Developing Cognitive Flexibility in Children

This week’s article summary is When Transitions Lead to Tantrums: How to Help Young Students Be more Flexible.

As all parents have experienced, temper tantrums are a common part of early childhood. For young children who are still learning to understand and regulate their emotions, an outburst may be the only way they know how to express frustration, disappointment, or displeasure.

As the article below highlights, two essential executive functioning skills we help develop in our students are cognitive flexibility and impulse control.

Young children often struggle with flexibility, especially in school: transitions between classrooms and activities, unexpected changes in the daily schedule, or being told they cannot do something they want to do can trigger frustration and emotional outbursts. Part of the challenge is that tantrums may have work for them at home. (On occasions, I gave into my kids just to put an end to a tantrum or to avoid a public scene.)

For our EED teachers in particular—although these challenges certainly continue into UED—an important part of our work is helping students develop the skills and habits to manage frustration, adapt to change, and regulate their behavior. These abilities don't develop overnight; they require consistent expectations, patient guidance, modeling, and lots of practice. 

In Freudian terms, teachers often serve as an external superego—providing the guidance, boundaries, and self-control that young children have not yet fully internalized. Over time, our goal is to help students move beyond their immediate wants and impulses and develop the awareness, empathy, and self-discipline necessary to function successfully as members of a classroom community.

In many ways, learning to go with the flow, manage emotions, and recognize that one's own needs and desires must sometimes take a back seat to those of others is among the most important life lessons of early elementary years. These are not simply classroom management skills — they are foundational life skills that will serve our students well beyond Trinity.

Joe

------

Witnessing a tantrum in a classroom is tough on everyone: the student who’s having the outburst, their classmates, and the teacher who may feel helpless knowing there’s little anyone can do to stop the behavior in that moment. 

After it passes, questions persist: Why did the outburst happen? How can teachers prevent a repeat? And aren’t tantrums supposed to be for toddlers?

It’s true that toddlers are prone to tantrums when things don’t go their way, especially during transitions they deem undesirable—like going from the playground to home, from dinner time to bath time, or from screen time to errands. But tantrums are becoming a common phenomenon into kindergarten, according to early educators.

An unwillingness to accept redirection speaks directly to a lack of flexibility, one of three key executive functioning skills along with working memory and impulse control that are critical for academic success. Flexibility—the ability to switch tasks or focus, and to adapt to revised plans—is a work in progress for students of all ages, especially the youngest learners. 

Teachers can use strategies that involve visual cues and reminders to help support the growth of this skill in young learners.

Underdeveloped flexibility is completely normal in young children, who don’t start developing cognitive flexibility until age 3. 

Knowing that flexibility acquisition is a long process that has only barely begun when children reach preschool may make early elementary teachers feel better about their own students’ flexibility, or lack thereof.

When kids are in the classroom, and they’re asked to be more flexible than they’re able to be, sometimes the only way they know how to describe it is through an emotional reaction,” said Emily Bartz, a learning specialist at Friends School of Baltimore and an independent education consultant.

So, how flexible can early educators expect their young charges to be? Bartz, who works with students on improving executive functioning skills, says that kids in pre-K and kindergarten with developmentally appropriate levels of flexibility should be able to do the following about 75% of the time: accept substitutes for preferred items, transition between activities with adult support, and try new games without major protest.

Teachers should not be surprised when a 4-year-old student has a tantrum, says Kizzy Albritton, an associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin College of Education. “You most definitely should have a tantrum at 4, because that’s typically what worked for you in the past,” said Albritton, a member of the National Association of School Psychologists’ early childhood education task force. “When you had a tantrum, you usually got what you wanted.”

As children bring this learned behavior from their past to preschool, they’re often confronting new and—some would argue—unrealistic expectations. An increasing number of 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds are attending formal preschool programs whose focus is kindergarten readiness. And when a school program consistently emphasizes the skills necessary for the next grade, it may lose sight of where children are developmentally now.

Then there’s the structural piece—literally. As a growing number of states and districts add pre-K to their K-12 school systems, the youngest students may be expected to navigate campuses that were created for older children. This can mean more transitions than a 3- or 4-year-old is developmentally ready for, explains Dale Farran, a professor at Vanderbilt University, who has studied early education for a half-century.

