1. With thanks to Margie Schwartz and the
committee for excellent guidance

2. Essential Questions
What does current brain research tell us
about effective strategies for teaching?
How can curiosity and prediction promote
and sustain attention so students want to
know what they have to learn?
How can prepare the brain to optimize
memory acquisition?

4. R = REACH ATTENTION
Essential Questions
•! How does the brain !pay attention"?
•! What gets through the brain#s
!attention filter"
• How can sustain attentive focus?

5. Attention & Memory
!! Learning begins with
sensory information
!! Input not attended to,
can#t become memory

6. REACHING ATTENTION
Prefrontal
Cortex

7. Millions of bits of sensory
data available every second
a basil gimlet Ray of Light
Only

8. Reticular Activating System: RAS
A primitive low
brain structure
!Programmed" to
select intake
based on survival
value

9. What#s New?

10. Can it hurt me?

11. Where’d you
come from?

12. !
!
Students are always
paying attention
!
!

13. They are paying
attention to
sensory input,
just not always to the
sensory input! teachers
want them to! select
!

14. Millions of bits of sensory
information are available each
second
The RAS, an involuntary filter,
gives priority to novelty
Perceived threat before curiosity
!

15. !
!
!

16. For CURIOSITY
!! Sound (voice volume, pitch, cadence)
!! Color
!! Movement
!! Placement of objects
!! Your appearance (hat, clothing)
!! Curious Items

17. Walk backwards
before teaching
negative numbers,
past tense, or going
!back"in
history

18. !
Student Distress
Students distressed by
change or the unexpected?
Plan and partner with them!

19. ADVERTISE
to promote
CURIOSITY
!Promos" for a coming unit

20. Advertising
Videos
For Curiosity &
Relevance

21. Animoto.com
Sign up as educator-you’ll get code
Access to their video clips, photos,
music, or your own
Your students can use your code and
make animotos to summarize
understanding

22. Draw Attention
With Cues

23. RAS Intake
Strategy
Curiosity +
Prediction =
Sustained Attention

24. Prediction
Does your brain
!need to know" if a
prediction it makes
is correct?

25. Why Did You Need to Know?
Your brain seeks the pleasure of
accurate predictions so it:
"! wants to predict
"! needs to know if predictions
are correct
"! learns from feedback

26. When the brain predicts
(selects & !bets")
•! Increases curiosity
•! Sustains attention
•! Promotes memory

27. !
!
A song related to the day#s lesson

28. !
!
•! Visual images related to lesson
• Unusual objects
Through novelty, curiosity, and prediction,
children are motivated to want to know
what they have to learn.

29. Use the power of *prediction*
to promote and sustain curiosity:
Predict with individual response tools:
white boards, magic pads, clickers
Accountability
Wait time
Lower mistake and participation fear
You get feedback on mastery or needs
All Students Respond to All
Questions

31. To change passive
inattention to sustained
attention and
participation
Novelty and Curiosity promote
intake by attention intake (RAS)
Prediction sustains focus
!
!

32. Essential
Questions
•! How can input be propelled through the
brain#s !emotional filter" to reach the thinking
brain?!
• What strategies reduce stress & negativity

33. PREFRONTAL
CORTEX

34. Stress blocks flow through Amygdala
PFC
Reflective
brain
Reactive!
brain
Amygdala
Wang, Jiongjiong et al. (2005) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci 102, 17804-17809.

35. Teachers !
React !
to Stress Also!

36. Images of
Group B faces seen
before
memory task
Group A

37. Scans During Memory Task
A B
AMYGDALA
A: Positive emotional state: PFC passage
& better memory
B: Stressed state: no PFC passage = low
memory
Hamman, et al., Cog NS 2007Neuroscience 2007

38. Stress State
Lower reactive brain in control
"
Fight
!
Flight
Freeze

39. Stress State Behavior Outputs
Fight: Disruptive
Flight: Create own brain stimulation
Freeze: Zone out

40. 82

41. Causes of Stress in School
•! Unprepared for class
•! Peer relationships
•! No personal relevance
•! Boredom from material already mastered
•! Frustration due to previous failure
•! Test-taking anxiety and oral presentations
•! Physical, clothing, language differences

42. Fixed Mindset Beliefs
•! One’s intelligence and skills are
predetermined, limited,
unchangeable
•! Effort is fruitless after repeated
failure
Carol Dwerk’s research

43. Fixed Mindset
& Survival
Repeatedly expending effort
when there is a low
probability of success
promotes:
"•! Survival in animals
" •! !Drop out"$emotional/
physical in students

44. The amygdala is an !emotional filter"$
High or sustained stress blocks PFC flow
Failure to reach PFC:
Information cannot become long-
term memory
Behavioral outputs from lower
brain: reactions to stress: fight/flight/
freeze

45. The PULL of the Video
Games Model to Promote PFC
Passage of Information:

46. Characteristics of
Video Gamers
"! buy-in to goal
"! 80% of the time failure
"! persevere with challenge
"! use immediate feedback to improve

