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Martha Thornburgh

Brain Rules Chpt. 4 - 76 views

brainrules

started by Martha Thornburgh on 12 Aug 08
  • Martha Thornburgh
    #1 Martha Thornburgh on 12 Aug 08
     
    I guess that the big and somewhat controversial idea in this chapter is that multitasking is a myth. Medina does not mean that we aren't capable of doing more than one thing at once. He means that we can only pay attention to one thing at at time. Our brains process information sequentially. So, when we are multitasking, tasks take longer and we make more mistakes. That makes driving while talking on a cell phone or always being online dangerous and unproductive. Many of the discussions I have heard about this book say that they don't quite believe that they can't be productive while multitasking. Medina says that those of us who are somewhat successful multitasking are able to do so because we have a good memory and are able to recall what we were doing after being interrupted. My question is about the use of music or TV to block other distractions. Medina says that we are not able to do this. I know that I sometimes find it hard to concentrate when it is very quiet. My mind goes in many different directions at once. I find that if I can put on mindless tv, I can better block out all the other thoughts and concentrate on the task at hand. This does not work if the program is too interesting. Then my focus is split and I find it harder to concentrate. I teach many kids with attention issues. Some of them find that listening to music helps them to block out other distractions in class when then need to concentrate on something like math. I think that Medina would say that students concentrate better in silence. I do not agree that this is true for all students. I do agree that our minds can only pay attention to one task at at time. But I am not sure that this means other tasks that don't take much thought can't be done at the same time.

    A few other good ideas from the chapter that are important for teachers to realize are that we have 10 minute attention spans and our brains pay a great deal of attention to emotional events. Medina suggests planning lessons that are chunked into 10 minute sections. Starting with the big idea and then following with the details of that idea within that 10 minute section. Then either ending or beginning with an emotional hook. As I plan my trainings with teachers this year, I will keep this in mind. Especially the 10 minute rule. I will break up activities so that teachers don't hear me drone.

    Also posted at http://digital-doors.blogspot.com/2008/08/brain-rules-book-club-chpt-4-pay.html
  • skip zalneraitis
    #2 skip zalneraitis on 12 Aug 08
     
    Martha,
    Thank you.
    You hit my dual focus for this chapter.
    These two tested, proven, and journaled pieces of information will probably help me and my students immeasurably.
    Having come back into education after a 23 year 'hiatus' in the private sector, I really harbored no illusion that multitasking was possible. I worked at one nuclear power station or another for all of that time and with the amount of self-assessment peer-review and cyclic training coupled with the number of 'errors' found, I knew we worked best serially.
    I have segmented my classes for the six years I've been back because that's the way I ran my training sessions for adults. I have raised a lot of supervisors' eyebrows over the years, but they couldn't dispute the results.
  • Lisa Durff
    #3 Lisa Durff on 16 Aug 08
     
    He may be backed by research with those of his era. Peer-reviewed research serves this purpose. However, brains, by his own admission, are plastic. Brains have the ability to rewire themselves as described in "The Brain that Changes Itself" by Norman Doidge. Because listening and reading are two distinct activities that create comprehension of what is heard and what is read in two different brain areas, I really don't see why these two activities cannot be done simultaneously. I think those referred to as 'digital natives' are doing just that, just no one has performed peer reviewed quantitative research on it yet. There really has not been enough time to do such studies.
    What is far more relevant to my teaching is what fires together wires together. Or as page 84 says, "Memory is enhanced by creating associations between concepts." Our brains look for and remember patterns...in threes...and no more than 10 minutes long. I have found that time to be 12 minutes for me personally, whether in class, a meeting, inservice, or church. I long ago went to minilessons. To take Medina's ideas further, not only do we remember patterns, but associations between patterns/concepts. Connecting the dots one wise pastor said.
    So my challenge is to create strong associations between prior knowledge and current learnings using patterns to assist students in remembering information. Right away I think of patterns we all love - stories, metaphors, analogies (well maybe we don't love them, but we understand them), and humor. All of these uniquely human things have patterns to them we all recognize just because we are human.
  • Beth Knittle
    #4 Beth Knittle on 17 Aug 08
     
    Rule # 4: We don't pay attention to boring things.

    Ironically I had trouble attending to this chapter. I was reading this at my parents' home and was constantly distracted. This is not to say the chapter was boring, just illustrated to me that it was difficult to keep refocusing if there are many distractions around.

    As I read this chapter I was thinking of the many special education classrooms I have visited. Often these students have difficulty maintaining attention. Yet because they are in smaller classes and space is at a premium frequently special education classes must share a room. I have spent time in a room shared by 4 teachers. Two, sometimes three classes meet at the same time. Small room dividers do not eliminate sound and distractions. I had trouble working at my best in this room and I do not have any attending difficulties. The teachers did a wonderful job trying to remove distractions but there is only so much one can do when math, science and language arts groups are all meeting in the same space at the same time.

    If attention is so important to retention, why in the world do we place these students in a space where there are more distractions then a regular classroom. We should place them in rooms with fewer distractions where they might have a fighting chance to be attentive. We must optimize the environment for learning.

