'Every Brain is Wired Differently'
<p>Cheri Zao, a North Idaho College biology instructor, discusses how the human brain's wiring affects how people think, feel and react to life situations during a presentation Monday.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - Most kids entering first grade are ready to learn to read.
But 10 percent of 6-year-olds aren't there yet, and it's not the fault of schools or parents. No matter how hard these first-graders' moms, dads and teachers try, these kids aren't going to learn how to put letters and words together until their brain cells get a little more mature.
"We actually stratify people based on age," said Cheri Zao, North Idaho College biology instructor. "It should be based on maturity."
Zao spoke Monday to more than 70 people who crowded into a lecture hall on the NIC campus.
Zao's workshop, "Every Brain is Wired Differently," is one of more than a dozen taking place at NIC this week. The presentations are all part of "Brains Rewired," a symposium presented by the college's Cardinal Connections committee.
"We all have a certain way that we're put together, but not all brains are created equal," Zao said.
Zao discussed brain neurons, axons and nerves that provide the pathways for the sparks that make actions, senses, reasoning and more possible.
During the workshop she pointed to Albert Einstein and Michael Jordan as examples of two very different brains.
"Michael Jordan couldn't do what Albert Einstein did, but Albert Einstein could not do what Michael Jordan did," Zao said.
Understanding the brain is important for educators and students, she said.
"It makes us more knowledgeable about how we should modify our approach to education," Zao said. "That's at all levels of education, from K- through- 12 up."
Serena Smith was in the audience for Zao's presentation.
"I'm a new teacher, and I think this will help me," Smith said.
The series of lectures, all free and open to the public, are focused on brain research and how what's inside the human skull affects success at home, work and in the classroom.
Presentation topics, based on the book "Brain Rules" by Dr. John Medina, explore 12 key principles that point to brain research as a way of improving everyday life: exercise, survival, wiring, attention, short-term memory, long-term memory, sleep, stress, sensory integration, vision, gender and exploration.
For a full listing of symposium events, visit www.nic.edu/cardinalconnections, or call 769-3276.