47. Correlations from
Neuroscience to Classroom
"! goal buy-in
"! achievable challenge
"! timely & frequent feedback
"! acknowledgment of incremental
goal progress
The Pull is powered by Dopamine

48. !
Intrinsic reinforcement from
making correct predictions

49. Dopamine Promotes
"! pleasure
"! decreased stress
"! curiosity perseverance
"! attention &
"! motivation memory
!
!

50. BOOSTERS
Moving
Enjoying music
Being read to
Interacting well with peers
Experiencing humor
Choice
Optimism
!

51. Scientific
Am Mind
8/2010 !

52. Dopamine-Reward System
Memory Predicting
Network
Dopamine-Reward
Center
(Nucleus Accumbens)

53. Prefrontal
Cortex
Where Prior
Knowledge
is pulled to make
a prediction
Steady state of dopamine to PFC
except when a prediction (choice,
decision, answer) is made

54. !
!!
!
!
Correct predictions increase
dopamine pleasure
The prefrontal cortex really loves
its dopamine pleasure, so the
networks used to make the correct
prediction are reinforced

55. !
!!
!
!
Less dopamine is released
when a a prediction is incorrect
The prefrontal cortex wants to
avoid the drop in dopamine

56. + Corrective feedback
= Revised networks
(neuroplastic changes)
+ Practice (fire together)

58. Video Game Model for
Motivation and Memory
"! Buy-in to goal
"! Achievable challenge
"! Frequent feedback
"! Incremental progress

59. Growth Mindset
Growth mindset beliefs:
One’s intelligence and skill
have the potential to grow
Effort and practice can
increase ability

60. Relevance: YouTube and
! other downloads to
! show relevance…
!

61. Achievable Challenge
Preassessment
Differentiation (individualization) i.e.
scaffolding, flexible groups
!
!
!
!

62. "
Awareness of
Incremental Goal Progress
"
!

63. Rubrics Help Students
Analytic Rubrics
Reveal multiple criteria to be used in
assessment
gr
Students can select from a range of quality
levels
Provide informative feedback about their
incremental progress
Rubicon.com
.

64. Incremental Progress
Number of
successful
attempts
Effort to goal
progress graphs
TOTAL TIME PRACTICED

65. Video Game Model
Goal “buy-in”
Achievable Challenge: e.g. pre-
assessment, scaffolding,
enrichment
Awareness of Incremental Goal
Progress

66. Participation and Mistakes
The Keys to Long-term
Memory

67. The neuroplasticity of strong
accurate memory is fueled by
DOPAMINE-PLEASURE
"!Intrinsic satisfaction from
making correct predictions

69. MAKING
A MISTAKE
IN WHOLE
CLASS SETTING

70. How can
we increase
active
participation
when
students
are worried about making
mistakes in front of classmates?

71. !
Reduce !
Mistake !
Fear!
!
Decrease the fear of participation!
!
!
!

72. Reduce Participation Fear
Point out your own mistakes
Example and non-example column
Repeat correct part of their answer

73. Reduce
Participation Fear
Use questions with
no wrong answers
(see optical illusion
website)

74. Mystery story
Riddles
Estimation
!

75. Neuro-logical Success Cycle
1.! Meaningful goals
2.! Achievable Challenge
(scaffolding, enrichment)
3.! Help students acknowledge
incremental goal progress
(frequent assessment & feedback)

76. !
Effort to Progress Experiences
Growth of self-confidence/
competence (growth mindset)
3
Motivated to persevere through
challenge and setbacks
Increase “risks” of participation
and creative innovation

77. Short-term (working)
Memory
Pattern
Matching

78. Two Big Ideas of Neuroscience
Patterns
The
brain
seeks
Pleasure

79. Essential Questions
!
!
Where is memory made?
What makes something stick in
working memory?
!
!

81. Pattern Matching
For Working Memory
The brain
interprets new
information
based on existing
patterns.

82. If there is no
pattern waiting…
new input is
misinterpreted,
rejected, or
disappears!

83. When there is a successful
pattern match…
The hippocampus
encodes sensory input
into working memory

84. Patterning is the basis for
literacy & numeracy
!
!

85. Patterns are Passageways
for Memories to Follow
Patterning is the brain’s process
for linking new learning to
existing knowledge
!

86. Activate Prior Knowledge for
Successful Pattern Match
Activated
Prior
Knowledge The hippocampus
encodes sensory input
into working memory

87. Pattern Activation
With Prior
Knowledge Bridges
!
Bulletin boards that preview
!
Pre-unit assessments
!
Show videos or images that remind
students of prior knowledge
Remind students about previous
exposures
(cross-curricular, spiraled curriculum)

88. Activation of Prior Knowledge
Predict/KWL

89. Graphic Organizers
Venn
Diagram
Activate prior knowledge
Relate new to existing memory

90. New information must link (encode) with
existing memory to become working memory
Frequently activated patterns promote
automatic responses (milk, cow, white)
Patterning strength promotes automaticity for
literacy and numeracy
Prior knowledge activation and graphic
organizers increase pattern matching for
memory encoding

91. Judy Willis’ Books & Website
!
www.RADTeach.com