Overall Appearance of the Human Brain

 

            The human brain is protected by the cranium, which is the skull. There are also three membranes in between the cranium and the brain for more protection, which are the dura matter, the middle arachnoid layer, and the inner pia matter. Additionally, cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) moves in circles in the arachnoid layer and the four cavities of the brain, cleaning the brain by taking away wastes and putting them in the bloodstream.

 

 

Hemispheres and Structures

 

            The brain has two parts, a left hemisphere and a right hemisphere. The brain has lobes that control thinking, seeing, hearing, and feeling. A part of the brain, the motor strip, is how we are able to think about our movements and how we would like to move. The cerebellum, which is in the back of the brain, helps us walk, ride a bike, and read & write. When we have had enough practice or experience doing something it becomes auotomatic in our brains.

 

 

What We Know About the Learning Brain and Readiness to Read

 

            As babies, humans are naturally programmed to speak and mostly self taught. As preschoolers, it’s very important for children to interact and speak to others. A pathway in the brain develops on it’s own from human’s exposure listening to sounds, talking to others, and having others talk to you about what your experiences. These experiences are what you are seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, and tasting. This pathway creates a complicated sequence connecting different parts of the brain. If there is a problem in your pathway or sequence than you may struggle with communication.

Students learn when they are fully engaged, focused on the topic and motivated this occurs through interesting topics that encourage them to remember the information. Each person has neurons that send signals to each other. When there are strong connections, learning can happen but when there are weak signals, connections are not continued and therefore a learner may not get the information they need to learn. 

Students can focus and force neurons to build connections when they practice concentrating and their connections are reinforced when they use repetition. They can make the process faster when they practice. In order for this process to occur, students must have a willingness to sustain attention and concentration. Because teachers cannot force students to learn, they must create an environment that encourages students to become engaged and interested. Active engagement leads to long term learning.

Student’s ability to learn becomes more complex and relatively pliable during childhood and early adolescence. Their ability to pay attention and concentrate also increases. This however does not mean that they can sustain this attention for extended periods. Breaks from long instructional time are beneficial to students and teachers must read their students cues to ensure they provide adequate breaks. 

Class must maintain students attention and ensure that they are engaged and in a state of readiness. This classroom is going to look very different from a class where the teachers is the main speaker.

The last thing that a productive class needs, is to ensure that it is a safe learning environment. The human brain is designed with a need for safety and survival. The brain must feel safe for it to be ready to learn.