Module 7
You and Your Brain
As a teacher you have now completed all the modules to help you understand and more effectively manage challenging behaviour in the
classroom. This last module is specifically for your students and you will be engaging with them about their brain function while you provide this module to your students
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The module you are about to see is all about you, your relationships, your experiences, your brain, your body and your mind which are all interconnected.
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The module shows how Adolescence is one of the most exciting and progressive stages in your transition through to adulthood and we hope that in understanding how your brain interconnects with your body and your mind, this will help you effectively manage all the challenges (some pleasant and some not so pleasant) you may face in the next decade.
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Your brain is growing and changing more than any other time in your life. This means that this explosion of development can result in behaviour that is challenging and difficult but never impossible, for you to manage. It also means that relationships and experiences are shaping how you view the world, your thinking and your mind. Adolescence starts with the onset of puberty and can differ between individuals (for example, some start between 10-12 (years) and others between 12-14 (years)) and lasts until about 25 years of age.
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Many things are happening...
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In adolescence you spend a lot of time functioning in the limbic part of your brain which is why you can often feel charged, challenged, confused and sometimes just downright angry or defensive. You need to be patient with yourself. Your teachers also need to be patient and you all need to know that these changes are all part of the brain moving in the direction of everything becoming interconnected and functioning at the executive levels of your brain (the cortical regions)
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One of the normal outcomes of functioning a lot in the Limbic areas is that you can flip out very easily. This is normal because all of these changes taking place are in fact part of the re-modelling of the brain (Siegel, 2020). The main influences on your brain function are relationships, genes, DNA, hormonal changes, sleep, nutrition and environmental conditions.
Becoming You: A Guide to Your Developing Brain
What Does Adolescence Mean to You?
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It means lots of growth emotionally, physically, psychologically and neurologically and the development of your mind and consciousness.
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It means you feel everything more intensely and you can be moody and impatient.
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It means that sometimes you will misinterpret what others are saying to you. This is because you are functioning a lot in the limbic system and this is not improved if you are tired, or haven’t had enough good food to eat, or you have experimented with drugs and alcohol.
When these things happen, you are not always functioning from your pre-frontal cortex area when listening to others. Learning to function from your pre-frontal cortex is an important part of adapting to all these changes and you need to give your brain and body an opportunity to grow in a healthy way. You achieve this by getting enough sleep, eating enough nutritious food, learning to communicate well with your peers and with others, being adventurous and curious but doing this safely, understanding everything you need to know about the positive and negatives of the digital world, and understanding how badly the use of drugs and alcohol impact on your brain development.
Adolescence is also a time when things can be difficult and mental health problems can occur.
Building a Balanced Brain
The main things to remember about your adolescence and your growing brain is that it is normal to feel emotional, to have intense feelings, to be impulsive. To want to be with your peers, be more adventurous and take more risks. You are refining your social brain. The social brain involves networks in your brain that support social cognition. Social cognition includes all those processes that help you to engage with each other, to have empathy for one another and to learn that others intentions and beliefs may be different to yours but that you can respect these differences. Social cognition is very prominent in the adolescent brain due to major frontal and temporal lobe development in the brain.
The social brain networks in neurodiverse brains may be different and this requires respect and understanding for the differences in the way they think, understand social engagement and learn. In class you may have students who are undiagnosed or too afraid to reveal they are neurodiverse and it is important that you learn everything you need to help such students to feel safe and accepted (Zahir et al., 2024).
What is happening in your adolescent brain is this:
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You are getting rid of old and unused neurons.
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You are functioning a lot at the emotional centre of the brain. This is called the Limbic system.
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Your Pre-frontal Cortex is trying to help your brain function to balance so that by the time you are an adult at 25 years, you will have good self-control over your emotions and behaviour, be able to solve complex problems, be able to learn at a much higher level (The Cortical regions of the brain).
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These higher-level functions are sometimes called Executive functions and the move toward good management in the brain is called Neural Integration.
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Neural Integration is the process of neurons working towards interconnection between different regions of the brain and adapting to different situations. This is adaptability is facilitated by neuroplasticity that is the process that manages the connections that are altered through experiences (Siegel, 2020).
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This is a very Creative time in your life where you can create music, have lots of big ideas, and learn how to make these ideas come to life.
