAIN

LIMBIC SYSTEM Touch your fist

Say: “LIMBIC SYSTEM”

LEARNING AND THE TRIUNE BRAIN

NEO CORTEX Lay your hand over

your fist

Say: “NEO CORTEX”

WHOLE BRAINHarry Berger: Constructivism

100040

100030

100020

1000+ 10

4100

4100

Social Contagion

IS COLLABORATION

REALLY THAT IMPORTANT?

Collaboration

The Scannell-Newman Personality Indicator

Select the geometric shape that best represents your personality.

You are:• Intellectual• Objective• Rational• A good decision-

maker

You are:• Steady• Dependable• Conservative• Able to

Persevere

You are:• Dissatisfied with the

status quo• A believer in no-

nonsense behaviour• A risk taker

You are:• Strongly

preoccupied with sex

Is it possible to characterize people with such a “test”?

TODAY’S WARM-UP:A CALL-AND-RESPONSE GAME

CALL: The name of the gameRESPONSE: The name of the gameCALL: is always the sameRESPONSE: is always the sameCALL: “People to people”RESPONSE: “People to people”Change partner when you hear “People to people”

Possible Matches:SHOULDER TO SHOULDER KNEE TO ANKLEHIP TO HIP SHOULDER TO ELBOWBACK TO BACK KNEE TO THIGHWRIST TO WRIST ELBOW TO THUMB

PASI SAHLBERGDIRECTOR OF EDUCATION-FINLAND

What are your long-term goals

for your students?

What would you want them to be like

after they’ve left you?

What words and

phrases come to mind?

KALEIDOSCOPE BRAINSTORMING

• “Multiple Mind Conferencing”• Silence and Communication are

used as tools for generating possible strategies

STEPS:1. Initial brainstorming session2. Silent brainstorming session3. Presentation of ideas4. “The Kaleidoscope Effect”

"...Romantic interplay between silence and interaction... A heavenly marriage of thesis and antithesis.." D. Murthy

PROBLEM How could compatible people meet

each other for romance?

WHAT WE WANT… WHAT WE ARE DOING…HOW WE WOULD LIKE OUR STUDENTS TO TURN OUT…

WHAT OUR CLASSROOMS AND

LESSONS LOOK LIKE…

WIDECHASM

The Monty Hall Problem

Play the game and maybe win BIG MONEY!

THREE DOORSONE DOOR = BIG MONEY

TWO DOORS = ZONK (farm animal)

Monty Hall asks you to choose a door.

You choose a door.

The question is: should you switch?

Monty knows what’s behind each of the doors.

He reveals a ZONK behind one of the other doors.

He gives you the option of:

1. switching doors

2. sticking with your original choice.

If you want to switch doors

Stand up.

If you want to stick with the original door,

Stay seated.

OBJECTIVE:

Convince the others that they`re wrong and they should join your group.

SWITCH or STICK!?

The correct answer is

you should always switch!

Each door has a 1 in 3 chance of hiding the grand prize.Suppose we begin by choosing door #1.

Each door has a 1 in 3 chance of hiding the grand prize.Suppose we begin by choosing door #1.

In this case, Monty mayopen either door #2 or#3

In both of these cases,Monty is forced to revealthe only other zonk.

So what happens when you switch?

In this case you wereright the first time.You lose!

In both of these cases,you switch to the correctdoor.You win!

Monty Hall Problem from Movie 21

YES!!!

CLASS!!!

Chris Biffle

OKAY!!!

TEACH!!!

Venus at a Mirror: Rubens c1615

MIRROR You say:

“MIRROR”

Students echo: “MIRROR”

They hold their hands up and:

MIMIC your

GESTURES.

What concepts could be taught here?

Which square is darker, A or B?

IS THE PICKLE JAR FULL?

Fill the jar with these stones.

Now fill the jar with these tiny

pebbles.

Now add some sand to fill the jar.

Pour some water to fill the jar.

THE PICKLE JAR

So…

What’s the point?

If you hadn’t put the big rocks in first,How many would fit in at the end?

What matters most,

matters most.

IUMRING TQ GQNGIUSIQNS

What does this say?

HANDCUFFS AND SHACKLES

Teamwork

Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun

THERE IS GREAT VALUE IN HAVING

CONFLICT IN THE

CLASSROOM…

COMMUNITY

MODEL SPECIFIC SETSOF

SKILLS.

DIAGNOSE SITUATIONS

AS THEYARISE.

REWARDSAND PUNISHMENT

ARE UNPRODUCTIVE.

QUESTIONYOUR OWN PRACTICES REGULARLY.

GIVE STUDENTS OPPORTUNITIES TO

CONSTRUCTTHEIR OWN LEARNING.

THE FIVE FINGER CONCENSUS

ONE FINGERStrongly Disagree and Cannot Support

THE FIVE FINGER CONCENSUS

TWO FINGERSDisagree

THE FIVE FINGER CONCENSUS

THREE FINGERSCan See Pluses/Minuses but Willing to Accept

THE FIVE FINGER CONCENSUS

FOUR FINGERSAgree

THE FIVE FINGER CONCENSUS

FIVE FINGERSStrongly Agree

• Learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon their current/past knowledge.

• Facets of the process:• Selection and transformation of information• Decision making• Generating hypotheses• Making meaning from information and

experiences. Jerome Bruner

THE CONSTRUCTIVIST CLASSROOM

Example

mirror

THIS IS POWERFUL

STUFF!