Focusable | Research Guide for Education
This guide is designed for educators to clearly understand the intention, vision, and purpose of Focusable to improve our ability to focus and succeed in and out of the classroom.
2 ⏐ Contents Contents Our Vision & Purpose Mindfulness Developing a Daily Routine This guide is designed for educators to clearly understand the intention, vision, and purpose of Impact on Learning Focusable to improve our ability to focus and succeed in and out of the classroom. The Focusable Experience
3 ⏐ Our Vision & Purpose Focusismindfulnes猀 thatworks Brian Lamb, Co-CEO, Swivl
4 ⏐ Our Vision & Purpose Focus & Social Emotional Learning Typically SEL experiences take place in isolation, as part of a defined SEL curriculum or part of the day What if we could empower students to transfer the skills, dispositions, habits of mind and mindfulness they are pursuing in SEL work beyond the designated SEL time Focus is inherently Focusable allows students to learn SEL skills and applications in all aspects of their educational experiences and ultimately beyond the connected in SEL classroom. By engaging with mindfulness activities and focus in practices. Improved Focusable, students can practice improving their emotional regulation at any point during their day focus leads to better emotion regulation and Imagine the student who engages with a mindful breathing exercise in the classroom via Focusable, who then later adopts this same academic performance. strategy independently outside of the classroom. Focusable helps us get there!
5 ⏐ Our Vision & Purpose DDoonnee The Fitness Tracking Ap瀀 for Your Mind Step 1 Recharge Charge The Focusable team believes in the power of focus and has designed an experience for individuals, groups, classrooms, educators, and students to help develop the habits of mind and to improve their focus through 10 : 00 daily routines. 05:00 02 : 00 Start
6 ⏐ Our Vision & Purpose The “How Might We” Question The “How might we” question below is the foundation of not only this guide for educators, but the intention and vision of Focusable. How might we For By creating Because empower individuals with educator research-based we believe that focus can the ability to improve experiences tha be improved, it requires students focus practice, and positively prioritize recharging with impacts overall mental mindful breaks and focus. health and academic performance.
7 ⏐ Our Vision & Purpose Connection to Focusable Our struggle to focus is so often rooted in the A 2010 study found connections between high overstimulation from our environment, pointing to stress environments and a depleted working the need for guided support to improve the memory, which is essential for learning. capacity to control our attention from outside Mindfulness training can diminish the impact of forces. high stress environments and restore working memory.
8 ⏐ Our Vision & Purpose Focusable Helps You Manage Overstimulation Focusable creates a daily routine through a combination of small timed steps and mindfulness activities that are specifically designed to help one’s ability to focus in an overstimulating world. Whether practicing as an individual or with a class, the mindfulness and focus routines in Focusable can help educators and students harness their power to improve their attention, reduce distraction, and ultimately have a positive impact on their learning experience and learning outcomes.
9 ⏐ Our Vision & Purpose Curiosity & Persistence Connectio渀 1 to Academics Academic performance is often viewed in isolation of mental health and emotional regulation. There is however, a direct connection between the two. Social and emotional skills can aid in boosting academic achievement. Recent research suggests that curiosity and persistence are the two greatest indicators of academic success in reading and math. Focus work integrates social emotional learning into academic settings by positioning SEL beyond an isolated SEL experience or time.
10 ⏐ Our Vision & Purpose Curiosity & Persistence Connectio渀 2 to Focus Curiosity and persistence are intertwined with focus. Improved focus allows educators and students to regulate distraction and create the environment to allow for sustained engagement with a specific task. Removing distraction and improving focus allows for curiosity by creating space for the sustained time and attention that is needed to explore new questions and curiosity. In this way practice to improve focus connects social emotional learning via improved emotional regulation.
11 ⏐ Our Vision & Purpose Curiosity & Persistence Connectio渀 3 to Focusable The experience in Focusable is designed to foster not only curiosity and persistence, but overall mental health by creating an individual or group experience that provides the scaffolds needed to grow a mental fitness routine. Traditional social emotional learning programs often take place as isolated experiences, Focusable bridges the gap between SEL, academic achievement, and emotional regulation.
12 ⏐ Our Vision & Purpose Focus What we know about focus Everyone’s ability to focus is regularly challenged. Those challenges have only increased in a modern world with consistent digital connectivity and distraction. What we can do to improve our focus Our ability to focus can be improved through practice. Through habit-building routines in Focusable, we can practice controlling our attention on both our work and mindfulness, which in turn can boost our mental health. Why focus matters Focus is tied to traits such as curiosity and persistence which are predictors of academic performance⸀ Focus helps us regulate external stress and our reaction to those stressors. Regulation of stress results in improved mood and our ability to process information effectively.
