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CLASSROOM TIPS FROM CURRENT BRAIN RESEARCH:
 All learning is the making of a memory.
 “The brain that does the work does the learning.” David C. Sousa. Involve students
and allow the students to do the needed work of learning
 There are 4 essential elements of learning – emotion, movement, context, &
environment.
 The optimal colors for learning are yellow, light orange, beige, or off white.
o Red – engaging & emotive; increases blood pressure, breathing, appetite,
& sense of smell
o Yellow – first color humans can distinguishes; stimulates overall sense of
optimism, hope, & balance
o Orange – characteristics halfway between red & yellow
o Blue – Most calming color; causes brain to release 11 neurotransmitters
that relax the body, to calming for most learning environments
o Green – calming color, increase in blood histamine levels resulting in
reduced sensitivity to food allergies; antigens stimulated for overall better
immune system healing
o Brown – sense of security, relaxation, & reduces fatigue
o Gray – most neutral color
o Dark Colors – lower stress & increase feelings of peacefulness
o Bright Colors – spark energy & creativity; can increase aggressive &
nervous behavior
 If your classroom has regular florescent lighting, try using full spectrum bulbs rather
than the regular white bulbs.
o May reduce absences due to illness 43% to 65%.
 Wayne London (1988) 3 classrooms of students 65% reduction in
absences
 D. B. Harmon (1991) 160,000 student sample 43% reduction in
absences
o Regular florescent bulbs suppress the immune system (blue end of the
visible light spectrum)
 If full spectrum bulbs are unfeasible, add 3-4 incandescent lamps to the typical size
classroom. This helps to balance the blue light from florescent lighting.
Incandescent lamps should accommodate 100-watt bulbs (Red end of the visible
light spectrum).
 Encourage teachers during the dark winter months to increase the levels of light in
the classroom, especially if they are in an interior classroom or a classroom with no
windows.
o Outside the light levels are at usually 10,000 to 80,000 lux, while in a
typical classroom they are at 500 – 700 lux.
 The brain processes pictures or symbols quicker than words (written or spoken). A
picture is worth a 1000 words.
 Optimum room temperature is 68 to 72 degrees.
o Better to be to cool than to hot
o Best to be just right
 To function properly, the brain needs 8 – 15 glasses of water per day.
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How available is water to the students in your district?
Encourage teachers to encourage students to drink water.
Eight ounces of H2O are needed about every 45 minutes.
Other liquids are processed as food and will not provide the necessary
cooling the brain needs.
o Be aware of the consequences.
Encourage good nutrition.
o Good brain foods
 Fresh Vegetables – Leafy greens, broccoli, aged garlic, peas,
carrots, & potatoes
 Fresh Fruit – bananas, avocados, blueberries, oranges,
strawberries, & tomatoes
 Proteins – tuna, salmon, yogurt, eggs, dark turkey, organ meats,
sardines, anchovies, mackerel, shellfish, milk products, soybean, &
lean meats
 Carbohydrates – whole grains, beans, sunflower seeds, & nuts
 Beverages – pure water, green tea, & fresh juices
o Tyrosine is a brain chemical that enhances thinking and is found in
protein-rich foods – milk products, meats, fish, eggs, & tofu
 Used to make two neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine
which are critical to alertness, quick thinking, fast reactions,
performing calculations, maintaining attention span, & increase
conscious awareness
o Tryptophan is a brain chemical that produces a calming effect and is found
in warm milk, and white turkey.
o Protein can partially counteract the negative effects of carbohydrates
 A breakfast that contains a balanced amount of protein can
enhance students’ ability to think.
o Immediate brain foods are simple sugars – fructose or glucose.
 Glucose is one of the two brain fuels.
Plants increase O2 levels by 10 %.
o Typical classroom needs 4 – 8 plants.
o Good plants are areca palms, lady palms, bamboo palms, rubber plants,
gerbera daisies, yellow chrysanthemums, ficus benjamina, philodendrons,
dracena deremensis, and peace lilies.
Aromas – Influence moods;
o To enhance mental alertness, use peppermint, basil, lemon, cinnamon, &
rosemary;
o To provide relaxation, use lavender, chamomile, orange, or rose
Negative ions are a positive for the classroom. Think after a rainstorm or near a
waterfall.
o Negative ions enhance students’ mood and make them more receptive to
learning.
o Is it possible to replace the air filters with ones that generate negative ions
or whole room filters that generate negative ions?
Music
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Use 50/60’s Rock & Roll to create a pleasant mood;
Baroque music in a major key evokes an optimal learning state;
Instrumental music tends to work better than music with lyrics
Remember some students do not work well with background sound.
