Handout - Palm Beach State College

THE MULTIPLE PATHWAYS MODEL

Presented by Janet N. Zadina, Ph.D. Tulane University School of Medicine [email protected] [email protected] Web page: www.brainresearch.us

THE MULTIPLE PATHWAYS MODEL: Orchestrating Teaching and Learning I.

Introduction

II.

What is Learning? A.

Definitions

B. Making Connections: It isn’t enough to fire it, you must wire it!

III.

Multiple Pathways A.

B. C. D. E. F. G. H.

Sensorymotor: Learning engages the entire physiology a. Visual b. Auditory c. Speech/Motor Language: Reward/Survival: We learn what is important to us Social: We are wired to learn socially Attentional : Attention drives learning Frontal Lobe: Develops through use over time Exceptional Pathways: We are probably all wired differently Emotional: Emotion drives attention

IV.

Putting It All Together: Plasticity

V.

Conclusion, Evaluation, Questions

Name _______________________________________________ Date ______________________

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Topic

The Complete Rules of Good Writing

Do not use, unnecessary, commas. Do not use a foreign word when there is an adequate English quid pro quo. Do not use hyperbole; not even one in a million can do it effectively. Don’t repeat yourself and avoid being repetitive. Don’t use no double negatives. The double negative is a no-no. Don’t be redundant; don’t use more words than necessary it’s highly superfluous. Don’t indulge in sesquipedalian lexicological constructions. Don’t overuse exclamation marks!!! Don’t repeat yourself, or say again what you have said before. ‘Don’t use unattributed quotations.’

A. Parody. Eats, Shites, & Leaves. Michael O’Mara Books Limited. Great Britain. 2004.

Menu for One Lesson in a Reading/Composition Paired Class This menu is for a two-week lesson that incorporates transitions, paragraph writing, reading, reading strategies, and test-taking strategies. Students select the activities that they choose to complete to earn the grade of their choice. This system helps to account for absences and missed work, as well. Rather than being given make-up work, the student is left with the remaining activities. Students are aware of the instructor’s rubric for grading activities and that activities do not necessarily earn the maximum points (depending upon instructor’s policy). Work that does not meet a minimum level can be rejected to be done over or for the selection of an alternative assignment. Work that is deemed acceptable but not of the desired quality may be returned for improvement or could be awarded fewer points, according to the policy described in writing by the instructor. Remember: instructors choose the point value so it is possible to make some activities more likely to be chosen due to their high point value. Keep in mind that sometimes students who have learning differences that impair their work at the basic level (such as reading an assignment) may be very talented at application of ideas and at higher order thinking, such as analysis and synthesis. Therefore, a student who can accomplish the C level can still earn an A by moving on to these types of tasks because the grade is based on the expression of multiple skills rather than entirely on the linguistic-verbal skills. The levels are designed according to the following guidelines: C Level: the learning activities that form the foundation of the unit. These activities are at the basic level of class participation in learning activities, reading the material, taking notes, passing quizzes for basic knowledge or understanding, etc.. Extra C level points may NOT be carried over into B level, as B level addresses higher order thinking and must be done for a B. B Level: application A Level: synthesis and analysis MENU FOR UNIT XXX C 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Level: 100/170 points Participate in the group activity on transitions (10) Complete the composition textbook activities on transitions and turn in. (10) Circle the transitions in Princess Wu. (10 points if 80% correct, 5 points for 60% correct). Turn in your first draft of the transition essay (see Assignment Sheet C). (10) Participate in peer revision on your transition essay draft. (10) Turn in the final transition essay (20). Participate in the prereading connecting activity for Princess Wu. Read aloud or follow along in a group reading of Princess Wu (see calendar for scheduled date). (10) 9. Read Princess Wu on your own time and take the written quiz (see calendar for scheduled date). (10) 10. Write and read aloud your essay on Princess Wu (see assignment sheet A) (20). 11. Attend the essay test-taking strategies lecture. (10) 12. Turn in your notes on the test-taking strategies lecture (10).

