Brain in Business

Hi
The first BFLG meeting in the North was very well attended with 15 of us being in the lovely Cheshire countryside - video link at end of posting.

I re-ran a session I'd done earlier in the year about Brain Friendly Learning for the sceptics and we had all sorts of useful discussions about what people say when we mention BFL.

A very useful comment from Bob Wagner from DPG was whether it is necessary to mention the methodology to clients at all and perhaps it was better just to convince them you could solve their problems. This was particularly useful for me as it was something that had been going through my mind and Bob articulated it particularly well.

The intention of the session was to demonstrate the difference in learning a technical piece of information in a more traditional style (lectured by me - which was a bit weird) compared to a brain friendly style.

If you weren't there it's worth asking those who were how many parts of the brain they can still remember and how they relate to different types of memories.

The clinic in the afternoon generated lots of discussion as usual and Helen, Denise and Julie have all got lots of new ideas to try out. If they haven't already, they will be posting their questions and then an update about what they've done and the results before the next meeting. Thank you to everyone who helped them.

Instead of photos this time we've got a short video of everyone learning that:
1. episodic memories are encoded in the hippocampus and cortex
2. semantic memories are encoded in the cortex
3. fear memories are stored in the amygdala
4. procedural memories are processed by the putamen and cerebellum

But it's the brain friendly version!
Click here to watch sharing.theflip.com/session/bebcde79495d...4da234/video/4891928

See you at the next meeting!
Regards
Stella Collins

Hello all,

Firstly apologies it has taken me so long to post my challenge...Too little time - too much to do!

However being self employed I guess that this is a good thing!!

Secondly can I say how lovely it was to meet everyone at BFLG North West and particular thanks go the people who helped me with my challenge.

My challenge is that a client I am working with asks that I ask the group 3 questions at the beginning of every session. These are

Any challenges since the last session?
What support have you had from your Line Manager?
How have you applied the learning since the last workshop?

As I see the group on average once a month over nine months this is beginning to feel a bit repetitive for them and me.

Things that I have tried was a snowball fight, using Post It's on a flipcharts and rotating around the room.

Ideas that were suggested that I try were

-Ask the questions randomly not all together at the beginning
-Give the responsibility to the group of how they would like to do it
- Use a Bingo game - the first person to collect 3 challenges etc.
- Use Postcards
-Think about asking the questions differently.

I am still open to other suggestions if anyone has any additional ideas...

I am pleased to say that I can update everyone on my progress as I met with the group last week. What I did was create flipcharts with pictures on for each of the questions - a tree for the learning, mountains for challenges and a strongman for support. I placed these on the wall and then asked the group to answer the question one at a time first thing, after lunch and after pm break. I split the group into teams first and played energising music whilst they completed this.

It worked really well and definitely was more motivating than what I had tried previously!

Thanks again - I am already looking forward to the next session in September!

Kind regards

Helen

Hi Helen
I attribute my suggestions for your question by being inspired by Jean Kelly, a member who specialises in harassment and bullying and now applies BFL methods to her work with individuals and groups. She's recently given me a catalogue from www.metalogtraining.co.uk who make (rather expensive!) training tools.

One of their tools is a bag with 7 foam objects - a foot, heart, brain, hand, thumbs up, camera, and key, and the idea is that they are used for reviewing/reflection.

We will use this idea by making up our own props(and of course they don't have to be limited to just these toys!), and applying them to multi-sensory, multi-intelligence reviews at the start or end of learning sessions.

How could this idea further stimulate your thoughts?

Enjoy your session in September even more!

Ann