WHOLE BRAIN
TEACHING
Engaging
All
Students:
An
Introduction
to
WHOLE BRAIN
TEACHING
Workshop
Facilitated
by
Maurice Azzano MA, BA, B.Ed.
Maurice.Azzano@GeorgianCollege.ca
PLEASE INTRODUCE
YOURSELF TO YOUR
NEIGHBOUR.
TELL YOUR NEIGHBOUR
WHAT DIRECTION THE
BALLERINA IS DANCING.
CLOCKWISE?
COUNTERCLOCKWISE?
BOTH DIRECTIONS?
CAN YOU CHANGE THE
DIRECTION?
KEY QUESTIONS:
Do my students
believe they have
the ABILITY
to learn in my class?
KEY QUESTIONS:
How do
I know
this to be true?
Do we perceive our students as they really are?
Perception:
What You See Is What You Get
THIS HAS
BEEN MY
EXPERIENCE
IN TEACHING.
THE LONGER
I TALK …
THE MORE
STUDENTS
I LOSE!
I’VE GOT AN
ENTIRE CLASS
OF
CHALLENGING
STUDENTS!
THEY WON’T TAKE PART IN DISCUSSIONS!
THEY CAN’T THINK CRITICALLY!
THEY’RE NOT
VERY GOOD AT
PROBLEMSOLVING!
ISN’T THERE
ANYONE WHO
CAN HELP
ME??!!
THERE MUST BE
SOMETHING
THAT I CAN DO
TO ENGAGE MY
STUDENTS …
… AND
ENHANCE
THEIR
LEARNING.
DO YOU WANT
TO TRY
SOMETHING
REALLY
DRASTIC?
TELL ME
WHAT YOU
NEED …
WHAT I NEED IS
SOME MASSIVE
DOSES OF
WHOLE BRAIN
TEACHING!
OMG! I DON’T
EVEN KNOW WHAT
WHOLE BRAIN
TEACHING IS!
HELP
ME!
HELP!
HELP!
DON’T
WORRY.
WE’RE
HERE TO
HELP...
BUILD
RELATIONSHIPS
BASED ON TRUST
AND RESPECT.
THE FIVE FINGER CONTRACT
RESPECT
RESPONSIBILITY
COMMITMENT
SAFETY
ENCOURAGEMENT
CHALLENGE
BY
CHOICE
A
HELPING
GAME
DOUBLE
DOUBLE, DOUBLE, THIS, THIS.
DOUBLE, DOUBLE, THAT, THAT.
DOUBLE THIS.
THIS
DOUBLE THAT.
DOUBLE, DOUBLE, THIS, THAT!
THAT
Now pick up some speed!
“IF A STUDENT’S WHOLE BRAIN IS INVOLVED IN LEARNING ...
... THERE ISN’T ANY MENTAL AREA LEFT FOR ANYTHING ELSE.”
CHRIS BIFFLE
THE DIVIDED BRAIN
IAIN MCGILCHRIST
RIGHT
HEMISPHERE
LEFT
HEMISPHERE
FOR
IMAGINATION
YOU NEED
BOTH
HEMISPHERES
FOR
REASON
YOU NEED
BOTH
HEMISPHERES
Point
to
your thumb.
Switch.
Rotate your right leg
clockwise.
Draw a #6
in the air.
Let’s test the strength of our divided brain.
THE TRIUNE BRAIN
PAUL MCLEAN
THE THINKING
BRAIN: The
THE EMOTIONAL
BRAIN: We are
emotional
creatures. This
is the Limbic
System: it
fosters
attachment,
empathy, and
mediating
emotions.
Neo-Cortex
creates and
interprets
meaning out of
our life
experiences,
and is the
center of our
cognitive
functions, such
as thought.
THE SURVIVAL BRAIN: The brain stem and spinal cord are responsible
for our most basic survival mechanisms, such as sensory perception,
safety and the "Fight or Flight" response to perceived danger.
LEARNING AND THE TRIUNE BRAIN
BRAIN STEM
 Hold your fist in the air
 Touch your wrist
 Say:
“BRAIN STEM”
LEARNING AND THE TRIUNE BRAIN
LIMBIC SYSTEM
 Touch your fist
 Say:
“LIMBIC SYSTEM”
LEARNING AND THE TRIUNE BRAIN
NEO CORTEX
 Lay your hand over
your fist
 Say:
“NEO CORTEX”
WHOLE BRAIN
Harry Berger: Constructivism
1000
40
1000
30
1000
20
1000
+
10
4100
4100
Social Contagion
IS
COLLABORATION
REALLY THAT
IMPORTANT?
Collaboration
The Scannell-Newman Personality Indicator
Select the geometric shape that best represents your personality.
You are:
You are:
You are:
You are:
• Intellectual
• Steady
• Objective
• Dependable
• Dissatisfied with the
status quo
• Rational
• Conservative
• Strongly
preoccupied
with sex
• A good decisionmaker
• Able to
Persevere
• A believer in nononsense behaviour
• A risk taker
Is it possible to characterize people with such a “test”?
