Brain Power

Melissa Cox
Cognitive Studies Capstone
Instructor Ciara Smack
October 06, 2014
Fostering Hope
Fostering children is one of the hardest jobs
for people today. The hope of giving the
children a second chance to learn and be
held as an individual worth knowing and
teaching. The job for a social worker is to
understand the needs of the child and
attain the correct avenues that meets these
needs. I applaud you all for a job well
done.
Making the most of our brain.
We use a small fraction of our brains. The
outlook today is the brain has an endless
road of possibilities, but we place limitations
on how much of our brain we use. We
simply do not try to push the limits of what
our brains can do. We short ourselves
when it comes to taking in knowledge.
Schools today are now looking at this from
a new standpoint. The presentation I have
prepared is to bring out the positive aspects
of brain based learning.
Melissa Cox
My name is Melissa Cox.
I have worked with children for many years,
and I see the greatest potential in all of
them. They hunger to learn, and as a
teacher I want to feed their minds with
knowledge.
What is brain based learning verses
traditional learning?
Traditional Classroom Setting

Traditional Classroom
The classrooms of the yesteryear were
repetitious at best. The children came in
sat in a straight row, listened, and took
notes. The children were taught from a
lesson plan that was straight out of the text
book. The children were not in a seating
arrangement that ensured that all children
could see the chalkboard. Parents had to
send notes to ask to reset the children
closer to the teacher.
Traditional Classrooms continued...
The classrooms were as follows:
Low lighting
Long hours of sitting in a desk chair
Long hours of continuous writing
Long hours of listening to the
teacher giving notes
Short recess breaks
Short lunch breaks
Limited bathroom breaks
Repetitious studying with no
learning
Very little hands on learning
Brain Based Classrooms
Brain Based Classrooms
Today's classrooms are set up to use all
areas of the brain.
The seating is now spread out with small
groups to ensure working together.
The lighting is florescent to give better
visual
The classes are now less writing and taking
notes to hands on learning
The teaching now involves the left and right
side of the brain to ensure all areas of
learning
The children are more hands on with
electronics. This gives access to endless
areas of research.
The Learning Pyramid
The Learning Pyramid continued...
The traditional way was note taking and
listening to the teacher. The teacher had to
get as much into the class to meet a goal.
The problem with this is children are in the
beginning stage of writing. The muscles in
the hands would cramp severely, resulting
in less attention to the lesson and more on
the pain from writing. The brain has not
taken in the knowledge rather they
memorized it in the part of the brain that will
not recall it later is known as the short term
memory from the frontal lobe. This was not
helpful when children needed it later in life.
The Learning Pyramid continued....
We learn by mistakes, and for years no one
seemed to see the pattern until the
classrooms today. The goal was to use the
left and right brain together. The past was
either you are a right or left sided learner.
The problem with this is no one was
challenged to use the other side. The goal
is to get the most of the brain and use them
together. This resulted to the lower end of
the pyramid as a hands on learning. You
see, hear, feel, smell,and taste your way
into new knowledge.
Individuals do not learn at the same
pace
No two brains are alike nor will they learn at
the same pace. Each child has their own
unique ways of learning. The factors for
learning:
The environment they live
The exposure to the world around them
Parental roles and involvement
Society
Access to the internet
Health
Outlook on life
Individual outlook continued...
Each child that starts life has to have many
areas met. The failure to meet the basic
needs will surely have negative effects as the
child grows and learns. The failure to thrive
can be from the lack of bonding between
mother and child at birth. Endless hours with
no interaction from a human. The lack of
meeting the needs from their cries. Abuse
that replaces nurturing. All of these negatives
will damage the brain. Sadly, many children
that fail to learn fall into some of these
categories.
Recognizing the warning signs
The earlier a teacher recognizes the onset
of a problem now has many options to help
the child.
Withdrawn from the classmates
Loss of interest
Loss of participation in any activity
Not meeting eye contact
Withdrawn and refuses human contact
Violent
Tantrums easily
Withdrawn parents
How to Help
Recognize the need is there
Observe and take notes of behavior
Parent and teacher meeting
Involve outside help
Give goals
Never give up
Include the child in all areas, even if the
child refuses
Ask the parents what the child likes and
dislikes
What is the answer to the failed
child?
The first area is recognizing the child did not
have their needs met. Understanding this
can help lay ground work to stimulating the
brain in a later part of their life. The parent
failed the child at first, but there is still time
to teach the child, by stimulating a brain
that has been dormant. The brain is never
used at its fullest potential so it is never to
late to learn.

What can happen to ensure positive
learning
Today, the environment is struggling for
many people, however this is the choice
made by the parent/parents. You might not
have the fanciest home, but it is what you
have in your home that can make or break
a child. The choices parents make such as
drugs, drinking, abuse, and the people they
have in their lives can make a huge impact
on a child, and their future learning.
Children that has no hope will see life as a
struggle. The parent can prepare the child
for learning and enjoy learning.
Reasons children do not learn as
some other children
The lack of emotional bonding from the
mother and/or father
The lack of resources
The lack of needs being met
The lack of interest in learning
Depression
Poverty
In and out of foster care
Illness
Geographical areas
Remedies to the problem
Teacher and child involvement
Use the resources that are available such
as the internet at school
Meeting the needs at school such as
helping with homework, asking the child
how to help..
Make learning fun with hands on activities
Using resources that helps low income
children with school supplies
Foster parents and teachers prepare a
game plan for the child/children to help
them catch up and enjoy life as they learn
How the brain reacts
The colors of a room has significant impacts
on how the brain reacts.
Primary Students: use high contrast colors
such as reds, oranges and yellows
Secondary Students-use less distracting and
stress reducing colors such as blues and
greens
Atmosphere
The atmosphere can work for all such as
colors, the temperature of the room, fresh
air, frequent breaks, uncluttered room, and
all areas easy access, creates a positive
learning environment. The brain uses all
the senses when each area is used to
compliment the senses to a positive
approach.
Brain Fitness
A healthy brain is a happy brain.
Brain Fitness
Activities that keep the brain healthy:
Cross your arms and legs. This uses the
left and right side of the brain
Playing outside games to reduce stress to
relax the body as the game is played
Doodle. Draw with both hands to use both
sides.
Play mind games such as solitaire,
crossword games, etc

Conclusion
It is no news that the old traditional teaching
and learning are a thing of the past. It has
been replaced with a new and improved
way of learning. The outcome is a brain
that uses more than 10%. The brain is now
an organ that has so many potentials and
the possibilities are endless. The ever
changing technology grows and improves
on a daily basis. The children today seem
to be smarter than the parents and
grandparents, and that is not a negative
outlook, but a future of prosperity and
knowledge.
References
Http://blog.enroll.com/view-post/The-
Advantage-of-Brain-Compatible-Learning-
Envornment
Http://www.ncpe-4me.com/energizers.html
Http://www.designshare.com/Research/Brai
nBasedLearn98.htm
Http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloo
m.html
Http://www.ehow.com/how_513511_use-
brainbased-learning-designing-lessons.html
Http://ozpk.tripod.com/higher
Http://www.ehow.com/info_8396796_pros-
vs-cons-projectbased-learning.html