Classbuilding, Teambuilding, & Brain Breaks

Cooperative Learning improves...

• Academic achievement
• Race relations
• Social skills
• Self-esteem
• Class climate
• Higher-level thinking

Brains Need Nourishment

• Brain - 2% of our body weight
• Uses 25% of body's oxygen and glucose
• Attention span - 5 to 20 minutes

Brains are Social

• Attend to Social Stimuli
• Brain activity increases when learning with others
• Episodic Memory - social & personal experiences

Brains Seek Safety

• Fight or Flight = Primitive Mode
• Relaxed Alertness = Higher-level thinking

Brains are Emotional

• Endorphins or Cortisol
• Emotions are primitive signals
• Link Emotions to Academic Content

Brains Seek and Process Information

• Novelty
• Parallel Processors - need for multimodal events
• Immediate Feedback
• Patterns
• Facts/information is isolation = forgotten

Pair Balance

Square Balance

Inside-Outside Circle

• Form Outside Circle
• Form Inside Circle
• Inside Circle Asks Question; Outside Responds
• Partners Switch Roles
• Partners Trade Cards
• Rotate & Repeat!

Pretzel Unpretzel

Line-Ups

• Teacher Describes the Line
• Students Line Up
• Teacher Announces Discussion Topic
• Students Discuss in Pairs