Emotional states significantly impact how students learn and perform academically, with notable differences between genders. Girls tend to struggle with learning and testing under stress, while boys often thrive in similar conditions.
Info is delivered from brain to body and body to brain.
The body and brain always work together in order for a student to learn.
Where is emotion processed and how do emotions affect learning?
Emotions can cause difficulty in learning by causing anxiety. For example, hen feeling threatened (like getting bad grades), anxiety builds and there is lack of long-term learning and reflective learning.
Processed in the Limbic System
How should teachers use and deal with emotions in the classroom?
Teachers can greet students at the door and take "emotional temperatures" of individual students. This decreases anxiety in students because they can have short conversations with teachers.
When testing: Have students use deep breathing exercises = have students calm themselves
Make sure that students have access to "being there" experiences where they can get sensory data from more than just a few sources.
Teaching strategies: collaborations, simulations, music, drama = make learning more memorable and powerful
How can movement help improve learning?
Learn by doing approach
field trips
projects-based
Aerobic exercise
helps with forming new memories/kickstart the brain
Mimicry
Best for learning a new language
"mirror neurons" = type of movement neurons
Two-step process: understanding content and then using the content.
If students are always told to sit down and not do anything, their brains are not being put to good use.
What does brain research tell us about the importance of movement?
Aerobic exercise helps develop long-term memory
Being able to mimic is based on movement.
Movement helps develop "higher" brain functions.
Things that move require a brain.
Emotions: Girls vs. Boys
Boys: Less likely to to comply with adults/meet adults' goals. Stress also helps boys learn and test better.
Girls: Teacher-pleasers, do not learn well/test well when stressed.