1. Neuroscience: The scientific study of the nervous system, especially the brain and its relationship to behavior and learning.

2. Streamlining: Making a process or system more efficient by eliminating unnecessary steps or complexities.

3. Encouragement: The action of giving someone support, confidence, or hope.

4. Bell to Bell Teaching: Refers to the expectation that instruction should begin as soon as the first classroom bell rings and continue until the bell rings again.

5. Pedagogy: The method and practice of teaching, especially as an academic subject or theoretical concept.

6. Neuroimaging: The use of various techniques to directly or indirectly image the structure, function, or pharmacology of the nervous system.

7. Vigilance Decrement: The decline in attention that occurs when trying to maintain focus for extended periods.

8. Consolidate: To make something physically stronger or more solid; in the context of learning, it refers to the process of strengthening and stabilizing memories.

9. Circadian Rhythms: The natural, internal process that regulates the sleep-wake cycle and repeats roughly every 24 hours.

10. Androgogy: The art and science of teaching adults, as opposed to pedagogy which is the teaching of children.

11. Socioemotional Wellbeing: The state of being comfortable, healthy, and happy in terms of one’s social and emotional life.

12. Pomodora Method: A time management technique that uses a timer to break down work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks.

13. Diffused Thinking: A thinking mode that allows the mind to wander and make connections between seemingly unrelated concepts.

