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Positivity is a powerful tool in ANY classroom! When
the social and emotional systems of the brain are engaged in a positive way,
learning is much more likely to take place. Complex thought takes place in the
frontal lobes. Information “must pass through the reticular activating system and the
limbic system to be acknowledged, recognized, connected with relational
memories, patterned and ultimately stored in long-term memory” (Willis, 2007,
p.18). Positive emotions open this pathway, while negative emotions and stress
causes the pathway to go into survival mode (fight or flight), which in turn restricts flow to
the frontal lobes making complex thought difficult if not impossible. Our goal
as teachers is to maintain a positive, optimistic classroom to keep the
learning pathway open.
With
a positive learning environment in mind, there are many brain-based strategies we
can use to increase learning. I consider brain-based strategies during lesson
planning, while keeping in mind the learning styles and intelligences of my
students. If during a lesson I notice that I’m beginning to lose their
attention, I will adjust my strategy or pause for BrainSMART BrainObics or
another crossover activity (see a demonstration of BrainObics
here
on BrainSMART’s website). I begin the year by stressing the importance
of
optimism and positive thinking on the brain, and then continue teaching
and
modeling the other BrainSMART thinking for learning skills which
include:
optimism, listening, focus, understanding space, understanding time,
systematic
search, systematic planning, memory, comparisons, and courage. Working
on these
skills together, with optimism (positivity) being the overarching theme, has made a
remarkable difference in my students success. I teach them
metacognition and we participate in Brain
Awareness Week activities.
They are so aware of optimism that they can
tell you
about a study that showed a pessimistic fourth grader presented with a
difficult task would see his or her thinking reduced to that of a first
grader.
They will go on to tell you that an optimistic fourth grader will have
the
courage to continue or seek help to solve the difficult task (Wilson
&
Conyers, 2011). They cheer each others successes and offer support and encouragement when a classmate struggles. My students even tell their parents to be optimistic and
courageous. 12 of my
21 students were reading below grade level at the beginning of the year.
Now,
NONE of them are below grade level (two are a mere one month behind where they
should
be), and ALL of them are effective metacognitive learners. That is
powerful. That is optimism and courage!
I
think strategies for increasing positive emotional involvement
must include the thinking skills mentioned above. When students have the necessary tools to learn, they feel better about themselves. Success breeds confidence. Teachers must model and refer
back to the strategies often. The I Feel Good strategy (also shown on the
video
linked above) is another important and effective tool to return students
to a
positive and optimistic state. Students can do the strategy alone or as a
class. Success mapping (keeping track of student successes) is another
go-to strategy for positive emotional involvement. When losing student
focus,
BrainObics is an amazing way to get the two sides of the brain working
together
and the blood flowing. I also use the opportunity to refocus students on
metacognition by reminding them each time why we do BrainObics.
BrainObics
keep the energy of the classroom flowing. Probably the most important
strategy to
keep the energy positive and upbeat is by being that way yourself! I am a
high-energy teacher. That is the only way to keep the attention of many
classes. Moving around the classroom, being animated, doing BrainObics,
and allowing state-changes (Scaddan, 2009), are all important
contributions to
the positive energy of my class.
It would be difficult to model authentic positivity if I were not feeling
that way myself. One reason to feel so positive is that a teacher's job has
meaning! We have the future of the world sitting in our classrooms
every day. How exciting is that! If you model and teach optimism and positivity
every day, you will see amazing results flow! Positivity is a
powerful
contribution to any classroom.
References