EP296 Thinking creatively about tough problems: the power of diffuse thinking for you and your students

Angela Watson's Truth for Teachers

Angela Watson

Teachers, Courses, Education, Teaching

4.9 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 3 March 2024

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Have you ever noticed how breakthroughs often come when you're not actively trying to find a solution? That's diffuse thinking at work: a relaxed state in which creativity flourishes.

On today’s episode of Truth for Teachers, I’ll share how stepping back can lead us forward. It turns out that intense concentration isn't always the best approach to problem solving, and we can instead let our minds wander through the meandering paths of diffuse thinking.

Focused thinking is a bit like a flashlight—intense & concentrated. Diffuse thinking is like ambient room lighting—gentle & expansive. When you (or students) can’t concentrate, you can harness the power of diffuse thinking. This shift in mindset from focused to diffuse can spark innovation and creativity.

Listen in to discover how to use diffuse thinking when you've pushed your limits in focused thinking, and harness the power of diffuse thinking overnight during sleep. (Your dreams can be a powerful tool for problem-solving, too!)

You’ll also hear how you can teach your students to tap into the power of diffuse thinking. I’ll share how to incorporate "thinking walks" into your instruction, try skygazing with students as a productive mental break, prime students for their next lesson with a question that requires diffuse thinking.

Click here to read the transcript and participate in the discussion.

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If you teach at the secondary level, check out my 10 lesson unit on Focused Attention. It includes a lesson on harnessing the power of diffuse thinking which takes just 15-20 minutes to implement. The resource has slides you show to your class which explain everything for you and guides you through the activities, including a student journal page that helps kids reflect on the topic. In this unit, students will also learn that it’s okay to struggle with focusing their attention, and learn how to:

Take productive breaks from concentration
Create healthy phone habits and manage distractions
Use movement to do better focused work
Build concentration stamina
Tolerate and push through boredom and procrastination

Download the PDF brochure about Finding Flow Solutions to share with your administrators and get school funding for the curriculum.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to episode
0:02.0	episode 296 of Angela Watson's Truth for Teachers.
0:05.0	I'm your host Angela Watson and I'm here to speak
0:08.1	encouragement into the hearts of educators and get you informed and
0:11.9	energized for the week ahead. Today I'm sharing tips for
0:16.0	you to use and for you to teach your students on how to think creatively about
0:21.4	tough problems and tap into the power of diffuse thinking, dreaming, and window gazing.
0:28.0	Visit truth for teachers.com for an easy to read, easy to share version of this podcast episode.
0:35.0	You can elevate your career in Early Child Development at Ericsson Institute,
0:41.0	a trusted and respected Premier Graduate School.
0:45.4	Ericsson's online masters in early childhood education provides the expertise to lead
0:51.0	initiatives that shape young minds.
0:54.1	Balancing your life, work, and studies is made easier with this fully online program,
0:59.2	offering part-time or full-time study options.
1:03.0	Join a community of nationally recognized faculty
1:06.0	and learn alongside experienced practitioners.
1:09.2	Apply today at Ericsson.edU.
1:12.4	That's E-R-I-K-S-E-E-K-S-E-S-P-E-E-T-E-I-K-S-O-N-D-U.
1:18.4	I want you to think back about a time that you had to solve a challenging problem and figure out your best course of action.
1:26.4	Maybe you needed to figure out a scheduling conflict in your day,
1:30.2	such as how you'd make time for a family obligation and something that you needed to do for work.
1:35.0	Or maybe you had to decide which job openings to apply to, or which classes to take for continuing education credits.
	...

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