14. Introspection: The examination or observation of one’s own mental and emotional processes.

Welcome to episode 287 ofAngela Watson’s truth for Teachers.I’m your host, Angela Watson, and I’m here tospeak encouragement into the hearts of educators and getyou informed and energized for the week ahead.Today, I’m examining the research about Bellto Bell teaching and proposing a betterway that’s actually backed by neuroscience.Visit Truthforteachers.com for an easy to read, easyto share version of this podcast episode.If you have a side hustle as a tutor, coachor any other business that requires clients who need tobook appointments and pay for services, check out Practice Do.Practice do is the simplest platform Ifound for streamlining everything from scheduling reminder,messages, invoicing and record keeping.It’s perfect for teachers who tutor and wantto keep all communication and payments in oneeasy professionallooking tool for themselves and for clients.Any Truth for Teachers listeners can try Practicefree for seven days and get 50% offtheir first three months using the code. Teachers.Learn more at practice.Do did you hear that?I’ve started a new podcast.It’s called the Truth for teachers.Daily encouragement. Podcast.With new episodes dropping each day from Monday to Friday,every episode is just three to five minutes long.So it’s perfect to listen when you first wake up,to start your day on a positive note during yourcommute, to ease into school mode on your break, toreenergize yourself for the afternoon or after dismissal, to groundcalm and recenter when the day is done.The Truth for Teachers Daily Encouragement Podcast is adfree and exclusive to subscribers for $3.99 a month.Click the link in the show notes to learn more.I recently had a great discussion withsome educators about Bell to Bell instruction.This refers to the expectation that students befully engaged in learning tasks from the firstminute of class until the last.Now, the conversation that we had took placeduring the live chat of a session inthe 40 hours Teacher Workweek Online summit.So this was an event that was held overthe summer in which teachers shared their best strategiesfor streamlining and making teaching more effective and efficient.And by the way, if you missed out on that,the recordings are still available and you can actually seethe live chat as well in the recordings so thatyou can follow along with our conversation.So many of the presenters in thesummit were talking about ways that theyincorporate joy and playfulness into their dailyroutines and how they build classroom community.And it was clear from the chatthat every single teacher attending the sessionunderstood the self evident value of breaks.They understood the value of downtime for students.And yet many said that their districtsor their administrators wouldn’t permit it.So I promised to curate the neuroscience research andthen create a podcast and a corresponding article thatcould be then shared so that way you canopen up conversations about how our schools can bettermeet the needs of students.So let’s clarify our terminology first, becauseyour idea of Bellabelle instruction might bedifferent than what I’m thinking of.The concept of teaching from bell to bellgenerally refers to the expectation that instruction shouldbegin as soon as the first classroom bellrings and continue until the bell rings again.That’s where the name came from.Sometimes the interpretation includes anexpectation that students are constantlyworking on their learning goals.So you may hear it phrased thatway students need to be constantly workingon learning goals the entire class period.As you’ll discover through this podcastepisode, these interpretations of bell tobell instruction are not best practice.They are not backed by researchabout how the brain learns.Now, a more generous framing of Beltebellinstruction is that we should honor studentstime by providing them a constructive learningenvironment at all times in the classroom.And I can almost get behind this interpretation,but we would have to agree to redefinewhat a quote, constructive learning environment looks like.A constructive learning environment.Yes, we should provide that at all timesif we can envision one that includes breaks.Now, certainly we don’t want to waste students time.You all know that is not what I’m about at all.We don’t want to be dragging out transitions.Our time with students is precious and it is limited.We have a lot of things that we want toaccomplish with them in a very short period of time.So we do want to maximize instructional time.That’s a phrase that you hear me use a lot.What I’m proposing is that we maximize our instructional timeby not attempting to pack every single moment with morework, that we let go of this idea that moreis better and we move into fewer things better.So let’s dig into what the problemis with bell to Bell instruction.Then I’m going to get into the researchthat addresses why this is so problematic andsome practical suggestions that you can do.Now, there’s a substac article by a teacher named Mr.G, who is at Math Ed Corner, andhe writes about how Beldebell teaching has beenso exhausting for both himself and for students.Listen to this excerpt that I’m goingto read to you from his article.Bell to Bell teaching meansthere’s never any free time.There’s never a break for students or teachers.If a student finishes early, then teachers needto create more work for them to complete.Doesn’t matter if the studenthas mastered the skill already.Give Timmy more practice problems to do, finish thelesson early and have four minutes to spare.Students should not be talkingabout their plans after school.Spend those four minutes reading a deer bookso students can increase their literacy scores.Bell to Bell instruction also means thata teacher is standing and constantly monitoringthe classroom to support student learning.All students mastered the