November 10th, 2020

By Marci Hellman, Math Coordinator
Welcome to this week’s blog post in The Distance Learning Playbook K-12 series.  We are sharing tips and tricks around teaching for engagement and impact in any setting.  The ideas shared in this blog series come from the Fisher, Frey and Hattie book, The Distance Learning Playbook and their recent webinar.

Did you know that optometrists share growing concern over the eye strain that our increased use of screen time is causing?  A quick solution is to follow the 20-20-20 rule.  Every 20 minutes you (and your students!) should look away from the screen to a distance of 20 feet or more for at least 20 seconds.  This shifting of focus allows your eye muscles to relax for a time and reduces eye strain.

Instead of trying to remember to build yet another thing into your lessons, you can embed opportunities to look away right into your lessons.  Here’s an idea.

Build an old-fashioned paper and pencil graphic organizer into your lesson.  Students will automatically have to look away from their screens when they shift to writing on their graphic organizer.  Here’s one to try during class discussions.  It is simple enough that students can make it just by folding a plain piece of paper!

Students take their own notes, and they record ideas from their peers during the discussion.  They summarize their thinking in the center.  For accountability, students can photograph their graphic organizer to turn in or enter their summaries into an electronic platform.

Need more convincing?  Here are five more benefits to taking screen breaks.

Do you have any jokes about eyes?  We’d love to hear them...the “cornea” the better!

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