Compiled by:   Donna Anderson, Tammy Reynolds
School District 68 Nanaimo – Ladysmith

“Educators are in the only profession whose job is to change the human brain every day.  As we continue to develop a more scientifically based understanding about today’s novel brain, we must decide how this new knowledge should change what we do in schools and classrooms.”
                                                                                                 (David Sousa “How the Brain Learns”; 2006)

Neuroscience – So What is Really New?

	Plasticity of the Brain
“Learning Grows Brain Cells!!”	

Research about the brain is exploding thanks to new technologies that are able to look inside the brain!! “Never before have neuroscience and classroom instruction been so closely linked.  Because advances in technology enable us to view the working brain as it learns, educators can now find evidence-based neuroimaging and brain-mapping studies to determine the most effective ways to teach.” (Judy Willis, “Ignite”; 2006)
	
Even though we are born with a 100 billion neurons,  neuroscientists now know the brain continues to grow.  There can be a lifelong growth of dendrites and some neurons.  Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to change with daily learning through dendrite growth and pruning.  This allows the brain to reshape and reorganize neural connections.   Most brains CAN learn forever – healthy brains retain plasticity.

The “New” Brain	Environment of the Past	
•	School was an interesting place because it had television, films, field trips, and guest speakers.  Because there were few other distractions, school was an important influence in a child’s life and the primary source of information.  

•	Neighbourhoods were an important part of growing up.  Children played together, developing their motor skills as well as learning the social skills needed to interact successfully with other children in the neighbourhood.

•	If homes had a TV, it was in a common area and controlled by parents.  What   children watched could be carefully monitored.	

David Sousa, author of “How the Brain Learns”, suggests schools and teaching are not changing fast enough.  Students require an engaging environment that maintains the interest of their “new brain”, one that is required to respond to very different environments than even 15 years ago.  We must use new, scientifically based knowledge about the brain (neuroscience) to educate today’s learners, instead of remarking on their short attention spans and how easily they are bored.  The brain is a “novelty seeker” that is constantly searching its environment for stimuli.  Today, children are growing up in environments that are very different from several decades ago, hence their “new brain”.			
			
	Environment of Today	
•	Today’s young brains have responded to the technology by changing their functioning and organization to accommodate the large amount of stimulation occurring in the environment.  By acclimating itself to these changes, brains respond more than ever to the unique and different—what is called “novelty”.  

•	The multimedia environment divides a child’s attention.  Even newscasts are different.  In the past, only the reporter’s face was on the screen.  Now, the TV screen is loaded with information.  Three people are reporting in from different corners of the world.  Additional non-related news is scrolling across the bottom…. We might find these tidbits distracting, but children have become accustomed to these information-rich and rapidly changing messages.  They can pay attention to several things at once, but they do not go into any one thing in depth.

•	Children are surrounded by media:  cell phones, multiple televisions, movies, computers, video games, e-mail, and the Internet.  Teens spend nearly 17 hours a week on the Internet and nearly 14 hours a week watching TV.

•	Children spend more time indoors with their technology, thereby missing outdoor opportunities to develop gross motor and socialization skills necessary to communicate and act personally with others.  

These are excerpts taken from:   “How the Brain Learns”:  David Sousa (2006).  The full text can be found on pages 29-30.

	

	
Think About this….

•	The brain is composed of a trillion cells; 100 billion are neurons (equal to 16 times the number of neurons to people on the planet or the number of stars in the Milky Way).  You can have up to one quadrillion synaptic connections (1 000 000 000 000 000) in one brain!
•	An impulse can travel along the length of an adult in 2/10th of a second.
•	One cell may connect with as many as 50 000 other cells. 
•	Neurons can transmit between 250 and 2500 impulses per second.
•	Explosions of dendrite growth take place between the ages of (0-3) and (13-18), but dendrite growth can happen throughout life.
•	As little as 1% of the information our senses capture will be processed by the        brain and converted into long term memory.
•	Hooks of the brain:  curiosity, challenge and anticipation.
•	A rule of thumb about “teacher talk” and a student’s ability to focus:   talk no longer than the age of your students plus 2 minutes.
•	Even though the brain is only 2% of our body weight, it consumes 20% of our calories.  The more we think, the more calories we burn!
•	The consistency and texture of a ripe avocado is similar to the texture of the brain.
•	Neuroimaging reveals that music activates many different parts of the brain.
•	If your brain was not wrinkled or convoluted, it would be approximately the same size as a pillowcase.
•	The three things the brain needs most are oxygen, water and brain nutrition.
•	Our best learning takes place when there is low stress and there are relevant learning experiences.
•	The neurons in a child’s brain make more connections than those in an adult’s.  A newborn’s brain makes connections at an incredible pace as the child absorbs its environment.
•	Synthesizing, which encourages longer and more complex connections in more areas of the brain,  is dendrite food 
•	 The frontal lobe deals with planning and  thinking, monitor higher-order thinking and contain our self-will; as well as regulating excesses of our emotional system.  The frontal lobe matures slowly and is not fully functioning during adolescence.

