Why brain breaks are brilliant for the learning process

This piece is all about resting the brain after intense mental activity and the thinking behind varying different kinds of activities within a lesson.

Brain breaks may be considered by some as a trendy buzz word, but there is method to the madness when exploring this phenomenon within teaching. The trick is to get the most out of your students and the overall learning experience where there is plenty of variety and the experience is enjoyable, thought-provoking, instructive and fulfilling. Granted, this sounds like a lot to achieve in one lesson. Well, it is quite simple really. In an integrated skills lesson you alternate receptive skills activities (i.e. listening & reading skills, picking up grammar rules), which are more passive in essence, with productive skills (i.e. speaking and writing, activating grammar), where the students must produce language. So, if you start off with the most challenging task, i.e. the brain works hard to figure out using the present perfect, which is different from the learner’s L1. After this task, you move to a speaking activity, i.e. Q&A about a social topic, which works as a bridge between activities. The brain has time to rest, and the experience isn’t as draining as when there are multiple intense activities back-to-back, for example. Moving from one skill to skill can be a breath of fresh air, it serves its purpose while the learner subconsciously reenergises. In a group situation where the teacher asks students’ questions individually, Q&A’s fit into this category. When one learner is speaking, this gives the others who still need to speak some time to think and listen before they give their much valued two cents worth. It’s a win-win outcome; they all listen to each other, and, to aid fluency development, they are not hindered in any way, as any mistakes are discussed as a class after they have finished speaking. Vocabulary tasks can be broken down into receptive (the collection of words an person understands) vs productive (where newly taught words are used in writing or speaking). So, even within one skill, it is possible to give the brain a bit of a break before it needs to put the work in. For example, a business idioms activity tests their knowledge to see what they know. First, there is a matching exercise, which is, in effect, a game, and then you go through the answers together to make sure everyone knows which definitions go with which meanings. Next, the idioms they didn’t know can be used when making new sentences so they now produce language activating new vocabulary as they devise their own sentences. It would end the lesson nicely, if this would be followed by a speaking activity.

Another aspect that is worthy of mention and compliments this topic while helping to shape the lesson and keep the pace/ tempo in tune is changing interactive patterns. Those who did CELTA will remember the T-ST (Teacher to student) or ST-T (Student to teacher) or ST-ST (Student to student) and ST-ST-ST (students in a group of 3) dynamics, for instance. Reasons why it is good to change this throughout the lesson are to help the students to feel refreshed and reenergised, while giving variety and keeping the learners on their toes. If the teacher talks too much, the student doesn’t get enough speaking practice. If the students don’t get to work together, then they may not enjoy the experience in the same way or they may not benefit from hearing what their peers have to say. If they stay in pairs and not in groups, then they may over rely on one other person or not hear multiple opinions during collaborative tasks. By switching from one pattern to another, you make things more interesting, and, invariably, they will feel suitably energised and benefit from the experience. There is something to be said for structure and routine. Some learners thrive on it, others need it desperately. By giving them a schedule, having certain stages of the lesson in place each time, i.e. an icebreaker, corrections and grammar, they always know what to expect and won’t be distracted by doing something new or in a different way. Fundamentally, you can make life easier for yourself and your learners by being as well-structured and prepared as possible, by making the learning experience as enjoyable and interesting as you can promoting diverse topics and a multitude of different activities, and, as also mentioned, allowing them to get the most out of the learning process with a well thought out, tried and tested formula for a safe learning environment that ensures the learners’ energy levels have been boosted. By the end of the lesson, your class should hopefully feel adequately energised and even exhilarated.