OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS

1. DAY 2 OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

2. WELCOME Creating the Optimal Learning Conditions for the Brain: Putting the Latest Research Into Practice DOE AR 178390 BrandmanUniversity EDDU 9232 OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS

3. From the sequencing activity you did yesterday… There was a 2.1 difference in the average score between the two groups. Lots of 2’s for the ones which started with stubborn..no lower than 5 for the ones that started with intelligent. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

4. Stubborn opened a file in you that brought out some very low numbers. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

5. Read the following information about the city of London. London is the capital city of both England and the United Kingdom. More than 300 languages are spoken in this city that is the only city ever to host 3 Summer Olympics. Its population of almost 21 million people ranks it as one of the most populated metro areas in the world. It was the first city to have an underground railway. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

6. Now I want you to read the following information about the city of Paris. Paris is located on the Siene River with a population of around 12 million people. It is the headquarters for 30 of the Fortune Global 500 companies. It has hosted the Summer Olympics twice and is home to one of the Grand Slams of tennis, The French Open. It is served by two international airports. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

7. Take out a sheet of paper and number it 1-10. How many times has Paris hosted the Summer Olympics? London is the first city in the world to have? How many people live in the London Metropolitan area? OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

8. 4. What Grand Slam sporting event is held in Paris? 5. How many languages are spoken in London? 6. How many Fortune Global 500 companies are headquartered in Paris? 7. London is the capital of? OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

9. 8. How many international airports are there in Paris? 9. London has hosted the summer Olympics how many times? 10. How many people live in Paris? OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

10. The experiment you were just part of is related to the concept of: COGNITIVE STRAIN OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

11. Cognitive strain refers to the amount of energy the brain needs to put into the receiving, storing and retrieval of information. COGNITIVE STRAIN OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

12. If the process is deemed too difficult, the brain shuts down. If the process is deemed too easy, the brain only puts in minimum effort and either it doesn’t go into storage, or it goes into the wrong file. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

13. What researchers found is that when you have to work at bit and focus to get information, you process that information better. They have done similar experiments with auditory information and gotten similar results. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

14. When there was some challenge in listening to the information, the individual focused more and was able to receive and store more of the information. There is a “tipping point” of where it is challenging and I will engage, and a point where I no longer give any effort. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

15. Another example of a “tipping point” is related to the price of gasoline. I’m not a good “car pooler.” I want the freedom to come and go as I please. I don’t want wait for you or have you wait for me. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

16. Given your economic situation, belief about carbon footprints, dislike of traffic, distance you have to drive, gas mileage your car gets, etc, you may already be a “car pooler.” OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

17. If gas goes up to $20.00 a gallon, would I be a car pooler? Yes…. So there is a tipping point at which the price of gasoline tips me from a solo driver to a car pooler. Where would that number be for you? OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

18. My tipping point and yours might be different. The same is true for cognitive strain. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

19. There is a different tipping point for everyone in your classroom. Your job as a teacher is to find that point and keep each student right there. It is exactly what we talked about last week in about finding the potential of each student and challenging them to perform up to that potential. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

20. For some of you, it was too frustrating to read the second one and you quit. You reached your tipping point. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

21. Answers How many times has Paris hosted the Summer Olympics? London is the first city in the world to have? How many people live in the London Metropolitan area? OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

22. 4. What Grand Slam sporting event is held in Paris? 5. How many languages are spoken in London? 6. How many Fortune Global 500 companies are headquartered in Paris? 7. London is the capital of? OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

23. 8. How many international airports are there in Paris? 9. London has hosted the summer Olympics how many times? 10. How many people live in Paris? OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

24. A second aspect of cognitive strain is the pace at which information comes to brain. There is an ideal pace for each of us that allows us to receive the information, turn around and store it, then turn back around for more information. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

25. This is when information is coming to us from a single source…we’ll be talking about multitasking later. Too fast and we quit turning around. Too slow and our attention goes somewhere else. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

26. So how fast do we speak? OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

27. An average American English speaker engaged in a friendly conversation speaks at a rate of approximately ______ words per minute. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

28. An average American English speaker engaged in a friendly conversation speaks at a rate of approximately 110–150 words per minute. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

29. Publishers recommend books on tape to be voiced at 150-160 wpm, auctioneers are generally 250-400 wpm while the average reading rate is about 200-300 wpm. Different regions of the country speak at different rates as well. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

30. I tend to be a fast speaker and realized immediately when I went from the high school to the elementary, I needed to slow down wpm. They can’t process as quickly. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

31. Another aspect of pace is context. If I have a good understanding of the information being discussed and know the context of the conversation, I can keep up. If I don’t I struggle. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

32. Also, am I giving them time to store the information before I give them more information. How many directions can they file in their short term memory? How many can you? OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

33. This is not a new concept…Think of “wait time” related to asking questions. Do I give the student time to turn around and look through their files? One student may have that file and can retrieve it quickly. Another has it, but can’t access that fast. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

34. Cognitive strain is one of the concepts/factors that you can use to assess your lessons and/or use to modify your lessons. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

35. Turn to page #6 in your Portfolios. You are to name a lesson. Identify the goal of the lesson and the standard or GLO it is addressing. Assess it in relationship to 4 of the concepts and factors we have talked about. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

36. There are 12 concepts and factors and you can use any 4 of those 12 to assess your lesson and to modify your lesson. You can use 4 different ones for each lesson if you like, or the same 4 for all 3 lessons. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

37. As we go through each of the 12, you will see that some apply and others don’t really apply to your lesson. No worries, there are 12 and you only need to assess your lesson using 4. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

38. We are going to use your lessons as examples. You will also see that some of the concepts…like the “halo effect” can apply to really any lesson. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

39. Also, as we talk about each concept and factor you will find that they don’t work in isolation of one another. They are all interrelated and dependent upon one another. People will try to separate them out and sell you a program, but learning is a dynamic process. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

40. While you are assessing your lesson related to the 4 different concepts and factors, we will also identify the modifications you can make in your lessons. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

41. Turn to page #15 in your Portfolios. Collect 2 pieces of student evidence. You are simply picking 2 students and collecting samples of their work. This is to create a baseline to evaluate the effectiveness of the actions you are going to take. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

42. This evidence will be placed behind page #16 and you attach a caption to each piece. CAPTIONS FOR LESSON #1 (PRE) Simply staple the caption to each piece of student work. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

43. Name of the lesson….simply create a name. Goal of the lesson…what do you want to accomplish in this lesson. Standard, Benchmark, GLO Description of the lesson… OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

44. Concepts used…Sequencing, framing, halo effect… Collect two pieces of student evidence from the same two student. Place it behind page #16 after the PRE evidence. Attach the POST captions for lesson #1. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

45. Evaluation…Did your modifications make a difference? Put some thought into this…it didn’t have to make a difference. Use the Pre and Post student samples as the basis of your evaluation. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

46. Tomorrow we will go over examples of what you should write in your captions. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

47. STORE RETRIEVE RECEIVE SEND RECEIVE OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

48. Just like last week, I want you to have a template to assess each of your lessons. This time the template is related to how it does or does not create an optimal learning environment for the brain. OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

49. The concepts and factors we will be talking about are: -Cognitive Strain -Openness -Halo Effect -Attention -Organization -Priming Effect -Sequencing OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM

50. -Exposure Effect -Framing Effect -Body Regulation -Expectancy -Mood OPTIMAL LEARNING CONDITIONS INCREASING RIGOR IN THE CLASSROOM