Stress
• The human reaction to events in our environment.
• Wear and tear on our body.
Eustress
Good Stress• Getting into college• Winning the lottery• Getting engaged
Distress
Bad Stress• Difficult work environment• Overwhelming sights or sounds• Threat of personal injury
General Stress
• Everyone has this kind• It resolves itself in a day or two• No intervention required
Cumulative Stress
• Stress builds up in your body• It becomes more difficult to
alleviate symptoms• You have more serious physical
symptoms• You have more serious mental
anguish
Acute Traumatic Stress
• Critical incident stress• Produces considerable
psychological distress• A normal reaction to abnormal
events
Post-Traumatic Stress• Severs stressed produced by
severe psychological trauma• Created by unresolved critical
incident• Produced lasting changes
Sympathetic Nervous System
brain
adrenal gland
epinephrine cortisol sympatheticnervous system
↑ glucose metabolism
↑ blood flow & pressure
behavioral alertness
via blood
circulation
via the
nerves
hypothalamus
pituitary gland
Stress
Effects of long term release of cortisol• Increased blood pressure• Inhibits inflammatory response• Suppresses immune system• Damages brain cells
Learning is Enhanced by Challenge & Inhibited by Threat
• The brain’s priority is always survival - at the expense of higher order thinking
• Stress should be kept to a manageable level
• Provide opportunities to “grow” and to make changes
• Have high, but reasonable expectations
Stress & LearningThe stress-brain loop
↓ Attention↓ Perception↓ Short-term memory↓ Learning↓ Word finding
Chronic Stress•Inadequate sleep•Poor nutrition•Emotional distress
Increases glucocorticoids
Decreased regulation of cortisol
Cellular changes in the hippocampus
Brain Organizes Memory In Different Ways
• Retrieval often depends upon how the information was stored.
• Relevancy is one key to both storage and retrieval
• Provide and get examples• Connect to what students know, what they are
interested in• Make learning meaningful
Memory• When objects and events are registered by several
senses, they can be stored in several interrelated memory networks.
• This type of memory becomes more accessible and powerful.
• Conversation helps us link ideas/thoughts to our own related memories. Students need time for this to happen!!– Storytelling - Conversations– Debates - Role playing– Simulations - Songs– Games - Films
Learning & Memory
Sensory organs
StimulusStimulus
Sensory Memory(millisecond-1)
Sensory Memory(millisecond-1)
Short-Term MemoryWorking Memory
(< 1 minute)
Short-Term MemoryWorking Memory
(< 1 minute)
Long-Term Memory( days, months, years)Long-Term Memory
( days, months, years)
perception
attention
forgettingrepetition
Learning & Memory
Sensory Memory:
A sensory memory exists for each sensory channel:
• iconic memory for visual stimuli
• echoic memory for aural stimuli
• haptic memory for touch
Information sensory memory short-term memory by attention, thereby filtering the stimuli to only those which are of interest at a given time.
Learning & Memory
Short-term Memory:
• acts as a scratch-pad for temporary recall of the information under process
• can contain at any one time seven, plus or minus two, "chunks" of information
• lasts around twenty seconds.
QUIZ NEXT SLIDE
Short-term Memory Quiz (30 sec)
eggs
drawing
rock
apple
focus
mission
favor
ice
brain
flag
trial
partner
house
life
chair
Encoding in Long-term Memory:
• Organizing
• Practicing
• Spacing
• Making meaning
• Emotionally engaging
Techniques to Help Memory
Techniques to Help Memory• Define the “gist” - OVERVIEW• Sequence events• Plot out pictorially the information• Tell the information to others in own
words - TALK– Peer teaching/tutoring
• Amplify by giving examples• Use multiple parts of the brain
(emotional, factual, physical)– Auditory, Visual, Kinesthetic, Talk– Combine
• Use color effectively– YellowYellow and orangeorange as attention-getters
The Brain is a Social Brain
• The brain develops better in concert with others
When students have to talk to others about information, they retain the information longer and more efficiently!
Make use of small groups, discussions, teams, pairings, and question and answer situations.
How Can You Manage Your Stress
Avoid stressful situations
Avoid extremes
Set realistic goals
Manage how stress affects you
Change how you see the situation
Change how you react to stress
Set priorities
Take control of the situation
Try relaxation techniques
Figure out what’s important
Healthy Lifestyle Considerations
Diet• Lower salt intake• Lower intake of
refined sugars and carbs
• Lower caffeine intake• Add fruit, veggies,
complex carbs, vitamins, and water
Healthy Lifestyle Considerations
Rest• Get 6 hours minimum of
continuous rest
Healthy Lifestyle Considerations
Exercise• 30-60 minutes of aerobic
exercise a day
Healthy Lifestyle Considerations
General• Talk things out• Make an increased effort to organize
your life• Delegate things when needed• Ask for help
Healthy Lifestyle Considerations
Relax!!!• Fill your life with fun things to do. • Keep your sense of humor• Take charge of your life• Find a balance.• Make this part of your daily routine.