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GOING DEEPER WITH THE TEACHING PYRAMID:
TEACHING WITH THE BRAIN IN MIND
Laura Fish M.S., L.M.F.TWestEd Center for Child & Family
Studies1
SETTING THE EXPECTATIONS
We Are Safe & Healthy Make a comfortable
space for yourself Take breaks as needed
We Are Respectful Be an attentive listener Resist side
conversations Value everyone’s ideas Cell phones off
We Are Friendly & Kind Step up/Step back Stay on topic Support your team
Teaching Pyramid
High-Quality Supportive Environments
Nurturing and Responsive Relationships
Targeted Social- Emotional Supports
Intensive Individualiz
ed Interventio
nsPREVENTIONChildren at-
risk
INTERVENTIONChildren with persistent challenges
High-Quality Early Education
Targeted Social Skills Curricula
Positive Behavior Support
Effective Work Force
PROMOTIONAll
children
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OUR PLAN FOR THE DAY
Go deeper with the understanding of the Teaching Pyramid practices by connecting them to brain development
Develop a working knowledge of the circuitry of the brain and how to promote integration
Learn strategies taken from Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson’s book The Whole Brain Child to supplement Teaching Pyramid practices
Highlight the importance of Executive Function skills as tantamount to school readiness
4
UPSTAIRS BRAINSelf-understandingLogicDecision MakingImpulse ControlBody and Emotion regulation(Executive function skills)
DOWNSTAIRS BRAINFight flight or freezeAttachmentMemoryEmotional Reactivity“Gut” reactionsMotor RegulationBalanceHeart Rate/BreathingMotivationBlood PressureBody Temperature
FOREBRAINCortex
“Executive Center”
LimbicBRAIN
“Emotional Center”
HINDBRAINCerebellum &
Brainstem“Alarm Center”
HIERARCHY OF BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
5
BRAIN INTEGRATION Adults can directly influence the
growth of children’s brains Experience creates connections
Nature needs nurture: genetics predicts maturity, experience impacts development
Looking at challenging behavior as dis-integration
Attuned, caring, and nurturing relationships are the foundation for brain development
6
Young children’s close relationships with preschool teachers and caregivers
are also important to their development of school readiness. A
number of studies have found that the warmth and security of the preschool child’s relationship with a preschool teacher are predictive of the child’s subsequent classroom performance,
attentional skills, and social competence in the kindergarten and
primary grade classroom.
California Preschool Learning Foundations pg. 32 (2008)
7
ATTUNEMENT: STRATEGIES #1-5
“Tuning in” to the child’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors and considering these from the child’s perspective: verbal and non-verbal behavior
The child feels “felt”: belonging and significance AND engaged in thinking more deeply about play
Try using a variety of attunement strategies to engage :1. Reflection2. Narration3. Open-ended questions4. Emotional Literacy: validating feelings5. Positive, descriptive, acknowledgement
(PDA) and PDA Plus
BUILDING THE INTERNAL NARRATIVE Through nurturing and responsive interactions with
attuned adults, children start to build an “internal narrative,” or story, about themselves Thought is language turned inward (Vygotsky) Conscious control of thoughts, actions, and emotions starts
with self-understanding Believing is behaving: cognitive dissonance
Brain development and integration Novelty, attention and emotional arousal (and aerobic
exercise!) Casting the spotlight of attention onto children’s thoughts,
feelings, and experiences helps create neuronal connections: acetylcholine strengthens, builds PFC
Neurons that fire together, wire together When you tune in, you help children pay attention to their
thoughts, feelings, and actions which builds the upstairs brain
ENTER THE WORLD OF KNOWING THE MIND
Attunement helps the child “enter the world of knowing the mind”
When I “know” me (insight), it helps me “know” you (empathy)
Two types of attunement: Intrapersonal: tuning in to
your own internal world Interpersonal: tuning in to
the internal world of another
BEING “IN RELATIONSHIP” WITH THE CHILD
Attend to children in their varied states throughout the day, not just when emotions or behavior are a challenge
To be communicating with children in these ways you need to: Be paying close attention:
verbal and non-verbal messages
Scan for what is going well Accurately receive and make
meaning of the messages: be integrated yourself
Individualize your approach 11
BEING “OUT OF RELATIONSHIP”
Adults tend to spend much of their day giving directions and corrections to children: need to spend more time with “pro-social” or attuned, interactions
When there is an imbalance, the child has less opportunity to learn about his strengths, abilities, preferences, and feelings i.e., self-understanding
Instead, they may begin to form unhealthy mental models or schemas about the world such as “I am not significant, I don’t belong”
The brain is “primed” through repeated experiences that form associations
12
I’M A CHILD AND I JUST WANT TO BELONG Children’s behavior is influenced by
what they believe, or know, about themselves: believing is behaving
These beliefs are formed, in part, by the messages we give them both verbal and non-verbal
Before we ask children to change, see first what we can change in ourselves
One place to start is to “tune in” to the child’s perspective 13
14
PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTATION Consider the concepts we have
discussed so far: Brain Integration/Flipping your lid Attunement/Developing the Internal
Narrative Being “in” or “out” of relationship with
the child: self-integration, considering child’s perspective
Capture some ideas of how you would like to implement this work with your children
15
LEFT AND RIGHT BRAIN• Left Brain: logical, literal, linguistic,
and linear– The letter of the law: detail
oriented. I didn’t shove her, I pushed her.