Farran recommends against settings that require preschoolers to walk long hallways to reach the playground, restrooms, or the cafeteria. Such settings require young students to make multiple transitions throughout the school day; in her opinion, too many. “The amount of transition time is unbelievable, and the amount of negative behavior management is high,” she said. “Teachers end up saying: Don’t touch the wall. Don’t touch your neighbor. Stop at the crosswalk.”

Flexibility is one of the most challenging executive functioning skills for very young children to learn. School programs that demand young children stretch beyond their developmental capabilities make it even harder. But providing students with visual and verbal cues at critical times throughout the school day can help.

 

Boys Need More Behavioral Support Than Girls

This week’s article summary is Why Boys Start Kindergarten Behind Girls.

As we complete the first quarter of the school year, this article serves as a helpful reminder that boys and girls begin their school years with different developmental strengths and challenges. On average, girls enter preschool with more developed executive functioning and social-emotional skills than boys, which often impacts their behavior towards and readiness to learn.

Many of the boys in our classrooms are more physically active, more easily distracted, and more likely to react before they reflect. These developmental differences are not character flaws—they simply mean that many boys require additional support as they learn and develop the executive function skills that lead to success in school. And, as we know, stronger self-regulation and positive classroom behavior are critical for learning in school.

During preplanning, we discussed the importance of developing trusting relationships with every student. We also talked about how every child has a deep desire to belong and to feel accepted. When students experience that sense of belonging, they are more likely to engage positively, persevere through challenges, and respond positively to guidance.

Boys are not imperfect girls. They typically need more intentional guidance in the skills we hope all students develop: self-regulation, self-awareness, self-motivation, and self-reflection.

In the classroom, I often found it easier to relate to many of my boy students because I remembered experiencing the same feelings, frustrations, and insecurities when I was their age. Since boys in elementary grades are taught primarily by women, I recognize that it can sometimes be challenging for a teacher to understand why a young boy behaves the way he does. There will be moments when you need to dig a little deeper, extend a little more patience, and rely on the relationship-building and behavior strategies we discussed during preplanning.

Ultimately, our boys will achieve their greatest academic, social, and emotional growth when they know they are genuinely known, cared for, and believed in by every one of their teachers. That investment in relationship is one of the most powerful teaching strategies we can provide.

Joe

--------

The idea that boys, in general, fare worse than girls in school is not new.

As more states use standardized assessments to measure students’ academic and social kindergarten readiness, some are finding that gender gaps start as soon as school does. While these gaps generally are not huge, they are not easy to ignore—especially as they tend to persist or grow throughout the school years.

Examples of gender-based learning gaps are growing, and some are gaining attention.

A 2025 readiness test in Virginia found that 48% of incoming male kindergartners met overall benchmark readiness standards, compared to 56% of incoming female students.

A 2012 analysis of data from the Early Child Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort found that better social and behavioral skills in kindergarten help positive academic outcomes through elementary school—and that girls edge out boys in these skills.

More recent analyses found that gender-based readiness gaps that start in kindergarten widen throughout elementary school. One national 2026 report drawing from major U.S. assessments showed specific gender-based skill differences as early as kindergarten, most notably in how girls and boys approach learning. Specifically, girls ranked higher in organization, attentiveness, and eagerness to learn in kindergarten. This gap grew by fifth grade.

Not only do boys tend to trail their female classmates in readiness scores early on, but they also are disciplined more frequently—even before they reach kindergarten.

Boys don’t have to be on the receiving end of disciplinary action to feel bad about school. Struggling socially, behaviorally, or academically from an early age can adversely affect a child’s overall confidence and attitude toward learning.

It doesn’t help that kindergarten has become more academic over the years.

Some educators, advocates, and policymakers are calling for a return to low-stakes, less academic, play-based kindergarten, an introduction to school that may work better for many boys. New Hampshire was the first to mandate change in this direction. Eight years ago, the state’s lawmakers, sounding the alarm on the “academization” of kindergarten, amended education law to structure this formal entry into school on a play-based model, A few other states have since introduced or passed similar legislation.

How to Excite Kids to Read for Pleasure

 This week’s article summary is 5 Proven ways to Get Students to Read More for Fun.

As we all know, we live in a society that has elevated instant gratification: fast food, internet always at our fingertips, overnight Amazon deliveries, and entertainment available on demand. 

Is it any wonder that reading for pleasure has steadily declined over the past years?

Reading for pleasure is, in many ways, the opposite of our fast-paced culture. Reading requires the patience to let plots and character development slowly unfold, a multi-day if not week time commitment to work through a 400-page book, and the ability to sit quietly and focus on one thing.

