Category: Organization: Getting Things Done

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In Defense of Distraction

  By Organization: Getting Things Done, Units

Click below to load “In Defense of Distraction,” a 2009 New York Magazine article by Sam Anderson:

http://nymag.com/news/features/56793/

Anderson has written more than six thousand words here, and the full article is more relevant now than it was in 2009. Consider his final thoughts:

Kids growing up now might have an associative genius we don’t—a sense of the way ten projects all dovetail into something totally new. They might be able to engage in seeming contradictions: mindful web-surfing, mindful Twittering. Maybe, in flights of irresponsible responsibility, they’ll even manage to attain the paradoxical, Zenlike state of focused distraction.

The idea of “associative genius” is fascinating, especially with the kind of access you now have to computers and smartphones. Note, too, the mention of being “mindful.” What we do is always connected to mindfulness, whether you use that term or not.

For our purposes, you should read the entire article, but you are required only to read the following excerpts:

Those excerpts are reposted below for those who prefer a non-Google format, or a format that permits tools like Snap&Read. (See the post on organization for a description and directions for Snap&Read.)

Read these excerpts, take notes, discuss the ideas, and think critically about how this applies to you, now, in this school. You will be asked to write a response to these excerpts (or to the entire article, if you choose to read it). In the comment section of this post, you should ask questions and offer your observations and insights.

Extended Response Focus

The response you will write to Anderson’s article does not need to consider more than the excerpts posted above. To do more than just what is required, however, which is one path to the top tier of profiles, you might look at his final paragraph, which is about you:

Which brings me, finally, to the next generation of attenders, the so-called “net-gen” or “digital natives,” kids who’ve grown up with the Internet and other time-slicing technologies. There’s been lots of hand-wringing about all the skills they might lack, mainly the ability to concentrate on a complex task from beginning to end, but surely they can already do things their elders can’t—like conduct 34 conversations simultaneously across six different media, or pay attention to switching between attentional targets in a way that’s been considered impossible. More than any other organ, the brain is designed to change based on experience, a feature called neuroplasticity. London taxi drivers, for instance, have enlarged hippocampi (the brain region for memory and spatial processing)—a neural reward for paying attention to the tangle of the city’s streets. As we become more skilled at the 21st-century task Meyer calls “flitting,” the wiring of the brain will inevitably change to deal more efficiently with more information. The neuroscientist Gary Small speculates that the human brain might be changing faster today than it has since the prehistoric discovery of tools. Research suggests we’re already picking up new skills: better peripheral vision, the ability to sift information rapidly. We recently elected the first-ever BlackBerry president, able to flit between sixteen national crises while focusing at a world-class level. Kids growing up now might have an associative genius we don’t—a sense of the way ten projects all dovetail into something totally new. They might be able to engage in seeming contradictions: mindful web-surfing, mindful Twittering. Maybe, in flights of irresponsible responsibility, they’ll even manage to attain the paradoxical, Zenlike state of focused distraction.

Anderson reported the research and wove in his insight back in 2009. You are those “kids who’ve grown up with the Internet and other time-slicing technologies” he describes here.

That means an important an authentic prompt is this: To what extent is this final paragraph accurate?

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Organization: Skills to Frame the Rest

  By 22–23 Resources, Organization: Getting Things Done, Skill-Building, Units

From the profile of an INTJ, or “Architect.” Click for the website by NERIS Analytics Limited, which includes a free test and explanation of these personality classifications.

Getting Things Done, Part 1

You are reading this post because you need to organize the academic stuff you have on you. That word, stuff, comes from a root meaning “to equip,” and that’s the idea: You equip yourself every day in order to deal with school and the work it requires. You gear up.

Start with a frank assessment of how you do that. This is an inventory of your equipment, so to speak. You are going to empty your bag, metaphorically and literally, and then use the resources of our makerspace to improve or replace what you find.

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What to Do at the Start of Class

  By Organization: Getting Things Done, Space Explainers, Units

The start of every class period should look the same. As you arrive, even before the bell rings, you should begin the start-of-class checklist. It will focus you in several ways.

On Google Classroom, it looks like this:

That link loads the handout. It fits on the front of a single page. Laminated color copies are posted on the walls and spread throughout the room.

Here is a direct link: https://tinyurl.com/makerspace-start

Step #1: The Physical Space

Using the space effectively is about much more than modular tables and rolling chairs. You can choose seats that allow you to collaborate, and you can rearrange the room to suit your goals. Be sure to

  • sit where you can be most productive;
  • avoid groups that will distract you;
  • load only what you need on your Chromebook; and
  • put away your phone.

On the last two points: Store the phone where it can’t tentacle its way into the learning environment, and strip the Chromebook of anything not related to our work. You lack the self-control to do anything else.

