"When we are awake, we have an important decision to make every single moment: where to turn our attention. A normal person makes this decision a 100,000 times a day. The brain is always paying attention to something as our survival depends on it."
Attention can be external or internal, focused or diffused, relaxed or vigilant. We ask our students to pay attention to one thing and to ignore another. This can be challenging at times, but it's a reasonable request so long as the learning is relevant, engaging, and chosen by the learner.
Priming the brain is one of the keys to success. If we don't set up learning properly, it is less likely students will pay attention. By using scaffolding, students are priming their brains to accept the new stimuli, ideally in a positive way. This can also be hard to break out of. An example given is a noisy classroom... the students are already primed for this, so raising your voice is unlikely to get the attention that you want.
That said, there is a roller-coaster of thought going on in these periods, called attention cycles, where students need to focus. The message here to help learning? Take it easy. Several researchers say that mental breaks of up to 20 minutes several times a day increase productivity. And no, running from one class to another in five minutes is not true "down time" or "transition time."
DISCUSSION QUESTION: How do we build in breaks into our day at school to allow students to relax? Many are stressed out and need time to process what they've learned. How can we adapt or use our library spaces to bridge this gap?
In the classroom, it is unrealistic to demand constant attention. Our students can only process so much so why should we frustrate them and ourselves by doing an 'information dump' that they aren't going to remember anyway?
Teaching new content to novice learners may "require processing time of 2 - 5 minutes every 10 - 15 minutes." A review of old material may only require "a minute or so every 20 minutes." Use this as a guide to frame your instruction practices for maximum effectiveness. As a guideline, use "5 - 7 minutes of direct instruction for K - 2, 8 - 12 minutes for 3 - 7, 12 - 15 minutes for 8 - 12."
How can we rest their brains then?
- Mini-lectures
- group work
- reflection
- individual work
Teachers need this down time too! Find a few moments of quiet time each day, if possible.
ADD
The book splits hairs in this section. It allows for both scientific value and diagnosis of individuals, but also stresses that environmental factors could as easily be to blame. The basic shared view is that it all stems from our ability to pay attention. ADD can involves either not being able to focus or paying too much attention to a task. Jensen believes that ADD is over-diagnosed and that environmental or structure changes can alleviate many of the symptoms. If medication is used, monitor it carefullly.
I use DPA as my classes break time! I often have them for 4 to 5 periods a day and they need the downtime as much as I do!
ReplyDeleteI wish periods were 45 minutes... maybe an hour. That's the perfect amount of time. When we have shortened days at school for parent interviews or assemblies I'm always so impressed with how much more effectively things flow in my classroom. In 45 minutes to an hour I've covered my lesson, homework is assigned and nobody drifted away into the abyss of teenaged thought. I was chatting with my mom one day about her high school schedule. She had 6 periods in a day, one of which was a "study hall" type period conducted in the library where she was given time to work on assignments, home work, or just relax. This was at West Humber Collegiate in the late 60s early 70s. Sounds like a good plan to me!
ReplyDeleteThe only downside is the amount of prep work that a teacher is then required to do. I agree with you that our periods can be too long and that saps their attention and drive, but we need to figure out alternatives.
ReplyDeleteAt King, our periods are 65 minutes long with that hour long clinic period each day at 10am. That seems to help.