Doodling, actually good for learning?

Doodling is not as off-task as once believed.  There is research that shows learners retain 29% more when they doodle compared to their non-doodling peers (Cloud, 2009).  This is for adults and children alike.  What's astonishing is that the doodles don't necessarily have to be related to what a person is learning. 

The one benefit to doodling that I recognized before researching this was that I noticed my students with ADD and ADHD had less distracting behaviors when allowed to doodle.  I even put a "doodle box" on any assignment I anticipated could cause any stress, such as tests and quizzes.  I didn't give any requirement that the doodles had to be related.  Sometimes they were and sometimes they weren't. If I ever forgot to include a doodle box, my 5th graders were fast to remind me!  Reading through the research, I realize this may have had even more of a positive impact than I noticed.

Doodling can reduce stress, help learners focus, engages different networks in the brain (Gasca, 2015), and it doesn't even matter if the individual is using words, pictures, or designs (Cloud, 2009).

So, allow and encourage students to doodle!  This may actually help with classroom management and your ultimate goal of increasing student learning.

Here are some other resources shared in class, which discuss the merits of doodling:
Print Article 1
Print Article - 3 Ways by Gasca
Video 1 
Video with article

Here are some resources shared in class, which show us how to begin doodling:

Doodle triangles:  Doodle Triangles

Doodle 1 Spirals:  Doodle Spirals

Doodle 2 Fibonacci:  Doodle Fibonacci

How to Doodle:  How to doodle

30 Patterns for Doodling:  Patterns for doodling

Fidgets:  Just as students get in trouble for doodling although it actually helps them learn, they also often get into trouble for fidgeting.  What solution could you try in your own classroom that meets the child’s needs without interrupting others?

References

Cloud, J. (2009, February 26). Study: Doodling Helps You Pay Attention -- Printout -. Retrieved June 29, 2015, from http://content.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1882127,00.html  

Gasca, Peter.  3 Ways Doodling Will Help Your Focus and Creativity.  (n.d.).  Retrieved June, 2015, from:  http://www.inc.com/peter-gasca/3-reasons-doodling-will-help-your-focus-and-creativity.html