Step #2: Google Classroom

The use of a form to set goals and practice mindfulness is detailed here: The Start of Class: Daily Calibration. The goal-setting is a requirement. It ought to happen at the start of class, and it must happen within the first ten minutes or so.

Always check your current, upcoming, and missing assignments. Those posts will provide a road map for the rest of the period. Read all directions and announcements carefully, and be sure to click on every link.

Step #3: Gmail

This step is best understood as a failsafe for Google Classroom. Set up notifications so that you can be informed of any and all updates related to the course, from new posts to individual feedback. If you need help organizing your Gmail inbox, make that a priority.

Step #4: Google Drive

Another failsafe. You’re more likely to open documents and files somewhere else, but you should have this app organized well enough to find any file you need quickly.

You will often share folders and files from Drive when you are compiling evidence for grading purposes.

Step #5: Sisyphean High

You most often find yourself on the course website through a Google Classroom link. It needs to be bookmarked, though, because it contains everything related to the learning process. All lectures, notes, and other posts are required reading.

You should also begin to use this site as a means of asking questions and getting feedback. The comment section is always open, and it’s a waste to leave it empty.

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SWOT Analysis

  By Grade Abatement, Organization: Getting Things Done, Triage, Units

Network of Possible Wanderings

To create the best version of you, you must become an expert in your own learning. You’ve done a considerable amount of metacognitive work already, but there is always more to do. This time, we’re looking to expand your “network of possible wanderings,” a term used by Teresa Amabile to define expertise:

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Gestalt Suite: Getting to Know Yourself

  By Organization: Getting Things Done, Triage, Units

From the profile of an INTP, or “Logician.” Links to the test are in the post below.

Form and Function First

Here is the Google Form you have been formally assigned:

This isn’t meant to be an exhaustive self-assessment. I’m sure there are interesting data and questions left out. This is the start of mapping as much of your academic self as we can after the first month of the year. First, review the key concepts below, familiarize yourself with the Google Form above, and then read the complete instructions for each section. You’ll need to take a bunch of tests before starting to fill out the form, so I’d strongly suggests creating a folder for your saved results.

Key Concept: Data Tell a Story | All data tell us something, if we’re willing to look hard at our own assumptions and heuristics. Treat every number, whether it is generated for you or by you, as a starting point. Treat every description as a part of an ongoing and much larger story.

Key Concept: the Forer Effect | Read about this concept here, or look for the embedded article later in this post. Always remember that no online test — and not too many off-line tests — should be treated as absolutely accurate. Your role is to become, as David McRaney says, “capable psychonauts who think about thinking, about states of mind, about set and setting.”

You Are Not So Smart – Book Trailer – Procrastination

Key Skill: Critical Thinking and Metacognition in Writing | For each set of data you create this week, write a paragraph of analysis that tries to find some insight. You must do this. The written word is how we freeze our thinking and refine our beliefs.

Key Skill: Organization + Autodidacticism | You can’t rush through these, and you’ll need to plan out ahead of time what needs attention. This is not your only assignment for the next week. It will be easier to focus when the work is about you, so the real danger is forgetting what else you need to prioritize.

You are recording these data in the Google Form at the top of this post, which is also available here or attached to the assignment on Google Classroom. Each of the sections below explains what you will enter on the form, with context or instructions as necessary. Read carefully.

Again, the bolded and all-caps words in each section are what appear on the Google Form. You must be organized here to keep it straight, which is the point: You learn what you do.

Form Data #1: ACADEMIC RESOURCES

COUNSELOR | This is one of the most important resources you have — the person who can help you with courses, college, and a lot of the existential and emotional havoc that comes from spending half of your day in a high school. For some of you, this is known; for others, it will be the first time you’ve looked up who this is. Select the appropriate last name.

LAST YEAR’S ENGLISH TEACHER | There are a number of reasons for us to reach out to the teacher you had last year, especially as we look at your growth as a writer over time. This person spent a long time with you. Select the appropriate last name.

Form Data #2: GPA DATA

OVERALL | Seems odd to ask for this in a grade-abated course, right? The reason, as the top of this post also argues, is that all data reveal something, and GPA is no different. At the very least, it will open up a discussion of Alfie Kohn’s “Case Against Grades” (available here) or Jerry Jesness’ “Floating Standard” (online here), which are seminal texts for any group trying to change how we learn1. Select the approximate number. If you have your weighted average, use that.

LAST YEAR’S ELA | This tells us something about your work in the Humanities. The score probably correlates to your ability, but it also reflects your interest level, maturity, personal life, etc. — although it does not tell the whole story, as you know. Putting the number in context is critical.