Image via kevin laminto, Unsplash
Significant Parts of the Adolescent Brain
So what are these important areas of the brain that are very active in Adolescence?
This diagram illustrates approximately where each of these areas are located and it's important to know the basic regions that we are talking about. This is because the function of these areas in the brain are very active in Adolescence and everything that is happening is part of the process of learning to function at the higher cortical areas of your brain. We start with an overview of the whole brain although the diagram in this section does not identify this.
The Cerebrum is the largest part of your brain which is the front and upper part of your brain and divided into the left and right hemispheres. The cerebrum is responsible for conscious thought and actions.
The cerebral cortex (CC) occupies the outer part of your brain. It sits on top of the cerebrum. The CC has six or seven layers of neurons, consists of grey matter and is believed to be where all the information is processed. What does grey matter look like? It is the wrinkled surface that you see in all depictions of the brain. The cerebral cortex is where you think, store and retrieve learning memory, develop language, manage your emotions and learn to understand others. This is the area we refer to where higher executive skills occur. Different functions occur in different lobes of the cerebrum (Hayes & Stratton, 2022).
In the previous section we mentioned that in adolescence you function a lot of the time in the limbic area. Look at this diagram and work out the areas of the brain where the Limbic system is.
The Limbic System
This illustration focuses on the Limbic system; however, with reference to the Pre-frontal cortex (PFC) which is part of the cerebral cortex. The role of the PFC is to initiate complex thinking processes that includes decision making, reasoning, individual personality traits and social interaction. As you can see from this image the limbic system is generally deep in the inner part of the brain. You will also notice in this illustration that the significant parts of the Limbic system in adolescence are the Amygdala which is the part of the limbic system responsible for emotions and emotional memory. When we start talking about the nervous system and the arousal system you will understand the importance of emotional memory and how it plays out in arousal. The pituitary gland has an important role in the endocrine system which is part of the Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis that responds when the Sympathetic Nervous system acts/reacts to excitement, fear, terror, anxiety etc., we will explain more of this further along in the module. The hippocampus which is shaped like a seahorse and is believed to be responsible for storage of memories in the brain.
The main thing to remember here is that memory storage and retrieval in the brain are affected by neuroplasticity. We learn a bit more about neuroplasticity in the next sections about the nervous system, neurons and glial cells.
Finally, in this diagram we are pointing out significant aspects to the arousal system. The Hypothalamus is small but an important part of returning the brain and body to balance and equilibrium. We just want to remind you that you are learning about the important things happening in the adolescent brain. We also want to point out that there are many things that influence all these interconnections working well. That is, relationships, experiences and environmental influences. The influence of technology for example, misogynistic influencers that convince some adolescents that mistreatment of girls or women is acceptable. Depending on how positive or negative, these influences affect your brain structure and function. The next section explains how your Nervous system works to help you with self-regulation and thinking. Siegel (2015) suggests that technology is an inevitable and integral part of adolescents' lives, with both a positive and negative influence that requires balanced use and access with other activities, to maintain good brain health. Medina (2018) suggests this balance can be maintained if used alongside mindfulness training. So, what is happening in the adolescent brain when they are using technology. The negative impacts known through current research.
Image: The Significant Parts of the Adolescent Brain
The next section is a link to a very clever way of remembering the main parts of your brain. This was developed by a prominent Neuropsychiatrist, and it is called ‘The Handy Model’ of the brain. Have a look at this.
Dr Dan Siegel's 'A Hand Model of the Brain'
This is a videoclip demonstrating a practical way for teachers and students to remember the layout of the brain regions.
FtMyersFamPsych. 'Dr Daniel Siegel presenting a Hand Model of the Brain'. YouTube, 2012. https://youtu.be/gm9CIJ74Oxw?si=wTBUoGr_3qpHqBv9
The Nervous System and Self-Regulation
Brain Anatomy, the Nervous System, and Behaviour
Levine, P. (2010) In an Unspoken Voice: How the body releases trauma and restores goodness. North Atlantic Books.