TODAY’S WARM-UP:
A CALL-AND-RESPONSE GAME
CALL: The name of the game
RESPONSE: The name of the game
CALL: is always the same
RESPONSE: is always the same
CALL: “People to people”
RESPONSE: “People to people”
Possible Matches:
SHOULDER TO SHOULDER
HIP TO HIP
BACK TO BACK
WRIST TO WRIST
Change partner when you hear “People to people”
KNEE TO ANKLE
SHOULDER TO ELBOW
KNEE TO THIGH
ELBOW TO THUMB
PASI SAHLBERG
DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION-FINLAND
What are your
long-term goals
for your
students?
What
would you want
them to be like
after they’ve left
you?
What
words and
phrases come to
mind?
KALEIDOSCOPE BRAINSTORMING
"...Romantic interplay between silence and interaction...
A heavenly marriage of thesis and antithesis.." D. Murthy
• “Multiple Mind Conferencing”
• Silence and Communication are
used as tools for generating
possible strategies
STEPS:
1. Initial brainstorming session
2. Silent brainstorming session
3. Presentation of ideas
4. “The Kaleidoscope Effect”
PROBLEM
How could compatible people meet
each other for romance?
WHAT WE WANT…
HOW WE WOULD
LIKE OUR STUDENTS
TO TURN OUT…
WHAT WE ARE DOING…
WHAT OUR
CLASSROOMS AND
LESSONS LOOK LIKE…
WIDE
CHASM
The Monty Hall Problem
Play the game and maybe win BIG MONEY!
THREE DOORS
ONE DOOR = BIG MONEY
TWO DOORS = ZONK (farm animal)
Monty Hall asks you to choose a door.
You choose a door.
Monty knows what’s behind each of the doors.
He reveals a ZONK behind one of the other doors.
He gives you the option of:
1. switching doors
2. sticking with your original choice.
The question is: should you switch?
If you want to switch doors
Stand up.
If you want to stick with the original door,
Stay seated.
OBJECTIVE:
Convince the others that they`re wrong and they should join your group.
SWITCH or STICK!?
The correct answer is
you should always switch!
Each door has a 1 in 3 chance of hiding the grand prize.
Suppose we begin by choosing door #1.
Each door has a 1 in 3 chance of hiding the grand prize.
Suppose we begin by choosing door #1.
In this case, Monty may
open either door #2 or
#3
In both of these cases,
Monty is forced to reveal
the only other zonk.
So what happens when you switch?
In this case you were
right the first time.
You lose!
In both of these cases,
you switch to the correct
door.
You win!
Monty Hall Problem from Movie 21
CLASS!!!
YES!!!
Chris Biffle
TEACH!!!
OKAY!!!
MIRROR
 You say:
“MIRROR”
 Students echo:
“MIRROR”
 They hold their hands
up and:
MIMIC
your
GESTURES.
Venus at a Mirror: Rubens c1615
What concepts could be taught here?
Which square is darker, A or B?
Now fill the jar
with these tiny
pebbles.
Fill the jar with
these stones.
THE PICKLE JAR
Now add some
sand to fill the jar.
Pour some water
to fill the jar.
IS THE PICKLE JAR FULL?
So…
What’s the point?
If you hadn’t put the big rocks in first,
How many would fit in at the end?
What matters most,
matters most.
What does this say?
IUMRING TQ GQNGIUSIQNS
HANDCUFFS AND SHACKLES
Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun
Teamwork
THERE IS GREAT
VALUE IN
HAVING
CONFLICT IN
THE
CLASSROOM…
COMMUNITY
MODEL SPECIFIC
SETS
OF
SKILLS.
DIAGNOSE
SITUATIONS
AS THEY
ARISE.
REWARDS
AND PUNISHMENT
ARE
UNPRODUCTIVE.
QUESTION
YOUR OWN
PRACTICES
REGULARLY.
GIVE STUDENTS
OPPORTUNITIES TO
CONSTRUCT
THEIR OWN
LEARNING.
THE FIVE FINGER CONCENSUS
ONE FINGER
Strongly Disagree and Cannot Support
THE FIVE FINGER CONCENSUS
TWO FINGERS
Disagree
THE FIVE FINGER CONCENSUS
THREE FINGERS
Can See Pluses/Minuses but Willing to Accept
THE FIVE FINGER CONCENSUS
FOUR FINGERS
Agree
THE FIVE FINGER CONCENSUS
FIVE FINGERS
Strongly Agree
THE CONSTRUCTIVIST CLASSROOM
• Learning is an active process in which learners
construct new ideas or concepts based upon their
current/past knowledge.
• Facets of the process:
• Selection and transformation of information
• Decision making
• Generating hypotheses
• Making meaning from information and
experiences.
Jerome Bruner
Example
mirror
THIS IS
POWERFUL
STUFF!