Form Data #3: MYERS-BRIGGS

This is the first test you’ll take, and we should talk about what that means. A personality test, especially one as steeped in good research as this one, might be useful, but the Forer effect is a real and powerful phenomenon:

The idea is not that a personality test is inaccurate or useless. It’s that you must be metacognitively vigilant about anything a test like this tells you, especially when your goal is self-improvement2. Approach this Myers-Briggs diagnostic, the IPIP-NEO diagnostic below, and any other test you happen upon with the same understanding: It’s always more important to use the ideas to organize your self-analysis. Read everything the site presents to you as context, keep that Forer effect in mind, and do a lot of reflective writing.

The test:

TYPE | Once you have it, select the profile shorthand (from this list) in the Google Form.

 

Form Data #3: MULTIPLE-INTELLIGENCE SELF-ASSESSMENT (SPIDER GRAPH)

Now we move into a pair of self-assessments. You won’t take a test to generate these numbers; instead, you’ll have to look at yourself as honestly and accurately as you can.

First, though: This is a direct test of your ability to be autodidactic, specifically your ability to research concepts enough to be able to work with them. The concepts are below. There are no hyperlinks this time, because you need to practice your own Google skills.

  • Spider graphs, also known as radar graphs or wheel graphs | You need to create your own spider graphs with these data. Visualizing this sort of self-assessment has serious efficacy in analysis.
  • The theory of multiple intelligences, as devised by Howard Gardner | These are the categories listed below. You need a working understanding of them to self-assess.

For these categories, use the 0-9 scale as indicated by the options on the Google Form. This is a self-assessment, which means you are acting, once again, as a “capable psychonaut.” Only honesty helps.

Note: The categories are not official, and there are other lists out there. Our list respects Howard Gardner’s version3.

THE ARTS | I’ve grouped these together, because they are most often associated with the arts. You’ll learn more through your own research. Fill out the form by ranking yourself from 0-9.

  • MUSICAL
  • SPATIAL

TRADITIONAL | These two are most often associated with traditional schooling, and with our traditional definition of intelligence. Again, you’ll learn more through your own research. Fill out the form by ranking yourself from 0-9.

  • VERBAL
  • LOGICAL

SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL | Again, the grouping is mine, because it helps to chunk information as we self-assess. These two intelligences contribute most to your social and emotional learning. Fill out the form by ranking yourself from 0-9.

  • INTERPERSONAL
  • INTRAPERSONAL

OTHER | And here you have the “other” category, which will make sense when you research what each one means. Fill out the form by ranking yourself from 0-9.

  • BODILY
  • NATURAL
  • SPIRITUAL
  • TEACHING

Form Data #4: UNIVERSAL SKILLS & TRAITS (SPIDER GRAPH)

This section is a direct test of your ability to internalize important information — in this case, the set of universal skills and traits that are trained and assessed in this course. Like the above section, there are no hyperlinks in the main text. You have dozens of ways to refresh your understanding of:

  1. the eight pairs of universal skills/traits and how they interact; and
  2. how those skills/traits lead to a grade abatement profile.

For these categories, use the 0-9 scale as indicated by the options on the Google Form. This is a self-assessment, which means you are acting, once again, as a “capable psychonaut.” Only honesty helps.

Note: There are sixteen distinct skills or traits, but they form discrete pairs because of how they interact with each other. Focus on the instructional materials you’ve been given all year.

  • Collegiality ⇆ Empathy
  • Integrity + Character
  • Close Reading ⟹ Internalization
  • Critical Thinking ⟹ Metacognition
  • Effective Communication ⟹ Writing
  • Amenability ⇆ Self-Awareness
  • Assiduousness ⇆ Self-Efficacy
  • Organization ⟹ Autodidacticism

Ask questions about any of these particular elements below. Treat the comment section of this post as another resource for organization, researching, and understanding what you must do to make sense of all these data.

  1. That’s us, by the way. We are trying to change how we learn. It’s as someone said about dreaming big: “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars [where your skin will inflate and your lungs will explode].” ↩

  2. I have long thought of myself as an INTJ, for instance, but I see more and more of myself in the description of an INTP these days. Without taking the test again, I can read through the differences and apply that knowledge to myself. I believe those differences are crucial to my development as a teacher, which gives me a starting point for meaningful metacognitive discussion and writing. ↩

  3. See his interview here for more. You can get to this interview, by the way, through a careful reading of the Wikipedia page on multiple intelligences. It also quotes a useful definition of intelligence, according to Gardner: “a biopsychological potential to process information that can be activated in a cultural setting to solve problems or create products that are of value in a culture.” Unpacking that sentence is an excellent exercise in close reading, and it would help you make sense of this self-assessment. Note, too, that this footnote is helping you with the research component. As always, these posts are meant to help. ↩