13 ⏐ Our Vision & Purpose Good News㨀 Everyone is Focusable! The more you focus, the more you benefit from focus, just like physical exercise. When our focus is consistently challenged we need tools to protect our mental health. The experience in Focusable provides the space to practice, track progress and develop the habits to improve focus.
14 ⏐ Mindfulness Recharge & Charge㨀 Two Modes That Define Focusable Recharg攀 Charg攀 = 㴀 Mindful break Focus Recharging is time spent on mindfulness activities, or simply Charging is dedicated time on your focus for work or anything just doing nothing. The purpose is to emphasize the goal of else you need to do. This is the time for sustained focus. Make calm needed to support your focus. sure to recharge first and along the way.
15 ⏐ Mindfulness The Cas攀 for Mindful Activities 1 2 3 Every 90 to 120 minutes we A 2016 study found elementary Breaks allow our brains to make experience a significant dip in our students spent a quarter of their sense of what we have energy. Working through this dip time distracted and unable to focus experienced, encourage creates stress and negatively on the task. Carefully-timed breaks productivity, creativity, impacts our performance. can reduce this experience and persistence, and help us form improve focus. stable memories.
16 ⏐ Mindfulness Recharge㨀 Mindfulness Activities Mindfulness activities in Recharge are designed to promote calmness and act as a moment of rest for the body and mind in the midst of an overly stimulating environment, schedule or experience. Breathing Visualizing Movement The breathing activities in Focusable are The visualizing activities in Focusable The movement activities in Focusable designed to help us regulate our allow us to remove all external act as a reminder to give your body a emotions as well as to create a sense of distractions by targeting our attention break. The physical activities help break calmness in our body⸀ on a visual cue. When the mind and fatigue that can negatively affect focus. Breathing activities in recharge body is overstimulated, a visualization The tension that can arise in the body emphasize longer exhales to prioritize activity can calm the mind by focusing can be released through a movement calmness. on attention to a visual. activity.
17 ⏐ Mindfulness Mindful Break猀 Anytime In the midst of a busy day, or with a Where our environments are Focusable is the anywhere, anytime few moments in between classes, typically filled with noise, it can be app that removes any barriers to meetings, or duties, educators and challenging to escape the constant experience necessary mindful students can engage with a distraction and overstimulation. breaks and promote enhanced recharge and charge experience While a silent environment is an ideal focus. The necessary habit-building through the convenience of scenario for a mindful break, it is not that is possible through Focusable Focusable. always possible. Less than perfect creates the opportunity to practice environments no longer impede resilience and develop the mindful breaks thanks to Focusable. consistent practice necessary to improve one’s focus.
18 ⏐ Mindfulness Breaks What we know about Why break猀 Wha琀 breaks and focus matter we can do There is a symbiotic relationship The absence of rest in our Incorporate both focusing and time between breaks and focus. Whereas overstimulated daily experience for mindfulness into the cracks of our our goal is to improve focus and precludes any possibility of improving day with Focusable. attention to our current experience one’s ability to focus. Furthermore, if through improved self-awareness and we ignore the physical bodies need to mindfulness, a well -timed break is rest our stress levels can increase required to sustain the quality of and our cognitive performance can focus we all are pursuing. falter.
19 ⏐ Developing a Daily Routine From New to Routine Focusable is the fitness tracking app for your mind, designed with the guidance and structure needed to develop the necessary habit-building to improve focus. Mental fitness and the ability to improve focus are much like improving physical fitness. We must balance the peaks and valleys of mental training, and recovery against intentional focus. Mindful Breaks Focus Focusable is designed to guide you to a routine of 12 minutes a Improving one's ability to focus is achieved through consistent day of recharging time. This baseline goal is supported through practice. The Focusable goal is for individuals to progress to at the embedded timer and mindful activities. Accountability and least 90 minutes a week of focused work. awareness of progress are supported with timers and allow users to focus on the process of developing a daily routine.
20 ⏐ Developing a Daily Routine Creating a Classroom Routin攀 with Focusable Incorporating Focusable into a daily classroom routine can start with just 2 minutes a day to work through a rest and focus progression. Within one week an individual or entire class could build up to a 15 minute progression that incorporates multiple mindfulness activities. day 4 day 3 day 1 day 5 day 2 Complete a longer 10 minute Progression the Engage with multiple 5 includes a recharge and Begin with a 2 minute minute Progressions Complete multiple charge mindfulness Complete a 2 minute Progression that throughout the day. shorter Progressions activity Progression to begin includes one recharge Before a class, before a throughout the day to the day and incorporate breathing activity. test, and before build up to a total of 12 a 5 minute Progression beginning homework. minutes of recharge and to prepare for a class. rest.