There are, however, some encouraging signs. While the Barnes & Noble near Trinity recently closed—soon to be replaced by a RaceTrac gas station—the company is planning to open many new bookstores across the country, suggesting America’s appetite for books may be making a comeback.

The article below offers several practical strategies for helping students discover the joy of reading for pleasure.

And what better time to cultivate that joy than during the elementary years, when lifelong habits, interests, and attitudes are taking shape? Whether students are reading a traditional book, an e-book, or listening to an audiobook, our goal should be to help them discover and cultivate the pleasure of a good story.

I’ll admit that even my own reading habits have been altered by our fast-paced culture. I easily get distracted from long, descriptive paragraphs. I often give up on a book that doesn’t capture my attention and interest in its first 50 pages. Yet, still, some of my greatest insights into human nature, different perspectives, and the diverse, complex world have come from books.

In a culture that increasingly values speed, convenience, and instant gratification, perhaps one of the greatest gifts we can give our students is an appreciation for slowing down, getting lost in a book, and discovering the simple joy of reading.

Joe

------

The statistics on pleasure reading among children and teens are sobering.

Just 34% of 8- to 12-year-olds and 21% of teens read daily for pleasure, according to a report by Common Sense Media. That includes print and e-books, as well as news and magazine articles.

Watching online videos and using social media pose stiff competition. Most teens engage in both daily, and the majority of kids ages 8 to 12 report watching online videos every day.

Teachers can’t oversee students’ media usage outside the classroom. But they can make concerted efforts to ensure that students get the opportunity to read for pleasure on a routine basis.

Here are five proven strategies to encourage students to read for fun:

Protect independent reading time during instructional periods: Most teachers agree that this strategy is a no-brainer. Implementing it is another matter. In a recent report by the International Literacy Association that surveyed literacy educators, the majority of respondents agreed that students should read independently for at least 20 minutes a day. But only 33% said they’re able to allot that amount of time in class, largely due to instructional constraints. Teachers who do routinely set aside time for daily independent reading say they often have to get creative in order to protect it, sometimes squeezing it in during transitions, or between other aspects of literacy instruction. Those who make the effort say it’s worth it. “We know kids have to have that independent reading time to be able to fall in love with books and be able to explore new content, new authors, new things, and really get lost in their stories,” said Eileen McGaughey, an educational technology specialist in Clayton, Mo.

Prioritize read-alouds: Listening to an expert reader tell compelling stories using a lively voice is one of the most effective ways to enrich an emerging reader’s literacy skills. “I would argue that, of all components of reading, read-alouds have one of the longest-standing research bases. There’s a lot of data showing the power of read-alouds,” Molly Ness, a former teacher, and founder of the educational consulting firm Dirigo Literacy. In addition to increasing students’ vocabulary and background knowledge, read-alouds also help boost comprehension and make students more likely to want to read, explained Ness, who refers to these positive effects as “an upward spiral of a literary trajectory.” An Education week study found 62% of PreK-3rd Grade teachers said have read-alouds for 15 to 30 minutes a day.

Start a student book club: This is a popular idea among literacy teachers that, again, may require some creative planning to schedule. But those who’ve successfully launched book clubs laude their success. Christina Torres, an 8th grade English teacher, piloted a book club with her students. She gave her students the choice of five pre-selected books, each of which met curriculum goals. Then she assigned students who chose the same book to small groups, and provided the groups opportunities to discuss the books. Torres said that the discussions were “loud, full of laughter, and a little chaotic—everything I hoped I would see as they shared the experience of reading a good book together.”

Host reading competitions: Some students need a push to start reading for pleasure. Group-oriented competitions can provide that motivation, say teachers. An Education Week survey of K-12 teachers revealed that more than 80% agreed that competition motivated their students to some degree. Henry Melcher, head of the middle school at Boys’ Latin School of Maryland,, told Education Week in 2025 that his faculty has found group competition effective at motivating students for many reasons—including getting them to read more for pleasure. Melcher said teachers focus on group rather than individual competitions to avoid singling out students. Group competitions help build camaraderie within teams—usually, advisories of 10 or so students. “It’s not how many incentives one student can accrue,” Melcher said. “It’s by student advisory, so each member of advisory is playing a role.”