You have now been introduced to the major parts of the brain that are important in adolescence and in addition you have learned a practical way of remembering how these parts are located. This section is introducing you to the major anatomy and functions of the nervous systems in the brain, how they connect with your body functions and how they function when you are excited, anxious, scared or terrified. This is an important part of understanding why some students behaviour may appear challenging. Challenging behaviour is often influenced by trauma or prolonged stress for example, of domestic violence, poverty, exposure to war. As a result it affects how the brain functions.
Peripheral vs Central Nervous Systems and Emotional Reactivity
Your nervous system is made up anatomically of two main areas as you can see on the above chart. The Peripheral Nervous system and the Central Nervous System.
The Peripheral Nervous System
forms the connection between the CNS and the body parts.
The Central Nervous System
The brain manages how we think, learn, move and feel. The spinal cord carries messages back and forward between brain and the nerves that run though the body.
The significant part of the nervous system we wish you to know about here is that part of the Peripheral nervous system. See the boxes to the left of the above diagram. Remember we mentioned before that you function a lot in the Limbic system? Well doing so means you may be more reactive emotionally, regarding the management of stress in your life. If your life has been relatively stress free (some stress is important for our brains and bodies to process) you will find this part of your nervous system fires off when you are excited or stressed but gets back to normal peaceful calm states very quickly.
If you are someone who has experienced trauma or prolonged stress in your lives, then this system still works to get you quickly to a calm state, but you have lots of memories and feelings making it hard work for your nervous system. That said, If you think of this side of the chart as steps down into the basement, then once you get to the Sympathetic nervous system (SNS) you are in the basement however, the right side of your nervous system through the endocrine system and the vagus nerves, is like a step back up out of the basement. Let’s explain how this works.
The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) is made up of two arms, the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) and the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS). These two parts are sometimes known as The Arousal System. The SNS arm is the excitatory part of the arousal system and the one that works immediately if you are anxious, frightened or terrified. This part will trigger fleeing, fighting back or freeze. We will show you in the next section what this does in your brain and to the rest of your body.
HPA Axis, Trauma Responses, and the Vagus Nerve
Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis (HPA Axis) is connected to the central nervous system and the endocrine system- adjusts the balance of hormones in the body and affects the stress response, hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and the adrenal glands. This HPA activity during a stressful event is important in secreting the hormones that can facilitate, flight, fight or freeze. The more extreme the danger or perceived danger, the bigger the capacity for the body and brain to dominate overall function and suppress certain neurological subsystems in the interests of survival.
Think of a situation where someone near you loses control. How does this make you feel? Where do you feel this in your body? What helps you to feel calmer? When you begin to feel calm where do you feel this in your body.
The PNS – is the calming part of the ANS. You will notice a myelinated vagus nerve system. This means the vagus nerve has a protective coating of myelin which helps the process of returning to calm quickly. This may be partly responsible for example, in calming the heart rate after an arousal response. Just a word. For those who may have experienced trauma in their lives, this could be a scary accident, domestic violence or sexual assault, sometimes the freeze response becomes an immobilisation response. That is, the response is activated in the calming side of the ANS and indicates a shutdown of thoughts and feelings and finally body systems. So, what is actually happening? The immobilisation that is managed through the PNS is the result of the activity of an unmyelinated vagus nerve (unprotected by a myelin coating) that prompts activity in the PNS because the person is so convinced they are going to die, they need the calmness of the PNS to prepare them for death by disassociating themselves from the event. They are still doing a lot of research into the roles of the vagus nerve system.
An example of immobilisation is when an animal is surrounded by predators it will be immobilised (sometimes playing dead) until or if they find a moment to escape. Another example is the statement by a man caught in the Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania many years ago. He was so convinced he was going to die that he became very calm, found himself unable to move his legs and sat down on the ground waiting to die (Hassall & Taylor, (2024)). For those of you who may have experienced such trauma that you feel like this, we hope that you are receiving therapy. If not please talk to someone you trust about how you feel. Reach out to someone and talk to them if you haven’t already.
Of course , when you are talking about any systemic functions in the brain, none of this occurs without neurons. In the arousal system neurons act as a network and are responsible for regulating alertness by transmitting signals of alertness in the brain. This is done primarily utilising neurotransmitters for example acetylcholine, norepinephrine, dopamine and histamine. More information about the importance of neurons is in the next section.
