“I just don’t like this!” One of my students vehemently confessed in frustration.
“What don’t you like?” I asked with curiosity and slight concern.
“This.” He tossed a Word-A-Round card in my direction, expressing his disdain for the challenge.
I quickly put on my investigative hat and wondered how I could bring him back to the present moment, where he could access his calmness and ingenuity for problem-solving. He enjoyed new challenges and lit up as he discovered his solutions along the way. I also saw him ride his emotional waves and come back to the task ready to succeed enough time to know this moment, too, would pass.
However, this moment was faintly different.
Not knowing the answer, now having the answer, and not knowing how to obtain the answer were causing his brain to downshift. Downshifting [1], a term coined by Geoffrey Caine and Renate Nummela Caine, is a psychophysiological response to threat. The threat was not knowing the answer and not knowing how to obtain the answer. To be specific, my student didn’t know how to decode the words because they are written in a circular direction, which is not typical to the way we read words. The very act of having to decode words that appeared to have no beginning or end caused an automatic shift in his attention. His emotional response was a sign that his energy from his higher-level thinking skills, those housed in the prefrontal cortex, were being drawn away.
You may be wondering how I found out what was specifically frustrating him. First, I affirmed that I knew he could read, but reading words in this format is new. Second, I asked him to tell me specifically what he did not like about the activity. “This” – his response to my initial question – had to be unpacked.
There was a silence between the question and the answer. I had to be patient. He couldn’t access his words because his stress had been activated, and he needed to ground himself physically to release tension before verbally responding. I couldn’t’ rush the process.
Children cannot learn efficiently when their brains downshift. Not knowing the answer, not having it, and not knowing how to obtain it can be very stressful for children and youth because they think they should know already. They also think they should understand quickly. If they don’t, too many assume, “something must be wrong with me.”
So, how can we help kids upshift into learning to expand their capabilities?
- Notice when your child’s emotional state is changing because they are experience academic difficulty. Emotions have a molecular and physiological basis [4]. Downshifting happens without conscious awareness [3]. Even if your child looks like they have a habit of downshifting, it is sign that they need better coping tools when lifting cognitive loads. It is a not a sign that they should stop putting in the effort completely and that they’re not “cut out for academic.” They are cut out to excel at what interests them. Let’s help them discover that.
- Get out of the brain when it downshifts by getting into the body. Once you notice the change happening, mandate a break. Shake out the anxiety. Ride the happy horse. Bounce those shoulders to loosen them up. By moving, we quickly shift our state and reset the body into the present moment.
- Some children and youth prefer not to take a break until they have accomplished a certain level of their work. There are a few options. One is to set a timer into taking a break. You can let them work until they can’t work anymore if they are completely adamant about finishing. You can also playfully initiate a break by doing some silly aerobic exercises that put a smile on the child’s face. Tell them to join you. I also make teens join me by annoying them until they join me. The reward in that moment is they’ve taken the break and I’m out of their face. They reset and get back to work.
Image source of Word-A-Round: http://www.kiteloft.com
When exploring brain games like Word-A-Round
- Try the first me- then we- then you model. I put my finger on each letter and read aloud the letters to determine if they make a word. I do this until I decode the word. Then, we do it together. Then, the student does it with me watching.
- I model rotating the card as an example for the student so that he or she can see my thinking and approach process.
Emotions are not separate from cognition [1, 4]. Emotions and cognition are interconnected. With the knowledge of what downshifting is and tools for getting back on track, you can help your child enjoy challenges and reach new heights.
Sources
- Caine, R. N., Caine, G., McClintic, C., and Klimek, K. J. (2015) 12 Brain/Mind Learning Principles in Action. Corwin 2015.
- Shafir, S. “Reclaiming a Sense of Joy” (2018) Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/reclaiming-sense-joy/
- Steffen, P. R., Hedges, D., and Matheson R. (2022) “The Brain Is Adaptive Not Triune: How the Brain Responds to Threat, Challenge, and Change”Front Psychiatrydoi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.802606
- Šimić, G., Tkalčić, M., Vukić, V., Mulc, D., Španić, E., Šagud, M., Olucha-Bordonau, F. E., Vukšić, M., Hof, P. R. (2021) “Understanding Emotions: Origins and Roles of the Amygdala.”Biomolecules May 31;11(6):823. doi: 10.3390/biom11060823
Ashley M. Blanco 