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TEACHING IDEAS
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Classroom Readiness
There are three parts to the brain, the stem, the limbic and the cerebrum. Each part carries specific responsibilities.
The stem keeps the body organs functioning—the heart pumping and lungs breathing. The limbic system is where intense emotions are registered—happiness, sadness, anger, jealousy, fear, excitement. The cerebrum is where the highest order of thinking takes place—problem-solving, learning, memorization, thought-processing.
The cerebrum is where learning takes place and where we want our students to be when we teach them. However, if the body feels threatened, the brain downshifts until the stem gains control so that the organs continue to function, first and foremost. Obviously, brain down-shifting impedes effective problem solving. When our son, Abe, wrecked this mental downshifting was apparent. He fell asleep while driving and awoke in time to see the pick-up veer into the borrow pit. His thought was, “Oh no! Dad is going to kill me if I wreck his pick-up.” His brain registered fear. After that thought, he said he “must have fallen asleep again” as he doesn’t remember anything although he was conscious. When the pick-up came to rest on its side, he immediately crawled up and out the window. There were two homes within 200 yards from his wreck. There was another home 1200 yards away. After climbing out, Abe walked to the farthest home. This decision showed evidence that he was not using the ‘thinking-side’ of his brain. Downshifting had occurred: his eyes saw that he was headed for a wreck and sent the information to his brain, which recognized his body was in danger and shut down to preserve his organs.
You have probably heard or used the comments: “I was so angry I couldn’t see straight,” “He was so in love he didn’t know which way was up,” or “I was so sad all I wanted to do was curl up and die.” The limbic system carries higher-level thinking abilities than the stem for here is where emotions are registered. However, emotions can also inhibit higher-level learning. Fear freezes. Have you ever been in a class when the teacher turned and pointed at you for an answer and whatever you were thinking suddenly evaporated? That’s an example of a brain freeze: your brain registered fear of ridicule, stupidity or exposure, then
down-shifted. The brain’s first priority is to protect the body organs—keep the heart pumping, lungs breathing and kidneys flushing. ***
What do basic brain functions have to do with teaching? Frankly, everything. The best learning environments are safe—where students are protected from ridicule, embarrassment, and harm so that the highest level of thinking occurs. When concepts are linked to experience, interests, and prior knowledge learning is more permanent. Therefore, it is worth the time and effort to teach where all can participate, experience, and be understood.
Dr. Howard Gardner, a learning theorist, identified eight principle ways in which we learn. He identified them as the following intelligences:
mathematical/analytical
verbal/linguistic
visual/spatial
body/kinesthetic
rhythm/musical
intrapersonal
interpersonal
naturalistic
Mathematical/analytical learners think deductively, deal with numbers and recognize abstract patterns.
Verbal/linguistic learners think and learn through written and spoken words, have the ability to memorize facts, fill in workbooks, take written tests and enjoy reading.
Visual/spatial learners think in and visualize images and pictures and have the ability to create graphic designs and communicate with diagrams and graphics.
Body/kinesthetic learners learn best through physical movement and have a sense of knowing through body memory.
Musical/rhythmic learners recognize tonal patterns and environmental sounds and learn best through rhyme, rhythm, and repetition.
Interpersonal learners learn and operate through group relationships and communication. They also depend on all of the other intelligences to learn.
Intrapersonal learners enjoy and learn through self-reflection and working alone. They have an awareness of inner spiritual realities. **
Naturalistic learners have an understanding of the environment with a deeper intelligence of plant life, animals, and workings of the earth.
Today’s public schools primarily teach to mathematical/logical and verbal/linguistic learners, yet before children enter school they actively learn in all eight ways. Riding a bike, singing alphabet and nursery rhymes, tying shoes, playing house or trucks with other children, playing blocks parallel to other children and coloring on walls are activities that include all learning styles actively practiced by pre-school children. To teach all learners and allow them to process information in the way most natural to them, we must teach in all learning styles. We most often teach in the way we best learn, but by being aware that others may learn best through other methods we can reach across barriers that impede learning.
It is imperative that students feel safe before they’ll participate in various learning activities because they seem foreign—having been abandoned in kindergarten or early education. By establishing ground rules that protect participants and beginning with low-risk activities, trust and confidence in a group will grow. Valuable ground rules include requiring participants to listen to each other (rather than compete for air waves), encouraging students to respect and appreciate each other by not tolerating statements of rejection or insult, and to express appreciation to their classmates. Low risk activities include exercises where the student maintains control and how much information he shares.*
Readying a classroom is more than hanging pictures on a wall, organizing chairs or writing information on a chalkboard, it is readying and steadying a group of people to learn. Recognizing how the brain processes information will help you to ready your classroom.
(Source for this article: TRIBES, A New Way of Learning and Being Together, by Jeanne Gibbs, c. 2001, pgs. 64**, 66-67***, 74*, published by CenterSource Systems, LLC, 7975 Cameron Drive, Bldg 500, Windsor, CA 95492, www.tribes.com)
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