Can I listen to music while I work? Multi-tasking takes a hit

Students often ask (or just go ahead) to listen to music while they work, especially while doing independent work on the computer. I also catch students with google chat open (and flashing) when they should be using google docs or sites. They insist that they focus better while listening to music, or that they are "very good at multi-tasking".

I usually say no because I "don't believe in" multi-tasking, but have wondered more and more if I am just being a crotchety old fashioned teacher who needs to change with the times. Then I read this article citing research about the detrimental effects of multi-tasking, and I knew I had my answer. So I wrote my students:

Dear Students,
     As the semester draws to an end and final exams loom, you are spending more and more time studying. I often hear students say that listening to music while studying helps them focus, or that students are "very good at multi-tasking". The truth is that multi-tasking is detrimental to learning. Here is an article for teachers and parents that cites research studies that tested student learning while using other media. According to a 2010 study, "almost a third of those surveyed said that when they were doing homework, “most of the time” they were also watching TV, texting, listening to music, or using some other medium....Researchers have documented a cascade of negative outcomes that occurs when students multitask while doing schoolwork.

• "First, the assignment takes longer to complete, because of the time spent on distracting activities and because, upon returning to the assignment, the student has to re-familiarize himself with the material. 
• "Second, the mental fatigue caused by repeatedly dropping and picking up a mental thread leads to more mistakes.
• "Third, students’ subsequent memory of what they’re working on will be impaired if their attention is divided.
• "Fourth, some research has suggested that when we’re distracted, our brains actually process and store information in different, less useful ways.
• "Finally, researchers are beginning to demonstrate that media multitasking while learning is negatively associated with students’ grades."

     The researchers suggest turning off all media while studying, and then taking regular "tech breaks". Try studying for 15 minutes, then take a 2-5 minute break to check social networks, texts, listen to a song or two, and then get back to studying for another 15 minutes. Eventually, try extending your studying time to 20 minutes, then 30, and up to 45 before taking your "tech break".
     A great tool to help you control your online habit is a free app called Self-Control (http://selfcontrolapp.com). It allows you to block your distracting websites for an amount that you determine; you can't override your own block until the time is up.
     So turn off your phone, take out your earbuds, set Self Control for 15 minutes to block your social media (even gmail!), and when the time is up, check your media for 5 minutes, get a drink or just stretch, and then set Self Control for another 15 (or 20 or 30 or 45). You will focus better, use your time more efficiently, remember information longer, and be able to use that information more flexibly.
     Good luck with your studying!

I know I will get some stubborn disbelievers who will want to argue this point. However, if it helps a few this year, and the others hear the message again next year (and the next and the next), eventually we may get the kinds of learners who can deeply focus on one task without hyper-distractions.

What is your thinking about music while working? What about the ability to multi-task?

 

Student Feedback About Blogging in Book Clubs

I wanted to come back to Blogging in Book Clubs one more time, this time to share student feedback about the experience. Their last post for the unit was a response to what they learned by reading another student's post. In the student sample below, the student made some very sophisticated connections between his book Farewell to Manzanar which dealt with Japanese-American interment during World War II, and another book, Getting Away with Murder, which described the Emmett Till murder case in 1955:

While I was reading Abdullah’s power and the lack of power blog, i realized that there were many in his book which were related to mine, even though the settings and the plot of the stories were different. First of all, I noticed that the amount of power that the US government had over the Japanese Americans in Farewell to Manzanar was the same as the amount of power that the whites had over the blacks in Getting Away With Murder, and that this was certainly an abuse of power. This abuse of power however, led to inspiration for both the blacks and the Japanese Americans to stand up against this abuse, like for example when a couple months after all of the Japanese Americans were put into Internment camps, thousands of them decided to stand up against their abuse so they started huge mobs and riots inside Manzanar. By reading Abdullah’s blog, i was able to relate and connect to many of the events in his book to mine. I also learned that there were several other races that were discriminated in the US throughout the history of America apart from Japanese Americans.

Later, I asked students to do a quick reflection on the unit using a "3 stars and a wish" format, usually 3 things they learned or liked, and one suggestion or thing they wished had been different. This time I asked for one "I learned", one "I liked", one comment about the blog, and a wish. Here are the top types of comments about the blog experience:

Deepening understanding:

• I was able to understand the Social Justice Question better by reading other people's answers. 
• Blogs helped me have a clear understanding about my book. 
• I learnt many different points and it made me think in different ways. 
• I thought the blog helped us learn about others' issues and writing and analyze our own.

Tech skill: 

• I learned how to make and format a blog post correctly.

Writing to learn:

• It helped me express my thoughts more clearly. 
• I liked the blogs because it made organization easy. 
• I liked how we could express our own interpretation of the social justice questions. 
• Blogs were good for writing down our thoughts.

Engaging: 

• I really enjoyed doing the blogs. 
• I liked being able to blog rather than write in a notebook. 
• I liked the blog because I have bad handwriting. 
• The blogs were a fun way to share information. 
• I liked how easy it was to share ideas on the blog.

Discussion forum: 

• I thought that it was a safe and fun way to talk about your book. 
• I liked using blogs because you can have a proper conversation and this way you won't forget what you've said. 
• I believe blogs were a good way to communicate and share different opinions. 
• I liked the blog because we could have a discussion on it over more time instead of class.

