A good maths game where players must click on the slowly moving and spinning numbers positive and negative numbers in ascending order.
http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Maths
So what we're seeing is less of a notion of a big idea carried through and much more little bursts and snippets. And we see that across media, across film, across, in Web sites, this idea of just do a little bit and then you can run away.
I consider this to fit in with my 'plate spinning' analogy.
anytime you switch from one task to another, there's something called the "task switch cost," which basically, imagine, is I've got to turn off this part of the brain and turn on this part of the brain. And it's not free; it takes time.
I make use of this task switch time by noting things that pass through my brain during this lapse in work time. I keep post-its around all the time and carry a jot it down notebook. It's rationalizing, but I do feel like I make use of the 'lost' time.
One of the biggest delusions we hear from students is, "I do five things at once because I don't have time to do them one at a time." And that turns out to be false. That is to say, they would actually be quicker if they did one thing, then the next thing, then the next. It may not be as fun, but they'd be more efficient.
So many of my middle school students would come and ask, "Is this what you want?" Then, they would get frustrated when I responded, "Well, what do you think? Is that the best answer you can come up with for the question?"
Many students were very uncomfortable with the idea that they would be making the decision about what form their project will take, and continually tried to get a stamp of approval.
Students today are accustomed to instant gratification, and therefore can be overwhelmed by tasks that require time-consuming research.
I'm finding that I am becoming more like the students and wanting that instant gratification as well! We are becoming scanners more than readers.
They do not stop researching and begin another activity because they got distracted; in our experience, they are more likely to spin themselves in circles making no progress for an entire class period because they do not want to go through a cognitive process that will take “forever.”
· When students are given a research prompt by their teacher, students often do not care enough about the topic to really persevere.
Use this strategy to help students become more invested: STRATEGY:
I'm going to show you 30 seconds of this video and I want you to write down 3-4 questions you think this video is going to answer.
Turn and talk to a neighbor to share your questions.
After looking at the video clip, have students determine if their questions were answered and what questions they still need to answer.
THEN, students are invested and have things they WANT to know about the topic.
There are very few things in life that our students have to wait for today
A team of physicists led by Caltech's David Hsieh has discovered an unusual form of matter-not a conventional metal, insulator, or magnet, for example, but something entirely different. This phase, characterized by an unusual ordering of electrons, offers possibilities for new electronic device functionalities and could hold the solution to a long-standing mystery in condensed matter physics having to do with high-temperature superconductivity-the ability for some materials to conduct electricity without resistance, even at "high" temperatures approaching -100 degrees Celsius.