From the Desks of Mrs. Hager and Mrs. Brown

1. From the Desks of Mrs. Hager and Mrs. Brown Chapters 3 and 4 of Teaching the Male Brain

2. Movement • Males are mesmerized by movement, and when adolescent testosterone is thrown into the mix, they feel they have to move. Yet boys and girls are asked to sit still most of the school day. As Marilee Sprenger points out in her book Brain-based Teaching in the Digital Age (Sprenger, pp. 21-22, 2010), physical movement promotes learning for all students in the following ways: • Improves attention and motivation by increasing dopamine and norepinephrine • Creates positive moods, lowers anxiety, raises self-esteem • Causes stem cells in brain to divide, making new brain cells • Decreases impulsivity • Adds new cells to the hippocampus (the memory control area) • Adds to the “chemical soup” that promotes growth and survival of neurons.

3. What is a teacher to do? • Make lessons experiential and kinesthetic, and use manipulatives. • Put words and punctuation on large cards, have students arrange along floor or chalkboard ledge to form sentences. • Have children each hold a letter and arrange themselves to spell words. • Four corners: have students walk to each corner of room to discuss different questions or complete different math problems. • Allow students, especially boys, to walk freely around the room, squeeze stress balls, deliver papers to the principal’s office, or build a report instead of write one. • Incorporate frequent stretch breaks and/or 60-second movement breaks.

4. Add more movement into your lessons • creative dramatics • physical review games • pantomimes of historical events • film making • demonstrations • projects that produce something concrete • puppet shows

5. Adding more movement … • having students physically model scientific events, such as two neurons sharing information • video broadcasts and game shows • singing, dancing, graphics and art renditions of work • how-to demos • Give students opportunities to think creatively while getting up and involved.

6. Walk Around Quizzes • Conduct “walk-around” quizzes. Post questions or assignments around the classroom and have students move from one location to the next to complete their work.

7. Beach Ball Review • Write math problems or phonics sounds on the panels of a beach ball (or purchase at a teaching store). Students toss the ball and must state the solution or a word using the sound as indicated on the ball. • Ball (or Koosh) Toss Review -The student tossing the ball asks a question; the student catching it answers, and then the process is repeated. • Continent Scramble • Designate different parts of room as continents, presidents, etc. Provide clues and ask students to figure out where to go. • Vote with Your Feet • Ask students to stand along an imaginary line according to whether they agree, disagree, or are neutral regarding a controversial topic, and to state why they took that position. • Walkabout Review • Students walk around with a partner while discussing content or reviewing for a test.

8. Games… 5-4-3-2-1. In this simple game, students stand up and the teacher (or leader) has them do five different movements in descending order. For example the teacher would say: "Do fivejumping jacks, spin around four times, hop on one foot threetimes, walk all the way around the classroom two times, give your neighbor one high-five (pausing in between each task for students to do it).Trading Places Have students stand behind their pushed-in chairs. Call out a trait and everyone who has that trait must change places with someone else (students who do not have the trait stay where they are). Examples: "Everyone with curly hair." "Everyone who ate cereal for breakfast." Everyone who is wearing stripes." Would You Rather Ask a would you rather question and have students show their choice by moving to one end of the room or the other. Have a few kids share why.

9. Six Spots Number six spots around your room from 1-6. Have students each go to a spot of their choice. Choose a student to roll a die (if you can make a big one out of foam, it adds to the fun). All the students at the number rolled must go back to their seats. Students that are left go to a new spot and the die is rolled again. Continue until only a few students are left. Mingle, Mingle, Group! In this game students mill about the classroom saying, "mingle, mingle, mingle" in soft voices until the teacher says "Groups of 5," at which point the students must quickly group themselves into groups with the correct number of people. Students who are left over must do three jumping jacks before the next round starts. The teacher can call out any number for the group size. You can also add rules such as: as soon as a group is complete, all members must sit down in a line. Dance Party! Put on some rockin' music and dance! If you can make the room semi-dark and have a black light or other special effect, your kids will love it! Freeze Dance! Similar to Dance Party except that every so often the music stops and students must freeze and hold the position they are in until the music begins again.

10. WHAT BOYS NEED….. Boys need work that is assigned in bite-sized, digestible pieces and is time-limited; Lessons that are broken down into a variety of activities that include more “active” learning opportunities, such as drama, investigation, research, or the use of information technology The work must seem relevant to them – that is, when it has a purpose they can understand; Lessons that are delivered in a brisk, well-paced format, with an obvious direction, so that they can tell that progress is occurring

11. The red color represents how the brain has been “turned on” after 20 minutes of moderate physical activity.