Monday, August 19, 2019 marked the first day back to school for all of the staff. After an initial welcome and introductions in the auditorium, staff began ALERT Training in the CHS Commons. This group of professionals are eager to meet their students and Make Dust in 2019.
During the afternoon break, I managed to gather the staff for a photo in front of the new Coach.
How does the brain function? How do we learn? Understanding the basic path of learning and memory is a key to a better understanding of teaching and learning. The basic path of information and how the brain processes it using the concept of the HIGH road versus the LOW road gives teachers and learners an edge in getting information processed into long-term memory.
What is important is that by avoiding student exposure to FEAR, ANXIETY, STRESS and THREAT, learning can take place at a high level.
The HIGH road and LOW road as shared by John Parks Le Tellier and Quantum Learning.
Sensory information (Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic) from the outside world enters the brain and is first sent to the THALAMUS. This part of the brain acts as a relay station and transfers information TWO directions at the same time.
One direction is called the HIGH road where information is transferred to the appropriate SENSORY cortices. The sensory information then converges to WORKING MEMORY in the prefrontal cortex. Working memory can only focus on ONE thing at a time. Our goal as teachers is to capture and hold WORKING MEMORY.
The other direction that sensory information travels from the thalamus is called the LOW road to the emotional control center of the brain, the AMYGDALA. One of the responsibilities of the amygdala is to process emotions related to FEAR, ANXIETY, STRESS and THREAT.
When amygdala is high, prefrontal cortex (working memory) activity is LOW.
When amygdala is low, prefrontal cortex (working memory) activity is HIGH.
By ensuring students are exposed to information that will be processed on the HIGH road, the better chance the information has to become WORKING MEMORY that can be converted to LONG-TERM MEMORY. See the infographic for details of this conversion.
At the March 27 Pupil Instructional Related (PIR) professional development our instructional staff learned about the cognitive learning system and how the brain processes, questions and stores information. Quantum Learning's Ted Murcray did an excellent job presenting to the staff as the information presented was not only fascinating, but it provided meaningful insights for effective teaching.
A number of our instructional staff said that this was the best PIR that they have attended. I would agree that its was exceptional.
Because of Quantum Learning presentation I continued my quest to find out more and discovered a blog with an exceptional infographic on the topic that describes Neuroplasticity: Rewiring the Brain for Optimal Learning. I believe that this is a great RE-CAP of the QL Brain Basics and I would like to share it with staff and the greater learning community.
In addition, The Quantum Learning System published Excellence in Teaching and Learning by Barbra Given and Bobbi DePorter. The section on Cognitive Learning and Design Component further describes how we learn as well as remember what we learn through the QL Brain Basics (four powerful neuroscientific educational statements that guide instruction):
Neurons that fire together wire together
Attention is necessary for learning
Students make meaning by connecting to existing knowledge and schema
Mental imaging supports understanding
These concepts on cognitive learning are just the tip of the iceberg for learning how we learn.
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The video below was taken during the training. It exemplifies the QL Success Model of the level of difficulty of a task in relationship to a learners willingness to risk. This is just another layer of the onion in the delivery and design of learning. It is all part of firing neurons using Chunking, VAK and Review.
Monday, August 19, 2019 marked the first day back to school for all of the staff. After an initial welcome and introductions in the auditorium, staff began ALERT Training in the CHS Commons. This group of professionals are eager to meet their students and Make Dust in 2019.
How does the brain function? How do we learn? Understanding the basic path of learning and memory is a key to a better understanding of teaching and learning. The basic path of information and how the brain processes it using the concept of the HIGH road versus the LOW road gives teachers and learners an edge in getting information processed into long-term memory.
At the March 27 Pupil Instructional Related (PIR) professional development our instructional staff learned about the cognitive learning system and how the brain processes, questions and stores information. Quantum Learning's Ted Murcray did an excellent job presenting to the staff as the information presented was not only fascinating, but it provided meaningful insights for effective teaching.