All About Neurons
Your brain can’t function without Neurons. If you picture one of the biggest motorways you have ever seen with junctions that look like major bowls of overflowing spaghetti leading to roads and overpasses in all directions, the Neurons are likened to the vehicles on this massive road network, and they interconnect with all these different places you are travelling to. The neurons can’t function without the glial cells that are likened to the road networks and the maintenance crews.
Neurons and glial cells make up your cells in the brain. If you look at this diagram it identifies a myelinated neuron.
Myelination is like a protective coat that also helps neurons electrical impulses to be faster and more efficient (Siegel, 2020). Neurons send out electrical impulses that transmit and receive information from your environment, from other people, from the experiences you are having in life. Each signal will be a matter of milliseconds in speed. Glial cells are the defence systems for neurons, destroying contamination and providing structural support when changes are occurring. Glial cells number in the trillions, they regulate blood flow and support the neurons in developing myelin. Myelination is like a protective coat that also helps neurons electrical impulses to be faster and more efficient. So why do we need neurons and glial cells? The best example is Neural Integration. You learned before that a major part of adolescent brain development is the growth toward neural integration. That is, the interconnection of neurons within the brain that results in “optimal self-regulation via the balancing and coordination of differing…regions into a functional whole” (Siegel, 2020, p. 508).
Image: Neurons are likened to vehicles on large motorways with overflowing road networks, as they interconnect with all these different places you are travelling to.
Image via Sid Verma, Unsplash
ADAPTED FROM: US Department of Health and Human Services, 2018. https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/neuro/conditioninfo/parts U.S. Government copyright
The Autonomic Nervous System
I previously asked you to think about how and where in your body you feel when you feel angry or scared or when someone else loses control around you. This sections shows how the two branches of the autonomic nervous system connect with the rest of the body when you are stressed.
On the Sympathetic side – your eye pupil enlarges, you get a dry mouth, your heart rate increases and pumps more blood to your limbs (so that you can escape if you need to). Everything that could normally secrete or excrete shuts down. You get a burst of glucose to help you escape if necessary. You release a neurotransmitter called epinephrine and your lungs are taking in large amounts of air. The neural (nerve) activity happens in parts of the brain that all animals have in common and is considered to have been around since before we developed a cortex. Think about what a cat does when it sees a dog. The response is (unless they have grown up with dogs and want to fight back or play) they run away. Some parts of the brain that are functioning when the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) (pronunciation = Ort-o-nom-ic) is working, are in the Limbic system or the lowest parts of the brain called Amygdala (Pronunciation= Arm-ig-da-la) and brainstem. The Amygdala is sometimes considered the most primitive parts of the brain that are important to help you stay safe.
On the right side of this diagram you can see the PNS. This is the calming side of the ANS. You will notice that your pupil has contracted, you may be sweating, or experience increase in saliva, your heart rate is slowing, and your breathing is slowing .You may find your breathing is laboured if you are asthmatic. Your bladder might empty. In extreme terror where an individual feels like they cannot escape pending death these systems start to shutdown and the individual is immobilised. This is the involvement of the unmyelinated vagus nerve that was mentioned before.Remember, that the timing between the SNS and the PNS is very rapid so this means that the opposite of the SNS reactions start to kick in fairly quickly to help restore a calmer brain state. Later sections will show how this works in the brain what kind of reaction will happen and what things escalate or de-escalate the reactions. Also, where we expect you to be growing towards.
The next section is a video link explaining what is happening when you are stressed. Have a look at this as it will help you understand what you have just learned.
What Happens in Your Brain When You Are Angry, Anxious, or Sad
This is a video link that explains what is actually happening in your brain and your body when you are stressed. It illustrates everything we have talked about in previous slides so have a look at this video to help you understand all that you are learning.
Anxiety Canada. 'Fight Flight Freeze – Anxiety Explained For Teens'. YouTube, 2019. https://youtu.be/rpolpKTWrp4?si=EX7mr_hSOTTRc-7d
Adaptive Response
Perry, B. D. (2020). The Neurosequential Model: A Developmentally Sensitive, Neuroscience Informed Approach to Clinical Problem-Solving. In J. Mitchell, editor.; Tucci, Joe, editor.; Tronick, Edward, editor. (Ed.), The Handbook of Therapeutic Care for Children : Evidence-Informed Approaches to Working with Traumatized Children and Adolescents in Foster, Kinship and Adoptive Care (1st Ed). (pp. 114-131). Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
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An Important fact: The Sympathetic Nervous system if balanced well by the Parasympathetic nervous system means that feeling angry, scared, sad or anxious usually happens quickly and passes quickly depending on how you as an individual are supported.
