Grey Matters: Teaching the way the brain learns

Is it the subject you hate? Or just a single concept?

10/9/2018

Recently I overheard a student complain, "I hate Math!" followed by a large, dramatic sigh and an eye roll.

Remind you of anyone in your class?

Deciding to accept the discussion invitation, I responded, "Hmm, Math is a really large subject. Can you possibly narrow down what portion you find distasteful?"

"Fractions. I hate fractions...I just don't get it," she replied.

"Do you remember long division?" I pressed.

"I love long division. It's so easy," she responded.

"You love long division now...you didn't love it so much, when we first started doing it," I gently reminded the not-loving-fractions 5th grader.

"I didn't? Are you sure? I'm pretty sure I loved it as soon as I started doing it," she replied in a puzzled tone. "I'm really good at division," she continued.

"You're right, you are really good at division. And soon, you'll be great at fractions." I high-fived her as she headed to her seat.

Students often forget how they felt at the beginning of learning a new concept or subject area; focusing only on how they're doing in that moment. A portfolio illustrates early mistakes, the progress made, ultimately showing their overall grasp of the concepts, and in some cases, the time it took to fully grasp the concept.

For more on portfolios, check out: http://www.greymattersdocumentary.com/blog/grades-versus-growth

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Math in the morning?

8/29/2017

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.Does time of day matter when it comes to planning instruction time?

Is it better to have Math in the morning and Language Arts in the afternoon?
Some research says it does, like this study: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/REST_a_00525 and this one from David Sousa, a renowned educator, advocate for neuroeducation, and author: https://howthebrainlearns.wordpress.com/2011/10/17/impact-of-circadian-rhythms-on-schools-and-classrooms/.

But there are others that suggest otherwise and students will advocate strongly for no early morning classes.

So what’s the deal anyway?

Circadian rhythms, our body’s 24-hour clock, drives the cycles of alertness and drowsiness. Most adults will experience the biggest energy dip in the middle of the night between 2:00-4:00 a.m and after lunch. Theoretically early elementary and middle school aged kids will have a similar pattern. Teens however are quite different, for a number of reasons from technology to anxiety. These two resources are worth a read:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/teenbrain/from/sleep.html
https://www.thesleepjudge.com/teens-and-sleep/

Scheduling classes
If you have autonomy over planning your schedule, and you’re working with elementary to tween students, you may want to to organize your time blocks with subjects that require higher focus in the morning. That might look like math first thing in the morning, or math directly following recess.

If you don’t, and that’s the majority of teachers I know, or you're working with teens and college students, an alternative would be to schedule a two minute exercise activity to get your kids moving. John Medina, molecular biologist and author of Brain Rules, reminds us in brain rule #1: Exercise increases blood and oxygen flow in the body which makes our brain perform better. Check out more on this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck-tQt0S0Os (cue in at 0:51).

Pediatric psychologist Dr. Lynne Kenney recommends 5 minutes of cognitive motor activity every 45 minutes.

Sample classroom workout:

Here’s an easy 2 minute exercise routine for you to try in your classroom: https://darebee.com/workouts/2minute-workout.html
Each exercise is 20 seconds long, with no rest in-between:
Jumping Jacks
Jump Squats
High Knees
Side to Side lunges or regular lunges
Squats
Mountain Climbers, if space allows, or end with Jumping Jacks

You can laminate copies for your students to grab as they enter class.

I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below.

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Is it the subject you hate? Or just a single concept?

Math in the morning?

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