OTT 259: Screens, Focus, and Reconnecting in REAL Life

Remember the days when getting kids to focus in class didn't feel like competing with a digital circus? Today's students—even third graders—are coming to school with phones in hand, already accustomed to constant digital stimulation and instant gratification. The result? Classrooms filled with children struggling to transition, wait, focus, and fully engage with real-world learning.

As teachers, we're facing unprecedented challenges. The dopamine-driven digital world has rewired how our students engage with information, making traditional teaching methods feel increasingly ineffective. But here's the good news: we don't need to perform circus acts to capture attention. What we need are intentional strategies that help students rediscover the joy of being fully present.

Focus isn't automatic—it's a skill that must be taught, practiced, and modeled. When we incorporate short moments of mindfulness, deep breathing, or simple yoga poses, we help students develop awareness of what being "tuned in" actually feels like. Remember that our own behavior sets the tone; if we're constantly checking our phones, we're modeling distraction rather than presence. By creating device-free activities and presenting unplugging as an opportunity rather than a punishment, we can gently guide students back to meaningful connection.

The most powerful moments in learning still happen when students connect with each other and with content in ways that feel engaging and playful. Try implementing no-tech mornings or device-free partner tasks that encourage real-world interaction. Help students develop the language to describe how they feel when fully present versus distracted. These small shifts can make a tremendous difference in classroom culture and learning outcomes.

Want to start immediately? Download my free device-free activity that helps students notice their habits and practice presence without shame at trinadeboreeteachingandlearning.com/device-citizenship. Let's reclaim our classrooms from digital distraction—because connection beats control every time.

Free Device- Free Lesson

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome and Introduction
• 1:24 Why Focus Is So Difficult
• 3:55 Teaching Focus as a Life Skill
• 5:59 Mindfulness and Yoga in Classroom
• 7:18 Starting Device-Free Activities
• 8:13 Free Resource and Conclusion

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to One Tired Teacher, episode 259. Screens, focus and reconnecting in real life. So today we were talking about device-free moments. We're talking about taking our screens, putting them away and focusing on real life connections. So welcome back. We've made it to about mid-September kind of a little bit, yeah. And if your students are already showing signs of screen fatigue, low focus or difficulty staying present, I see you. Today we're diving into helping kids reconnect in real life with themselves, their classmates and their learning, because digital distractions are real, but so is the opportunity to build better habits. Let's get started.

Speaker 2: 1:00

Welcome to One Tired Teacher and even though she may need a nap, this teacher is ready to wake up and speak her truth about the trials and treasures of teaching here. She is wide awake. Wait, she's not asleep right now, is she? She is awake right. Okay, from Trina Debery, teaching and Learning your host, trina Debery.

Speaker 1: 1:23

So why is it so hard to focus right now? Oh, my goodness, devices have become a way of life, both at home, at school. I mean, we're putting babies on iPads, so they've become a part of everything. We know that kids are used to fast feedback, they're used to flashy visuals, they're used to constant stimulation which makes it feel like we have to, you know, do an act, a circus act, while we're teaching, and it can feel exhausting. It also makes transitions from, you know, waiting and focus. It makes them so much harder, way harder, even harder than we used to feel like it did. And it actually, you know, we've actually noticed how kids are constantly like they're looking for like that instant, almost like dopamine hit on a regular basis.

Speaker 1: 2:24

In fact, I was walking this morning and I have these. Well, I used to have these like several little girls that were my sweet little neighbors around the corner, but I think one of them moved, so just one of them was standing outside and I was like happy first day because it was the first day of school I'm recording this, actually in August and it's the first day of school for her and I was like happy first day and she's like thank you, and I'm like what grade is it this year? And she's like third grade. And she was so excited, she was so cute, but she was standing there with her phone. With her phone, I mean, granted, she was waiting for her cousin, so she was looking at her phone to see, I think, to see if they were on their way, because people were already starting to walk and I was like you've only got 20 minutes, 20 minutes. But I didn't say that, I was thinking it, I didn't say it, but um, and so she was waiting, but I'm, but I'm like oh, she's in third grade and she's, you know, on her phone and it's like ah, it's just, it's just, it's a lot, it can be a lot and it's hard.

