Ten Key Facts
about Your Brilliant
Brain
Based on information from:
Conyers & Wilson’s
BrainSMART 60 Strategies for Boosting Test Scores
Chapter 2
1. The Brain has one hundred
billion neurons
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It’s not the size of the brain, but the
connections in it!
Einstein’s brain had a larger than
average number of connections in it!
People with advanced degrees have
more connections than high school drop
outs!
2. You have two hemispheres
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Left- linear processing, logical thought, words
& numbers.
Good at editing reality to fit what we already
know
traditional education fits left brain learners
Right- visualization, movement, color, voice
tone, abstract thought.
Good at recording reality
Most students labeled with learning disabilities
are right – brained learners
3. The brain weighs three
pounds.
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3% of body weight, but uses 20% of
Oxygen in the body
The neocortex burns 400 calories each
day
The brain can process 1000 bits of
information each second
4. There are four lobes of the
brain.
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Frontal- planning- includes the pre-frontal
lobe- which is one of the last to develop- is
used for reading.
Temporal lobe- speech and some memory.
Occipital lobe- visual cortex & long term
memory
Parietal lobe- movement & touch- kinesthetic
memory
5. The brain uses five senses.
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Eyes take in 100 million bits of data/sec.
Skin- 10 million bits/second
Ears- 30 thousand bits/second
The more senses we use- the better
learning , retention, & recall
Traditional lecture teaching- works with
only about 15% of students
6. Six eye positions
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1. Up and left- visual retention
2. up right- visual imagination
3. side & left- auditory retention
4. side & right- auditory imagination
5. down & right- kinesthetic
6. down & left- self talk/ self dialogue
These patterns may be reversed in left handed
people
7. Seven chunks of info at a
time
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Structure lessons into a max of 7 chunks
Less is more
The more you ask someone to
remember, the more the will forget
(hmmm, phone #’s are 7 numbers long)
8. There are at least 8
intelligences
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Remember Gardner?
Interpersonal
Intrapersonal
Musical
Spatial
Bodily/kinesthetic
Naturalistic
Mathematical
Verbal
Possibly- humor and existentialist
Traditional teaching- uses mathematical & verbal
9. The human brain has a 9
second attention span
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To sustain it- build curiosity
Make learning relevant
Ask questions
Use variety
Use emotion
Use a 20 minute attention cycle- after 20- have
a transition
Survival instinct teaches students to look like
they’re paying attention
10. Ten million books
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The brain can store the equivalent of the
information in 10 million books.
Traditional lecture- 95% of information is
lost within 24 hours
Using effective strategies can reduce
that to 10% loss in 24 hours.
Are you a traditional or an effective
teacher?
10 pegs for learning
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Head
Shoulders
Heart
Belly
Hips
Backside
Thighs
Knees
Shins
Toes
one hundred billion brain cells
two hemispheres Left/right
three pound brain
four lobesfive senses to help learn
six eye positions
seven chunks of information
eight intelligences
nine second attention span
ten million books- storage