Attentional States are aspects of learning that are personally meaningful

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Attentional States are aspects of learning that
are personally meaningful
THIS IS IMPORTANT!

• JENSEN, CHAPTER 9

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Advanced Organizer

• We began to associate the brain with specific
  learning
• Individuality/uniqueness
• Role of the different parts of the brain
• Stages of learning
• Cycles of learning
• Optimal environment?color, presentations, etc.
• Preparing the learner?nutrition, pre-exposure,
  mind-mapping, and relaxation
• Differences between men and women
• Importance of non-conscious learning?T
  congruence, appearance, expectations, control
• How do we get the child to pay attention using
  flexibility in teaching?

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• Hooking the brains attention
• Brain pays attention to information that is
  critical to our survival
• It prioritizes information all the time (both
  consciously and unconsciously)
• Any stimuli introduced into our immediate
  environment which is
• new
• or sufficiently strong?emotional intensity
• will immediate get our attention
• Learners today are in stimuli overload so a
  calmed class may seem boring
• So a teacher must present information in an
  innovated and exciting manner?engaging the
  learners attention

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• What influences attention
• The interaction of various factors such as
• Particular sensory input
• The data intensity or perceived importance
• The brain chemical flavor of the moment (hormonal
  and neurotransmitter levels, and peptides)
• The sequence of elements in the attentional
  process are
• Initial alarm or notice visual information
  flows
• Orientation both ways back forth
• Identification and from eyes to the
  thalamus decision making to the visual
  cortex
• The brain attentional headquarters corrects the
  information received from the retina
• This is the shaping mechanism that focus our
  attention in one thing and corrects the brain to
  shut out not essential stimulus

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• Too much attention
• We absorb so much from the environment that at
  times it seems that we have stopped paying
  attention (being overwhelmed) to what is
  important
• This is the time to take down time
• There are different points of view regarding
  paying attention
• Younger students 10-3-7?primacy and recency
  effects
• Older students 13-2-5
• Another theory the child age in minutes of
  attention required
• Making meaning
• Humans seek meaning (innate)?it is what Piaget
  called equilibration
• Equilibration occur after information is attended
  to and the brain seeks meaning by making
  connections with previous learning
• It never occurs while the individual is receiving
  information
• It is like a period of incubation where ideas
  gel?reflection time
• So as a teacher make sure that you have down time

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• The chemistry of attention
• Hormones, neurotransmitters, and peptides are the
  chemicals produced in our brain when it is
  working
• Acetylcholine?neurotransmitter that induce
  drowsiness?levels are higher in the afternoon and
  evening
• Norepinephrine?has to do with attention
• Low ?no attention
• Hi (hyper)?attention
• Cortisol, vasopressing and endorphins?are
  released when we are under tension
• They are released in the body which responds
  immediately with actions
• Pulse rate increases
• Pupils contract
• Skin becomes flushed
• All learning is state-dependent
• So the emotional, postural and psychological
  state of the students influence their
  learning?calmed safe classroom

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• Role of laughter
• Body reacts biochemically to laughter
• Cathetered students?changes in blood chemistry
  when viewing a comedy
• Increased white blood cells (fight infection)
• Production of neurotransmitters critical for
  alertness and memory?lowers stress
• Encourage students to see learning as a
  pleasurable activity
• The chemistry of physical activity
• Any learning that involves some sense of progress
  and control by the learner may be expected to
  engage the pleasure centers of the brain
  learning then becomes a pleasurable activity
• Passive learning does not require the activation
  of such centers, instead the stimuli is connected
  to the back section of the brain skipping the
  emotional centers, and therefore making learning
  more difficult
• Cross lateral re-pattering motions can have an
  immense influence on learning?forces each side of
  the brain to talk to each other.

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• Attention shifts
• Our brains external-internal shift is frequent
  and
• automatic
• This shifting is essential
• Time to go inside
• In maintaining understanding link the past with
• Updating long-term memories present future
• Strengthening our neural networks
• Two critical factors are important to
• determine the amount of processing
• time a person needs
• The learners background in the subject
• (amount of prior knowledge)
• Intensity and complexity of the
• material

Are they on or off task? I dont know, I cant
see it
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• How we listen (research study results)
• Right ear superior for listening, specially for
  complex information?access to the left brain
  which processes very complex tones
• The right ear is the best ear for listening a new
  languagenormal readers became dyslexic when they
  were forced to listen with left ear?sound therapy
  exercises may be a way to help dyslexics improve
  their ability to hear high frequencies
• Half people in the world change their voice
  response depending on which ear he receives
  information
• So watch your learners!!!

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Optimal states for learning
Pattern of activity in which individual or group
goals emerge as result of a pleasurable activity
and interaction with the environment
FLOW
Skills, attention, enviroment are aligned
Creativity learning emerged in an accelerated
fashion
Balance of Challenge Mastery are equal
TTime passes Without awareness
No struggle
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• The best states for learning
• Intrinsically challenged with material of medium
  difficulty
• Low to moderate stress general relaxation and
  feeling of safety
• Immersed flow state
• Curiosity and anticipation
• Confusion (the student wants to make sense of the
  situation)
• Matching challenge and mastery
• Complex and moderately difficult mental tasks
  increase brain activity (fMRI)
• When challenge gt skill anxiety
• When skill gt challengeboredom

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What brainwaves can tell usBy observing (EEG)
chemical reactions which produce electrical
fields (HZtimes per second)
Delta 0-4Hz Deep sleep no outer awareness?Useless for any type of learning (brains cleaning house)
Theta 4-8Hz Twilight/light sleep/meditative?sleep learning and free associations of creative ideas
Alpha 8-12Hz Aware/relaxed/calmed/attentive?alert state for listening and watching, but fairly passive
Beta 12-16Hz Normal/ waking consciousness?great for typical thinking, asking questions and problem solving
High Beta 16-30Hz Intense outer directed focus?ideal for intense states such as debating and performing
K Complex 30-35Hz The aha! Experience?flow
Super Beta 35-150Hz Extreme states (out of body experience? Intense state, not appropriate for school
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Most Common Students States What the Teacher Sees
Fear Restricted breathing tighten muscles and closed body posture
Anxiety Hyperactivity lack of concentration nail biting asking irrelevant questions
Apathy Relaxed shoulders/posture slow breathing and no eye contact
Frustration Fidgeting and anxious movements tightened muscles and shortened breath
Confusion Makes faces asks questions (relevant and irrelevant) and the I cant statement
Boredom Trying to get attention from other students drawing, and basically being what teachers called off task
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Most desirable Student states What the teacher sees
Anticipation Sitting erect in full attention arrives early to class ready to start
Self convincer Breathing shifts and body rocks, tilts and rolls
Excitement Smiling face same as anticipation
Curiosity Ask relevant questions
Celebration Smiling, getting other students involved
Enlightenment The aha! situation
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Activities
Multimedia
Environment
People
Tone
Choice
Focusing