Unit 1- Attention Span and Brain Breaks
Unit 1- Attention Span and Brain Breaks
Objectives:
Learners will be able to recognize their attention span habits.
Learners will recognize how brain breaks can help to regain focus and promote a better work ethic.
Lecture
Ways to Increase Attention Span
- Include Physical Activity: Students should be given time to do a physical activity before starting a challenging task. Physical activity helps a child to stay focused and breaks up the learning time in the classroom.
- Have "Attention Breaks": Before you can give a child an "attention break." The child needs to learn what attention looks like. When its time for an attention break, first have the student reflect whether or not they were paying attention in the first place. By teaching the child what attention looks like and feels like, they can train their brain to maintain focus.
- Adjust Time Frames: Break the content into smaller time intervals. This helps students to not feel overwhelmed and enables them to focus on the small task at hand.
- Remove Visual Distractions: Remove any unnecessary clutter. The less clutter the less opportunity the child has to be distracted.
Why are brain breaks helpful?
Brain breaks are short activities that give your brain a break. They mostly involve some form of physical activity or movement so that a child can take a short break from learning. The brain break can last anywhere between 30 second to 5 minutes, depending upon the break chosen. In the classroom, brain breaks break up the instructional time in the classroom. It also increases the amount of time a student is engaged in the classroom. If a child has "checked out" after 15 minutes, then that student is only get 15 minutes worth of information. If a child works for 15, has a break, then works for 15 more minutes. The brain break has just doubled the amount of time that a child is engaged in learning.Learn:
Review these articles for more support regarding Brain Breaks
- “Decreasing Attention Span and the Effects on Learning”
- “The Effect of Technology on Learner attention and Achievement in the Classroom”
Task:
For one week, you will be tracking your attention span and the habits you participate in when you lose focus on a task. Keep a log of how many times you lose focus and need a “break”. Common breaks include checking your phone, using social media, zoning out, thinking about anything other than the task at hand, or any other moment where there is a break in your attention. You have the freedom to log this in any way that is preferable to you- in a journal, on a document, as a voice recording, etc.
In your log, be sure to include:
- The task you are partaking in.
- The time spent on the task.
- Context of task (Time of day, location, who is present, factors that influence attention span, etc.)
- What you did when you lost attention on the task
Apply and Reflect:
After the log is complete, reflect on the following questions:
- After your brain break, were you able to go back to what you were working on?
- Did you work for a longer time?
- Did you feel more focused afterward?