We’ve all been through high school and middle school. Sitting for hours on end, often staring at a blank wall, through the window, or at a blank ceiling to pass the time while a teacher drones off about a topic that you think you’ll probably never need in real life. Except you do, it’s just not being introduced properly. 

In this episode of the Attention, Ladies and Gentlemen podcast, our host Jeff Coleman talks to Alexander Deeb. Alex is the co-Founder and CEO of ClassHook, a tool which uses popular culture and media such as movies to introduce and explain real-world topics such as Physics, Math, and even poetry. Alex also talks about the problems that teachers and students alike go through in the public school system, and how the benefits of ClassHook often go outside the classroom as well. 

HIGHLIGHTS

• Using popular media to introduce educational topics
• Engagement in the classroom is key to learning
• Teaching Physics through The Simpsons and Speed (1994)
• The public school system need a lot of tweaking
• Movies can even be used to teach literary devices and poetry
• Focus does not come naturally
• Tips for using ClassHook more effectively

QUOTES

Alex on the added benefits of using movies and other popular media to teach topics: "It goes into topics like media literacy and being critical about what media they're consuming. There's a whole host of other tangential benefits and more explicit benefits that they can get from understanding the truth or being more critical about the media they consume."

Alex on the difficulties of also catering to high school students: "They have other things distracting them. They have more of a social life and that's when engagement tends to drop off. Because students sometimes become disillusioned  with the public education system, unfortunately. Because they've went to the motions enough times to know, okay this is the formula: 'I just got to study or cram for the test and just get an A.'"

Alex's take on how to grab and sustain attention from the teacher: "The goal of ClassHook is to get the students' attention, and then help the teachers create connections between their personal lives and interests, which are movies, tv shows and such to the curriculum. And through that process of having a discussion based on the videos, that's kind of where the focus and engagement is more continual versus temporary."

Connect with Alex and his work at Classhook with the links below: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexanderdeeb/
• Website: https://www.classhook.com/

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Attention issues can be particularly difficult to notice among children, since they are just balls of pure energy. Most kids are energetic and love to explore the world, as children do. However, attention issues often become more apparent when children enter school for the first time, where they are expected to sit still for long periods for the first time. 

In this episode of the Attention Ladies and Gentlemen podcast, our host Jeff Coleman talks to Debbie McNulty, a pediatric occupational therapist about addressing attention issues among school children. Debbie shares some strategies to help educators and parents make it easier for kids to pay attention, rooted from her experience in working with kids both in home and school-based settings.

HIGHLIGHTS

• How Debbie got into occupational therapy
• A kid's attention issues may not be noticeable before preschool
• How Occupational Therapists can help kids deal with their attention issues
• Why special treatment might not be the answer
• Strategies to help attention-challenged kids gain focus
• Kids need a way to say when they're having trouble focusing

QUOTES

Debbie on why a lot of attention problems are not apparent before school age: "If we're looking at a preschool situation, those kids at that age they're required just to be able to sit in a circle time situation where there's usually about 10 or 12 kids. For some of these kids it's the very first time having to sit for up to 10, 15 minutes and maybe having other kids right next to them. This is usually the first time that teachers or parents might even notice [that] 'hey my kid has an attention problem' because it may have never manifested itself before they're actually in that situation."

How Occupational Therapists can help kids deal with their attention issues: "It could be something as simple as fidget toys to a little cushion where the child can move around a little bit. Anything, [even] just educating the teacher and staff to provide movement breaks and that sort of thing." 

Connect with Debbie on the links below: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbie-mcnulty-618082116/
• Website: https://www.steppingstonesot.net/

To find out more about BrainLeap Technologies, visit https://brainleaptech.com/ and follow them on social media using the links below:

• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/brainleap/
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• Twitter - https://twitter.com/brain_leap

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Attention is a major concern for educators, especially those who really care and understand the uniqueness of individual students. In this episode of the Attention ladies & Gentlemen podcast, our host Jeff Coleman talks to academic tutor Dr. Joan Blanusa Ed.D. about her unique approach to addressing attention issues inside and outside the classroom. Dr. Joan digs deeper than most people, accounting for the individual’s emotional states, as well as the sociocultural contexts that contribute to attention issues. This way, she is better able to tailor her approach to the individual instead of imposing cookie-cutter methods that have been proven ineffective. 

HIGHLIGHTS

• Dr. Joan's journey in the education sector 
• How Dr. Joan addresses attention problems in her students
• Good teachers pay attention to students that aren't paying attention
• How caring about her students improved their engagement
• Adolescents are often unmotivated, not lazy
• The culture of the school and community matters 

QUOTES

Dr. Joan defines attention: "Attention for me is almost synonymous with engagement. It's just part and parcel of how I teach and what I do. It's something I'm on the lookout for all the time. It's how I kept the student engaged in what we we're doing. That's true when I taught in a classroom of 25 students, or in a graduate school seminar of 12, to 1 on 1 right now."

Dr. Joan's approach to working with kids struggling to pay attention: "I have a strong background in educational psychology and human development, so I do a lot to try and ascertain if there are any psychological or socio-emotional issues going on behind attention. 99.99% of the time that's a huge factor."

Dr. Joan on tailoring her approach to the individual, not her personal beliefs: "You have to be very careful not to impose your own values and what you want that kid to be. That's why you really have to get to know the person like you knew the student who loved ants and the other person whose daughter loved horses."

Connect with Dr. Joan on the links below: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joan-blanusa/
• Website: https://www.joanblanusa.com/

To find out more about BrainLeap Technologies, visit https://brainleaptech.com/ and follow them on social media using the links below:

• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/brainleap/
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/brainleap-technologies/
• Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/brainleap
• Twitter - https://twitter.com/brain_leap

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