EngagingAll
Students:An
Introductionto
WHOLE BRAIN TEACHING
WHOLE BRAIN
TEACHING
WorkshopFacilitated
byMaurice Azzano MA, BA, B.Ed.
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’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 …
DO YOU WANT TO TRY
SOMETHING REALLY
DRASTIC?
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!
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
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…
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!
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