The newest information from educational research MULTITASKING The newest information from educational research

MULTITASKING How many of you are effective multitaskers? What does successful multitasking behavior look like? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P4UNcTS6 Bg MULTITASKING

We have a brain with billions of neurons and many trillion of connections, so let’s use them, right? MULTITASKING

Based on 50 years of cognitive science and brain studies…we know now for certain that people who multitask: - Do less - Miss more information MULTITASKING

MULTITASKING When you multitask – It takes time (about 15 minutes) to re-orient to a primary task after a distraction such as a text or youtube video Long-term memory and creativity is reduced Your efficiency can drop by as much as 40% MULTITASKING

MULTITASKING So…why can’t we multitask? When you are trying to accomplish 2 dissimilar tasks, each one requiring some level of consideration and attention, multitasking falls apart. Your brain just can’t take in and process 2 simultaneous, separate streams of information and encode them fully into short-term memory. If info never gets into our short-term memory…it can’t be transferred into long-term memory for recall later. MULTITASKING

But…everybody multitasks – they talk while driving, they respond to texts while looking at stuff online, they walk and chew gum at the same time… It turns out that we are really just task-switching. We switch very quickly, and it feels like multitasking. MULTITASKING

But distractions and tasks are everywhere…what should we do? The secret to thriving in an age of universal distraction isn’t to avoid distractions, but to distract SMARTLY Make an effort to do one task at a time (18 minutes max) Find a “focus time” Admit that not all info is useful MULTITASKING

Articles Jigsaw I am going to pass out three different articles After you read the article, answer the following prompts in your journal (you can use a graphic organizer if you prefer): What is the main idea of the article? Summarize the main points of the article (bullet points are fine) What is the author’s main argument? (Is it different from the main idea?) What evidence do they use to back up their argument Do you believe the author? (Did you ‘buy’ their argument?) Why or why not Articles Jigsaw

Gather in groups based on which article you had. Article 1: Meet in the desks by the sink. Article 2: Meet in the desks by Ms. Belur’s desk in the back. Article 3: Meet side whiteboard desks. Discuss the questions you answered after reading the article and create a master graphic organizer to post on the wall. Articles Jigsaw

Now meet in small groups of three, based on the letter written on the articles. Share what your article was about and what your larger group discussed. (Remember that they have not read your article. You must relay all the important information to them.) Articles Jigsaw

Articles Jigsaw Whole Class Share Main ideas of articles? Author arguments? Evidence? Did they convince you? Articles Jigsaw