How the brain works best- part 2

In response to Chelsea's blog- I know that when we respond we do not open a new discussion.. however I wanted to add a picture and I couldn't figure out how to do that in the response box.


I found chapter 7 to be very interesting! One of my seminars I attended at the BCTF Conference was called HOW THE BRAIN WORKS BEST! and I have taken a lot of valuable information from that session.

This is a diagram of our dendrites… In order to learn best we must constantly be growing new dendrites. The brain is constantly trying to make meaning. The myelin that covers the axon helps with memory. If there is no myelin then there is no memory. In order for the brain to work best the human brain needs: oxygen, water (80% of our body is made up of water) and good nutrition. As teachers we can guide our students through the proper steps of maintaining a healthy brain. The five foods that help grow the brain are: fish-omega 3, blueberries, eggs, green vegetables and fruits (apples & bananas). Not only is it important for teachers to guide students to healthy nutrition it is important to encourage our students to constantly ask questions and continually activate the brain by performing tasks that stimulate our thinking such as crosswords and jigsaw puzzles. As the author pointed out in the chapter “eighty-year olds who have made a habit of such activities such as playing bridge, doing crosswords, and building jigsaw puzzles tend to score as well as they ever did on tests of mental acuity.” (p126)