Teaching a School of Goldfish

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In the sixth grade, I had a goldfish named Fishy. While I know his name wasn’t that creative, he was cool. He didn’t seem to care much about anything and swam in circles. I felt bad for him, though, because the confines of his small fishbowl on my desk seemed like a sad way to live.

When I told my teacher I felt sad for Fishy, she reassured me that goldfish have nine-second attention spans, so Fishy didn’t mind. At the time, nine seconds sounded short. But in 2025, research from TIME magazine and Microsoft Corp suggests the average human attention span has shrunk to just eight seconds — one second less than a goldfish.

According to Maclean’s, nearly half of Canadian children aged seven to 11 own a mobile device, highlighting the growing challenge of maintaining student focus in the face of digital interruptions. Research shows that frequent phone use can contribute to shorter attention spans, making it hard for students to engage with classroom material.

On August 5, 2024, the Province of Manitoba implemented a cell phone ban for students in grades K to eight and restrictions on phone use during class time for students in grades nine to 12. The ban aims to minimize distractions and help teachers reclaim their students’ attention by removing phones from the equation. While the policy addresses a significant source of disruption, it also raises broader questions about how to create sustained focus and engagement in an increasingly screen-dependent world.

But now that the phone ban is in place and teachers don’t have to compete with devices for the students’ attention, the problem of distracted students should be fixed, right? 

Not quite.

The ban doesn’t address the issue of children continuing to use their devices outside of class, training their brains for short-form media consumption. Platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts deliver rapid, bite-sized content, conditioning users to seek constant, quick stimulation.

A study by Laura Korhonen, a professor from the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences in Sweden, says “short-form video addiction was positively associated with academic procrastination.” At the same time, Common Sense Media found that teens spend 1.5 hours daily on TikTok alone. This constant exposure undermines the ability to focus on longer tasks, like a 50 to 75-minute class. While the ban tackles in-school distractions, it doesn’t resolve the deeper issue of students’ expectations for short-term stimulation shaped by their digital habits.

Finnley Hildebrand, an 18-year-old student at Springfield Collegiate Institute, says growing up in the digital era makes it hard to avoid being on her phone.

“Everything we do, such as talking to friends, making plans, and doing schoolwork, is 90 per cent on our devices. Today, we are one with our devices.”

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The Rise in TikTok Brain

A 2021 report by the Canadian Paediatric Society found that Canadian youth spend three to five hours daily on screens, while teens spend seven hours per day on average. The COVID-19 pandemic worsened these habits, as screens became essential for learning and entertainment. The parallels with the U.S. highlight a shared challenge in managing screen use among youth.

Excessive screen time can lead to “TikTok Brain,” a term The Wall Street Journal uses to explain how short-form content is ruining users’ ability to focus. Children are growing up in front of screens, and the exposure to fast-paced, attention-grabbing content that causes a dopamine hit has rewired how their brains process information. According to the National Institutes of Health, children’s attention spans have dropped by 50 per cent over the last decade, with excessive screen use being a major contributing factor. Social Media Psychology, an online source focusing on research, education, and social media psychology, says users — students, in this case — find longer videos or extended periods of focus “stressful,” leading to a preference for quick, easily digestible information. 

Dr. Fred Gutoski, a retired professor from the University of Winnipeg with a Ph.D. in Exercise Physiology — who is also my grandfather — says, “We’re raising a generation of children who are addicted to their phones, but they don’t even know it.”

“Kids today aren’t just sitting more; they’re engaging less with the world around them. The impact on their physical and mental health is undeniable,” says Gutoski.

This rise in screen dependency has left teachers to face the harsh reality that students aren’t equipped to sit still and focus.   

Schools have tried to adapt, incorporating technology in classrooms in an attempt to enhance learning. But as devices have become both an aid and a distraction, a new approach is needed — one that goes beyond screens to re-engage students in active, meaningful ways.

The Teaching Crisis

In Manitoba, some curriculums haven’t been updated since 2000. While curriculums provide a broad outline for learning, today’s students engage with information differently than students did two decades ago. Traditional methods that rely on sitting still, memorization, and testing are mismatched with a generation accustomed to instant, visual, and interactive content from platforms like TikTok.

The question, then, is how the school system should respond. One promising model is the Met School, which is built on project-based learning.

