Brains and Learning

Implications for Teachers

The Human Brain The human brain is grayish white

and about the size a grapefruit. Roughly 78% of the human brain is

water. About 10% is fat. Protein makes up most of the rest

of the brain.

What HoldsOur Attention?

Novelty and variety Engagement—emotionally,

physically, and verbally Options for choice Relevance—personal, in context Immediate feedback

The Human Brain The human brain takes in more

information from the environment in one day than a powerful computer does in a year.

Information in and of itself is not worth learning. The brain must build connections to what it already knows in order for information to matter.

The brain dumps most information.

The Human Brain The more senses a person uses when

learning the more the brain remembers.

Which of the five senses most quickly evokes memory?Smell

Remembering what we Learn

In order to create new meaning, humans need internal time to allow new learning to imprint on the brain.

Unless new learning is imprinted on the brain, it is lost.

When students move from subject to subject, information learned in the previous subject is lost unless it has been imprinted.

The Human Brain When bored, the brain turns

inward for novel sensations. 90% of all dropouts have passing

grades. They leave school because of boredom.

Surprise! Boys and Girls

are Different. Over the past twenty years, research about

how the human brain learns has exploded. Boys and girls learn in very different ways. Schools are geared toward how girls learn.

“Very well meaning people have created a biologically disrespectful model of education.” Dr. Bruce Perry, MD (neurologist)

Boys…

Get 70% of all Ds and Fs Make up 80% of discipline

problems Make up 70% of learning

disabilities Make up 80% of those on

Ritalin Are 1 to 1.5 years behind girls

in reading and writing Make up 80% of dropouts

Thirty years ago men represented 58% of the undergraduate student body. Now they’re a minority of 44%.

“This widening gap,” says Margaret Spellings, U.S. Sec. of Education, “has profound implications for the economy, society, families and democracy.”

The Trouble with Boys January 30, 2006

How Brains Learn Because of advances in medical

technology, information about how the brain works has dramatically increased. Though debated for

centuries, scientists have conclusive evidence that boys and girls process information differently.

The Minds of Girls Girls…

By adolescence, a girl’s corpus callosum is 25% larger than a boy’s. This allows more “cross talk” between the right and left hemispheres of the brain.

Thus, girls are able to multitask better than boys.They have fewer attention span problems.They can make faster transitions between lessons.

The Minds of Girls

Girls have stronger neural connections that are in sync with how school is structured: Better listening skills More detailed memory storage Better discrimination among the

tones of voice.

The Minds of Girls

A girl’s prefrontal cortex develops earlier and is larger than a boy’s.

Because girls have more serotonin, they make fewer impulsive decisions.

A girl’s brain experiences 15% more blood flow in the center of the brain.

The Minds of Girls More cortical areas devoted to verbal

functioning give girls an advantage in school because girls are better at… Verbal functioning Sitting still Listening Tonality The complexities of reading and writing

The Trouble with Boys

In the PBS Series “Raising Cain” Dr. Michael Thompson commented, [In school] “girl behavior becomes the gold standard. Boys are treated like defective girls.”

The Minds of Boys

Boys have more coritcal area devoted to spatial-mechanical functioning and half as much to verbal-emotive functioning.

Spatial-mechanical functioning makes boys want to move objects through the air—balls, airplanes, little sisters, or just their arms and legs.

The Minds of Boys Boys have less serotonin and

less oxytocin. This makes them more impulsive and less likely to sit still to talk to someone.

The more words a teacher uses, the greater the chance that boys will zone out.

The Minds of Boys Boys’ brains are better suited to symbols,

abstractions, and pictures. Consequently, boys generally learn higher

math and physics better than girls.

Boys prefer video games for the physical movement and the destruction.

The Minds of Boys Boys have less blood flow to the brain and tend to

structure or compartmentalize learning. This is one reason why boys like to use graphic

organizers; they contain compartments. Consider a man’s wallet versus a woman’s purse.

The Minds of Boys In school boys get into more

trouble for… Not listening Fidgeting Sleeping in class Incomplete assignments.

Advanced Placement TestsComparing Boys and Girls

Who Takes AP Tests?

Boys Girls

Art History 34% 66%Literature 36% 64%Biology 42% 58%Environmental Science 46% 54%Physics B 68% 32%Physics C (Elec. & Mag.) 79% 21%Physics C (Mechanical) 76% 24%Computer Science A 86% 14%Computer Science AB 90% 10%

The Big Question Based on the behaviors we expect

of students in schools and on the differences in how girls’ and boys’ brains function, how then do boys fare in school?

What do you think?

Should we keep trying to change boys or should we change how schools operate?

Success for All Students

With all of this new information about brain functioning, we can no longer ignore the needs of boys.

It is time to teach in ways that meet the needs of both boys and girls.

Two-Part Goal for Teachers1. Promote the expression and

development of a child’s natural ability.

2. Help students compensate for areas of inherent disadvantage or fragility.

Enhancing Teaching for Girls

Use lots of puzzles to foster perceptual and symbolic learning.

Promote leadership by using working groups and teams. Verbally encourage quieter girls.

Enhancing Teaching for Girls

Play physical games to promote gross motor skills.

Use manipulatives in science and math.

Take digital pictures of girls being successful at math and science tasks.

Enhancing Teaching for Boys

Use manipulatives that require boys to use fine motor skills.

Surround the room with books so boys get used to their omnipresence.

Make lessons experiential and kinesthetic—use technology.

Enhancing Teaching for Boys

Use physical lessons so boys can work in a larger space.

Keep verbal instructions to no more than one minute.

Don’t layer instructions one on another unless you put them in a numbered list.

Use male mentors and role models.

The Trouble with Boys One of the most reliable

predictors of whether a boy will succeed or fail in high school rests on a single question: Does the boy have a man in his life to look up to?

Boys must have at least one positive male role model.

Enhancing Teaching for Boys

1 in 9 elementary teachers is male. Boys have almost no role models

showing how to succeed in school except coaches, which only promotes sports.

80% of girls in Harlem talked about being doctors or lawyers some day; 80% of boys talked of being NBA stars.

America leads the world in fatherlessness.

Restructuring Expectations

Teachers should expect, at times, healthy physicality and aggression among boys.

Create lots of opportunities for boys to get up and move around.

Use brain breaks to revive boys during and after rest states.

Restructuring Classroom Practices

Use visual dictionaries and play word games, especially on the computer.

Regularly take boys to the library and introduce them to male role model readers and authors.

Link screen time with study rewards.

Restructuring Classroom Practices

One reason boys lag behind girls in reading and writing is because teachers do not allow boys to read and write in a fantasy realm about what is important to them—aggression, violence, and death.

Restructuring Classroom Practices

Teachers need to provide reading material that boys enjoy: Texts filled with spatial-kinetic action—

sports, science fiction, thrillers and books filled with suspense

Graphic and visual in nature—graphic novels and comics

Technical and mechanical books and articles—car, aerospace, skateboard magazines.

Questions?