TASK 6

TASK 6

Think about how learning about some basic concepts about the brain helps you understand a little about how your own brain works. How do you suppose those ideas connect to teaching and learning?

It is always important to bear in mind that we are all learners and that roles in the classroom frequently interchange. As teachers we must have an open agenda to foster and tend to learners' needs and even moods. Knowing that emotion is an important factor to bond chemical and electrical processes can be a reminder to plan ahead for a 'plan B' in class planning and management. Something Dr. Ivan Isquierdo mentions in his book 'The Art of Forgetting' (my translation for A Arte de Esquecer, 2010) is that the best recommendations to activate and exercise our memory is #1 reading, #2 reading and #3 reading! He claims that when we read we activate verbal, visual, image and even motor memories. I sure have a lot to learn!
    

TASK 5c - brain test and text

Neuroscientific knowledge and education vs Brain knowledge test

Both the test and the text are a red flag to an area that we are eager to learn about. I would like to read more about what the neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene has to say about bridging the knowledge between educators and  neuroscientists. I would like to share the names of two books recommended by Herbert Puchta in the Braz-Tesol 2012 convention written by the neuroscientist James Zull called The Art of Changing the Brain: Enriching Teaching by Exploring the Biology of Learning and From Brain to Mind: Using Neuroscience as a Guide to Change in Education. I haven't got around to reading them yet, but they're first on my list.  

GIFup - first try


http://gifup.com/show/ffc2af9a5f GIFup - first try

Learning Styles

Mulling over what the psychologist Dr. Daniel Willingham said (commented by BogolepovaSvetlana ) made me think about how researchers state their theories. They have to pinpoint their idea and detach it from the whole. I say that because I agree with Dr. Willingham  when he talks about what he says this theory predicts about each learner's styles  and I partly disagree (if I may) with his claims. I think he might be overlooking the motivation people need to memorize things. By participating in Dr. Daniella Melaré's web discussion group (on learning styles) and after reading a few books by Dr. Ivan Isquierdo on how our memory  works, it dawns on me that we ought to bear in mind people's peculiarities to retain certain memories and how different these can be - emotional, electrical and chemical processes are also responsible for keeping, storing and retrieving memories.  

Braining Up 2013

Week 1 - Task 3

Hi everyone! I'm excited and daunted to take part in this group - but I won't hide behind this computer! I guess I'll learn by doing ... This is a good start to introduce myself I guess. I learnt to rollerblade when I was 39 (way over that now) and one of my New Year's resolutions is to re-learn how to do the hulahoop! ;-)
I'm passionate about learning and investigating what goes one while learning. I'm passionate about teaching and being allowed to take part in students' learning process.
I've been an EFL teacher for over 30 years and teach small groups in a language school, as well as one-to-one private classes. I took my Master's degree in 2005 investigating peer collaboration during classroom interactions. In the past four years I have been involved with distance learning designing and teaching-tutoring a course on reading/comprehension so I had  to learn how to 'Moodle' - if you know what I mean.
I like the outdoors and you'll see me biking on weekends, whenever I have the chance.
I'm really looking forward to this course for I hope it will bring more light into this overwhelming area of study - our brain.