DENDRITE GROWTH	
DENDRITE PRUNING	

Our job is to grow dendrites.  They are neural roadways that connect various parts of the brain.  Growing dendrites (size and numbers) physically increases the weight of our brain.  New growth of dendrites form on neurons that are frequently used.  Introducing and reviewing information to the brain in several ways creates more dendrite pathways and synaptic connections. The more they are used the stronger they become.  For example:  offering visual information will set up connections to the occipital lobe. Having students hear the information will make connections with the temporal lobes. The more alternative roadways there are to connect with a memory, the more rapidly the memory will be retrieved when needed.  Recent studies of neurons in people of different occupations show that the more complex the skills required to do the job, the more dendrites found on neurons.	
The pace of dendrite growth slackens as a child reaches puberty and two processes begin:  connections and neurons the brain finds useful become permanent; those not useful are “pruned”.  The brain bases its selection on experience.  Therefore, by adolescence our brains have chosen most of the neurons they will keep.  “The more ways something is learned, the more memory pathways are built. This brain research discovery is part of the reason for the current notion that stimulating the growth of more dendrites and synaptic connections is one of the best things teachers can learn to do for their students.” (Judy Willis, 2006) When our brain’s gray matter thickens (dendrite growth) so does the white matter.  White matter is the myelin sheaths that insulate the axons and make nerve signals faster and more efficient (myelinization).  Less used pathways are pruned while the more frequently used connections become thicker and more efficient. 	

It’s all about storing information in your memory so it can be retrieved when you need it.

Attention
“Before students can learn, something or someone, must capture their attention.”
	Repetition and Processing of Information

A system in the lower part of the brain filters all incoming stimuli and makes the decision about what people attend to or ignore.  “Because there is so much newness in our students’ environment from visual, auditory, kinaesthetic input all around them (and plugged into their ears from iPods hidden in their backpacks), teachers have the challenge of guiding students to select and focus on the intended information and ignore the rest of the input bombarding their RAS (reticular activating system) and competing for their attention.” 
(Judy Willis, M.D.; “Research-Based Strategies To Ignite Student Learning”; 2006)

Application of sense and meaning to new learning can only happen if the learner has time to process and reprocess new information.  Before repetition begins, information must be remembered correctly.  The “Gradual Release of Responsibility” provides a model that encourages success: Teacher Modeling (explains, models, think alouds) followed by Guided Practice (teacher and student practice together), Independent Practice (practice on own or in groups with regular feedback from teacher) and finishing with Application of the new learning. After this, the information must be reviewed regularly, which stimulates neural connections and dendrite growth to strengthen the connections between neurons.

Accessing Prior Knowledge

By accessing the previous experiences and knowledge a student already has about a topic, new information is recognized by the brain as relevant and it increases the chance that the information will travel beyond temporary working memory and into long-term storage areas.  If prior knowledge is not evident teachers must provide it.

Long Term Storage

Because working memory is temporary, our brains need to decide if new information should be sent to long term storage for future recall or dropped, in a relatively short period of time (varies depending on a number of factors).  Survival and emotion (including motivation) significantly impact memory storage and the length of time a person can stay focused.  Connecting with past experiences and determining if the new information makes sense or has meaning will determine whether it is saved or dropped.  Solidifying information in long term memory requires time and repetition.
	
Makes Sense	Meaning/Relevance	

When students look confused or comment they don’t understand, new information does not make sense to them.  In classrooms students often understand what is being taught and complete assignments, but if the information is not relevant and does not connect to their past experiences it is unlikely it will be sent to long term storage for recall.  

	
When students question why they have to do something, they are saying they do not have any personal experience that tells them the information is important to remember…it is not relevant to them.  Meaning is more important than making sense.  A person can understand something but if it is not relevant it is less likely they will remember it. 