skill.Well, there’s always more to learn. Get to it.No sitting down, no grading, nowriting important emails, no lesson planning,only supporting student learning.Bell to Bell instruction means thata teacher must always be on.You need to catch every small misbehavior, everyincorrect answer, listen in on every conversation, andmake sure students are talking about the content.Ensure everyone is answering each question with rigor, and makesure you mark it all down on your clipboard.So that’s just a small piece of what the problem iswith bell to bell instruction and what it looks like inthe classroom and the kind of pressure that it places onteachers and students to be busy and look busy.Add to this the fact that neither teachers nor studentsreally get much of a break during the school day.So at the secondary level, you and your students willprobably have just three to five minutes to transition yourselvesboth mentally and physically, as well as all of yourbelongings or whatever it is you need to move aroundin preparation for the next class period.This three to five minutes leaves no timefor human connection, for follow up questions, forrecentering ourselves, for having a moment of quiet.At the elementary level, students and their teachermay be in the room together for multiplehours at a time with no break. I know.For me, I had a reading period thatwas supposed to be completely uninterrupted two anda half hours a day with third graders.And I would look for ways tobuild in breaks for them, of course.But that doesn’t change the fact that they were supposedto be concentrating on literacy in the same classroom withme for two and a half hours straight.And they were eight years old.So I think there’s problems at both theelementary and the secondary level in terms ofnot having this built in downtime or breaks.And you might be thinking, well, what about lunch?Well, is lunchtime really a true break?Is that actually downtime?Most cafeterias are extremely loud.They’re bright if you are neurodivergent, if youhave autism, if you’re prone to sensory overload,if you’re a highly sensitive person.A cafeteria at school is not a break for you.You are not going to get any alone time, anykind of quiet, any kind of time to decompress.And lunchtime for teachers is I mean, I don’t needto tell you that’s obviously not a break, right?It’s rushed.You have things that you have to get done.No one actually feels rejuvenated after their lunch break asa teacher, or most people don’t, I should say.So when do teachers and studentsget a moment to regroup?When is there a moment to prepare?  “ WWW.ARMINIC.COM “ For the next set of tasks that you need to complete.And almost all educators understandthat this is a problem.They get why this is not good.But I find there’s often a tremendous amount offear about being caught letting students have downtime.What if an administrator walks in and seesthe students just sitting there chatting and beingoff topic in what they’re discussing?What if someone, the district comes in and thekids look like they’re just sitting and doing nothing?And so we end up doing these very highly structuredbrain breaks, which I’ll get to those in a moment.That’s not necessarily a bad thing,but we rarely allow actual downtime.Downtime is time in which students are notexpected to be doing anything in particular.They can use their time as they please, andthere’s very little of this during the school day.I understand the fear of being caughtallowing downtime, and even still, I encourageyou not to make fear based decisions.Fear based decision making rarely leadsus to making the wisest choice.Instead, I encourage you to boldly do what yourstudents need, do what’s best for kids, and beprepared with the research to back up your choice.So if you are caught allowing downtime in yourclass, you will be able to defend that decisionand explain how it fits into students overall learninggoals and your plan for teaching them.And that’s what this episode and the accompanyingarticle are designed to help you do.You will need this research if you’re going to goagainst the grain and do what’s best for kids.So let’s get into the research.What does neuroscience tell usabout how the brain learns?Not having breaks, not having downtime,goes against everything we collectively knowabout the science of learning.Now, most educators are not deeply entrenched inthe latest brain research about how they learn.Who has time for that whenyou’re working a full time job?Plus, there’s a lot of things that change very quickly.We’re learning a lot about the brain ata very, very rapid pace right now, soit’s hard to keep on top of everything.So it’s difficult for educators to have the timeand energy to do this kind of research.And then we look at the peoplewho are doing the research, the scientists.Well, they’re rarely trained in teaching methodologies.They’re rarely trained in pedagogy or androgogywhich is best practices for teaching adults.So the scientists are not often translatingtheir research into implications for classroom settings.And that leaves us with this disconnect.Educators are typically interested in brain science andits implications for learning they want to know.And neuroscientists would typically love tosee all of their research putinto practical application in the classroom.But there’s not a ton offolks doing that crossover work.And this is a big part of why mytime and energy right now is focused on findingflow that’s the curriculum line that I’m making tobring brain science and educational best practices together.I want the way that we approach instructionin schools to incorporate this research, and Iwant us to teach it to kids.I want kids to understand how theylearn so that they can manage theirtime and their attention and their energy.So let’s talk about what we know from scientificresearch about how the brain learns and how itcontradicts the idea of bell to bell instruction.I’m going to share