How often do you find yourself quietly on your own in this noisy world? Even when you’re at work, out of the 7 to 8 hours, how many of them are your own quiet hours?
A study at the University of California, Irvine, found that a typical office worker’s focused quiet time is only 11 minutes in-between interruptions on average,[1] and it actually takes 25 minutes to resume to work after any interruptions.
The noise and interruptions are badly affecting our work efficiency, and in fact, our life too.
The article discusses the workplace, but some of what happens in the workplace can also pertain to the classroom. I absolutely despise interruptions, and as such, will only interrupt another class if the teacher has submitted a help desk or if their door is open. If the door is closed, I’m going to assume they don’t want to be interrupted.
For anyone who has ever been a reader, there’s much to sympathize with in Maryanne Wolf’s Reader, Come Home. The UCLA neuroscientist, a great lover of literature, tries to read Hermann Hesse’s Glass Bead Game, an old favorite, only to realize that she finds him boring and too complex. She wonders why he ever won a Nobel….
But now, machines are also grading students’ essays. Computers are scoring long form answers on anything from the fall of the Roman Empire, to the pros and cons of government regulations. Developers of so-called “robo-graders” say they understand why many students and teachers would be skeptical of the idea. But they insist, with computers…
So, we’ve made the decision to reverse our previously shared plans. Right now, every member can upload an unlimited number of images and patterns to Design Space for free, and we have no intention to change this policy. This is true whether you’re a current Cricut member or are thinking about joining the Cricut family…
We recently spoke with three inspirational educators about their experience in the Innovator Program and the ideas they brought to life: Charlie Shryock, who created eThanks, an online gratitude site for teachers; Matt Wigdahl who designed a makerspace project called SolverSpace; and Carrie Anne Philbin who created Geek Gurl Diaries to inspire girls to pursue…
BRANSON: Well I mean, I think, I find that some American companies are anything but good at motivating people. And I find that hard to understand, because if you’ve got a happy, motivated group of people you’re working with, you can achieve anything. And you know, you can ride the good times together, you can…
I popped my head into one session: there were only two people in the room — talking about Mentoring New Principals. Initially, I was saddened at the small turnout in this particular session. Until I realized the these two people would not have met and had a professional discussion about a topic both cared about if it wasn’t…