Promote audiobooks as a viable option: Audiobooks have long been seen as a “lesser” activity to reading written words; some even consider it cheating. But that’s changing, as a growing number of educators start to see audiobooks as an accessible way to get students to engage in books—for school or for fun. This shift in attitude likely is welcome news to many students—such as those who struggle to read fluently; those who may be daunted by long, complex texts; and those who are strapped for time and may be more likely to listen rather than read a book on a commute to school or extracurricular activities. Joel Garza, a 9th grade English teacher in Addison, Texas, long resisted assigning audiobooks as an option for his students. Two years ago, he changed his mind, deciding that it was more important to expose his students to classics in a format they were likely to consume than not at all. He now assigns an audio adaptation of The Odyssey . Teachers reluctant to turn to audiobooks may be persuaded by the results of a recent study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, in which researchers, using advanced imaging techniques, found that listening to and reading words stimulated the same cognitive and emotional areas of the brain.

 

 

Restoring Childhood

This week’s summary is an episode of the Lifelong Kindergarten podcast, featuring an interview with developmental psychologist Peter Gray about factors beyond technology that may be contributing to rising levels of anxiety, stress, and depression among young people. (Thanks to Melissa Scott for sharing this podcast with me!)

Using his new book Restoring Childhood (which I’m currently reading) as a reference, Gray challenges the idea that smartphones and social media alone explain today’s youth mental health concerns. While books such as The Anxious Generation and The Digital Delusion place the blame on technology, Gray argues that other significant changes in childhood have been developing for decades.

Atop the list is the decline of unstructured, self-directed play. Since the mid-1950s, increased adult supervision and the growth of structured activities and organized sports have steadily reduced the amount of time children spend playing independently. Gray points out that free play is essential because it gives children opportunities to solve problems, navigate disagreements, take risks, make decisions, and develop resilience and emotional regulation—without an adult immediately stepping in to adjudicate.

Gray also connects the increase in adolescent anxiety beginning around 2010 with changes in education, including increased standardized testing, heightened academic pressure and expectations, and, as a result, reduced recess.

His recommendations to restore childhood are for both parents and educators. For parents, he encourages reducing achievement pressure and making sure children know they are valued for who they are—not simply for what they accomplish in academics and extracurriculars. He also advocates for giving children more time and space away from adult-directed activities.

For teachers, Gray emphasizes creating opportunities for self-directed learning and meaningful student voice and choice. When children have appropriate agency in their learning, they have opportunities to develop intrinsic curiosity, autonomy, and personal and social responsibility.

As we have all experienced, the pendulum regarding technology has shifted dramatically over the past few years. It is important—especially for elementary-aged children—for teachers to be thoughtful about technology use and to maximize face-to-face relationships, conversation, play, and interaction at school.

But Gray’s overall message is that limiting technology is only part of the equation. Giving children appropriate independence and agency—the opportunity to make decisions, solve problems, navigate disagreements, and occasionally struggle without an adult immediately intervening—is just as critical to healthy development.

Perhaps the question for us as educators is not only, “How much technology should children be using?” but also, “Where can we step back so that children have more opportunities to think, choose, solve, and grow for themselves?”

Enjoy the listen!

Joe

Helpful Classroom Management Rubric for Teachers

 This week’s article summary is A Classroom Management Rubric.

During my first few years of teaching, my biggest challenge was classroom management. I tended to swing back and forth between being too permissive and too strict, never quite finding the right balance.

It took years of trial and error, reflection, and experience to become more confident in organizing and overseeing a classroom. Over time, I learned how to navigate the inevitable ups and downs of a school day, respond to different student personalities and needs, establish clear expectations, and practice firm but fair discipline.

Which is why I wish I had had the classroom management rubric referenced in the article below. The rubric takes the enormous and sometimes overwhelming topic of classroom management and breaks it into 10 distinct areas—from classroom setup to closure activities. Each area is then divided into five specific practices, making it a practical tool for reflection and growth.

And as you’ll read, this rubric isn’t just for new teachers. It’s an excellent checklist for veteran teachers as well. Even after years in the classroom, it can be helpful for a teacher to step back and ask: What am I doing intentionally? What has simply become habit? Where might a small change make a meaningful difference?

The ability to organize and lead a classroom that is effective, efficient, caring, responsive, and communal is sometimes overlooked as an essential part of excellent teaching. Some aspects of classroom management may come more intuitively to some, but none of it happens by accident. A well-managed classroom requires intentional thought, careful planning, ongoing reflection, and a willingness to adjust.

