So last night at work we had a training on Brain Gym. It was very interesting. First, we discussed how the body responds to different language. The lady had someone stand at the front of the room with their arm at a 45 degree angle and match her pressure. The volunteer said "yes yes yes" and could hold strong, but when he said "no no no" he couldn't hold his arm up. The lady directing the training said that our brain shuts down when we hear negative. She continued the demonstration with having him say " I will try" versus " I will do my best." When we tell ourselves we will try, we are still leaving room for failure and the negative takes over our brain because its easier. She also had him say "I have to" versus "I choose to". This was very interesting to me. I already know that in the classroom we are to praise and focus on what they do right more than anything else, but the word choice we use also makes a huge difference.
We also learned all about the functions of the right and left hemispheres of the brain. We talked about what happens when you undergo stress and how one of your hemispheres shuts off. This is what often happens when students are test taking. They cannot access the information they know because they can't cross over into that hemisphere. This is true for many students with dyslexia on a day to day basis. They have a processing disorder. Brain gym is a lot of different exercises that help students to get ready for learning or testing. Most of them have you cross the center of your body so that you activate both hemispheres. Studies have shown remarkable improvement by using these exercises with students. One boy took a spelling test of 10 words and only got 2 right the first time. The teacher had him do 10 minutes of brain gym (no studying or reviewing) and then he took the same test again and got 9 right! Amazing! The exercises also help you to relax when you are stressed. When the body is stressed, it locks up and is unable to perform at full capacity.
One really BIG thing she stressed is staying hydrated. When you are dehydrated, your brain can only perform at 64% capacity. If you are thirsty, you are already dehydrated! So drink water before and during classes and tests!!!!!
The most interesting thing for me is that I have a student that is very behind. He is 17 and his reading level is probably around 3rd or 4th grade. After the training, I had him draw figure 8's on a white board for me( one of the exercises we learned), and he could not do it. It had the hardest time crossing over. This tells me that he struggles to access information from both hemispheres. If we can work on these brain gym exercises and using both sides of the brain, I think he will improve a lot. Plus, its kinda fun to just do a few exercises in the middle of your class. It was an interesting training and I am converted to most of it. Some of it was a little too out there for me.