six takeaways from the research,and then I’ll share six practical suggestions for howyou can incorporate the research into your instruction.So here’s the first thing to know from the research.Multiple factors must be considered when deciding howmuch focused work can reasonably be expected.We often assume that if the school dayis 6 hours long that students should befocused for the entirety of that time.Yeah, they’ll have a short break for lunch and in betweenclasses, but they should be focused for the 6 hours.However, the six hour school day was not chosen basedon research about the optimal amount of time that studentscan and should do focused work every day.Therefore, we shouldn’t assume that the best way toutilize those 6 hours is just to pack themwith as many academic tasks as possible.There’s a notable study that was published inScience Direct by professors at the University ofIllinois which highlights what they call vigilance decrement.This refers to the decline in attention that occurswhen we try to maintain focus for extended periods.Their research suggests that taking brief breakscan counteract this decline and help studentsstay more engaged in the learning process.They also point to different factors that haveto be considered when we’re deciding how muchfocus work to require of students.So we have to think aboutindividual attention span, circadian rhythms.We have periods of alertness anddrowsiness throughout the day, task complexity.So a more difficult task is going tobe harder to stay focused on over time.There’s individual variability to consider.People have different varying levelsof concentration and stamina.We have to consider things like physicalhealth, your sleep, quality, diet, exercise.All of these influence our ability to concentrate.Environmental factors will factor in such as noise,interruptions, discomfort that can make it more difficultto concentrate for an extended period of time.Rest and recovery, which is all about time awayfrom work and away from focusing, will factor in,as well as energy management and work life balance.So the idea is not that you will need to considereach one of those factors and more for every single student.We’re just looking at the logical conclusion here,which is that very few people, much lesschildren, should realistically be expected to do focusedwork for 6 hours every single workday.There’s all of these different factors that have tocome into the play when determining whether or notwe’re going to be successful with that.And research shows that we need to havebreaks which can help counteract some of theselimitations on our ability to focus.So that’s the first takeaway from neuroscience.The second is this the brain is likea muscle that can be strengthened, but functionsbest with repetition and breaks between those repetitions.Anyone who does weight training can tell you that theway to build strength in your muscles isn’t to taxthose muscles to their limit the entire time you’re atthe gym, or try to lift weights for hours andhours on end every single day.You need to rest between sets, and you needto have entire rest days to give your musclesa chance to recover before you push them further.To appreciate the significance of breaks between setsof focused work in the classroom, we haveto acknowledge the limitations of the human brain.Neuroscientists have clearly shown that our brains operatemost efficiently when they alternate between periods offocused attention and periods of relaxation.When students are engaged in learning,their brains are actively processing information,forming connections, and solving problems.This intense cognitive effort can’t be sustained indefinitely,just like a muscle needs to rest afterstrenuous exercise, the brain requires downtime to rechargeand consolidate what it’s learned.There’s research that has been conducted at theUniversity of Southern California that supports this notion.The studies there have shown that downtime, orwhat is referred to as constructive internal reflection,is essential for making meaning out of information.During these moments, the brain processes andconsolidates new knowledge, which allows it tobe retained for the long term.And by the way, the links to all ofthese studies and more details about it are includedin the article that accompanies this podcast.It’s in your show.Notes I’m trying to make this flow as aninteresting audio episode without giving you too much informationand overloading your brain as you’re listening.But I do have links to all of thisresearch and further information in the written article.So here’s the third takeaway from the neurosciencethe brain is not doing nothing during periodsof downtime, but rather it’s performing functions thatare vital to learning and working.Downtime, in neuroscientific terms, refers to timespent daydreaming or letting your thoughts wanderwith no agenda or deadline.And generally, downtime in schools is frowned upon.Students should always have something that they’resupposed to be focused on or somethingthey’re supposed to be doing.Neuroscience doesn’t support this.The research from the University of SouthernCalifornia was conducted via neuroimaging techniques.They wanted to investigate the neuralmechanisms that happen during downtime and. “ WWW.ARMINIC.COM “ Processing.And what they found is that the brain isnot idle during periods of apparent rest or downtime.It is actively engaged in internal reflection.During downtime, the brain is making meaning outof previous experiences, including the lessons they justlearned and the skills they just practice.During downtime, the brain is also processing thoughts andemotions that could interfere with future learning if thedowntime is not offered for the processing.In other words, something that mightbe distracting students or something they’resort of carrying emotionally.The brain processes that during downtime, whether ornot the person intends for that to