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If you are very stressed in the moment or frequently stressed or things have happened in your life that caused you trauma then your brain takes longer to process management of your stress, and it can feel a bit like being stuck in a cycle of chronic anger, sadness or anxiety.
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There are things you can do to change the way your brain functions. You will need help to learn these things.
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It's important to know that none of your brain’s responses have been caused by anything that you have done wrong.
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In fact, even when you seem stuck your brain is doing an excellent job of trying to protect you and the good news is you can learn ways to improve how you feel, your brain connections can change for the better through new experiences. For example, mindfulness exercise, aerobic exercise, music, cogenerative discussions.
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This section shows the adaptive response of the brain in situations from poor self-regulation through to good self-regulation- red to pale blue (executive behaviour regulation).
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Row one represents the type of response.
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Row two represents the parts of the brain in which you will find these responses. The bottom row represents the emotional reaction to the trigger (whatever this may be).
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Escalation from trigger = the type of reactiveness to expect and De-escalation conditions required, to correct the trigger response/reaction.
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Each of us has a “threshold of response” = the point at which your brain recognises something that causes stress. This may be different for individuals depending on what comes from memory, or physical things e.g. touch, smell, feel, or sounds.
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The job of the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) is then to help calm things and may need help to carry out the job of doing so.
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Remember that the PNS is sometimes also involved in the activity of the unmyelinated vagus nerve that activates in extreme traumatic events that cause terror to cause immobilisation and shutdown. That is, the event is so overwhelming that the individual feels that death is inevitable and they disassociate (detach) from the event.
Arousal System Scenarios for
Practice in Understanding
Arousal System Scenarios for practice in understanding. Your teacher will go through these scenarios with you all. You may find that signs are not that straightforward. That’s ok . it just means you are thinking about the things you have learned.
There are three scenarios:
Scenario One- An altercation between two students
Scenario Two – An event affecting a neurodiverse student
Scenario Three – The examination room
Scenario One
You have watched two students in your class exchanging insults during the break and before and after school. You have tried to avoid them as much as possible because they feel so aggressive that they make you feel uncomfortable. You know that one of those students has previously been accused of bullying the other student. You have your head down doing your work and suddenly there is a loud outburst of swearing. One of those students is standing over the other who is cowering with their hands over their head. The student standing over the other student grabs that student by his clothes and pins him up against the wall.
Think about the following things:
What do you think will be happening in these students bodies ? Explain some of these things for example, what would their body postures be? Would their body posture be different? Why would that be and what might that look like? How would you be feeling do you think? Can you identify the adaptive response of the student who is being intimidated? What about the adaptive response of the student who is being intimidating?What part of the brain do you think this response is occurring in? What might be the reasons for the behaviour of both these students? Do you know the safety rules in your school to know what the teacher might do to handle this situation?
Scenario Two
In class you have a neurodiverse student who is fairly new and is very shy about engaging with the other students. Some of the other students in the class have been unkind at times to this student and like to tease them.
This student doesn’t like being touched unless he initiates this. He also doesn’t cope well with loud noises. All the students in the class have been told not to touch him and he does not share a desk with other students. Sometimes when the student seems to be agitated the teacher will turn on some background classical music and this seems to calm this student. It also quietens the other students in the class. You are talking to the student sharing your desk. You notice that one of the students gets up from their desk and sits on the spare chair next to the neurodiverse student. The neurodiverse student gets up abruptly and overturns their chair. They put their hands over their head and curl up on the floor moaning.
Think about the following things:
What Feeling do you think the neurodiverse student is experiencing? What is their body posture telling you? Witnessing this how do you think you would be feeling? What part of the brain might this be happening in? Seeing the neurodiverse student curled up in a ball on the floor with their hands over their head what adaptive response is this? How do you think the teacher might manage this event?