13. Record an oral reading of the story of Princess Wu. It must be a final perfect version suitable for use by future students. Therefore, rehearsal must be thorough. (10) 14. Make a visual representation of at least ten key words from the story of Princess Wu. (10) 15. Take an essay test over the story of Princess Wu and the chapter on transitions.(20 for 80%+, 10 for 60-79%) The test will demonstrate your understanding of the key words used in an essay test. B Level: 20/60 points 1. Write a paragraph (see list of choices) using at least four transitions. Circle the transitions and write another paragraph explaining how the transitions added to your paragraph. Then rewrite the paragraph using four different transitions. You will need to change other wording as well. This paragraph may have a totally different meaning. (20) 2. Present an example of a transition in something other than written text (poster, music, oral description, etc.) (10) 3. Make a poster illustrating the characters in the Princess Wu essay. (10) 4. Map the character relationships in the Princess Wu essay. (10) 5. Design a flow chart showing the life changes of Princess Wu. (10) 6. With other classmates, act out the story of Princess Wu. (10) A Level: choose one 1. Relate the life of Princess Lu to your understanding of transitions through a flow chart, essay, or class presentation (only one presentation- first one to sign up). 2. Write two more paragraphs from the choices in Assignment A. Then write or present in a poster or orally(one person– first signed up) a reflection on how the key words on which your paragraphs were based affected your understanding of the story. Turn this reflection into a brief lesson on reading strategies. 7. Make a teaching poster or Power Point presentation (one person-first signed up) illustrating at least five types of transitions as well as written ones from your list. Present it to the class in a way that teaches the concept of transition. 3. Determine how completion of the activity in Assignment Sheet A could help you perform better on essay tests. Then present a class presentation (one person –first signed up), a poster, or an essay that teaches this relationship to others. This must be presented before (date). 8. Play a theme song appropriate for the life of Princess Wu. Distribute key lyrics from the song and be prepared to explain the ways in which the lyrics and music are appropriate and relevant to Princess Wu. At least three key points must be made between the lyrics and the story. Also, address how the music itself does or does not relate to her.

Copyright Janet N. Zadina, Ph.D.  2003

Differentiating Assignments Assignment 1 Read about Princess Wu on page 229. Then complete one of the following essay questions (Note to instructor: their choice, as assigned, or drawn from a box). Every student’s essay answer will be different based on the key word in the individual assignment. Be sure that your answer corresponds with the specific question. See Page 244 for help. You may get help from others in your work group. Every essay answer must have a minimum of five sentences. Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis. Your thesis sentence will be determined by your question. Get approval of your thesis statement before writing the paragraph. A possible thesis statement has been provided for some of the questions. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18.

Compare yourself to Princess Wu. Contrast yourself to Princess Wu. Criticize or critique the essay. (The author did not present a fair picture of Princess Wu.) Define Princess Wu as a tyrant. (Princess Wu is a tyrant.) Describe Princess Wu. Discuss Princess Wu as a leader of a country. (Princess Wu had both good and bad qualities as a leader.) Evaluate Princess Wu as a leader. (As a leader, Princess Wu…..) Explain why Princess Wu was forced off the throne. Illustrate why Princess Wu would be disliked. Interpret Princess Wu’s behavior. Justify the decision to remove Princess Wu from the throne. List how Princess Wu got to the throne. Outline the rise and fall of Princess Wu. Prove that Princess Wu was a good leader. Relate the behavior of Princess Wu in office to a leader that you know of. Review the rise and fall of Princess Wu. Summarize the history of Princess Wu. Trace the rise and fall of Princess Wu.

Assignment 2: Choose one of the following 1. Draw a series of pictures (like a comic book) that illustrates the story. 2. Write a song that illustrates Princess Wu’ personality or tells the story. 3. With your group, act out the story. 4. Make a Power Point presentation or poster that compares Princess Wu to a current person. Include at least four points of comparison or contrast. 5. Find a movie that you think is a modern day version of this story. Present to the class at least four points of comparison. The movie does not have to have a political theme. It can relate in terms of personality, cause and effect, or in other ways. 6. Turn the story into a movie that you design in the form of a movie poster. Use pictures to illustrate your casting, scenery, etc. Include at least four sentences in the movie poster that describe the movie and motivate viewers to attend. 7. Your idea (get initialed approval):

Copyright Janet N. Zadina, 2010.

