Brain Learning Log

What?

This week we learned about the physical attributes of the brain, namely the different segments and their specific functions. Learning about our physical brains has always been strange to me and I find myself being very skeptical of the actual validity of the facts.

We were broken up into groups of 2 to learn about one of 12 parts of the brain, then we were put together to teach others about our portion of the brain. We found out that different functions of the brain are often exclusive to specific segments. I especially remembered the brain stem and how important it is. There are many functions that we think of as involuntary that are controlled by the brain. Not the least of which is the filtering of inputs. Otherwise, life would be total chaos.

So What?

The most important aspect of learning brain functions for me was that I was able to view it as an organ, similar to any other organ in our bodies. Just as everyone has a different heart, with varying levels of health, every brain has its own strengths and problems.

Now What?

In my future teaching, I will keep in consideration the fact that all brains are not created equal. I also want to learn strategies that will help my students know what to filter out, and what to place in their long term memory and how they can get knowledge to really stick.