One infamous evening, our family was gathered around the dinner table. That day, I had taught a home school lesson on Johnny Appleseed. I told how he walked barefoot across the Midwest, planting apple trees and giving seeds to settlers. We watched the Disney cartoon of Johnny’s life. We made an apple craft. We baked apple turnovers and ate them. That evening at dinner, I proudly asked my 2nd grader to tell her dad about what we had studied that day. She paused. “Uh, I don’t know,” she replied, rather bored. “I think we learned about Jerry somebody.”
Obviously I failed to grab my daughter’s attention that day. What could I have done to stimulate her learning? That is the subject of Brain Rule #4 from John Medina’s science-made-understandable book, Brain Rules. He explains the simple concept that better attention equals better learning.
So how does the brain pay attention? The normal, daily function of the brain is called “Intrinsic Alertness,” according to theorist Michael Posner, whose research Medina quotes. The brain is looking around, taking in the environment, noting anything unusual. When something out of the ordinary is detected, the “Orienting Network” of the brain takes over causing it to absorb the new information. We respond to what is unusual by looking, listening or perhaps moving to get more information. Next the “Executive Network” of the brain causes us to decide how to react. We jump, scream, talk, or maybe do nothing.
When I began to teach my daughter’s class on Johnny Appleseed that day, her brain was in “Intrinsic Alertness.” She saw her friends, a teacher, paper, pencils, a map, craft supplies—the normal Tuesday school routine. What was missing was a stimulus to arouse her attention. None of the activities caused her to take in the new information. However, imagine if I’d arranged for a large barefoot man wearing a pot on his head to unexpectedly saunter into the classroom and hand out apple seeds. Her “Orienting Network” would have fired up to process this new information. I doubt she’d have called him “Jerry somebody” after that!
The brain attends to emotions. Medina teaches us that we remember events that are tied to emotions much more vividly and for a longer time than neutral events. While my daughter had fun doing the activities that day, she obviously didn’t give a rip. Medina explains that when the brain detects an “emotionally charged event,” a chemical called dopamine is released into the system. Dopamine is essential in memory and information processing. Imagine the effect if Johnny Appleseed had walked in the door! The chemical release would have created a lasting impression. As it was, the information she heard was no more memorable than the garbage truck rumbling by on its daily route. Her attention was never aroused.
In Brain Rule #4, John Medina teaches us how to understand the brain’s capacity to pay attention and not pay attention. As a parent and teacher, I’ve learned a lot that I will use in my own learning as well as teaching my kids. Truth is, neither of us pay much attention to boring things!
-posted by Donna Detweiler, whose “Orienting Network” was evidently never activated in Geology 101—zzzzzzz.
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