1. Using Time Samples to Look at Attention Span
CHAPTER 7
Using Time Samples to Look at Attention Span
“Teaching is not about transferring knowledge. It is about learning, and the one who learns the most is the teacher.”

2. Factors Influencing Attention Span
Environment – Stimulating but not too much
Developmental competency – Cognitive readiness to focus attention
Novelty – New things catch attention for a while
Peers – Influenced by interests of peers

3. Recording method that:
TIME SAMPLES
Recording method that:
Tracks children’s choices
Their playmates
The time they spend in one area
Method suitable for children 3 years and older
Infants and toddlers – more appropriate to use anecdotal or running records

4. Time Sample

5. Uses of the Time Sample Advantages
Gathers information on the whole group
Indicates each child’s play choice and interests
Shows child’s preferred playmates
Can show adults’ position in the room

6. LOOKING AT APPROACHES TO LEARNING
Born to learn – Innate drive to learn
Approaches to learning
Ready (showing interest and enthusiasm for learning)
Willing (having strategies to respond to new opportunities even when it’s difficult)
Able (having the developmental capacity to succeed)
Piaget & kinds of knowledge
Physical: nature of objects, rolls, sinks/floats
Logico-Mathematical: Relationships, cause and effect, measuring, counting, classifying
Social Conventional: social customs (manners, rules); skill learning (reading, writing, facts, dates)

7. Vygotsky’s Ideas about Learning
Attention (and learning) are affected by social interactions
Approximate success with help from a more skilled peer or an adult
Use of private speech to talk through a difficult process