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

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.