September, season of new school years and new intentions. Our brains are refreshed by the long summer (sorry, did I say SUMMER?) holiday and then hit by stacks of work and things we think we’ll never manage to learn. And for some of you there’ll be exams and tests to stress about. Well, don’t stress: just get your brain in tip-top condition, ready to rise to any challenge that your new and over-enthusiastic teacher has in mind.
I call it making your brain FLOURISH – and you’ll see why I chose that word in a minute. Because of my two brain books for young people (Know Your Brain and Blame My Brain), I visit loads of schools to do workshops or talks. We have great fun with activities that show pupils amazing things about their brains. (Like what would it would feel like if I stuck my finger inside your skull). At the end, I show them that during the course of the workshops they’ve already learnt all they need to know to make their brains flourish, and I give them a postcard that shows them how (or reminds them, if perhaps the magic of my teaching powers hasn’t quite worked …).
If you would like to reproduce my Flourish cards, do email me and I’ll send you the documents to print or display in any way you want. Meanwhile, you want to know what FLOURISH stands for? I thought you’d never ask!
F – Food: the right food at the right time. Don’t go hungry and don’t overdo sugar. Know Your Brain has some great and tasty ideas. You will be surprised …
L – Liquid: anything except fizzy or alcohol. And go carefully with the coffee.
O – Oxygen: get extra oxygen to your brain by going for a short walk, running up the stairs or playing with the dog. Do this before you do your homework and again when you’ve been concentrating for half an hour.
U – Use it: exercise all parts of your brain by doing different activities – sport, art, music, reading, maths, everything (but not all at once).
R – Relax: you can’t work hard all the time. Your brain needs to switch off too. What would relax YOU? Music? Phoning a friend? A game? Kicking a football? Watching a funny film? You should have relaxing time every day.
I – Interest: our brains learn better when we’re interested and we’re most interested in new things. So, mix your more dull tasks with new things – try a new game or activity or learn a new and weird word. Learn a fascinating fact every day. Also, when you are doing boring homework, make yourself more interested in it by telling yourself how you will reward yourself afterwards!
S – Sleep: scientists are learning more and more about how important sleep is to learning. While we are asleep, our brains actually practise what we did that day. Amazing! Even more amazingly, they seem to practise the difficult bits more.
H – Happiness: our brains learn better when we’re happy. So, give yourself rewards for working hard and trying. A reward could be anything that’s a treat for you – even a piece of chocolate every now and then.
There’s much much more about your brain in Know Your Brain. One of the best things you can do is understand how your brain works differently from others -–and Know Your Brain shows you how. Know your brain – you are much more amazing than you ever imagined.
And have a great term!
Nicola Morgan
Email me at asknicolamorgan@hotmail.co.uk