I got my socks knocked off!

July 11, 2012

In May, I stumbled upon Whole Brain Teaching on you tube. I watched lots of WBT videos many times, and began using the five rules; class/yes; and mirror/ok for the last month of school. It was so refreshing, successful and fun, I was determined to learn more. So here I am after my first day of WBT Conference in Ohio.

Today was intense, with lots of action and gestures! The "repeat, repeat, repeat" was practiced until I finally remember the Core Four without referring back to my notes that I had to place on my desk last year. Actually, the students learned the rules more quickly than I did, and helped me out.

I have been intrigued for a long time, about how the brain learns, but have not found opportunities to study the brain other than very complicated texts that were hard to understand, and had no practical application. I could not even remember which part of the brain took care of what ... until today!

When we used our clasped hands to see, hear, say, and feel the parts of the brain and what they control, it all made sense. Now I can look back on page 17 of the Seminar 1 ebook, to the page titled "The Brain on WBT", and I can teach:

• The Pre-Frontal Cortex is the "boss" and is activated with the Class/Yes; Teach/Ok; and Hands and Eyes. It is at the front of the brain (forehead).
• The Motor-Cortex is across the top of the brain, controls movement, and is activated when we make gestures to follow the dialog.
• The Visual-Cortex is at the lower back of the brain. It controls our vision and is activated when we watch the gestures.
• As we take the left and right hemispheres of the brain apart ("eewww!") I can point to the left hand by the pinky, and teach you that this is the Broca's Area that controls our speaking. It is activated when we "Teach/OK" and verbally teach our partners.
• The Wernicke's Area is also on the left hemisphere, a little closer to the middle of the brain, next to the Broca's Area. The Wernicke's Area controls our understanding of the speaking we have heard. It is activated when we are listening to our partner during the "Teach/Ok".
• The two hemispheres have to come apart once again ("eewww!") to show that the Limbic System is in the center of the brain. This is the area that controls emotions, and is activated when we use the scoreboard and any time we are having fun!

Looking at the picture of the brain, and seeing it modeled with my clasped hands, I see the size of the Limbic System, and imagine it is larger than the Pre-Frontal Cortex. Perhaps this is one reason we are so often driven by emotions rather than rational thought?

For the first time in my teaching career, I feel confident that I can energize, excite, and teach to the whole person, by activating the whole brain! I am so grateful to have gained tools to help develop critical thinking skills so that students can choose to act according to what they know is right and true, rather than acting on emotions. Thank you Coach B!

P.S. - I am also tickled pink with the "because clapper" to use for specific supporting statements, and the "problem solver" for getting students to come up with open ended solutions! I'm still looking for my socks!!!

Rhoda