“Information is most likely to get stored if it makes sense and has meaning.” (David Sousa, 2006)	

  

Emotions...Learning or Not?	Provide “Syn-nap” Breaks	

Memories are formed in an emotional context.  The emotional part of the brain, the limbic system, is active as information is being converted to long term memories in the hippocampus and stored throughout the brain.  Information flow is blocked by stress and enhanced by positive emotional states.  Positive classroom environments that get students emotionally involved with the content improve learning and retention. 

	
Our brains need breaks to internalize new information and replenish neurotransmitters (chemicals that transmit impulses from neuron to neuron).  If neurotransmitters are not replenished, the amygdala will block information and memory efficiency will decrease.  Neurotransmitters rebuild quickly (within minutes) if “syn-naps” are taken before “meltdown” (students lose focus and attention); therefore it is better to schedule “syn-naps” before students show signs of distraction.
	
Make Cross Curricular Connections	Help Students Identify Patterns	

An integrated curriculum helps students achieve transfer (influence of past learning on new learning) by helping them see the connection between what they know and new learning.  When students participate in learning that is related across the curriculum connections between different areas of the brain increase.  It is much easier recalling information from long-term memory when higher levels of thinking are being stimulated and pathways between related areas have been increased.	

“Education is about increasing the patterns students can use, recognize, and communicate.” (Judy Willis, 2006)  Patterning allows us to organize and connect new learning with what we already know.  Students form new neural connections when new material is presented in a way that shows relationships.  Graphic organizers are one of the best foods for encouraging dendrite growth.  They encourage the brain to create meaning and relevance by helping students make connections and see patterns, which are necessary for long-term memory storage. 	

Oral Language…talk to others about your thinking!	
Complexity and Difficulty	

Brain scans have revealed a hierarchy of brain activity that demonstrates the importance of “oral language” and talking about your thinking.  A whole network of neural activity is activated. 
Average Percentage of Retention After 24 Hours

Lecture……………………………………………..5%
Demonstration……………………………………30%
Practice by Doing…………………………….….75%
                        Teach Others/Immediate use of Learning….…90%
                                                   (David Sousa, 2006)

Complexity (thought process) and difficulty (amount of effort the learner uses within a level of complexity) are different concepts!  Teachers often increase difficulty rather than complexity (analyze, evaluate, create) to challenge students.  Many believe students with minimal ability cannot cope with complexity.  However, all students have the ability to undertake higher level thinking tasks (complexity); slower learners simply require more time. (David Sousa, 2006) An enriched curriculum helps all students physically change their brains by growing dendrites and making connections to many other areas of the brain.	
Males/Females	Assessment and Evaluation	
“The brains of males and females are different in both chemical and physical ways. Brain scans indicate males and females use different parts of their brain to complete similar tasks. Our job is to recognize that boys may have some different learning preferences from girls, but that both genders have similar capabilities to succeed.   To that end, we need to curb the cultural and social forces that feed past stereotypes about students capabilities.”
  (David Sousa, 2006) 	

If knowledge gaps are not corrected early the brain will fill in blanks with misinformation.  This misinformation may be stored in long term memories that are difficult to change once embedded.  The only way we ever know what we know is by answering a question or performing a task. 	

Resources:
Halstead, David. (2002) Putting The Brain Into The Classroom.  Winnipeg, MB:  Gallant Design Ltd.  (ISBN:  0-9731650-1-4)
Plitano, Colleen and Paquin, Joy.  (2000) Brain-Based Learning With Class.  Winnipeg, MB:  Peguis Publishers. (ISBN: 1-894110-48-X)
Sousa, David A.  (2006) How The Brain Learns Third Edition.  Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publicatioins. (ISBN 1-4129-3661-6)
Willis, Judy MD.  (2006) Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning.  Davers, MA:  Copyright Clearance Centre.  (ISBN-13: 978-1-4166-0370-2)
Classroom Connections, Summer 2007,Volume 17, Issue 2
“This handout has been modified and adapted from the above resources.”	

New Learning

Touch

Taste

Immediate Memory 
(approx. 30 sec.)

Positive Past Experience/Important

No Connection/Unimportant
(will not go into memory)

Physical Needs

Choice

Novelty

Hearing

Sight

Smell

Attention
of RAS

Working Memory

First takes care of survival and emotion..
then can focus on learning

Information captures focus..gets attention

Learning

Makes Sense

Has Meaning

Long Term Memory Storage

Doesn’t make sense
No Meaning – No memory