MAKING IT EASIER TO BE A BETTER TEACHER

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

Here’s our weekly roundup of interesting education stories from around the world. Click each link to dive deeper:

• The data is out - Canadian special education students are absent more than ever; COVID no longer to blame.

• This school is sending parents back to school for math - will it actually help?

• AI - no for students, but yes for teachers.

BRAINY BITS

Can your brain learn to tune out chaos?

This week’s study dives into something teachers experience every day: distraction overload. 

Researchers used EEG scans to ask a fascinating question - can our brains train themselves to ignore frequent distractions?

The answer? Yes… but the process isn’t exactly conscious.

The Study: Learning to block out distractions

In this EEG study, participants were asked to spot a visual target (say, a green circle) while an annoying red shape flashed nearby in the same location - over and over.

As they repeated the task, scientists measured visual processing activity using steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) and event-related potentials (ERPs). 

Their goal: find out how distraction patterns change what we actually see.

The Results

Participants got faster at ignoring distractions that popped up in the same place again and again.

Key brain signals showed that early-stage visual processing dialed down activity in those "high-probability" distraction zones.

But here’s the twist: even though most participants noticed the distraction pattern, that awareness didn’t explain their improvement. Their brains adjusted on autopilot.

In Your Classroom:

We all know that distractions are a fact of life - especially in elementary school. This research reminds us that attention isn’t just willpower. It’s trainable.

Here’s how this insight might shift your classroom strategy:

Strategies

• Predictable distractions are easier to ignore: Repetition helps students filter out the unnecessary. That wobbly ceiling fan? Less of a big deal by October.

• Visual learning benefits from layout consistency: Repeated formats (like always placing directions in the top-left) might reduce visual overload and boost student focus.

• Environment matters: If a student always sits near a hallway door, their brain might adapt. But sometimes, just changing the seating can reset attention.

Distraction doesn’t always need to be eliminated—sometimes, it just needs to be familiar.

TECH TOOL

The videos don’t work like they used to.

Students often struggle to stay focused and organized when learning from video content - especially when they're trying to absorb material, take notes, and avoid distractions all at once. 

With YouTube videos and Khan Academy lessons now central to many classrooms, there’s a growing need for a tool that helps students meaningfully engage with what they’re watching while capturing their thoughts in real time.

The Solution:  Freenotes

Freenotes is a digital note-taking tool designed to work with video - not alongside it. 

Available for iPads and other devices, it allows students to take freeform notes using a stylus or their fingers while watching videos in split-screen or picture-in-picture mode. 

The interface is intuitive and distraction-free, offering customizable backgrounds, color-coded writing tools, and an auto-save feature that keeps everything safe in the cloud. 

Students can organize their notes by subject and even pull in images or screenshots from videos for visual reinforcement.

In Your Classroom:

Some argue that note taking is a dead art. We humbly disagree.

It just needs to evolve and this app is one creative solution to that.

Here’s how you can get started with Freenotes this week:

Strategies

• Build active watching habits: Ask students to watch a short video on a math concept, science demo, or historical event while using Freenotes to jot down key points, questions, or vocabulary. 

• Use for flipped classrooms or homework review: Have students use Freenotes while watching pre-assigned videos at home. They can then bring their notes to class for group discussion or follow-up activities.

• Build a student-created reference library: Encourage students to save and organize their notes by subject or unit. Over time, they’ll develop a personalized archive they can refer back to for quizzes, projects, or final exams.

Freenotes is a simple, mostly free, but powerful tool that makes it easier for students to stay engaged while learning from video content. 

By creating space for focused, active note-taking, it turns screen time into study time - no extra training required. For teachers looking to build better study habits and support more independent learners, Freenotes is worth a try.

REFERENCES

This week’s issue adapts information from the following sources below:

Tech Talk:

Hangzhou Free Notes Technology Co. (2025). What we do. Retrieved from https://www.freenotetech.com/ 

Brainy Bits:

Duncan, D. H., Forschack, N., van Moorselaar, D., Müller, M. M., & Theeuwes, J. (2025). Learning modulates early encephalographic responses to distracting stimuli: a combined SSVEP and ERP study. Journal of Neuroscience. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1973-24.2025