happen.So even if your student is not focusedon processing it, just having the downtime canhelp, and then they’ll be more focused onthe instruction when it’s time to learn.Downtime is an essential part of howthe brain processes and consolidates information.It really allows students to connect newknowledge with their existing mental frameworks.The fourth takeaway from neuroscience is thatdowntime is essential for anyone who hasexperienced trauma, stress, or emotionally charged experiences.And that is, of course, all of us.A significant portion of the research studythat I just talked about focuses onthe intersection of emotion and learning.The findings show that downtime is a crucial timefor us to process our emotions, which influences ourability to learn and make sense of the world.Emotions really play a pivotal role in decision making,as well as motivation and overall well being.There’s a lot of talk in educational spacesright now about students mental health and theirsocioemotional wellbeing, but there’s not a lot oftalk about how downtime plays an essential role.We focus so much on how kids are quotebehind, and therefore we can’t possibly waste a singleminute of the academic day without considering how downtimeis what makes concentration on academics possible.So the study that I was citingadvocates for the integration of moments ofconstructive internal reflection into our daily practices.So this means recognizing that learningisn’t just about absorbing information, butalso allowing students time for introspection,reflection, and emotional processing.And this will help students develop adeeper understanding of the subject matter.The fifth takeaway from neuroscience is that thereare limits to the human ability to concentrateand do high quality work each day.Most researchers put this limit of focused, concentrated workevery single day at about three to 4 hours.That’s the limit for us during the day,and those hours typically don’t occur consecutively.There has to be breaks within those three to4 hours, and I have linked to the studythat shows this in the article for the podcast.Let’s take the Pomodora method, for example.In this approach, there is a 25 minuteswork period, followed by a five minute break.The process is repeated several times, andthen a longer break is given.Each break is supposed to be true downtime, inwhich the individual can get a snack, stretch, gooutside, generally take a break from any kind offocused, thought or directed activity at all.After three to 4 hours of focusedwork in a day, most people’s outputdeclines and their quality of work decreases.Very few adults can do more than 4hours a day of high quality work.That requires intense focus and concentration.And the number of children who can do more than4 hours a day of that is even lower.So this research is really at ODS withthe structure of our school day, in whichstudents are expected to perform optimally for around5 hours or more and then go homeand do additional work, which requires concentrated effort.In fact, high schoolers may be expected to doaround 10 hours of focused work each day.With schoolwork and homework combined, there isno research to support this practice.An occasional day with a higher workload maybe possible for some teens, but studying, writingand reading 10 hours a day on aregular basis is an unreasonable expectation.For some kids, it is humanlyimpossible, particularly if they’re neurodivergent.So there are limits to the human abilityto concentrate and do high quality work.The final takeaway from the neuroscience isthis a break is a way tomaximize every moment, because breaks lead toimproved attention, memory, and problem solving skills.While all of the research that I’ve sharedprobably sounds reasonable, you may still be hesitant.Maybe you’re thinking, well, we just have sucha limited amount of time with kids, wehave so much to teach them.I don’t know how we would even fit breaks in.I don’t know how we would even incorporate downtime.We really do have to make the most of every moment.I understand what I’m suggesting, and what theneuroscience supports is considering breaks in downtime aspart of how you’re maximizing every moment.So this isn’t about letting kids wanderthe hallways and do whatever they want.It’s about recognizing that times in the instructionalday in which they’re not expected to focuson anything in particular will help them focuson their learning tasks afterward. Dr.Judy Willis is a neurologist turned educator, andshe has conducted extensive research on this topic.Her work demonstrates that taking regular breaks duringlearning can lead to the following and I’lljust run down this list very quickly.The article provides more detail about each one.Regular breaks help with improved attention, enhancedmemory consolidation, improved problem solving skills, stressreduction, and motivation and engagement.These are all things that we can agree areissues for a lot of students in the classroom.And the solution is not more work.The solution is breaks.So let’s get into the last section here inthis podcast, where we’re going to talk about bestpractices for incorporating neuroscience into classroom routines.What does this research look like in practice?If we know that bell to bell instructionisn’t best practice, what should we be doing?So here’s some suggestions that I put together for you.The first is to share the research aboutwhat students need and how they learn.You could forward the article for this podcast to yourcolleagues and administrators and ask to open up a discussionabout it, like, hey, could we read this or listento this together and then talk about it.Most educators and school leaders have anintuitive sense that kids need breaks.But without the research to demonstratewhy and how to implement thosebreaks, it’s really difficult to justify.So you can be proactive and get theconversation going in your school or district.The second tip is