How Do We Learn?
A look at our brain----Learning and Math
According to the 2011 National Assessment
of Educational Progress (NAEP) only 40%
of 4th graders and only 35% of 8th grade
students scored at the proficient level in
mathematics.
(North Carolina 4th 45% and 8th 37%)
Schmidt, Houang, and Cogan (2002) reported
that by the end of high school, U. S.
students performed near the bottom of the
international distribution in the Third
International Mathematics and Science
Study.
Our School Data
EOG- Math
2014-2015
3rd Grade 57% proficient
4th Grade 53% proficient
5th Grade 47% proficient
Why are we unsuccessful according
to research?
What are we NOT
doing?
• Explicit instruction
• Lack of rigor
• Conceptual
Development
• NUMBER SENSE
What do we NEED to
do?
CONNECTIONS
Do You agree???
NOT
PROCEDURE
To be Effective, You Must:
•
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Know your stuff
Know who you are stuffing
Know why you’re stuffing
Stuff every minute of every lesson
How do we learn?
Reptilian Part of the Brain
• This part of the brain
allows our body to
function-much like a
reptile. This section of
the brain runs all the
involuntary actions of
our body such as
breathing, heartbeat,
kidney function, etc.
Cerebellum
Makes us human and
able to stand upright!
This part of the brain
helps us move and
have motor control.
New research shows
this part of the brain
controls attention,
language and music.
Hypothalamus
It is the temperature control
center of our body and works
with the nervous system.
Our emotions, adrenaline,
body temperature, and
metabolism are controlled
here.
Cerebral Cortex
Controls
-learning
-vision
-known as “gray matter”
Makes up 40% of the
BRAIN (white matter aids
in communication
between gray matter)
Uses 94% of the oxygen in
the body
What controls What??
Frontal Lobe- abstract thinking/sustained
attention (problem solving)
Parietal Lobe- reading, writing and math
calculations (Visual Spatial)
Occipital Lobe-Vision, recognition of
letters/numbers (tracking)
Temporal Lobe- Memory/Language/music
(communication)
Brain Stem -all info to and from brain
(vulnerable to damage)
Cerebellum-Movement Communication
(speech)
How do we Learn?
Dendrites must be
made---but how!
First we have to
understand
neurons!
Skills that make us Smart!
• Rate of learning vs. Rate of retrieval
(Time to learn vs. how quick you get it from
memory)
• Recognition-matching a stimulus with
stored info
• Recall-searching long term memory and
finding information to create workable info
How do we Rate How Smart we are?
• “smart”
FAST LEARNERS-FAST RETRIEVERS
• “overachievers”
SLOW LEARNERS-FAST RETRIEVERS
• “underachievers”
FAST LEARNERS-SLOW RETRIEVERS
Learning Issues
• 15 per cent of American children suffer some learning difficulty
• Classification of Learning Disabilities can be associated with
four areas:
-Input process of recording info to the brain from the senses.
-Integration process of interpreting information.
-Memory storage for retrieval.
-Output information achieved through language or motor
(muscular) activity
Causes of
Math Learning Difficulties
1.
Slower or inaccurate retrieval of basic facts
2.
Impulsivity
3.
Problems forming mental representations of math concepts such as
number lines, visual forms of subtraction as a change process
4.
Weak ability to access numerical meaning form symbols (poor
number sense)
5.
Problems keeping info in working memory
ANXIETY------ANXIETY-------ANXIETY-----ANXIETY
Retrieval of Basic Facts
Color affects how we memorize
(Red, Yellow and Orange increase the level of our
attention)
When using Flashcards—use circles
Individuals retrieve more easily in the same emotional
state they encoded the information. (calm environment)
***The brain's hierarchy of tasks
Physical---Emotional---Thinking---Learning
Strategies for Recall of Basic Facts
Stage 1: Understand the underlying concepts
Stage 2: "Figure-It-Out" Tricks
Stage 3: Automaticity
1. Teach first the concept such as repeated addition, equal groups
Begin to apply tricks or ways to remember
analyze multiplication patterns (hundreds chart or blank multiplication
template)
-apply partial-product principals
-“landmark numbers” (doubles, fives, etc)
Example:
https://www.eduplace.com/math/mw/background/3/06/te_3_06_overview.
html
3. Repetition—practice
-games with calling out facts
-games with cards/multiplication war/salute
the general
Card Games
Dice Games
Chants/songs/poems/raps
Strategies to Combat Impulsivity
• Give Smaller and Shorter
Tasks One at a Time
• Alternative modes of
completing assignments
• Break down directions
• Have student repeat
directions back
• More structured routine
• Non verbal cues
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Stand while working
Stress ball or fidget
Teach social skills
Use timer
Velcro on the desk
Visual schedule
What to do when a Student has Problems
with Mental Representations-Manipulatives
Drawing it out
Acting it out
Partner Talk
What to do when a Student has
Poor Number Sense
1.
Practice, practice, practice with different materials and
tools.
-use manipulatives so active learning takes place—use
real world situations such as baking cookies, matchbox
cars showing cars in a parking lot, etc.
2.
Drawing before writing math equations
3.
Modeling with manipulatives
4.
Practice collecting and analyzing data (creating graphs,
classifying, sorting, etc.)
What to do When a Student has
Problems With Working Memory
•
Break tasks into smaller chunks.
•
One task at a time
•
Simplify the amount of mental processing required by providing several oral
“clues” for a problem and writing key words for each clue on the board or
interactive whiteboard
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Meaningful examples help the student make
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Provide information in multiple ways: speak it, show it, and create
opportunities to physically work with it or model it.
•
Routines
General Rules to Help ALL Students
• Movement is the only thing that unites all brain
levels and integrates the right and left hemispheres
of young learners
• The brain makes the most neural connections
when it is actively involved in learning, therefore,
learning should be multi-sensory and interactive
• Teachers have 18 seconds to grab a child's interest.
• Students need to be able to construct meaning by
interacting with peers, problems, issues and with
materials.
• Learning is more effective if concepts are learned
in context and related to existing knowledge.
Content needs to be relevant, integrating multiple
aspects simultaneously.
• Peer teaching may be as valuable for the child
who is "teaching" as for the "learner".
Number Sense
K-2 Ten Frames
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6RaMGDPfJg
Online Practice
http://illuminations.nctm.org/Activity.aspx?id=3565
Number Bonds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIbIcG0uD24
Online Practice
http://www.mathplayground.com/number_bonds_10.html