OUR SENSES

How do we begin to think about giving our students EXPERIENCES that activate their sensory systems and thereby increase memory hooks? One way to think about experiential learning is that there are a range of possibilities, beginning with actually taking a field trip and going "there" to the most typical approach which is "symbolic" in nature and just reading about it. Consider the following possibilities in activiating "memory hooks" for your own future students.

The physiology of learning reads like a fantastic story, one seemingly stranger than fiction, and like every good story there are some universal truths, morals to pay attention to. The moral of this one is: Dittos don't make dendrites! That is to say that neither dittos nor the textbook and its accompanying workbook nor the typical lecture create the enriched environment necessary in order to activate the brain to grow dendrites. In other words, every minute spent on what children experience as boring "seat work" is a minute spent NOT building intelligence.

So, the key question here for the classroom teacher is how to elicit maximum activation of students' brains? Not surprisingly, there is a direct correlation between the number of senses activated and the amount and locations of brain activity. In the typical setting of lecture and textbooks, only two of the 19 senses are involved. If we want education to be powerful, we need to provide input that involves all 19 senses. (from Robert Samples' Open Mind, Whole Mind (1987) p. 13.) Yes, 19, not five! The cerebral cortex processes thousands of bits of sensory data per minute.

Consider for a moment learning experiences you have had that engaged your 19 senses. Chances are those that stand out in your memory occurred in a highly enriched environment, e.g., camping, hiking, visiting a foreign country, experiencing a snowstorm or earthquake. Or perhaps it was one of those special moments from childhood.... Many senses were engaged, promoting the creation of a strong memory of the event. Such moments of acute sensory awareness stay with us always. Imagine if every school day produced memories of such power! Can the school have such impact on learners? We believe the answer is a resounding "Yes."

Another technical reference for the 19 senses is Diane Ackerman's The Natural History of the Senses. (1990).

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