Tactile Brain Helps Blind Students Learn BrainWise

Posted On: September 16, 2014

[wr_row][wr_column span=”span12″][wr_text]Karyn Singley Blair, Master BrainWise instructor and school psychologist at Aurora Central High School in Aurora, Colorado, uses a tactile brain developed by Tina Pratt, vision specialist, to teach BrainWise to blind students. Different textures of yarn represent 1) the brain, 2) the Relay Center, Wizard Brain and Lizard Brain, and 3) Braille descriptions of the brain each brain function. When students learn each of the 10 Wise Ways, they place a string from the Relay Center to the Wizard Brain to demonstrate that by learning the concept, they are building a brain connection. The also learn that if they do not use their thinking skills, the connection disappears and their Lizard Brain takes over.

Karyn has been teaching BrainWise since 2000 to teens in the school’s special education program. Now, BrainWise is taught throughout the school. She looks forward to ideas other teachers may have for teaching BrainWise to high school students and special needs students.

[/wr_text][/wr_column][/wr_row]

Please follow and like us:

BrainWise Newsletter #100: Stop and Think: A History of Building Brain Connections

Real Stories, Real Impact: BrainWise Educators Empower Generations Dr. Eric Kandel received the 2000 Nobel Prize for his research describing neuroplasticity — how the brain builds connections when it learns something new. His findings inspired the development of BrainWise as a way to help children and youth learn skills to Stop and Think. The […]

From Seed to Synapse

Cultivating Thinking Skills with BrainWise “Planting a seed” is how social worker Dr. Gary Brayton describes his decades-long advocacy for teaching BrainWise and training new instructors. He recently trained 32 health care workers, including longtime instructor Melissa Hudson, in Calgary, Alberta, to become BrainWise trainers. (for background see Hull newsletter BW professional group.) These […]

Bridging States, Building Minds

Shelia Nicholson is a double line in the Constellation of Support for students, teachers and families in the Ferguson, Missouri community. Last March, she took on a new mission: helping a class of low-performing third graders finish the year strong. She turned to BrainWise for guidance—and brought a powerful coalition with her. (See her story […]