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By Ester Adams.
The early learning classroom that uses the whole brain method creates a well-synchronized and engaged class. Whole-brain teaching is a practice that promotes active learning and encourages students to participate with the entire group at their most comfortable level. It combines learning through mimicry and giving students a sense of ownership. It is an enjoyable and interactive technique used in an early childhood learning centre, ensuring that each student understands their lessons more clearly.
The whole brain teaching method covers these key areas:
Direct Instruction
In this lesson, the teacher introduces short chunks of information to their students and makes use of big hand gestures as part of the explanation. The kids will associate a word or phrase with a gesture. For example, when teaching Adaptive Math, the teacher will wiggle the fingers and say the word “count.”
The teacher also varies their voice intonation by speaking slowly, then quickly, softly, then loudly. The variance helps students recall information easily. The teacher guides the children through these pieces of information, saying similar words and doing similar actions, and the students repeat them. Mimicry is an effective way to engage students with information with the use of their visual and auditory senses.
Direct instruction usually takes a minute or so, but it can regain the attention of the class when they start to lose focus. This brief period gives the children a chance to collect their thoughts.
Attention Getter
One way to get the attention of students who are not listening is to execute the Class-Yes technique. The teacher trains the kids to respond Yes when the teacher says Class. However, this type of whole-brain method is not a simple yes word only. It means that the children should stop whatever they are doing, face the teacher, and sit properly. When everyone completes all components, the teacher can engage them back again to learning.
Teachers of an early childhood learning centre should improvise and use many variations to keep the children interested and look forward to this Class-Yes. This method is beneficial, particularly to small kids who are learning to copy and imitate other people.
Brain Engager
This step starts when the teacher shouts “Mirror Words.” As the name suggests, the students should follow what the teacher does. It encourages children to participate, allowing the teacher to take advantage of how the kids are like sponges, all excited about what is ahead. This activity is also a reminder to the students that their teacher is about to give them instructions. It is a crucial time for the teacher to make a point; straightforward, short, and uncomplicated.
Collaborative Learning
In this phase of the whole brain teaching, the teacher will exclaim “teach,” and the children will answer “Ok.” This is when each student faces a partner to learn to paraphrase the lesson. Paraphrasing is a skill, and it is a time for the teacher to have a formative assessment. The children can collaborate to perform the thinking tasks fast, including analyzing, contrasting, and comparing. The teacher walks around the room, listening for the paraphrase, as complex thinking can transpire during this activity.
With whole brain teaching, the students use every part of their brains as they read, write, talk, move, and think. An early childhood learning centre that incorporates the whole-brain method allows the small children to create memories and store information throughout their brains, and not only in a single part.