Image via nouh loukili, Unsplash
Image via Luiz Rogério Nunes, Unsplash
Scenario Three
You are in the classroom with the exam sheet in front of you. The exam has been on now for about half an hour. You have read the sheet over and over again and haven’t been able to complete more than three questions. You look around and you notice everyone is writing much more than you are. You look at the clock and see that you have a lot to complete before time is up. You have sighed numerous times and have crumpled up numerous pieces of scribble paper. You are really annoyed with yourself because you actually looked at one of the problems when you were studying last night. You quietly swear and this just makes you more frustrated.
Think about the following things:
What is the feeling you are experiencing?
Where are you feeling this in your body and what are you experiencing?
Why do you think you are experiencing this feeling?
Can you name what is escalating within you that might indicate what part
of the brain is prominent in this scenario?
What do you think could help you relax and calm down?
What could you do for yourself that will help you to calm down.
What is the adaptive response you are experiencing in your brain?
What part of the brain do you think this is occurring in?
Image via Nguyen Dang Hoang Nhu, Unsplash
The last section in this module is to start a discussion of what it means for each of you to feel safe in school and the classroom. This activity can cause discomfort for some individuals, and you may not wish to participate. If you can without it causing you too much stress, then do so. If you think it will cause too much stress then you can just listen and observe.
What Does Safe Mean to You?
What does SAFE and UNSAFE means to you?
Ask yourself these questions:
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What is your understanding of what it means to be SAFE?
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What is your understanding of what it means to be UNSAFE?
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Where do you feel most SAFE?
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Where do you feel most UNSAFE?
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What part of your brain is functioning when you feel UNSAFE?
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What part of the ANS is active when you feel UNSAFE?
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What part of your brain is functioning when you feel SAFE?
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What part of the ANS is active when your feel SAFE?
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As an adolescent when do you feel SAFE.
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As an adolescent when do you feel UNSAFE?
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What activities do you participate in that may be UNSAFE?
This section is an attempt to get you think about how feelings of being SAFE and UNSAFE relate to different parts of brain function in adolescence. Don’t forget to think about the things you may do as an adolescent that are UNSAFE or SAFE.
Using the acronym SAFE and UNSAFE the teacher will ask you to list all the words against the letters in the acronym that relate to what this means for you. For example, UNSAFE could mean different things for different students depending on their personal experiences. An example is below:
An example is below:
U -
N -
S -
A -
F -
E -
uncertainty, unsure, ugly
nervous
scared, shouting
anxious, angry, alert
frightened, forgetful
escape
When you have created a list in this way can you try to identify where some of these words might sit in the adaptive response chart?
Module 7 Conclusion
Thank you for watching this module and please don’t hesitate to use any of the issues from the module as part of a cogenerative dialogue in the classroom. Some of the issues may be uncomfortable but if discussed in a SAFE classroom environment you can all learn a lot about each other, grow in understanding and help your brain to grow in a healthy way.
Things to remember about your brain development:
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Your brain is going through a most creative and powerful growth in adolescence.
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Positive relationships and experiences contribute to healthy brain growth.
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It is normal that you take risks, are sometimes impulsive and frequently misinterpret what adults are saying to you.
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This is because you function a lot of the time in the emotional Limbic regions of your brain.
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All of this means you are moving towards neural integration and higher order thinking and behaving.
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You are learning skills of self-regulation, developing an understanding of your own and others thinking and learning from your experiences.
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When stressed all animals and humans, function at a lower level of the brain. This is to protect us through, flight, fight or freeze responses which are processed through part of the autonomic nervous system called the Sympathetic Nervous system (SNS) .
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Remember your reflexes and reactions change rapidly back to calm equilibrium, with the right support. This is because the Parasympathetic Nervous system (PNS) is the calming side of the autonomic nervous system.
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Prolonged stress or trauma can stretch the timing from arousal in the SNS to calming in the PNS.
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This can mean that those exposed to severe traumas may through the PNS become immobilised because they fear impending death. They will need therapy to help them recover and for their ANS to function normally.
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All these brain states of flight, fight, freeze and immobility can be managed with help from supportive people.
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Remember to avoid negative social media influencers and to balance use of technology with other activities like music, dancing, physical activities
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Above all this can be the most exciting and challenging time of your lives and with the help of you friends and positive adults will turn out to be productive and creative.