Nathan Wallis began the day enlightening us with how much we have learned about cognition, or the Learning Brain, or Tikaka o Ka Roro, since the 1980s due to advances in technology, namely scanning. Before this, all we knew about brains was learned from researching dead brains. He provoked us by sharing the fact that genius has very little to do with our genetics and that there are no genes that pre-determine your intelligence (did you know we have 3000 less genes than a fruit fly?!). The biggest developmental impact on our brains comes from how many spoken words a baby hears in their first 1000 days which is known as the diad or one on one relationship. Those who have a poor diad have a greater risk of brain development but these can be counter-balanced or 'absorbed' by resiliency factors which include: birth order, gender, parent home for first year, learn to play an instrument, speak multiple languages, educated parents, close relationships with extended families. Those the risks continue with alcohol-drug abuse, physical abuse, transient, not spoken to in native language etc.
He then continued to re-educate us on the neuro-sequential brain, and this is where the penny drops. Brains 1,2 and 3 are compulsory- all info comes in through these brains (think of a four story house) and we need these to live
1-Survival: brain stem (Heart rate: fight, flight, freeze)
2-Movement: Movement brain (reptilian brain- coordination)
3-Limbic system: Emotional brain (responses)
But, Brain 4 is our emotional brain- where we experience empathy and higher intelligence:
4-Cortical- Learning brain (empathy, controlling self, literacy)
Something else we need to bare in mind is that our brain is not completely developed until we are in our twenties and females usually faster than males (and first born is usually faster too). He also stated that a teenagers learning brain shuts off for a few years, so they are more like a 3 year old than a 16 year old.
Provocation: prisons are full of males that are not first born, many in their twenties, what do we do with this information?!
Andrew Fuller followed with information about how to rewire our brain, bombarding us with facts about the science of our brains and that 'goals are good but systems are better'. Meaning that we need to develop systems that enable the full potential of our brain power, namely eating well and sleeping well. He shared information about the neurochemicals in our brain and how they influence our actions and how our systems can enhance and amplify desired effects. For instance, to increase dopamine, which motivates, gives pleasure and increases attention we should engage in problem solving and sports and avoid computer games and we should eat fish, oats, peanuts, seeds and tofu.
After a quick break we were back to Nathan Wallis who talked to us about X Factor Education. Our brain is a biological relationship machine which is based on the neuron, or brain cell. There are different types of neurons but at the center of each is an electrical charge and when neurons connect it is this charge that connects to form neural pathways and this is where the information is stored (connectivisim theory). The brain has a system for keeping or rejecting the synaptic connections iand this is where myolin comes in. Myolin (white matter- fat based- insulator over the pathways) is laid down when we practice a skill- each time adds another layer and it needs to be done 90ish times to become truly 'learned'. So our prior knowledge is a network of synaptic connections (consider how fast we learn fractions as an isolated lesson versus learning fractions as we learn to bake).
Nathan says that the love of learning comes in brain 3 and we must be careful to not kill this brain, and the hippocampus can be thought of as the 'google' of our brain, not the library. Our happy hormone, endorphins, enable myolin to be laid down more quickly and thus make learning faster. So how do we increase endorphins? Sex is the biggest rush of endorphins! So since this can't be addressed in a school context we need to develop situations and learning experiences to heighten:
1.Laughing -laughter yoga,
2.Movement is intricately related to learning- fidgeting is good!
3.Our Major Pedagogy- should be singing! #1 way to release endorphins. If we are singing we are not in SURVIVAL mode.
To decrease these we encourage the release of cortisol. When cortisol is released is removes the latest learning (the last synaptic connection) and he suggests even using the words 'no' or 'don't' versus could you.... can release cortisol. So as educators we can think of the brain as a garden where endorphins fertilize learning and cortisol is pesticide that kills the newest learning. - Myolin is the ashpalt of our brain - making our synaptic connections permanent knowledge/skills.
- Poutama- MOE- symbolic of learning brain
- Endorphins speed up learning.
- Countries with compulsory music programmes produce best mathematicians eg. Hungary, Japan, Netherlands…
- Autistic children- have higher levels of cortisol
- Brain’s job is to VISUALISE oral language- 25% of the brain pictures what you say whether it is do or don’t so if we don’t want them to do something don’t use those words- say the opposite.
Then we were back to Andrew who brought use back to discussing the brain and food relationship in more detail. Some highlights:
Make data visual- animate it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo
- Teach the concept before you ask questions about the concept. Brainstorming is a waste of time?!
- If we are going to label anything, label strengths.
- Power of feedback.
- Exploit the memory and oralfactory connection- make our school smell good
- Be visual
- GET IT Model: Getting Ready to learn, Experiencing difference, Trying it out, Information Processing and Transfer.
- Be diagnostic BEFORE you 'treat or intervene' Learning Strengths inventory. http://andrewfuller.com.au/free-resources/
- How do we diagnose the ‘ blockages’? In the different areas?Language and Words, Spatial Reasoning, Thinking and Logic, Perceptual & Motor Coordination, Planning & Sequencing, Numbers, People Skills, Concentration & Memory,
- The Power of Feedback- especially important to help boys make progress. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbk980jV7Ao
- Increase visuals. Get kids to point to stuff. Provide repetition. Note taking- break page into 3 parts with a venn diagram at bottom (see pic). Give your memory a hand. Silence. Similarities and differences. Relationships - how do we collectively own the kids to create a powerful sense of belonging
- Need our kids to know to ask for help. Help our kids know what they are good at.
- Anxious and avoidant times (survival type responses)- use the growth mindset to manage the challenges.My brain is a binary system.
- Decision Making→ PICCA: problem then 5 whys I wants, Choices, Comparisons and Action.
- Shark thoughts (i should be able to …) and Dolphin thoughts (helpful ideas!).
- Teach kids to concentrate! Concentration→Happy Wanderers- Frequent Flyers- Spies (know more about the school than anyone else, love challenges)- Amplifiers (make everything louder and more intense)- Fidgeters (tend to collect things)- Star Trekkers (give them a chance to get things wrong- make them take risks). Do not feed the fears
- How can ‘ David’s beat Goliath’s’
- How smart are we? (self, people, music, picture, logic, word, number, body…) → analyse our strengths (MI quiz)
- Optical illusions… where’s wally? What do you see?
- Prioritisation. Learn to prioritise. What do you need to do NEXT? KIS = success. Be the boss?
- Glass half empty? Focus on what IS there not what is not. The magic happens when we are well beyond our comfort zone.
- It takes 6 weeks to form a habit (to cover the synaptic connection with enough myolin)
