{"id":1051,"date":"2017-06-13T15:00:32","date_gmt":"2017-06-13T20:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/?p=1051"},"modified":"2017-06-13T15:20:58","modified_gmt":"2017-06-13T20:20:58","slug":"brain-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/2017\/06\/13\/brain-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"Brain Rules"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by Professor Mark Tacke<\/em><\/p>\n

One of the best research-based workshops I have ever attended took place at Seattle Pacific University in July of 2010. The audience contained both educators and business people. The lunch was an amazing buffet that included Pacific Northwest salmon. The presenter was the author of Brain Rules<\/em>, John Medina.<\/p>\n

John Medina\u2019s Brain Rules<\/em> is a book that outlines and expands on 12 rules for surviving and thriving at work, home, and school. (A second edition has come out since I attended this workshop.) I am not going to write about all 12 rules, but I\u2019m going to cherry-pick and write about those rules especially apropos for educators.<\/p>\n

First, a reminder of the scriptural directive found in 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22: \u201cTest everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.\u201d Medina assumes an evolutionary origin, and he writes from that perspective. We reject this, but read on. Medina has many good ideas to improve education, and he only shares ideas based on current brain research.<\/p>\n

Brain rule #2: Exercise boosts brain power.
\n<\/strong>This is aerobic exercise. This means movement. Movement improves your thinking skills by getting blood flowing to your brain, thus bringing oxygen and glucose for energy. And all this is in addition to the cardiovascular benefits. Aerobic exercise twice a week halves your risk of general dementia. It cuts risk of Alzheimer\u2019s by 60%. So use that elliptical machine. Take the steps instead of the elevator. Park your car at the end of the parking lot and walk farther.<\/p>\n

Brain rule #3: Sleep well, think well. (Or put negatively: Sleep loss equals brain drain).
\n<\/strong>Get your eight hours of sleep. Enough said.<\/p>\n

Brain rule #5: Every brain is wired differently. Brain rule # 11: Male and female brains are different.
\n<\/strong>Based on these rules, Medina\u2019s key thought here is that class sizes should be smaller. Five in a class is ideal. But most of us will not have that luxury. Solution: Break larger classes into smaller groups.<\/p>\n

Instruction should be customized. (Differentiated is a current buzzword.) \u201cEffort\u201d should be stressed over \u201csmart\u201d (i.e. grades, standardized tests, grade point averages, etc.).<\/p>\n

Medina shared this anecdote relating how male brains are wired differently than female brains. One at a time, some boys were throwing a football as high as they could. One boy said he could throw it higher than another boy. Medina said that in a similar group of girls, a challenger would say, \u201cI can throw it as<\/em> high as you can.\u201d This has implications for the competitive atmosphere of the classroom.<\/p>\n

Brain rule #6: We don\u2019t pay attention to boring things.
\n<\/strong>This rule gets us to the meat of this blog article. None of us on either side of the desk pays attention to boring things. Research says that you have the attention of your students for 10 minutes before they are going to check out. Solution: Chunking. Don\u2019t teach a 40-minute class; teach four 10-minute classes. Switch it up every 10 minutes and use a hook to \u201cbuy\u201d 10 more minutes. Hooks can introduce where you are going next, or they can cycle back to the beginning of the previous 10-minute segment. Emotions get attention. Stories get attention. Keep the hooks relevant. (When discussing this, Medina got a good chuckle from the audience when he said that most typical power point presentations should be burned.)<\/p>\n

The brain cannot multitask when it comes to paying attention. Research shows that attempting to multitask requires the process to take twice as long and the results will contain 50% more mistakes. A sobering example Medina shared involved using cell phones while driving. Using a cell phone while driving is worse than driving drunk with a 0.08% blood alcohol level. I\u2019m not referring to just texting. This includes talking on the phone with a hands-free headset.<\/p>\n

The brain processes meaning before detail. Get the core concept across first (i.e. the general idea, the \u201cgist\u201d). Details can come in the next 10-minute chunk.<\/p>\n

Finally, the brain needs a break. It takes time to process and digest new information. The odds are that you know more than your students, so don\u2019t be guilty of overstuffing their brains. Medina ended this section in his book with this quote: \u201cHow true indeed that expertise doesn\u2019t guarantee good teaching!\u201d<\/p>\n

Mark W. Tacke (\u201980) is currently serving as a professor of physics at Martin Luther College – New Ulm MN.<\/em><\/p>\n

Reference
\nMedina, John. Brain Rules<\/em>. 2nd<\/sup> edition. Pear Press. Seattle. c. 2014.<\/p>\n

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