MR. LEE DIV. 5

  • Home
  • LST
  • Subjects
    • English Language Arts
    • Math
    • Science
    • Socials
    • Physical and Health Education
    • Arts Education
    • Applied Design, Skills, and Technology
  • Resources
  • Rules and Expectations
  • Blog
  • Home
  • LST
  • Subjects
    • English Language Arts
    • Math
    • Science
    • Socials
    • Physical and Health Education
    • Arts Education
    • Applied Design, Skills, and Technology
  • Resources
  • Rules and Expectations
  • Blog

Never. Stop. Learning.

Attentive Education

7/25/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Matthew Crawford, a writer and research fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia feels that today's education needs to return to its practical, hands-on roots, not its current state of representation in the virtual world. Crawford worries that since attention is a stimulus-driven, goal-directed and a limited resource, children, in particular, are subjected to and bombarded with continuous stimulus-driven attention of ads and manipulative messages. Social media is designed solely to have users engaged constantly and returning to their platforms. "Distractibility," says Crawford, "might be regarded as the mental equivalent of obesity." He worries that all this clutter of digital noise  may dampen imagination, as well as the clear sense of self. Who are we as people or individuals, when so much of our self-image is now being shaped by marketers, friends and followers? Crawford also feels the philosophical movement of individualization and autonomy has gone too far. "I think, therefore I am, " stated Descartes, in the Age of Enlightenment. However, so much of reality, argues Crawford, now resides in our minds as representations, and the physical reality of the world has lost its meaning and value. Crawford wants genuine individuality and agency, which comes from skilled practice and experience affecting objects in the real world. 

Professor Guy Claxton of Winchester University feels that attentional habits are a part of good learning habits, such as collaboration or listening. He believes this disposition of attention can be shaped over time, but not explicitly in the form of a workshop or lecture. He suggests approaching it from the point of losing mindfulness. The goal is when students are distracted, how quickly can they return to attention? Some classes work on a scale of 1 to 10, to see how distracted they have been in a week. Other classes will use a show of five fingers: 1 = not distracted; 2= vaguely distracted; 3= minor distraction; 4 = major distraction; 5 = I was the distraction! The goal is to get kids interested in their own distractibility and to gain greater control and assume responsibility. Another method is for students to keep track of their own distractions, marking a tick every time they are off task on a line scale of completely distracted and completely focused. 

​Source: Attention: Beyond Mindfulness, Gay Watson, 2017

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Daniel H. Lee

    This blog will be dedicated to sharing in three areas: happenings in my classroom and school; analysis and distillation of other educators' wealth of knowledge in various texts; insights from other disciplines and areas of expertise that relate and connect with educational practices.

    Archives

    February 2021
    January 2021
    October 2020
    September 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    October 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016

    Categories

    All
    21st Century Learning
    3 D Printing
    3-D Printing
    Aboriginal
    ADST
    Assessment
    Behavior
    Books
    Brain
    Business
    Coding
    Constructionism
    Creativity
    Design
    Differentiated Learning
    Divergent Thinking
    DPA
    Engineering
    Executive Functioning
    FreshGrade
    Gender
    Genius Hour
    Growth Mindset
    Habits
    Inquiry Learning
    Journals
    Kahoot
    Learning Disabilities
    Maker Movement
    Math
    Memory
    Mindfulness
    Neuroplasticity
    People
    Personalized Learning
    Physical Health Education
    Play
    Plickers
    Professional Development
    Psychology
    Quote
    Reading
    Risk Taking
    Schools
    Science
    Social Emotional Learning
    Sports
    Storytelling
    Student Teacher
    Teaching Practice
    Technology
    Writing

    RSS Feed

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
Maya Angelou