Spirit Magazine - August 2013 - (Page 76)

We Buy Used Cell Phones & pay up to 150 for each phone! Some phones have no value. See current purchase price list for individual model prices at www.pacebutler.com Here’s how to do it! We issue your check within 2 days! WE DONATE AN EDUCATIONAL BOOK! for EVERY cell phone sold to PaceButler since 1987 5915 NW 23rd St. Oklahoma City, OK 73127 California, Santa Barbara, who has also taught elementary and middle school, says that knowledge learned via memorization is particularly susceptible to the “use it or lose it” phenomenon. “The brain’s procedural memory will only be activated in the way that memory was first learned,” she says. Translation: We learn to play a musical instrument, speak a language, or sail a boat by actively practicing these skills. In contrast, students who absorb information specifically for a test can usually only recall that information for the test. The trick, Willis says, is to “connect students’ memory of a lesson to another set of circuits that get activated more frequently.” Say you’re teaching the Pythagorean theorem. Willis would instruct students to walk around their bedrooms and snap pictures of right angles. In class, they’d use these images, along with their textbooks, to solve for the hypotenuse. Then, every time the kids see the objects they photographed—or even similar objects— outside the classroom, their brains will recall the Pythagorean theorem. LESSON #3 The Brain Gets High On Participation The previous learning experiment works because it’s fun. And when we experience pleasure, our brains release a neurotransmitter called dopamine. “The brain is a dopamine junkie,” says Willis. “It wants to remember things that release it.” She says that active participation (for example, photographing those right angles) is by far the best way to encourage this. When students aren’t actively engaged, they’re more likely to tune out. That’s the problem with lecturebased teaching. It doesn’t matter whether students are watching a lecture in person or via video. Which is why Seigel’s first attempt at flipping his classroom failed. “Watching video is a passive experience,” Small says. Instead, teachers should compel students to make decisions throughout every lesson. “That’s what activates the neurons,” he says. Willis thinks video games are addictive precisely because they force players into an active state of decision making, thereby fueling Siegel doesn’t give specific due dates for assignments; he gives students guidelines and a final date by which all work must be turned in. At first, kids had trouble with the freedom. the constant release of dopamine. But making predictions—the phrase Willis uses to describe the strategicthinking process—isn’t just about chemical release. It encourages students to think about “what they can do with the information they’re presented and how they can use it beyond their school years,” she says. LESSON #4 The Brain Needs Feedback “For the dopamine reward system to work, feedback needs to be immediate,” Willis says. In a video game you know right away if you’ve succeeded in beating a level. But even if you fail, you’ve come closer to understanding why. Conversely, students in traditional classroom settings often have to wait a day or two to receive feedback on their homework, and even longer on their tests. If, early on, they get stuck on a problem, they might http://www.pacebutler.com http://www.pacebutler.com http://www.pacebutler.com http://www.pacebutler.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Spirit Magazine - August 2013

Spirit Magazine - August 2013
Contents
Gary’s Greeting
Gary’s Greeting en Español
Star of the Month
Freedom Story
From the Editor
Your Words
Your Pictures
Media Center
Eat Drink Sleep
The Numbers
Wise Guide
Business
The Greatest Show on Turf
Flipped Out
Your Adventure In Grand Rapids
Life Adventure In Grand Rapids
Calendar
Fun!
Spotlight
Community Outreach
Route Map
Rapid Rewards Partners
Flight Service
The “If” List

Spirit Magazine - August 2013