Neuroscience Made Simple

As we launch into 2021, it’s important to remember that teaching and learning require access to the prefrontal cortex (i.e. the ‘thinking brain’). The sequence of REGULATE then RELATE then REASON (from Dr. Bruce Perry) is essential to implement: we teach effectively and students learn WHEN we all feel safe, secure, connected, and belonging. These are the necessary conditions for teaching and learning.

Start off the year teaching your students about the brain, what happens when our ‘lids flip’, and how to calm our nervous systems. This will reduce your students feelings of embarrassment and shame around big emotions, as well as increase their sense of control and give them more access to their thinking brains.

Understanding how the brain works, being curious about emotions, and becoming more skilled at regulating our nervous systems help us all to be less reactionary, more intentional, and live with more self-awareness - the foundation of resilience and equity.

The following resources help bring this content into your teaching practice so that you can live it out each day in your classroom through language and routines - ultimately making it your own.

Examples of Teaching about the Brain and “Flipping your Lid”

• Dan Siegel Hand Model of the Brain (3 min video for adults)

• PDF of Hand Model

Middle and High Students

• Hand Model for Middle and High Students (2 min )

• Dan Siegel - "The Adolescent Brain" (5 min)

• Dan Siegel's Hand Model of the Brain (8 min)

• Dan Siegel- Mindfulness and Neural Integration (18 min)

• Dan Siegel - Name it to Tame It (4 min)

• Dan Siegel - "Flipping Your Lid" A Scientific Explanation

• Mind Up Lesson: Understanding the Brain (Grades 4-7)

Elementary Students

• Why We Lose Control of Our Emotions (Intermediate) (5 min video)

• Hand Model of the Brain for Young Students (4 min video)

• Mindfulness & the Brain (5 min video)

• Working with Difficult Emotions (6 min video)

• Pos Discipline lesson: Brain in the Palm of a Hand

• MindUp lessons: My Mindful Brain Lesson (K-3), Understanding the Brain (4-7)

Calming practices:

• Hoberman Sphere Breathing

• Five Finger Breathing (30 sec video)

• 4-7-8 Breathing (4 min video for intermediate)

• YoMIND - Mindful Moments (videos) with JusTme

• Headspace Breathe

• Calm Breathing Bubble

• FLOW - GoNoodle (website)

• Strategies to Reboot (pdf)

For more breathing and calming resources:

• Teaching Strategies (scroll to the bottom)

• Mindfulness (Dec PD)