THE MULTIPLE PATHWAYS MODEL: Orchestrating Teaching and Learning Questions to Consider when Planning a Lesson 1. Making Connections a. How can I help the students make connections between this new material and their existing network? b. What information might they not have? c. What information, activities, experiences can I provide to help them make this connection? d. Can I think of anything that everyone would know that might relate, even metaphorically, to this new information? e. What strategies can I use to get them to make a connection? (metaphor, journaling, relating experiences, reflection, etc) 2. Sensorymotor Pathway a. What senses are involved in the way I typically present this lesson? b. What senses are not involved in the answer above? c. How can I incorporate the missing senses into the lesson? d. Is there an inbalance among the modalities I am using? Am I relying too much on one type of sensory input that will make it more difficult for students who may have weaknesses in that modality? How can I address the needs of those students? e. Am I including multiple options in assignments as well as my presentation of the material? Assessments? f.

How can I give students more opportunity to speak? How can I get students who don’t want to speak in class to speak aloud in some way?

3. Language a. How am I addressing the needs of students with English as a second language? b. What options am I providing for students with reading difficulties? Can I provide options in alternate pathways? 4. Reward/Survival a. Does this lesson relate to their needs in everyday life? How can I make that connection? b. Is the lesson meaningful? Is the material meaningful and relevant?

c. What would be the “reward” to them for completing this task? Would they get satisfaction? Social interaction? Progress? Learn something useful? 5. Social a. Is the group work meaningful or are they just in groups to be in groups? What product would be achieved by the group work? What is the specific learning goal of the group work ? b. How can I give students opportunities to meet their social needs without taking too much time off task? c. Where are the opportunities to turn an individual task into a social task while still meeting the goals of the task? d. How do I present myself to the students? Are my mood, facial expressions, tone of voice, and statements presenting what I want to see reflected back by the students? 6. Attentional a. How will I capture the students’ attention at the start of the lesson? b. What specific strategies have I built in to hold their attention? c. Am I clear about what they are specifically supposed to pay attention to? d. How can I help students with attention deficits? How can I help students increase their attention span? 7. Frontal Lobe a. Am I including higher order thinking tasks in this lesson? Where am I asking for critical thinking, metacognition, analysis, etc.? b. Am I giving students opportunities to use judgment? What kind of assignments would include that? 8. Exceptional Pathways a. How am I accounting for learning differences in this lesson? b. Can I provide multiple options for assignments that target different strengths? c. Can I provide alternative assessments? 9. Emotional a. How am I addressing the emotional climate in the classroom? b. How can I reduce my students’ stress? c. Am I building an opportunity for positive emotion into this lesson? d. Do my questions or do the sentences require too much working memory capacity? How can I reduce the demands of working memory?

Copyright Janet N. Zadina, Ph.D. 2009 May not be reprinted without permission.

Multimedia Presentations The following rules are from cognitive psychologist Richard Mayer as summarized by John Medina in Brain Rules (2008), Pear Press. 1. Multimedia principle: Students learn better from words and pictures than from words alone. 2. Temporal contiguity principle: Students learn better when corresponding words and pictures are presented simultaneously rather than successively. 3. Spatial contiguity principle: Students learn better when corresponding words and pictures are presented near to each other rather than far from each on the page or screen. 4. Coherence principle: Students learn better when extraneous material is excluded rather than included. 5. Modality principle: Students learn better from animation and narration than from animation and on-screen text.

From Zull, James E, (2002). The Art of Changing the Brain: Enriching the Practice of Teaching by Exploring the Biology of Learning, Stylus, Sterling, VA. This brief, highly readable book is strongly recommended, especially for those teaching college students.

P. 129

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE, I.E., NEURONAL NETWORKS pp. 108-9

Watch for inherent networks (natural talents) and encourage their practice. Repeat, repeat, repeat! Arrange for “firing together.” Associated things should happen together. Focus on sensory input that is “errorless.” Don’t stress mistakes. Don’t reinforce neuronal networks that aren’t useful. Try to understand existing networks and build on them. Nothing is new. Misconnected networks are most often just incomplete. Try to add to them. Be careful about resurrecting old networks; error dies hard. Construct metaphors and insist that your students build their own metaphors. Use analogies and similes, too.

