managing the flow of attention

Teaching in the Age of Distraction : Managing the Flow of Attention

Presented byWilly Wood

“OK, fellas, we have some new rules!”

How full is

full?

Distracted Drivers respond one and a half seconds slower

Sources of Distraction

“Better Attention Always Equals Better Learning.” -John Medina

Arousal

Medium Arousal Level is Best

Ways to Raise Arousal

• Acknowledgements• Affirmations• Celebrations• Music• Movement• Choices

Stimulus Driven Attention

“The human brain—like the brains of all vertebrates—is hardwired to

immediately notice sudden movement in our field of vision.

We not only notice, we are compelled to look. When our

evolutionary predecessors gathered on the African savanna three million years ago and the leaves next to them moved, the

ones who didn’t look are not our ancestors.”

-Al Gore

Controlled Attention

What Gets Our

Attention?

Will it eat me?

Can I eat it?

Can I mate with it?

Will it mate with me?

Have I seen it before?

Novelt

y

Same old, Same old

Too weird for understanding

More Familiar

Novel

Less Familiar

Recognizable, but not routine

Routine

Novelty should be used for

Instruction

Routines should be used for

Management

“You can have your students’ Attentionor they can be making meaning, but never

both at the same time.” -Eric Jensen

The “Tides” of Learning

Crest of the Wave

Attention Signals

Eliminate Distractions

Don’t Overload Working Memory

The Exception:

Flow

“Multi-tasking, when it comes to paying attention, is a myth.”

-John Medina

“…A person who is interrupted takes 50 percent longer

to accomplish a task. Not only that, he or she makes up to 50 percent more

errors.” -John Medina

The art of giving effective directions

One At a Time

See Me

Background Music

Characteristics of Background Music: Behind Individual Work

• Instrumental only• 60 to 80 beats per minute• Unfamiliar• Repetitive• Very low volume• Genre not important

Characteristics of Background Music: Behind Small Group Discussions

• Instrumental only• 80 to 100 beats per minute• Medium volume• Genre not important

How full is

full?

Thank you for your kind attention!