And ultimately, good classroom management isn’t about “managing” students. It’s about creating the conditions in which students can learn, belong, and thrive.

ALT used the article’s rubric as a guide and developed a Classroom Checklist for Teachers specifically for Trinity — you can find it within the Faculty and Staff Resource Tile on MyTrinity. 

Joe

----- 

Developing a consistent classroom management system is a common struggle for most teachers. Regardless of whether they’re veterans or newbies, all educators can benefit in some way from a more practical setup that’s tailored to their needs.

As a veteran educator and teacher trainer, I’m flattered whenever educators attend my classroom management trainings or ask my for advice. My goal is to work with teachers so they can consider the status of their classroom’s organization and day-to-day operations, rather than immediately aiming for a “prescription” that will fix perceived issues.

Here is a handy self-assessment rubric Classroom Management Assessment teachers can use to tweak their classroom organization, strategies, and routines. It is a checklist of sorts; I encourage teacher to look at each of the key practices independently. For each practice, these are five related procedures that collectively demonstrate mastery.

Teachers should target the practices that they identify as needing the most improvement. Any practice with fewer than three check marks is a good candidate. I recommend to teachers that they select no more than five practices in total. In my experience, classroom setup, routines, directions, time management, and task supervision are the most crucial classroom management practices—especially for newer educators. I refer to these practices as the “principal five.”

A more seasoned veteran might score better on the “principal five” practices than the other five key practices. In my own classroom, I tend to score lower on practices like feedback and closure. Both are closely linked to another practice: time management. I only came to that conclusion after doing some reflection about which boxes I was checking off.

Many teachers I’ve worked with seem surprised that the changes I suggest are not very rigid, nor are they full of rules and consequences.

I assure teachers that my classroom is a work in progress and theirs will be too. Great teachers constantly question their methods and procedures, tweak what doesn’t work, expand best practices, and keep their eye on the “status of the class.”

The Importance of Student Reflection

This week’s article summary is The Three Ways of Looking at Reflection.

During preplanning, Marsha reminded us that our digital portfolio, MyLearning, is much more than a collection of student work. It documents the learning journey. As an elementary school, we value the process of learning just as much—perhaps even more—than the final product.

Student reflection on what they learned, how they learned it, and why it matters is an essential part of that process. Reflection not only strengthens the quality of MyLearning posts, but, as the article below explains, it is also one of the most effective ways to deepen understanding and move new learning into long-term memory.

As you'll read, reflection is an active cognitive process. It signals to the brain that new information is meaningful and worth retaining. That's one reason why cramming the night before a test is far less effective than revisiting and thinking about material over time.

The challenge, however, is that reflection doesn't happen naturally for most of us—adults or children. It requires intentional pauses, thoughtful prompts, and, ideally, dedicated classroom time. If we want students to become reflective learners, we must deliberately build opportunities for reflection into our instruction.

The article describes three types of reflection through memorable metaphors: the Magnifying Glass, the Mirror, and the Map.

For our students, the Magnifying Glass will likely be the most familiar. It focuses on reviewing and processing what was learned during a lesson. The Mirror encourages students to think about themselves as learners, while the Map helps them consider where their learning is headed and the steps they can take to continue growing. These latter two forms of reflection could be especially valuable as our UED students prepare for their student-led parent conferences.

Reflection should be a regular part of the learning process. When students take time to think about their learning, they are far more likely to remember it, understand it, and apply it in meaningful ways.

Joe

-----

It’s safe to say that little lasting learning takes place without reflection. 

 

Reflection engages students in higher-order thinking: analysis, meaning making, and problem solving. 

 

It’s how students absorb what has been presented to them, process what works and what doesn’t work in relation to their own learning, and calibrate the best approach to completing a task and understanding a new concept .

 

Reflection gives the brain an opportunity to pause amidst the chaos, untangle and sort through observations and experiences, consider multiple possible interpretations, and create meaning. 

 

Pausing to reflect on learning is an essential aspect of processing deeper meaning. As educators, we can plan for these pauses: create regular opportunities for reflection and teach students what to do with them.

 

Reflection is a deliberate, structured inquiry that moves learners through the complexities of thoughtful examination, giving pause to that which is perplexing, puzzling, and surprising so that the learners can repackage their thinking, create a plan, and move forward with deeper and more meaningful insights and improved achievement.