Negative reactions:

• I wasn't very fond of blogging; I would rather write it down. 
• I don't like blogs because it piles on the amount of work that had to be done. 
• The blog work was good but people should've been more reflective. 
• The blogs were hard to remember to do. 
• I think we could have used the blog in better ways by having more cyber discussions.

So not everyone loved blogging. That's OK. I'll probably structure it better next year, now that I know what I'm doing. In general, though, most students liked the blog and found it to be beneficial in some way. It's good to hear from them what worked and what didn't work.

In Defense of the 5-Paragraph Essay

I was reading a blog by a fellow teacher the other day, and one of her readers had commented that it was time to move away from the 5-paragraph essay. This is not the first time I have heard this recommendation. In fact, earlier this year, during a grade 8-9 transition meeting with the English Departments, one of the High School English teachers ranted for a little while about how the 5-paragraph essay is boring and formulaic. I've even run across books written about how to get away from the 5-paragraph essay and do more within new literacy venues to add "real-world authenticity".

But I want to defend the 5-paragraph essay here. I think it serves a useful stepping stone for young writers who are just learning how to stake a claim and defend their position with evidence. Yes, it is formulaic, and that is one of its beauties. Young writers need the formula that gives them the structure to lay their ideas out in a coherent manner. Without it, their writing becomes a wander through the fog of vague ideas, unsubstantiated claims, personal anecdotes, and leaps of logic.

Take the introduction. The formula states that within the introduction, the writer should state the thesis and the main supporting ideas. One teacher I know calls this a "mapping sentence" because it hands the reader a "map" of the rest of the essay (I call it a thesis because that's what everyone else calls it, and consistency in language is important for young writers learning new structures). By writing the thesis in this way, young writers must have a plan in mind of exactly what their claim is and how they are going to defend it with support. This clarity is essential.

Body paragraphs come next, and they start with topic sentences. Topic sentences, those formulaic first words, tell what the paragraph is going to be about, laying out the point of support right at the start. The best topic sentences even bring in the thesis idea to make it clear to the reader (and the writer!) that "this reason supports my claim". The topic sentence holds the young writer to a focus: one and only one point of support in this paragraph. Once that point of support is explained, then the next one is laid out in the next topic sentence in the next body paragraph.

Finally, the conclusion wraps it up. By restating the thesis and main ideas as a quick summary of the essay, the writer provides closure. Without it, the essay just stops abruptly. Young writers have a lot of trouble finding elegant ways to wrap up their thinking. The summarizing sentence provides the formula needed to finish, without writing "The End".

I am not advocating that the 5-paragraph essay is the only way to stake a claim and support it with evidence. I actually agree that they are boring and formulaic. But they are necessary for young writers to get started with this kind of writing. Once they have learned the "parts"-- claim, support, focus, paragraphs, closure-- they can branch out. Maybe they only need four paragraphs to say what they need to say, or maybe they need six! In my 8th grade class, we studied Op-Ed pieces, and noticed how the thesis comes at the end so that the action statement rings in our heads as we finish reading. We study book reviews that condense all those parts into one paragraph. We read blogs and have discussions, all centered around those essential "parts". Without a clear understanding of the basics, though, the fancy stuff just couldn't happen.

Class Climate: "You're like our second mom!"

It was the last day of the school week, the period before lunch. We had just completed a role play activity in Social Studies where delegates from the Constitutional Convention "signed" the Constitution (or not), and the students were getting started on their Ratify the Constitution advertisement poster. The natives were restless: lots of talking, laughing, poking with rulers, jumping up for markers or tissues or just because they couldn't sit for another minute. One eighth grade girl got a little hysterical about a mistake she had made on her poster. Her laughter cracked up everyone else around her. Ten minutes to go before the end of the lesson, and I'd hoped for a little more productivity. When I voiced this thought to the class, the ensuing conversation went something like this:

Boy: "Do you see how comfortable we are in your classroom, Mrs. Pohl? We are letting you see our true selves. We are acting way different than we did at the beginning of the year!"

Hysterical Girl: "Yeah, you're like our second mom!"

Me with a teasing tone: "Great! Does that mean I can ground you?"

Hysterical Girl: "NO!"

Another Boy: "But you could give us pocket money!"

Me: Smile and chuckle and wrap up the lesson

Here's what this conversation said to me: My students feel safe. My students feel loved. My students respect my authority over them. My students know I have a sense of humor.  My students like me as a person. This really is the classroom climate I've been working for all year.

But has it gone a little too far? Are students TOO comfortable in my class? All teachers struggle with classroom management at the end of the school year. Students are getting into "summer mode" and have trouble focusing. They are restless and tired of working.

I know this and fight against it nonetheless. I want students to feel comfortable and safe in my class, but I also want them to take the work seriously and get things done. We still have six weeks of school left! Whole units are just starting! Sometimes lessons feel just a little out of control and then I get cranky and yell a little bit. Other days, they are completely smooth sailing and I marvel that everything went so well. At this time of year, it's a little unpredictable which way the wind will blow.

So I do my "tough love" thing: Keep my expectations high. Hold students accountable for the work they are supposed to be doing. Pull all my management tricks out of my hat (last week I resorted to "One two three, eyes on me!"- a mantra I learned from my first grade teacher friend). Have quiet discreet conversations with those who need individual invitations to focus and work. Rearrange the desks.

And I tell the students I love them and they know what to do.