http://drwalsh.wikispaces.com/Brain+Based
As part of TDC 3 course, we were supposed to analyze two different class from a brain perspective.
The buzzer activity
In the first video, the teacher played a game with the buzzer. Students were split into two groups and one student from each group had to go to the front while the others waited in line. It was a very controlled activity and in my opinion, there was no whole-brain learning whatsoever as student were using only their back cortex and pretty much had to use their memory. There was no meaningful production, student did not create nor manipulate information. There was no use of front cortex. There was also a feeling of excitement and stress and the fear of losing activates the amygdala and when the amygdala is active, it stops students from learning as the brain is only looking for survival, so pressing the buzzer and winning were of utmost importance in this activity leaving actual learning aside. Although games might seem a nice activity to do in class, this one in particular did not meet the goal of fostering learning among the group. Although they were divided in team, students worked individually and as one student got on the spot the other just drifted way not really paying attention to what was going on. This activity, in my humble opinion, was not very effective if the objective was to promote learning of a certain language point. However, it could be a nice way to review something that was thoroughly worked out before.
http://cybersem.com/category/education/
The meteor activity
As for the second class, it certainly involves whole-brain learning as students are guided by the teacher to go through their learning cycle. The teacher sets the scene by showing them a disaster film about a meteor that was going to crash on Earth. This is probably something the students had watched before which is great because it puts students in the mood and it activates their back cortex. By giving the students slips of paper with action verbs which is something they students already knew, the teacher is using existing neuronal networks -that is – using their prior knowledge in order to reach the teacher’s aim which is a new verb tense. Upon returning to the classroom, the teacher once again starts “from where the students are” by using language that they already knew to get to the new content of the lesson and with some guidance she kind of forces them to test their hypotheses (front cortex) and finally they were able to create the language the teacher expected them to perform.(motor cortex)
This activity reflects the learning cycle. All parts of the brain are used (the occipital, temporal, frontal and parietal lobe) in this activity. The concrete experience is really important as well and using their previous knowledge to build new language was a great example of it since what the students already know is concrete to them.
nogueirahenry 