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Affective Teaching

A fact that changed how I teach (and how I view movies)

Published 4 months agoย โ€ขย 1 min read

4 seconds.

That's the average time between camera or view shifts in modern t.v. shows, movies, and YouTube videos. That means, every 4 seconds, there's a zoom in, zoom out, change of scene or new element being added. That's just the average -- watch a show aimed at kids and you'll see those shifts happening even faster. What's happening here and why does this matter for teaching (and life)?

Scene shifts used to be about supporting the storyline and setting (e.g. zooming in to intensify a monologue). Now, scene shifts are more often about capturing and holding attention.

Every time there's a shift or new element added, the little surprise cues a hit of norepinephrine, a neuromodulator that drives our attention. But we get desensitized quickly unless a new surprise pops up. More little surprises = more attention.

Can you see the vicious cycle this leads to? Content creators (who make money off our attention) add more surprises, which desensitize our attention, which drives content creators to add more frequent surprises. And so on.

No wonder the modern students -- and adult -- struggles to sustain attention.

What does this mean today for the teacher trying to hold student attention? We can't talk for large or even moderate amounts of time without losing student attention.

We need to add variety to our teaching, especially direct instruction.

There are many ways to do this, but a great starting point is more frequent shifts of cognitive modes.

In my latest Affective Teaching in Action video, I explain what that means and share a variety of strategies any teacher can add into any lesson. Take 7 minutes and check it out (I promise it won't fry your brain with 4 second scene changes):

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Nerd in the wild

Big shout out to Irvine USD for bringing me in Monday for a full day of nerdery on Affective Teaching practices! Looking forward to our next collaboration already ๐Ÿ™‚

If you or your school are in need for uplifting and pragmatic PD, reach out to my team today!

See you next week!

Your nerd next door,

Chase Mielke

PO Box 852, MH, CA 95038
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Affective Teaching

Boosting the effectiveness of learning through the affectiveness of teaching

I'm Chase Mielke, a huge nerd about all things emotions. I'm an educator, nationally recognized speaker, and ASCD author dedicated to applying the science of positive emotion to prevent burnout, improve educator efficacy, and help teachers, parents, and students thrive.

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