    John Medina describes a few things that affect our attention.

    1. Emotions get our attention
    If we are emotionally connected we tend to be more attentive.

    2. Meaning before details
    We remember how we felt about an event more so then the details. We have a better chance of remembering the details if we have the basic idea. We need an over arching idea that we can attach the details too.

    3. The brain does not multitask
    The ability to multitask has become a prized skill. More accurately it is the ability to switch tasks quickly that is the skill. Research shows that the brain activity attends to one thing at a time. Each time we switch a task it takes time to refocus, we might get things done faster if we did them one at a time.

    4. The brain needs a break
    Research has shown that we can only maintain our attention for about 10 mins. After this time we need to have something re-grab our attention to keep us going. We also need time to process what we have just learned.

    Also posted at http://www.bethknittle.net/WP_Blog/?p=435
    Martha Thornburgh wrote:
    > I guess that the big and somewhat controversial idea in this chapter is that multitasking is a myth. Medina does not mean that we aren't capable of doing more than one thing at once. He means that we can only pay attention to one thing at at time. Our brains process information sequentially. So, when we are multitasking, tasks take longer and we make more mistakes. That makes driving while talking on a cell phone or always being online dangerous and unproductive. Many of the discussions I have heard about this book say that they don't quite believe that they can't be productive while multitasking. Medina says that those of us who are somewhat successful multitasking are able to do so because we have a good memory and are able to recall what we were doing after being interrupted. My question is about the use of music or TV to block other distractions. Medina says that we are not able to do this. I know that I sometimes find it hard to concentrate when it is very quiet. My mind goes in many different directions at once. I find that if I can put on mindless tv, I can better block out all the other thoughts and concentrate on the task at hand. This does not work if the program is too interesting. Then my focus is split and I find it harder to concentrate. I teach many kids with attention issues. Some of them find that listening to music helps them to block out other distractions in class when then need to concentrate on something like math. I think that Medina would say that students concentrate better in silence. I do not agree that this is true for all students. I do agree that our minds can only pay attention to one task at at time. But I am not sure that this means other tasks that don't take much thought can't be done at the same time.
    >
    > A few other good ideas from the chapter that are important for teachers to realize are that we have 10 minute attention spans and our brains pay a great deal of attention to emotional events. Medina suggests planning lessons that are chunked into 10 minute sections. Starting with the big idea and then following with the details of that idea within that 10 minute section. Then either ending or beginning with an emotional hook. As I plan my trainings with teachers this year, I will keep this in mind. Especially the 10 minute rule. I will break up activities so that teachers don't hear me drone.
    >
    > Also posted at http://digital-doors.blogspot.com/2008/08/brain-rules-book-club-chpt-4-pay.html
  • Beth Knittle
    #5 Beth Knittle on 17 Aug 08
     
    Lisa,

    I too have been thinking about the multitasking information. I can not work in silence, I can not focus. I can not work talk in the background as I start listening to the talk as certain words peak my interest. I love working to music. After reading this chapter I was watching my daughter do some of her summer work - she is reading the book, taking notes on the computer, listening to iTunes and keeping up 3 conversations in IM. She does spend her whole day like this, I am sure it takes her longer to complete her work, because she needs redirect her focus and efforts. But honestly I can't complain. She is a A, B student in honors classes and has a homework average in the 90s. I am not going to interfere. Now if she was having trouble getting work done, had poor grades and the like, her work habits would be the first thing I would look at and suggest some changes.

    Median states the brain is plastic and that it is wired differently by what you do and experience. I think that kids who grow up exposed to the tons of multimedia have brains that work a bit differently. There area a few studies on this and also a few that show that some kids brains are actually 'calmer' when there is more then one stimulus. My feeling is that as these kids are studied more them maybe more to add to this chapter. It may be true that we can only attend to one thing at a time, but maybe some need some extra stimulus to allow the brain to be calm and focused.


    mrs durff wrote:
    > He may be backed by research with those of his era. Peer-reviewed research serves this purpose. However, brains, by his own admission, are plastic. Brains have the ability to rewire themselves as described in "The Brain that Changes Itself" by Norman Doidge. Because listening and reading are two distinct activities that create comprehension of what is heard and what is read in two different brain areas, I really don't see why these two activities cannot be done simultaneously. I think those referred to as 'digital natives' are doing just that, just no one has performed peer reviewed quantitative research on it yet. There really has not been enough time to do such studies.
    > What is far more relevant to my teaching is what fires together wires together. Or as page 84 says, "Memory is enhanced by creating associations between concepts." Our brains look for and remember patterns...in threes...and no more than 10 minutes long. I have found that time to be 12 minutes for me personally, whether in class, a meeting, inservice, or church. I long ago went to minilessons. To take Medina's ideas further, not only do we remember patterns, but associations between patterns/concepts. Connecting the dots one wise pastor said.
    > So my challenge is to create strong associations between prior knowledge and current learnings using patterns to assist students in remembering information. Right away I think of patterns we all love - stories, metaphors, analogies (well maybe we don't love them, but we understand them), and humor. All of these uniquely human things have patterns to them we all recognize just because we are human.

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