to teach yourstudents about the benefits of productive breaksand why they’re necessary for learning.So we want kids to understand you don’twant to just get out your phone andoverload your break with more stimulus.Anytime you have a break, you wantto take a productive break, the kindthat refreshes your mind for more learning.So this might look like movement,standing up, stretching, walking around.It might look like being in nature, so stepping outsideif possible, or even just gazing out the window fora while and daydreaming, it might look like silence.So just putting your head down, listeningto white noise through headphones, it mightlook like talking playfully with friends.These can all be useful ways to recharge during breaks,and students can be encouraged to figure out what typeof break they need and communicate it clearly.My curriculum line, Finding Flow Solutions, helps make thisprocess really easy for you and your students.It teaches them what a productive break looks likeand how to figure out do I need silence?Do I need time to talk with friends?Do I need to move around so theycan pay attention and figure it out?You don’t have to decide for them and monitorevery single student’s needs and preferences at all times.We want kids to be able toidentify this stuff in themselves, right?And to be able to advocate for their needs to be met.The third tip is to create visual andaudio signals for downtime in your classroom.You can display specific signs, images, or PowerPointor Google Slides during your downtime to indicateto students that they’re not expected to thinkor do anything in particular in that moment.So try turning off the overhead lights, ormaybe you’re playing songs from a set playlistthat you use just for downtime.The idea is to set a tone that seemsdifferent from your normal tone in the classroom.With that let’s get stuff done vibe, right?We want to have an outward cue that tells studentswe’re shifting into a different way of thinking right now.We’re shifting from focused thinking into diffuse thinking,which is another thing that we talk aboutin Finding Flow is helping students understand thevalue of daydreaming and letting their minds wanderand what that looks like to switch.  “ WWW.ARMINIC.COM “ Between focused and diffused thinking.The other nice thing about creating these visualand audio signals for downtime in your classroomis that it gives visitors a sense thatthe downtime is intentional and planned.It’s not students being lazy oryou allowing them to do nothing.It’s actually a part of your lesson.The fourth tip is to offer whole classbrain break activities as well as unstructured downtimefor brain breaks like those offered on GoNoodle.com.If you haven’t checked that site out, it’sa really great source for short little videosand activities to get kids up moving.They’re really great, they’re very powerful, kids are reallyenjoying them, they’re a lot of fun, and theyappear to observers as an engaging activity.So if someone walks into your classroom and they seekids doing a go Noodle break, it’s clear that thisis something that you have structured for your classroom andthe kids are supposed to be doing something right.However, if students are all expected to participate,sing and dance at the exact moment thatthe teacher plays the video, then those breaksare likely not meeting all students needs.Some kids will want silence for their break.Some kids are going to want to takea break sooner than the whole class break.Some will actually be able to focus for alittle longer and don’t need the break at theexact time that the teacher implements it.Some kids will get really riled up from the breakand they will have a hard time settling down afterdoing one of these kinds of structured brain breaks.So I do like structured brain breaks.I think there is definitely research to support it.My suggestion is just to offer that inaddition to unstructured downtime rather than in placeof it, the fifth tip is to avoidrigid rules for what breaks must look like.Try to give choice and allow students to choosewhat they would like to do, even if itappears to an outsider that they are doing nothing.Let’s face it, trying to lookbusy all day is exhausting.We don’t need our students topretend that they’re on task.If you’re allowing a break during downtime, students shouldnot have to choose a break that requires themto sit still, pay attention, concentrate on anything, engagein any kind of group activity.True, downtime allows choice.It allows whatever the student needsin that moment to regroup.And the final tip is this allow time for introspectionand reflection at the end of lessons and activities.Our schools tend to be tremendouslystimulating, bright, busy and noisy spaces.And consequently, students don’t get much timeto think deeply, to ponder, to wonder.Not only are these practices essential to criticalthinking and problem solving, but they also providea type of downtime for students.So try building in more self reflection and selfanalysis into your lesson, particularly if students get severalminutes of quiet time to think and write.That can be a great way to incorporatethis sort of break into your instruction.It’s just two to three minutes at the endof a lesson in which the classroom is silent.Things are nice and calm, and they can just reflect.That’s a great break for students.It will help them clear their minds more easilyand then transition into the next class or activity.So I hope you found this episode useful.Again, click the link in the shownotes for the written version of this.I encourage you to share this widely withyour colleagues, with your administrators, with your district,and let’s get the conversation going about whyboth students and teachers need a break, needthis downtime, and how that actually helps usto maximize every moment with students.Have a great week.You can do this.And remember, it’s not going to be easy.It’s going to be worth it.Close.