Brain Behavior Institute - Session 9

The brain is a very complex mechanism that sometimes unconsciously doesn't work the way we want it to work due to neocortex malfunction or unconscious factors.  I think that the brain itself will take a life time to understand and figure out.  I found that this morning was good but at times overwhelming.  My brain needs time to assimilate!

An Example of Stress................................................

STRESS!!!!!

• A lecturer when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked 'How heavy is this glass of water?'
  
• Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.
  
• The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter.
  
  
• It depends on how long you try to hold it.
  
  
• If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem.
  
  
• If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm.
  
  
• If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance.
  
  
• In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes." He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management.
  
  
• If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on. As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest be fore holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden.
  

Geneva: 

• I'm always learn something that I missed or wasn't presented the last time I took this course. 
• As complex as the brain is, it is also really simplistic  -->  info goes in, somehow processed, and an output comes out.  And even if it is wrong, we learn something anyway.  It's just as important as learn what doesn't work as what does work.
• The brain has an innate way of making everything okay. 

Antionette:

• Pain is the mismatch between what is expected and what is experienced.   We do that with our kids; some discomfort is good.  We want to create an environment where we let the kids know that it is okay to be uncomfortable. 
• If we want emergence, we have to start to create it and then move back and allow the kids to take it over.
• Why do we allow for gifted and special education students the freedom to learn differently, but we lump everyone else into one group.  Why don't we give that latitude to the rest of the kids? 

Jill

• Focused on inhibition.  There are so many things going on in our nervous system that are preprogrammed, but the corresponding behaviors are not generated because of inhibition.
• Varied experiences of the world - So much depends on how the brain processes the inputs.  Opens up so many possibilities for different people to experience the world differently. 

Further discussions:

What choices would the brain make if the inhibition wasn't there? 

Children now have so much immediate gratification, that they have not developed some skills.  Children seek answers from teachers, not strategies.  We frustrate children by not giving them what they want immediately.  The culture has raised children that expect immediate gratification.  

We (society/culture in general) take ownership from the students when we do it for them, rather than teaching them how to do it.  We're giving them momentary gratification, but its not helping them handle situations when we are not there.  They need to be able to act on their own. 

Part of learning --> There's an end-product expectation.  But there is also a process to get there.  Kids seem to be less aware of the processes that exist in the world, as so many things have becomed instantaneous.  And thus they are less willing to engage in the processes that exist in the classroom and learning. 

Technology has opened many opportunities, but it also have many challenges.  It makes children less aware of the underpinnings of the world.  If this world of technology crashes, we'll have several lost generations.  There is a real advantage to using computers while also integrating traditional methods as well. 

Changes in technology often create panics, since people have becomed so dependent upon it.  They don't know how to function through other methods. 

The internet only contains what people put in it. People have less awareness that they need to seek out information and complete tasks through other means as well. 

Maybe Maria Montessori had it right.  People need to learn through play, by doing. 

Question 1 the brain..

Found:

The brain controls less than previously thought – i.e. swimerettes still moving after separation from brain. What does that say for survival instinct – is it really from the brain?

Very complex – which part is used for specific functions? It seems that we cannot over simplify the brain into sections i.e. the majority of musicians are good at math but they are creative people “what brain are they in?”

Question 2 teaching…

Found:

Important to recognize that teaching cannot be separated into boxes i.e. you are good at math therefore you are not creative – we have many musicians or architects that prove that theory incorrect.

Structured exploration is important we need a conductor to guide not to control.

Open-endedness  lends itself to growth of knowledge, leaving something open continues to generate questions – therefore learning continues.

It's okay to agree to disagree but always remember...
"At the end of the day people won't remember what you say or did, they will remember how you make them feel."
— Maya Angelou