Speaker 1: 3:29

And when we've got kids coming to school with phones be a lot and it's hard. And when we've got kids coming to school with phones and you know we want them to put them away, and it's, it's a lot, all right. So we know that we, we want to teach, teaching it. Sometimes it feels like a life, a life skill. So, first of all, focus is an automatic, it's taught, it's practiced, it's modeled, and we have to do the same. I mean, if we're in our classrooms constantly checking our phones. We are actually showing them Sorry about that. We're actually showing them, teaching them, modeling what it looks like to constantly be on our phones. So we have to not do that ourselves, and I think that can be really, really important. And also, we want to inspire them to put those away and stay focused in the present moment, and it doesn't mean we have to do a circus act when we're teaching, but it does mean that we're going to do more interactive, more engaging kinds of activities so that kids are they're having fun. They're having fun in the moment and they don't have to have fun all the time. I know it's not about having fun all the time, but I really honestly think that when learning feels like play, there's nothing better than that, and we have to remember that play is how children learn. So let's keep that in mind.

Speaker 1: 5:04

All right, we want to build in short moments of mindfulness, deep breathing, quiet, journaling. Those kind of things can be really helpful. I remember one year I did yoga with my not one year several years I did yoga with my class and it was so helpful. It also helped them kind of stay grounded, and I remember we did yoga before we had to. We did that Stanford 10 when I was teaching second grade and we did yoga before that test and everybody was calm, cool, collected. It can be really helpful. So I'm all about bringing yoga back into the classroom, even if you just do a few postures. I actually have a resource on TPT Trina Deberry, teaching and Learning I've just remembered it that has like little yoga cards and which makes it really easy to incorporate into your classroom. I think I still have that it's. I always thought it was so cute. It doesn't nobody really buys it, just to be honest with you. So, but I'm like this would. I would totally use this in my classroom and I found the cutest little yoga clip art.

Speaker 1: 6:11

Anyway, give kids language to describe how they feel when they're tuned in versus when they're distracted. So sometimes even that metacognitive piece where we actually have kids reflect upon that what it feels like to be like really tuned in and listening and paying attention and being present in the moment, versus like feeling like their brain is going in a bunch of different directions. And then we want to model what this looks like to be device free and fully present, and this can be really powerful. And you know whether we have a, you know, a no tech morning. Whether we have a no tech morning, whether we have a device free partner task, we want to bring some of those things back into our room that allow for kids to interact with one another, interact as a team, interact as a class, and we're not just on devices. All right, let's talk about a small start that works. So one of the first things we can do is we can introduce the concept of being device-free and we can reflect on how this feels. We can let students explore the benefits of unplugging, not as punishment but as practice, and we can start with short, structured activities and we can build from there.

Speaker 1: 7:39

Now I do have a freebie for you. I've got a free device-free activity that walks students through this gently. This is actually a lesson that I have in my digital citizenship unit for first grade, but I think that this could be used for a variety of different grades, and this is just one of the lessons that I'm giving to you for free, and it helps. It really helps them notice their habits, reflect on their feelings and practice being present in a kind, not shaming, way. I'm going to give you the link. It's also going to be in the show notes so you can easily click it.

Speaker 1: 8:18

But if you're driving and you're like, okay, I'm not going to be able to remember this, or you're walking and you're listening to a podcast or you're, you know, in the shower or anything like that, then hopefully you can remember this, this link Okay, so it's at TrinaDebrieTeachingAndLearningcom, and here's the last part. It's forward slash, all one word device free TrinaDebrieTeachingAndLearningcom forward slash device free, and then you will be able to grab that free device free activity. It's a great jumping off point for your digital citizenship lessons or even some social and emotional learning work. You don't have to fight the tech tidal wave alone. You just need a few intentional tools and a little breathing room. And remember connection beats control every single time. Until next time. Sweet dreams and sleep tight.