21 ⏐ Developing a Daily Routine Approaches for Making Mental Fitnes猀 a Routine Experience Integrating new experiences into a classroom schedule can be challenging. These four approaches look to ease the burden of adopting a new experience and find moments where rest and focus work with Focusable fit into existing structures. Natura氀 Mornin最 Preⴀ End of Day ☀ 2 3 4 1 Transitions Meeting Assessment Heading Home When students are transitioning In elementary classrooms, Students can benefit from a Giving the brain time to recharge from recess or lunch back into educators can incorporate whole moment of recharging prior to a at the end of the day or lesson the classroom, educators can group take mindful breaks and classroom assessment. Have helps students make sense of dedicate time to recharging and focus practice directly into their individual students complete a what they learned and charging with a Focusable pre-schedule搀 Focusable progression to experience. Consider an progression. morning meetings. regulate emotion and create Individual or whole class calmness in their body and mind. progression to wrap up the day.
22 ⏐ Developing a Daily Routine Mindful Statistics for Educators: Focusable Groups Focusable groups are a powerful way for educators to develop an informed mindfulness and focus routine for their classroom. Educators can quickly gain insight into the experience of their students to make decisions on where to begin and end each day. The school da礀 Checkin最 Preⴀ End of Day ☀ 2 3 4 1 begins in throughout Assessment Heading Home With the school day getting If students are given time Calmness and mindful focus prior to an Recharging helps students started, educators can quickly throughout the day to assessment is proven to positively integrate what they learned evaluate the statistics in their independently complete a impact academic performance. Now, throughout the day. With the Focusable group. They can see Focusable progression, educators can see how many students Focusable dashboard, educators how many students engaged educators can see both have engaged this this activity prior to can now view a snapshot of the with mindful activities the night individual and group progress an assessment and make informed entire class to see if a before and may then begin class through the group dashboard⸀ decisions about if a progression is progression is needed to with a focus on rest. morning meetings. needed for the class. facilitate rest and reflection
23 ⏐ Impact on Learning Focus, TechnologyⰀ and Academic Performance There is a compelling reason to introduce mindful breaks into the student experience in the classroom. In a 2016 study, student Connection to Focusable performance on tests that were administered after a 20-30 minute break improved significantly㠀 Focusable’s individual or group experiences create space for curiosity In technology rich, 1:1 classrooms it is more important than ever to and persistence by helping students empower students to strengthen their ability to focus. The potential train their mind. Improved focus allows distraction and pull from our intended task that technology can create is for sustained engagement with an idea powerful. Yet with consistent practice and guidance, students can and a pathway to both curiosity and enhance their ability to be aware of their own thinking and gain agency persistence. over their focus.
24 ⏐ Impact on Learning Revisiting the Keys㨀 Curiosity & Persistence A study conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development identified curiosity and persistence as the two traits that are the best predictors of academic achievement in math and reading. Typically associated with goals and outcomes of Social Emotional Learning programs, these characteristics translate directly to academic performance. Across math, reading, and art, these two characteristics presented as the most impactful as indicators of academic achievement.
25 ⏐ Impact on Learning Selfⴀ Regulation Connection to Focusable Mindfulness is the experience of being completely present in the moment, without distraction or emotional reaction. There is a direct Focusable helps the development of a connection between mindfulness training and the ability to self regulate, consistent routine and practice of particularly the self-regulation of emotions㠀 mindfulness activities. With increased mindfulness practice, comes an With an enhanced awareness of one’s ability to regulate emotions, increased ability to regulate emotions. academic achievement becomes more likely. Emotional regulation, Repeated practice sessions that include through consistent mindfulness training positively impacts working our mindful activities results in improved memory or the ability to selectively process and maintain relevant self regulation. information.
26 ⏐ The Focusable Experience The Focusabl攀 Experience With Focusable What we know How to act Consistent practice is the key to We know that recharging and We know the benefits of daily breaks improved focus. Like physical fitness, charging are key factors in helping and focus, but simply getting started enhanced mental fitness and focus is educators and students regulate and persisting with a daily routine is a distilled down to adopting a daily emotions, improve academic challenge. Focusable builds in the routine. Focusable facilitates this performance, and improve their scaffolds necessary to help process by providing accountability capacity to practice mindfulness. Yet individuals and groups build the through timed or group experiences, we also know there are challenges to resilience to embrace daily mindful motivation through streaks and building the capacity and daily activities and ultimately improve their achievements and clear metrics on routines necessary to improve focus. focus. Begin with a short 2 minute consistency and how students spend Focusable can help progression in Focusable. their time.