Reflection is multifaceted, with three important aspects:

Reflection as a Magnifying Glass: Reflection as meaning making requires learners to focus on what is presented or taught to more thoroughly absorb the lesson. It ought to be happening all the time, every day, but it’s not likely to do so without teacher intentionality. To make meaning, students need to follow up on the input they receive from the teacher, texts, and peers by analyzing, summarizing, or in some other way repackaging that input to perform the subsequent task. It requires that students closely examine the lesson to turn out a meaningful product, whether that be a verbal, written, visual, or other type of explanation or analysis. This form of reflection not only ensures that learning has occurred but also provides teachers with visual evidence of the students’ learning. Intentionally planning ways for students to demonstrate meaning making increases the likelihood that students will process what they’ve been taught.

Reflection as a Mirror: One of the typical non-education-related definitions for reflection is an image projected in a mirror. Metacognition, or reflection on one’s own learning, is like looking into a mirror. Unlike analyzing or processing presented content, at its core, metacognition requires learners to hold up a mirror to focus on their own learning processes and analyze what works best for them and what isn’t working. Thinking about their thinking, making decisions based on what they know works, and minimizing what doesn’t work provide students with powerful tools and habits for helping them improve their learning.

 

Reflection as a Map: Reflection as a map is the big-picture evaluation that happens when learners look ahead. Examples include the processes by which learners decide on the best way to complete a task or analyze the implications of newly learned information. It might also look like a learner’s reflective pause as they focus on how they might solve a problem, conduct an experiment, effectively construct an argument, write a convincing essay, or draft a moving narrative. Teachers can support students in the process of thinking ahead by having them reflect on simple prompts like the following as they read or plan projects:

• Why didn’t my experiment work?
• What could I have done differently?
• Is this the best/easiest way to solve this problem? Why or why not?
• What is the author’s bias?
• What will people who read my report be thinking as they read it? How will I address that?

Reading and writing play a critical role in student reflection. Skilled readers use prior knowledge to question, visualize, predict, and apply other reading strategies. But the entire academic day is rife with opportunities to ask students to reflect on the tools, knowledge, and expectations they bring to a science, history, or mathematics text with prompts such as the following:

• What are you seeing? (reflection as a magnifying glass)
• What is working for you, and how do you see yourself growing? (reflection as a mirror)
• What will you need to do to be successful? (reflection as a map)

At its core, reflection is more than just looking back on learning experiences; it is an intentional, engaging process that deepens understanding, sharpens self-awareness, and guides or affects future decision making. In the absence of reflection, there’s a risk that learning will become shallow, rote, passive, disconnected, and easily forgotten.

Are Students' Attention Spans Really Shrinking?

This week’s article summary is Are Student Attention Spans Really Shrinking?

Most teachers would agree that today’s students seem to have shorter attention spans than students did in the past. But, as the article below points out, there is no scientific evidence that children’s brains are now wired differently. 

Rather, it is more likely that children today—like adults today—have become accustomed to a fast-paced culture characterized by constant stimulation, rapid change, and short snippets of information.

It’s not that kids can’t focus for longer periods of time; it’s that they are used to—and prefer—jumping from one new TikTok or YouTube video to another, much as we adults do.

So, how do we counteract this preference for short bursts of attention? 

We need to actively teach students how to focus and concentrate for sustained periods of time.

Children need to understand that what researchers call sustained attention requires more discipline and cognitive effort than the kind of attention we typically use for entertainment. Teachers can help students recognize that focusing deeply on a task is a skill that must be practiced and developed.

It is also important to minimize distractions. I remember when it was fashionable to play classical music in the classroom during free-reading time or cover the walls with bright, colorful posters to stimulate students’ imaginations. While these practices may have been well-intentioned, our brains do not truly multitask. If sustained reading is the intended outcome, then reading should be the focus.

Finally, the article reminds us that students need practice gradually increasing their time on task. We should, of course, remain within age-appropriate limits, but over time, students can develop both the capacity and the habit of sustaining their attention for longer periods.

I was reminded of my own experience in seventh grade at a Quaker school, where we had approximately 40 minutes of weekly silent reflection in the Meeting House. It took me years to develop the self-control not to laugh, giggle, or fidget, but by the time I was a senior, I looked forward to those 40 minutes of solitude each week.