The Met School

Nancy Janelle, principal of the Seven Oaks Met School in Winnipeg, says they implement the Big Picture Learning style of school, where students can customize their learning while covering the curriculum. Prospective students must apply to the Met School and attend an open house to see if they’re a good fit for the school.

Dennis Littky and Elliot Washor established Big Picture Learning in 1995 to put students directly at the centre of their own learning. They started The Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center (“The Met”), the first Big Picture Learning School in Providence, Rhode Island. There are now Met schools around the world, including three in Winnipeg.

“They figured that if the work were meaningful and relevant [to the students], they would come to school and be excited to learn,” Janelle says.

The Met School model is built around small class sizes, with each advisor guiding the same group of 15 students through all four years. This structure helps create close relationships between students, teachers, and families, ensuring no one is overlooked. The focus of the small cohorts is so each advisor can help students flourish.

Janelle says they focus on relationships, relevance, and rigour, which shape the program’s design. Students focus on project-based learning instead of subject-specific classes.

Before implementing a project-based style of learning, Janelle says they used to hear students say, “‘Why do I have to do this?’ or ‘This isn’t even relevant to me.’”

The students at the Met School spend two days a week in the community on work placements, learning more about what jobs might interest them in the future. The other three days are spent at school doing project-based learning.

“It’s cross-curricular, project-based, hands-on relevant work. It should be relevant because the kids are really driving their own projects and their own internships.”

At the Met School, education is personal and purpose driven. Students don’t follow the “traditional” curriculum — they design projects that align with their curiosity and interests while giving back to their community. 

Janelle says they use a three-layered framework: 

1. How can you give back to the community? 
2. What are you passionate about? 
3. How does this fit into the curriculum? 

They plan projects based on the students’ and advisors’ answers to those three questions.

“One of the biggest parts about student projects, the part that makes them transformative, is how the student can design the project so that it’s not just about them,” says Janelle. “They need to think about how they can do something good — give back to the community, solve a problem, or address something important — in some way.”

An example is the 2019 “Strut for Shoal” concert and fashion show, which raised funds for Shoal Lake 40 First Nation and its 20-year boil water advisory that was lifted in September of 2021. Meg Boehm and Eric Jasysyn led the project in grades 11 and 12. They turned Boehm’s passion for fashion and modelling into a cause-driven initiative. Bothered by the boil water advisory, the students wanted to raise awareness for Shoal Lake, Winnipeg’s source of clean drinking water.

“She [Meg] had been interning at boutique clothing studios and brought her skills to this project. The fashion show was phenomenal and gained so much attention, both locally and in the media. It helped bring awareness to an issue that had faded from the public focus.”

This project perfectly exemplifies the Met School’s approach: students connect their learning to things they care about while taking a hands-on approach to real-world problems. The initiative didn’t just meet curricular outcomes — it combined marketing, event planning, advocacy, and social skills to achieve a successful event.  

“It created a powerful interdisciplinary learning experience, which we strive to provide our students. We want them to know that while it’s important to understand the basics — math, science, and English — we want them to learn about making an impact on the world, using real-life problems,” says Janelle. 

Dr. Fred Gutoski highlights the importance of this approach. “It’s not just about checking off learning outcomes. When kids engage in something meaningful, they learn without even realizing it. They’re developing critical thinking, problem-solving, and leadership skills while connected to the real world.” 

While technology has brought undeniable benefits, it has also created an urgent need for schools to rethink teaching and learning, as the Met School has with their hands-on approach.

“We dedicate one period a day where advisors meet curricular outcomes in a more teacher-led fashion,” Janelle says.  

This balance between structured instruction and project-driven learning ensures students receive a well-rounded education while exploring their unique interests.

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The Science Behind Hands-On, Movement-Based Learning

Movement-based learning is more than just a trend — it’s grounded in decades of research showing how physical touch and activity benefit the brain. When students move, their brains release endorphins, improve blood flow, and enhance cognitive function.

Gutoski explains the neuroscience behind this, “Think of the brain as a sponge. When you sit still for hours, it dries out. But when you move — whether it’s walking, jumping, or even gesturing, it becomes saturated with the nutrients it needs to absorb knowledge.” So, when students move and engage in their learning, they retain more and are more excited to participate.

Physical activity has also been linked to improved mental health. A report by the World Health Organization (WHO) notes that regular exercise reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression in children by up to 40 per cent. For students struggling in school, movement offers a way to release stress and refocus their energy on learning and prioritizing their mental health.