– Linear cause and effect relationships: Why?
• Right Brain: holistic, non-verbal, experiential, images, emotions, intuition, autobiographical memory– The spirit of the law: the essence of
what happened. He doesn’t want to be my friend.
– The meaning and feel of an experience/context: influenced by the body and lower brain
HORIZONTAL INTEGRATION
• Need left and right sides of the brain to work together: emotional flood vs. emotional desert
• The left side helps bring understanding, reasoning, and order to the images, memories and emotions of the right side
• Horizontal integration: two sides of the brain act in harmony
CONNECT AND REDIRECT: STRATEGY #6
• Connect with the right: (seeing the feeling behind the behavior)– Validating emotions– Reassuring: tone of voice, listening – Non verbal: touch, facial
expressions– Tuning in: show empathy
• Redirect with the left:– Explain– Plan– Negotiate– Reason
• Avoid “butting” and “shoulding” on them
PROBLEM-SOLVING STEPS
1. What is the problem?How do I feel?
?
2. Think, think, think of some solutions.
3. Give it a try!
4. Teacher follows up and gives PDA
RIGHT TO RIGHT CONNECTION: INTERVENTION
Tune in to the feeling behind the behavior: from the child’s perspective it’s a flood
Too much talking can disregulate a child further: drowning boy swimming lessons
The amount of time it takes to be able to engage in “redirect” is correlated to temperament and environmental circumstances
Right brain dominant, so prevention and promotion are key: Teaching Pyramid 20
21
NAME IT TO TAME IT: STRATEGY #7 Help children tell their stories
to calm big emotions: the right provides the autobiographical info, the meaning, the left the details, order, reasoning
To tell a story that makes sense, the left brain must put things in order, using words and logic and thus help the strong sensations that come from the right brain to lessen
In order to consciously control our emotions, we must first understand them
USING THE LEFT TO CALM THE RIGHT Research shows that merely
assigning a name or label to what we feel calms down the activity of the emotional circuitry in the right hemisphere
The drive to make sense of what happened in the brain is so strong that children will “act out” what hasn’t been resolved
Behavior that comes “out of nowhere”
Supporting inhibition and cognitive flexibility
EMOTIONAL LITERACY: STRATEGIES #8-10
Use of Children’s Literature
Indirect Teaching: acknowledging emotions
Direct Teaching: art, music, feelings faces, games, check-in charts 23
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25
ROLE PLAY: HORIZONTAL INTEGRATION A four year old in your classroom wants to
play in the block area, but he sees that there are already four children’s pictures on the display for entry into that area.He comes to you, crying, shouting, “It’s not fair, it’s not fair! I want to play there.” Have one person be the teacher, one
person be the child, and a third be the observer: How can you help this child “connect then redirect” or “name it to tame it.”