The research, then, suggests that it is not that today’s children are incapable of concentrating. Rather, in a high-tech culture that constantly competes for their attention, we need to be even more deliberate about helping students develop the habit and skill of concentrating for longer periods of time.

Joe

----- 

In many contexts, humans can pay attention for hours at a time: watching movies, playing games like chess, or reading comic books. This more general class of attention remains a recognizable feature of today’s kids and adults, even as cell phones and 90-second videos have begun to chip away at the way we engage with cherished but slower-paced pastimes. 

Sustained attention, meanwhile, which is generally defined as the ability to maintain focus during activities that are intellectually challenging, repetitive, or compulsory—the kind of focus required in school or work settings, for example—has always been measured in minutes rather than hours. Historical studies of sustained attention place the limits at various thresholds, from eight to 10 to 25 minutes, but almost never more than 30 minutes.

There’s no scientific evidence that our attentional capacity has changed. But something does appear to be shifting in the way people allocate attentional resources, and what millions of K–12 teachers are saying is almost certainly not an illusion: Students may indeed be less focused in classrooms than ever before.

The social scientist Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation, is one of the leading theorists on the effects of social media and technology on children’s mental health, attention spans, and motivation. “Being a digital native does not confer an advantage,” Haidt said. “It teaches kids that there’s always a little bit of reward, a little bit of dopamine available, just one swipe away—and that undermines the ability to do difficult or sustained cognitive work like reading a book.”

It does not appear to be an alteration in our brain architecture or a new biological limit to our cognitive capacity. Using MRI and other methods to look into the human brain as neural circuitry is activated reveals no fundamental changes in critical areas related to attention.

A 2026 study makes a more reasonable claim: It’s not that attention spans are getting shorter, it’s that we’re more sensitive to delays. In the newspaper era, for example, it was common to wait until the next morning to catch up on major events. As technology compresses the time between events and their coverage, barraging us with a stream of instantaneous updates and notifications, our expectations adjust to the pace, researchers explain.

For students, what looks like a diminished capacity for attention may instead reflect a changing willingness to invest effort. “Digital media use may influence cognition mainly by recalibrating how effort is valued and allocated,” researchers explain in another 2026 study. .

That’s a point that cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham is careful to emphasize. “There’s been a great deal of research on this question in the last 10 years, and it appears that children’s ability to control their attention has not been compromised and does not account for what educators feel they see in the classroom.” Instead, technology appears to be playing some role in changing the calculations students make about whether sustained effort is worthwhile. A tough reading assignment or a chemistry problem may feel unreasonably long and tedious when measured against entertainment that can be accessed in seconds and consumed in minutes.

Perhaps, then, it’s a question of motivation and changing values—a cultural shift, not a biological one—Willingham suggests. “It’s not that students can’t pay attention,” he says, “but rather that they more readily choose not to.”

For teachers, that conclusion is cautiously optimistic: “The changes we’re seeing—as dramatic as they may seem—could be undone,” says Willingham.

Below are some suggestions to manage and strengthen waning student attention:

Teach students how attention works. Students often overestimate their ability to pay attention to multiple tasks at once. One of the most powerful ways to teach attention is to let students experience its limits. Work within, not against, cognitive limits. Attention is limited, but instead of trying to overcome these constraints, teachers should acknowledge the theoretical impossibility of perfect sustained attention and choose strategies that are compatible with inherent neural, biological, and cognitive limitations. That’s why it’s so important to introduce breaks. Look for natural opportunities to interrupt long stretches of concentration with short brain breaks like a few minutes of stretching or movement, a calming exercise, or a quick, informal chat with peers.

Make effort feel worthwhile. In a landmark 2014 study, researchers found that connecting learning to meaningful, beyond-the-self goals—being a doctor or engineer who helps people, for example—pushed students to reevaluate their goals, resist mind-wandering, and persist through tedious academic work.

Reduce distractions. A 2025 study found that cell phones during class had “a significant large negative effect” on students’ recall of the material, a 2022 study found that students had a harder time paying attention in classrooms with high levels of “visual noise,” and a 2021 study concluded that “noise from student chatter has a negative impact on students’ comprehension.” Attention doesn’t exist in isolation. Think about a kid that needs to read a book by himself in bed or needs to read the same book on a football field. The more distractions there are, the harder it is to pay attention.

Reset expectations. Exposure to longer periods of focus can accustom students to new expectations. Consider setting aside sustained periods for independent reading, writing, drawing, reflection, or working through problems without interruption.