teaching adolescents
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how to teach adolescents taking into account their brainTRANSCRIPT
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Teaching Adolescents
Teens brain
How teens learn
How to engage them
Some activities
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Teens brain:WHY TEENAGERS THINK AND ACT DIFFERENTLY
It now appears some of that baffling behavior of your teenage child (or student) may be the result of neurobiology not raging hormones
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WHY TEENAGERS THINK AND ACT DIFFERENTLY
For many years it was thought that brain development was set at a fairly early age. By the time teen years were reached the brain was thought to be largely finished. However, scientists doing cutting-edge research using magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, have mapped the brain from early childhood into adulthood and found data contrary to these beliefs. It now appears the brain continues to change into the early 20's with the frontal lobes, responsible for reasoning and problem solving, developing last.
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WHY TEENAGERS THINK AND ACT DIFFERENTLY?
The decade-long magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study of normal brain development, from ages 4 to 21, by researchers at NIH's National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) shows that such "higher-order" brain centers, such as the prefrontal cortex, don't fully develop until young adulthood as grey matter wanes in a back-to-front wave as the brain matures and neural connections are pruned. (see figure 1).
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WHY TEENAGERS THINK AND ACT DIFFERENTLY
FOR TIME LAPSE PHOTOGRAPHY
Figure 1.
Time-Lapse Imaging Tracks Brain Maturation from ages 5 to 20
Constructed from MRI scans of healthy children and teens, the time-lapse "movie", from which the above images were extracted, compresses 15 years of brain development (ages 5–20) into just a few seconds.
Red indicates more gray matter, blue less gray matter. Gray matter wanes in a back-to-front wave as the brain matures and neural connections are pruned.
Source: Paul Thompson, Ph.D. UCLA Laboratory of Neuroimaging
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/press/prbrainmaturing.cfm?styleN=one
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WHY TEENAGERS THINK AND ACT DIFFERENTLY
In calm situations, teenagers can rationalize almost as well as adults. But stress can hijack what Ron Dahl, a pediatrician and child psychiatric researcher at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center calls "hot cognition" and decision-making. The frontal lobes help put the brakes on a desire for thrills and taking risk -- a building block of adolescence; but, they're also one of the last areas of the brain to develop fully.
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WHY TEENAGERS THINK AND ACT DIFFERENTLY
Although scientists don't know yet what accounts for the observed changes, they may parallel a pruning process that occurs early in life that appears to follow the principle of "use-it-or-lose-it:" neural connections, or synapses, that get exercised are retained, while those that don't are lost.
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WHY TEENAGERS THINK AND ACT DIFFERENTLY
Brain Tissue Changes in Development (15 year timespan)Time-lapse Imaging Tracks Brain Developing from ages 5 to 20 NIMH/UCLA Project Visualizes Maturing BrainSource: Paul Thompson, Ph.D. UCLA Laboratory of Neuroimaging
"The most surprising thing has been how much the teen brain is changing. By age six, the brain is already 95 percent of its adult size. But the gray matter, or thinking part of the brain, continues to thicken throughout childhood as the brain cells get extra connections, much like a tree growing extra branches, twigs and roots...
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WHY TEENAGERS THINK AND ACT DIFFERENTLY
...In the frontal part of the brain, the part of the brain involved in judgment, organization, planning, strategizing -- those very skills that teens get better and better at -- this process of thickening of the gray matter peaks at about age 11 in girls and age 12 in boys, roughly about the same time as puberty. After that peak, the gray matter thins as the excess connections are eliminated or pruned...
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WHY TEENAGERS THINK AND ACT DIFFERENTLY
...But the pruning-down phase is perhaps even more
interesting, because our leading hypothesis for that is
the "use it or lose it" principle. Those cells and connections
that are used will survive and flourish. Those cells and
connections that are not used will wither and die. So if a
teen is doing music or sports or academics, those are the
cells and connections that will be hard-wired. If they're lying on the couch or playing video games or MTV, those are the
cells and connections that are going [to] survive...
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WHY TEENAGERS THINK AND ACT DIFFERENTLY
...Right around the time of puberty and on into the adult years is a particularly critical time for the brain sculpting to
take place...
... It’s sort of unfair to expect teens to have adult levels of
organizational skills or decision-making before their
brains are finished being built...
...The frontal lobe is often called the CEO, or the
executive of the brain. It's involved in things like
planning and strategizing and organizing, initiating attention and stopping and starting and shifting attention. It's a part of the brain that most separates man from beast, if you will...