Discuss the value of music with your learners
Make careful choices for music to us in class; choose them purposefully;
check lyrics carefully
o Involve learners in musical choices
o Create custom cassettes or CDs for various learning purposes
o Use no more than 30% of class time
 Stress – eliminate
o Threats put the brain in survival mode, function of higher brain activities is
stopped
o Create a relaxed atmosphere
o Slow stretching
o Laughter & humor
o Music
o Games & activities
o Unstructured discussion & sharing
o Low-stress rituals
o Visualization
 Gender Differences
o Males brain 10 – 15% larger
o Females have a larger connection between the two hemispheres; the
anterior commissure rather than as previously thought corpus callosum;
allows females to tie verbal and non-verbal communication together more
efficiently
o Females out perform males
 Fine motor skills
 Computation test
 Multi-tasking
 Recall positions of objects in an array
 Spelling
 Fluency of word generation
 Being sensitive to external stimuli except visual
 Remember landmarks along a route
 Use of verbal memory
 Appreciation of depth & perceptual speed
 Read body language / facial expressions
 Pick up on nuances of voice, music, and other sounds, retain better
hearing longer
 Peripheral vision better, see better at night
o Male out perform females
 Targeting skills
 Working vocabulary
 Extended focus and concentration
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 Mathematical reasoning & problem-solving aptitude
 Navigation with geometric properties of space
 Verbal intelligence
 Habit formation and maintenance
 Most spatial tasks
 Better distance vision & depth perception, see better in bright light
 Nonconscious Learning – students learn more than we teach
o Model a positive attitude and enjoyment of learning
o Post affirming posters and peripherals in the room
o Highlight positive role models, idols, guest speakers, etc.
o Cite experts in a subject area
o Incorporate videos, CD’s, slides, and photographs on topics
o Tell stories about prior students who have persevered and succeeded
o Create a contemporary spin on the topic or subject, so that it is perceived
as “cool” and relevant
o Counter negative stereotypes and myths with positives
o Focus on skill-building and problem solving so that learners who want to
succeed can learn how
o Open a new subject or topic with a celebration
o Hold student discussions; encourage learners to talk about their fears,
feelings, and concerns about learning
o Provide sufficient resources; enable students to learn in the style that is
most natural to them
o Encourage learners to find personal meaning in their studies and projects
o Always be receptive to students’ questions and comments
o Provide an atmosphere of physical and emotional safety, where students
feel accepted, respected, and welcomed to class
 Teacher appearance
o Your clothing conveys powerful messages about your attitude, your
values, and your personality.
o Make an effort to dress professionally.
 It gives you credibility.
 We may not like it, but nevertheless, human nature is to judge
others based on their appearance – unconsciously, if not
consciously. When it comes to credibility, image plays a key role.
o John Mallory, Dress for Success, reports that better dressed teachers
experienced fewer student discipline problems and better work habits.
 Physical Activity
o Take two minutes to start your class with some type of mild physical
activity and build activities into your lesson, app. every 20 minutes
 Stretching
 Brisk walk
 Cross-lateral re-patterning movements
 Arm and leg movements that cross over from one side of the
body to the other
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o Blood pools in the seat and feet after about 20 minutes. Humans need to
move at least 6 – 7 paces to re-circulate this blood and allow it to be
pumped through the brain.
o Current research is showing that today’s students are developing their fine
motor skills and not developing their gross motor skills. Encourage
teachers to incorporate gross motor movements into the learning.
 Eye movements and thinking
o Visual thinking of stored picture memories
 Look up and to your left
o Visual thinking of created new pictures
 Look up and to your right
o Auditory thinking and recalling sounds
 Look to your left
o Auditory thinking and creating new sounds
 Look to your right
o Internal dialogue
 Look down and to your left
o Experiencing feelings
 Look down and to your right
o Automatic responses
 Straight ahead
o Stand on the learners right to present new material
o Stand on the learners left to review already learned material
 Windows of opportunities – What are the impacts of these on your district’s
curriculum?
o Motor Development – before birth till about 8 yrs of age
o Emotional Control – 3 months till about 2.5 yrs of age
o Vocabulary – 1 yr till about 6 yrs of age
o Spoken Language – birth till 10 yrs of age
o Math/Logic – birth till 4 yrs of age
o Instrumental Music – 3 till about 10 yrs of age
 Improve test scores
o Two minutes of exercise
o Fructose or glucose
 Any fruit that will make a liquor
 Enough to fit in the palm of your hand
o Follow with 6 – 8 ounces of water
o Test start 5 minutes after
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