The Brain

These past few weeks I have learned much about the brain. To start, I have learned that there are many misconceptions about the brain; there have been many things that I have supposed to be true, but are truly false. Of these things, unfortunately, I have found that I am not good at multitasking. Furthermore, I have come to realize that I am not a left or a right brain thinker. This fact alone brought me great surprise. And as if these two things were not astonishing enough, I came to learn more of how the brain functions. These few weeks, without a doubt, have been very interesting. 

To mention a few interesting things about the brain, I have realized that the brain uses 20% of my calories each day. That is quite a bit! With that in mind, I have learned that I constantly need to keep my brain fuel. My brain needs sufficient water, oxygen, and glucose to keep going. Without these things, my body sends signals (that are most times uncomfortable) that let me know that I am missing something. It is all quite amazing. 

In learning how the brain works, I have come to realize that I am in desperate need of a new lifestyle. In the past, I have always considered myself a busy body. I would arise in the morning, rush out the door, and I would frequently find that I had forgotten to eat anything for breakfast. A few hours would past and I could feel that my body was upset with me; it needed some sort of fuel. However, for the most part, I chose to ignore these feelings of an upset body. I felt that I did not have time to eat. To make matters worse, I found that I rarely made time to drink water. By the end of the day, my body felt tired and my brain was fried. It seemed like I did have the energy to make it through the day.

Well, as mentioned from above, I have realized that my brain needs fuel to function! That being said, I have begun the process of changing my lifestyle. Each morning, I make time to eat breakfast. Before rushing out the door, I throw a few snacks in my backpack to give me strength through a crazy day. To top it off, I now keep a water bottle handy. I am now supplying my brain with enough fuel to make it through the day. In doing this, I have seen great results! Now, I am able to make it through a busy day without feeling so drained; I actually have a bit if energy by the time my day comes to an end. It has been a great experience. 

In realizing these new concepts about the brain, I now have ideas to implement as a teacher. These ideas include the following:

1. I want to have a supply of fruit within my classroom. When my students start to feel hungry, I want to be able to supply them with a piece of fruit. I hope this would give their brain a kick-start.
2. After the students have been working for a long while, I want the students to get up and have a brain break!
3. In addition to having fruit for my students, I always want the students to have access to water at anytime of the day. They can bring their own water bottles, or I can supply water. I know that water is so important.