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WHY TEENAGERS THINK AND ACT DIFFERENTLY
...I think that [in the teen years, this] part of the brain that is helping
organization, planning and strategizing is not done being built yet ... [It's] not
that the teens are stupid or incapable of [things]. It's sort of unfair to expect
them to have adult levels of organizational skills or decision making before their brain is finished being built.
...
...doing drugs or alcohol that evening, it may not just be affecting their brains
for that night or even for that weekend, but for the next 80 years of their life..."
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IMPLICATIONS OF STUDIES
One goal is to learn what teachers can do to take advantage of the time when their students' brains change the most. If some parts of the brain develop sooner than others, for example, perhaps school subjects should be taught in a different order.
Teenagers are four times as likely as older drivers to be involved in a crash and three times as likely to die in one, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. "Right now our first subjects are reaching driving age," Giedd said. "What better application could there be than saving their lives?"
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IMPLICATIONS OF STUDIES
Knowing what their brains are going through might also motivate teenagers to change their own priorities. "What you do with your brain during that time," Giedd says, "could have a lot of good and bad implications for the rest of your life."
Eventually, brain studies might help resolve conflicts at home. Teenagers are capable of learning a lot, but the parts of their brains related to emotions and decision-making are still in the works. As their brains undergo rewiring, teenagers are particularly vulnerable to risky behavior, such as drinking and driving too fast.
Brain immaturity can explain why the teen crash rate is so high.
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RECENT UPDATES
A recent study by Lebel and Beaulieu (see below) reinforce the above findings that the human brain doesn't stop developing at adolescence, but continues well into our 20s. The study is the first long-range investigation, using a type of imaging that looks at brain wiring and shows that in the white matter there are still structural changes happening during young adulthood. The white matter connects different regions to facilitate cognitive abilities. The study suggests that connections are strengthening even as we age in young adulthood.
C. Lebel, C. Beaulieu. Longitudinal Development of Human Brain Wiring Continues from Childhood into Adulthood. Journal of Neuroscience, 2011.
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How teens learn?First, Different learning styles and curves. Ever wonder why teens seem to put off the easier
material until last minute? Or why there must be complete silence for him or her to study effectively? Both of these are largely due to the teen’s learning
style.
The way that a teen learns has a big impact on his or her study habits.
You might notice that teens learn better under pressure so he or she puts off studying until the day
before the test.
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How teens learn?
Teens whose learning styles are at their best when there are no distractions will need complete silence when they are trying to
study. When teens are not in the
situation that best fits their learning style, they will have
trouble with their study habits as well.
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How teens learn?
There are four
different learning
styles that affect a
teenager’s study habits,
these are
visual, auditory, actual learning,
and analytic.
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How teens learn?
Visual learners. There are those teens that are visual learners. These teens work best with visual representation of the information. This includes pictures, symbols, charts, diagrams, and colors.
Auditory learners. These teens learn best if they hear the information. When auditory-learning teens study, you might find them reading aloud because it helps them to better learn the material when they hear themselves read it aloud.
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How teens learn?
Actual learners . When it comes to practical subjects like Math and English, these teens would rather do some trial and error rather than actually read and learn the rules first. Although, it might sound contrary to what most parents think their kinds should do, it is not good to try to change your child’s learning style. Instead, find ways that you can help develop his study habits through this trial and error kind of learning style.
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How teens learn?
Analytic learners .These kinds of learners deal well with details. You might notice your teen reading and rereading the information, while taking some time to reflect on what was just read in the meantime.
An analytic learner deals well with lists, patterns, homework, and practice exercises. Since this kind of teen deals well with goals, set some steps and study goals for your teen to aid in his study habits.
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Parental influences
Second, Parental influences. Parents are a huge influence in regards to teenage learning but,
Teenagers don’t learn much from parental warnings and lecturing.
Most parents have tried that without much success. And unfortunately, one or both parents all too often cave in when their children get in trouble. Each time parents do so, a valuable lesson isn’t learned and a
mistake is apt to be repeated.
Also, Teens that were implied with tremendous amounts of discipline by theirs show more promise
than most teens.
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Peer Pressure
Third, Peer pressure. Peer pressure is one thing that all teens have in common. You can’t escape it. It is everywhere. Whether it is pressure to conform to a
group norm or pressure to act, peer pressure is something everybody has to deal with at some time
in his or her life.
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Finally, Teacher’s influence. Teachers play a significant role in teenage learning. Since teachers can affect how students perceive the course materials, it has been found that teachers who showed enthusiasm towards the course materials and students can affect a positive learning experience towards the course materials. Finally, Teacher’s influence. Teachers play a significant role in teenage learning. Since teachers can affect how students perceive the course materials, it has been found that teachers who showed enthusiasm towards the course materials and students can affect a positive learning experience towards the course materials.
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