The Amygdala in 5 Minutes

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Music in the classroom

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Why music in class? I ntegrating music in the classroom can enhance our students' learning experiences in many different ways.  The brain learns in patters and music is delivered in patterns too, that is why it is much easier to remeber the ABC in a song than if it is spoken. Music helps us to coordinate the rhythm of the heart, our breathing, and our brain waves. It contributes to our body  and mind relaxation opening the door for learning. Music is a powerful tool that can create a warm and exciting environmet in class and can change negative emotions. The use of music in my class We can use music for different purposes and at different moments. Here you have some songs I usually use in my classes.... bear in mind that from time to time it will be advisable to change the songs so as not to bore your students! Opening ritual: when students enter my class they listen to some uplifting songs to get energized like "Eye of the tiger", then we do some brain gym activities to ...
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The Anti Bullying Class

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This is a topic so relevant in today's world. Last year, one of my students was bullied outside the classroom and it was quite difficult to detect it until she came to me and talked about her problem. Detecting bullies is not that easy because most of them don't act uopn their victims in front of adults. Children and teenagers tend to become cruel sometimes and it is part of their growing. However, when teasing becomes repetitive and it is made on purpose to hurt a child that is called bullying.  It is essential to take this issue seriously and do something about it. Not only teachers and the school community should be involved but also parents and the government too. Developing kindness and empathy in our children is essential if we want to make a substantial change to stop bullying in class. Some Ideas to prevent bullying With teenagers you can explain what bullying is and prepare some questions for discussion to raise awareness of such an important issue. How can bullying ha...
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Motivating teenagers

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Why are teenagers so unmotivated all the time? What activities can we do to engange them in class? New discoveries in neuroscience can provide us with a biological explanation for this. Brain function is different in adolescence than in adulthood (25 years). The Prefrontal cortex continues to mature into the 20s, making decision-making generally more effortful and difficult. Adolescents operate more from the reflexive, instinctive, amygdalar part of brain, leading to impulsivity. They also have less activity in the nucleus accumbens (a region of the frontal cortex) which leads to motivational deficit. This means that adolescents are drawn to high-excitement and low-effort experiences, or both. Long-term planning suffers and risk-taking or "laziness" are very common. Teenagers can be very demanding and critical but once they are motivated they can show a lot of creativity and imagination in class so the question is how we can motivate them and get the most of each of them.... ...
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