1. All students have prior knowledge that affects how they respond to our teaching. 2. The prior knowledge of students is not an ether; it is physical, real, and persistent. 3. If we ignore or avoid prior knowledge, it will hinder our teaching. 4. Prior knowledge is complex and personal. 5. Students are not necessarily aware of all their prior knowledge. 6. Writing assignments re helpful in discovering prior knowledge of students. 7. Prior knowledge is likely to be concrete; teachers should begin with the concrete. 8. Concepts and broad principles should be developed from specific examples. 9. Teachers should expect and respect the tangles; it is not our job to set them in order. 10. Prior knowledge is a gift to the teacher; it tells us where and how to start.

Functional Brain Area

Stages of Learning Cycle

The sensory cortex receives first input from the outside world in form of vision, hearing, touch, position, smells, and taste

This matches with the common definition of concrete experience, with its reliance on direct physical information from the world

The back integrative cortex is engaged in memory formation and reassembly, language comprehension, developing spatial relationships, and identifying objects, faces, and motion. In short, it integrates sensory information to create images and meaning.

These functions match well with what happens during reflection, for example, remembering relevant information, daydreaming, and free association, developing insights and associations, mentally rerunning experiences, and analyzing experiences.

The frontal integrative cortex is responsible for short-term memory, problem solving, making decisions, assembling plans for action, assembly of language, making judgments and evaluations, directing the action of the rest of the brain (including memory recall), and organizing actions and activities of the entire body.

This matches well with the generation of abstractions, which requires manipulation of images and language to create new (mental) arrangements, developing plans for future action, comparing and choosing options, directing recall of past experience, creating symbolic representations, and replacing and manipulating items held in short-term memory.

The motor cortex directly triggers all coordinated and voluntary muscle contractions by the body, producing movement. It carries out the plans and ideas originating from the front integrative cortex, including the actual production of language through speech and writing.

This matches with the necessity for action in completion of the learning cycle. Active testing of abstractions requires conversion of ideas into physical action, or movements of parts of the body. This includes intellectual activities such as writing, deriving relationships, doing experiments, and talking in debate or conversations.

BRAIN & LEARNING RESOURCES ON THE WEB

Brain Lab: http://222.newhorizons.org/blab.html Brain Mind Learning: http://www.cainelearning.com Brain Plasticity, Language Processing: http://apu.sfn.org/content/Publications/BrainBriefings/brain_lang_reading.html Brain Science for the 21st Century: http://www.nexus.edu.au/teachstud/gat/davies.htm Brain Work-outs: http://apu.sfn.org/content/Publications/BrainBriefings/work.outs.html Critical Thinking: http://www.sonoma.edu/Cthink/ Drake University: An Overview of Brain Research: http://www.educ.drake.edu/romig/cogito/brain_and_mind.html ERIC Article “Academic Interventions for Children with Dyslexia Who have Phonological Core Deficits. ERIC Digest E539: http://www.edgov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed385095.html How Do Facts Stick in Our Mind?: http://apu.sfn.org/content/Publications/BrainBAckgrounders/memory.htm Layered Curriculum: http://www.Brains.org (I think you will enjoy this and get some strategies. JZ) Mind/Brain Learning Principles: http://www.newhorizons.org/ofc_21clicaine.htm Brain Facts: www.sfn.org/brainfacts . Neuroscience Education: http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/ehceduc.html Neurosciences on the Internet: http://www.neuroguide.com/ Project Zero from Harvard University: http://pzweb.harvard.edu/default.htm

DYSLEXIA RESOURCES International Dyslexia Association: www.interdys.org/index.jsp LA Dyslexia Association: Carolyn Blackwood, Pres., 888-323-0332 Resource: Patty Glaser, The Learning Center housed at Holy Rosary Academy, 482-7173 Dyslexia Specialist: Denise Nagim, 517 N. Causeway Blvd., Suite A, 835-5550 See bibliography for texts. Workshops are available on this subject, as well as other topics relating to the brain and learning. Please contact [email protected] or call 504-887-5444 for information.