Gutoski has consistently advocated for movement-based, hands-on learning. He believes students should use the world around them to learn. 

“When I taught science [about 40 years ago], I would take the kids outside, and we would look for different critters to study. If we were learning about snails and their anatomy, we’d find and study a snail in its natural habitat. See how it moves and what its behaviours are.”

He says the students loved it. “They were always so engaged in the lessons because it wasn’t just a photo in a textbook; they could see the textures of the critters and what they felt like.” While we should be taking advantage of the new technology made for learning, Gutoski feels it’s essential to bring back some of the basics, especially since students’ attention spans have become so short.

One of the most effective ways to incorporate movement into learning is to take lessons outdoors. A 2022 study published by Nature found that spending just 20 minutes outdoors improves focus and cognitive performance by up to 30 per cent. 

Gutoski also used this method when teaching math. When he taught younger students to count, he would have them line up across the classroom, skip forward five times, and then back two. They were then to do the math problem along with it (5 – 2 = 3).

“It is such simple things like this,” Gutoski says. “Children are meant to be moving and having fun. They’re kids; they need mental and physical stimulation.”

Not only did the students learn the concept, but they also stayed active, focused, and engaged for the entire lesson.

A Harvard University study shows that students learn more effectively in classrooms that incorporate active learning strategies than those that rely solely on traditional lectures. Participation in active learning enhances students’ grasp of concepts and boosts long-term retention.

The Real-World Action

Teachers are already managing many challenges like distraction, irritability, and mental health issues in their classrooms — students’ attention spans are just one of them.

Samantha (Sam) Renooy, a first- and second-grade teacher from West St. Paul School, says she can tell if a student has a tablet or mobile device at home solely from their behaviour. “The ones that do have shorter attention spans and can be more disruptive, whereas the students without devices have more patience when learning,” she says.

Renooy says she struggles to stay afloat as a new teacher and cannot afford to give students the one-on-one time they need.

“I love teaching, and it brings me so much joy, but it’s hard to try and keep students engaged in lessons when classes are around 50 minutes long — it’s too long for them to stay focused and not get fatigued.”

While the benefits of movement-based and hands-on learning are clear, implementing it on a larger scale has challenges. 

Many teachers worry about time constraints and the pressure to cover the subjects in the curriculum. Others mistakenly view physical activity as a distraction from academics or struggle to visualize how movement-based strategies can be integrated into subjects like math or science without derailing learning objectives. 

Gutoski acknowledges these concerns but remains optimistic. “Movement doesn’t have to take away from learning — it enhances it. You can weave it into your lessons, even in small ways,” he says. Janelle echoes this statement, emphasizing the need to empower teachers with the tools and confidence to embrace new methods. “It’s not about adding more to their plates; it’s about shifting how we approach education.”

The Future of Education

Movement-based and hands-on learning aren’t educational trends — they’re the way of the future. Imagine schools where desks and tables are replaced with flexible workstations, where students can stand or sit as they see fit. Outdoor classrooms become the new normal, and students can spend part of their day in nature. Every subject includes an element of physical activity, where the students can productively release energy. Some schools are specifically designed to be in nature, such as Beaver Creek Academy in Winnipeg, which incorporates a forest-based learning environment. Since most students in Manitoba are not in these specialized schools, how can the wider system help more students reap the benefits of nature-based, movement-focused, or hands-on learning?

Often noted as a global leader in education, Finland’s schools prioritize frequent breaks and active learning. According to the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, Finnish students spend only about 20 per cent of their school day sitting still, yet they consistently rank among the highest in international academic performance assessments.

As the world continues to evolve, these approaches to learning will play a significant role in counteracting “TikTok Brain.” The benefits of incorporating movement and project-based learning into schools are undeniable. Not only do they counteract the negative impacts of inactive lifestyles and excessive screen time, but they also encourage creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking. Teachers and communities must work together to embrace this shift.

Re-imagining Education for a Better Future

Gutoski leaves teachers with a simple but powerful reminder: “If we want to engage students, we need to meet them where they are. And right now, they need to move.”

Janelle agrees. “Learning isn’t just about memorizing facts. It’s about creating connections between ideas, people, and the world around us,” she says.

This approach to learning isn’t new, but it’s more relevant than ever. By embracing this approach, schools can create dynamic, engaging environments where students thrive academically, personally, and socially.