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PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTATION Consider the concepts and
strategies we have discussed so far: Left and Right brain Horizontal Integration Connect then Redirect Name it to Tame it Problem Solving Emotional Literacy: check in charts,
books, feelings wheel, acknowledging emotions
Capture some ideas of how you would like to implement this work with your children
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UPSTAIRS/DOWNSTAIRS BRAIN Downstairs brain:
Brain stem and limbic region
Basic bodily functions, emotional reactivity, attachment, fight/flight/freeze
Upstairs brain: Cerebral cortex Decision making, planning,
self-understanding, control over emotions and body, empathy, morality, executive functioning
Analytical Response
Emotional
Response Reactive Response
Reflexive
Response
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VERTICAL INTEGRATION Building the staircase:
integrating the downstairs and upstairs brain
Upstairs regulates actions of the downstairs: helps bring focus and calm the impulses and emotional reactivity
Downstairs brings depth of experience to the upstairs: emotions, instincts, and physical sensations
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ENGAGE DON’T ENRAGE: STRATEGY #11 Lecturing, reminding or
dismissing can lead to enraging
Engage the child instead: Step one: validate their
emotions Step two: help them tell
their story Step three: encourage them
to come up with a solution or partner with them to do so
Negotiation, compromise, reasoning, problem solving
TEACHING EMOTION REGULATION: STRATEGIES#12-14
Sonia Snail (Tucker Turtle): children stop and reflect before acting
Conflict Resolution: group problem solving
Solution Kit
TUCKING TECHNIQUE (CA CSEFEL)Something happens
Stop.Think:
What Am I Feeling?
Go into your shell. Take 3 belly breaths
and think calm thoughts
Come out of shell, express
your feelings
and think of a
solution32
STEPS FOR RESOLVING CONFLICTS
2. What can we do? Think of some solutions!
3. Give it a try!1. What happened? How do I feel? & How do I
feel?
?
Stop! It looks like we have a problem…
4. Teacher follows up and gives PDA
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THE SOLUTION KIT
34
Using visuals helps integrate the brain during times of strong emotional response: visual cortex activated
PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTATION Consider the concepts and
strategies we have discussed so far: Upstairs brain/downstairs brain Vertical Integration Engage Don’t Enrage Tucker, Conflict resolution
Capture some ideas of how you would like to implement this work with your children
35
EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING Simply put, it is a set of cognitive processes
that support an individual’s capacity to engage in goal-directed or problem solving behavior
EF skills include those abilities that control behavior: Attention, impulse control, motivation, and
emotion regulation And those that guide behavior:
Planning, initiating, organizing, remembering, monitoring, reasoning, problem solving and responding flexibly
Scientists point to EF skills as the “how” of learning that support the “what” of learning
LIFE READINESS EF skills organized under three domains:
Working memory: keeping information in mind long enough to plan, initiate, organize and complete tasks
Inhibitory control (impulse control): pausing to think before acting, filtering out distractions, delaying gratification, breaking habitual behaviors and regulating emotions
Cognitive or mental flexibility: evaluating progress, shifting gears if necessary, and scanning options for how to respond both intellectually and emotionally
COMPREHENSIVE DEFINITION Taken together, EF is the
ability to plan, initiate, organize and carry out a task while filtering out distractions, controlling impulses, solving problems/shifting gears, and managing any strong emotions that might arise
These skills help children consciously control their thoughts, behaviors and emotions
NURTURING AND RESPONSIVE RELATIONSHIPS
Adults’ time and attention are very important Every child needs one
person who is crazy about them: attunement
Supportive, caring, attuned relationships with adults as well as a climate of caring that fosters peer relationships
DESIGNING SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENTS
Physical Environment Schedules & Routines Transitions Large/Small
Group Activities Rules & Expectations Observing & Positive Focus:
Attuned interactions
TEACH ME WHAT TO DO INSTEAD!Social-Emotional
Strategies Friendship Skills Emotional Literacy Emotion Regulation: Managing Strong Emotions
Problem Solving/ Conflict Resolution
PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTATION Consider the concepts and
strategies we have discussed so far: Executive function skills in the
classroom: how, when, and where can we teach them?
How will you know if children are developing these skills?
Capture some ideas of how you would like to implement this work with your children
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WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?1. The experiences we provide children
directly impact brain development.2. The brain can be viewed as having
distinct parts: left and right, upstairs and downstairs.
3. When different parts of the brain are connected, they are said to be integrated.
4. Teaching with the brain in mind: Teaching Pyramid strategies lead to brain integration and support EF.
5. Integration supports the development of executive functioning skills integral to school and life readiness.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION
From Daniel Siegel http://wholebrainchild.com/ https://www.mindsightinstitute.com/ From Tina Bryson http://tinabryson.com/CA CSEFEL: Teaching Pyramid www.cainclusion.org
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