Brain GYM exercises!

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Projects and Assessment Portfolio

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Projects and Assessment Portfolio Projects Project-based learning lessons are all based on solving a central question/s (umbrella question). Ideally, these questions/problems are ones that are posed by the students. When developing your question, be sure to keep in mind that it should not be Google-able ! If Google can instantly provide an answer to the driving question, then it is certainly not sufficient enough to propel meaningful research and study. The essential question should be one that can only be answered through the process of investigating and gathering information. So let’s say a student asks the question, “How long is the term for state senators?” While we wouldn’t want to use that a s a driving question (It’s Google-able), it would certainly be a great start. Instead, you might help them go a bit further and ask, “How could we create an information center at our school that teaches our peers about various government offices?”   Now you have a question to explore th...
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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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The Triune Brain and its implications in the classroom

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The Triune Brain and its implications in the classroom Dr. Paul Mac Lean developed the theory of the Triune brain. It states that our brain evolved in three different stages: the reptilian brain, the mammalian brain and finally the neo cortex or human brain. As a result, humans don’t have one brain but three. Newer and more elaborate structures were added to the old and integrated into a functional whole. Each of these brains are located differently in the mind and have different evolutionary functions. Let’s have a look at each of them and the implications they have in the classroom. The Reptilian Brain It is the lowest and most primitive part of the brain and we share it with all other animals which have a backbone. It evolved during the Triassic period. It is connected to the spinal cord and its main function is to guarantee survival. It releases chemicals to face the “fight or flight” response. It also controls other functions to sustain life such as heart rate, breathing, digestio...
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