Continuing logging my thoughts on Brain Rules I move on to Chapter 2: Survival, the brain evolved too.

In the first chapter: exercise, it was noted that in our human past we were constantly on the move. We exercised and this movement was key to our brains development it also meant we were good at thinking on our feet. Exercise leads to better brain function. This second chapter continues looking at our ancient past and how we, and our brain evolved over time.

There were a few things that stood out for me.

“Others emphasize creative usage of the data base, without installing a fundamental knowledge in the first place” pg 38.

I find some teachers are so into the creative presentation of a project they forget the content that should be included. You cannot create without something to work with. You cannot learn information without somewhere to ‘hang it.’ I think you need a balance of both. If you plan for both you can do it. The key is always to focus on the goals, what do you want the student to know or do and what is the best way to achieve those goals for the particular student.

“In short, this region [prefrontal cortex] controls many of the behaviors that separate us from other animals. And from teenagers”. Pg 40

This got a laugh from the adults in the house and an eye roll from the teenager. The behaviors controlled here are “…problem solving, maintaining attention, and inhibiting emotional impulses.” As a former middle school teacher and a parent of a teenage I know that these skills seem deficient in kids this age.

“Theory of Mind is something humans have like no other creature. It is as close to mind reading as we are likely to get.” pg 44

We are a weak species, needing to grow children into adult hood. In order for us to survive we needed to understand and predict each other’s behavior and motivations. This is Theory of Mind. We needed to cooperate as a group, create symbolic language and learn to interpret subtle clues to understand another’s state of mind. Reading this section caused me to reflect on the autistic children I know. It seems that they some times lack the ability to ascribe the correct emotions and motivations to people. I wonder how this relates to them

The last part that seemed obvious to me is that relationships affect learning. If you are a classroom teacher you know this to be true. There is more to teaching then presenting the curriculum as dictated by the standards. Teaching also requires the development and maintenance of relationships. With out this learning cannot effectively take place.

Please share your thoughts on chapter 2.