2. Judy Willis, M.D. Engagement
Strategies (2006)
• Attention Is Not
Voluntary Choice
• Whatever is new or
different will get priority
3. #1 Reason Kids Drop Out is Boredom
(Bridgeland, Dilulio, & Morrison 2006)
• Judy Willis, M.D. Stated:
• Boredom is stressful.
– The lower reactive brain is in control.
• Behavior
– Fight (Disruptive) – Oppositional Defiant
– Flight (Withdrawal) – ADHD and ADD
– Freeze (Zone Out) social anxiety syndrome, seizures,
OCD
– Children are misdiagnosed when the brain is not the
problem. Kids are bored. Children want the dopamine
pleasure that games and technology brings.
4. Judy Willis, M.D. Engagement
Strategies (2006)
• The more ways
something is
learned, the more
memory pathways are
built
• Multiple stimulation
mean better memory
• Examples:
• Multiple forms of
review
• Visual imagery
• Personal relevance
• Role-play
• Produce product or
models
5. Engagement Strategies (Willis, 2006)
• Attention is not a voluntary choice – input
must be selected by sensory filter. If it does
not reach per-frontal cortex, it does not make
it to long term memory.
• Must be selected to make it to the Reticular
Activating System (RAS). Survival skills for
animals.
6. The RAS – Judy Willis (2006)
• Curiosity alerts the RAS
• Sound (voice volume, pitch, cadence)
• Color, placement of objects
• Your appearance (costumes, hats) do something
unusual
• Novelty and curiosity
• Predictions are great (which one do you want 1 penny
doubled for a year or $1,000,000?)
• Optical Illusions http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/
• Grumpy faces do not allow passage to pre-frontal
cortex
7. Emotions and Learning:
Brain-Targeted Teaching Strategies
Mariale M. Hardiman
• Predictability
• Personal connection between teacher and
students
• Trust and acceptance
• Safe environment
• Control and choice
• Humor
• Music, art, dance and theater
• Celebration
8. Connecting Emotions to Content
• It helps to make emotional connections to curriculum
in order to achieve long term retention.
• For example by considering the emotional toll of the
US Civil War may connect learning much more than
isolated battles, and persons involved.
By Mc Knoell - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/deed.en
The two structures in the
brain responsible for long-
term remembering are
located in the emotional area
of the brain.
9. “Visual Tools Help Students Reach
Higher Levels of Thinking”
• Arrangements of ideas
that can be linked to
previous learning
• Access both left and right
side of brain
• Appeal to all learns
starting at about age 5.
• Can have new info added
easily and quickly.
• Are helpful in all subjects
• Are fun and easy to create
- Sprenger (2010)
10. Graphic Organizers
Sequence Chart
First
Next
Next
Next
Last
Venn Diagram (comparison
Similarities
Differences
Differences
T- Charts (cause/effect) or
(problem/solution) or Y -
Charts
K
What do
we Know?
W
What do
we want to
find out?
H
How can
we find out
what we
want to
learn?
L
What did
we learn?
11. Mind Maps or Pictures
http://www.mindmapsearch.org
• “With mind maps we are creating pictures that
will enable student to remember 80 to 100
percent of what we have taught.” – Marilee
Sprenger
• Nonlinguistic representations are a way of
imaging information and are one way to
improve student achievement. –
Marzano, Pickering, and Pollack (2001)
• It does not have to be pictures, mind maps or
graphic organizers. It may be movement, sounds
and smells…
12. Engagement Strategies
Think-Pair Share
• Ask students to reflect on a
question or prompt. Give
them a brief amount of
time (perhaps 30 seconds)
to formulate a response.
• Ask students to pair up or to
turn to their assigned
partner.
• Ask them to discuss their
responses.
Quick-Writes
• Select a prompt that you
would like students to
address.
• Give students a specified
amount of time to collect
their thoughts and jot down a
response(~3-5min).
• Follow up with a Networking
Session.
Quick-Draw
• Reflect on meaning of “big
idea” and create a visual.
• Follow up with Chalkboard
Splash.
“Ideas taken from Total participation
Techniques” – Persida Himmele and
William Himmele
13. Engagement Strategies
Networking Session
• Prepare 1-4 prompts. Ask
students to reflect on or quick-
write responses to prompts.
• Ask students to find someone
(they have not spoken to) to
discuss topic.
• Signal when to switch to next
person with next prompt.
Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down
• Ask students a question for
which a yes/no or
agree/disagree response is
appropriate.
Chalkboard Splash
• Copy responses to Quick-
Write or Quick-Draw onto
random or selected places in
classroom. (butcher paper)
• Ask students to walk around,
analyze and jot down
similarities, differences, and
surprises.
• Ask students to get in small
groups and share before
sharing with larger group.
“Ideas taken from Total participation
Techniques” – Persida Himmele and William
Himmele
14. References
• Willis, J. (2006) Research based strategies to ignite student learning.
ASCD: Alexandria, VA.
• Willis, J. (2011) Sustaining students classroom attention in the
digital age [Presentation]. 2011 Learning and the Brain Conference.
San Francisco.
• Hardiman, M. (2004) Connecting Brain Research With Effective
Teaching: The Brain-Targeted Teaching Model. Lanham, Maryland:
R&L Education
• Sprenger, M. (2010), Brain-based teaching in the digital age.
Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
• Medina, J. (2008), Brain rules. Seattle, WA: Pear Press.
• Marzano, R. J., Pickering, D.J., & Pollack, J.E., (2001), Classroom
instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
• rsida, and William Himmele.Total participation
techniques making every student an active learner. Alexandria, Va.:
ASCD, 2011. Print.
Notes de l'éditeur
Engagement Strategies – Attention not a voluntary choice- input must be selected by sensory filter. If it does not reach pre frontal cortex, does not make it to long term memory. Must be selected to make it to the reticular Activating System RAS. Survival skill for animals. Whatever is new or different will get priority. Curiosity alerts the RAS. Sound (voice volume, pitch, cadence), color, movement, placement of objects, your appearance (costumes, hats), do something unusual. Novelty and curiosity…predictions are great (which one1 penny doubled or 100,000). Grumpy faces do not allow passage to pre frontal cortex. Optical illusions to
Children are sometimes misdiagnosed when the brain is not the problem. Kids are bored. Children want the dopamine pleasure that games and technology brings.
Humor surprise problem solving
Think pair share is only as good as the prompt. Up until now multiplying numbers has always resulted in a larger number Using words and pictures explain why multiplying fractions always results in a smaller number 2) How might the concept of an electoral college be considered undemocratic?
Networking: To raise level delve into the implications of the concepts for the world around us. Provide opportunities for students to personalize the responses by applying them to their own worlds. Ask students to defend their responses based on learned info. Evaluation – blooms level