Struggling to get your students’ attention? Don’t worry, been there done that—but don’t get disheartened just yet because today I’ll give you 4 tips you can use to get them listening to you like a boss!
Students’ lack of attention has always been a big factor that affects how teachers teach their students effectively. and you might ask yourself this question, “what should I do to increase student attention in my classroom?”.
Are there any strategies that can help?
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<<Having an inattentive class? Deal with them using the super convincing ways below!
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4 Ways to Lock In The Attention Of Your Students
1.) Make Class Discussions Interactive
Isn’t it boring when class discussions are just merely pure lectures without other engaging things going on? We all surely have gone through those classes where we simply sat just listening to the lesson that is being taught.
This, sadly, is not an effective way to increase students’ attention even though we think it is.
Students have a highly active mind, especially younger students. you cannot expect them to take a seat and listen attentively to the lesson with only verbal communication from the teacher.
They are bound to get restless and surely lose their focus on the lesson.
Try mixing up some activities that are related to the topic to get them pumped up. Hosting a little quiz-type show is an example of what it means to make the lesson interactive.
Be careful of this method though, I personally recommend that you do not make this kind of activity as a means to add points to their grades.
There are many teachers who have created this kind of lesson activity that only makes students more stressed than before, obviously, students want to have high grades but if you intentionally create a fun, interactive quiz just to record it afterward then students will start to be competitive and focus on winning instead of learning and enjoying the lesson.
The whole purpose of doing interactive lessons is to make students become more participative in class discussions without them getting bored and out of focus, creating fun ways for them to enjoy and understand the lesson should be prioritized more.
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2.) Implement Cooperative Learning
The lack of attention is one of the challenging problems that every teacher experiences and it is indeed hard to overcome as many students have shown a lack of enthusiasm whenever class discussions are to ensue.
But lucky for us, there is nothing more interesting than working together in groups, especially with fellow classmates.
Incorporating cooperative learning inside the classroom will help create an opportunity for students to engage in practical scenarios together with their classmates.
Give students a task that will work best for groups so that they can cooperate with one another. It is a way for them to understand the lesson further by sharing their ideas and knowledge about the lesson.
This is also a good method for those students who are having a hard time understanding the lesson on their own, they can simply just ask their groupmate and teach them by showing what they have understood from the lesson.
There is still provided guidance from the teacher whenever students have inquiries about the task, however, students will be able to learn from experience by doing said tasks on their own.
It will enable them to have an active mind without getting bored and distraught by doing the task.
Working in groups is a good way to showcase the knowledge that they have learned without stressing themselves too much about the tasks. There are still some things that students will be able to learn by doing cooperative learning.
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3.) Start The Lesson By Conducting Some Exercises
Oftentimes, students cannot entirely focus on the lesson at hand because classes start a little bit too early in the morning. This can cause students to be physically present, but mentally absent.
Start the morning with some light exercises to get students pumped up and going for the lesson.
It is good to come up with some exercises so that it would wake up students’ drowsy minds, it is also a way to help circulate the blood flow so that the student’s mind and body will become more aware which will eventually let them absorb and understand the lesson much better.
Teachers will not be able to efficiently teach students who are not mentally aware, even though it may not seem like an efficient way to catch students’ attention, it will still have a positive effect on them and how they digest the lesson.
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4.) Take Advantage Of Technology
In this generation wherein technology has entirely become a part of our daily lives, teachers should get creative and innovate by using the advanced technology that we have today.
Students nowadays are very tech-savvy and using technology is one of the things that they are capable of, as a teacher, you should know how to blend your lessons with the use of multimedia to entice the students and successfully catch their attention.
Using multimedia will enable students to visualize the lesson itself. An example of a good lesson to visualize is the rain cycle, showing the class a video of how the cycle flows will make it easier for them to understand plus teachers do not have to elaborate their explanations to the students.
Videos are not the only things in multimedia that will help in catching student’s attention, using nursery rhyme songs will also be a good attention catcher for younger students.
It will not only help teachers maintain their focus on the lesson, but it will also be easier for students to remember the lesson discussed.
There are various ways to utilize multimedia in class discussions, just make sure you assess your students and keep it in line with their interests to make the usage of multimedia more efficient.
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Conclusion
There are many reasons as to why students cannot seem to pay attention and focus on the class discussion, it may be due to their lack of motivation in a particular study material or worse, they might feel overwhelmed and stressed about the subject itself.
Students, especially those who are in elementary, have a hard time concentrating whenever they only hear their teacher’s voice; this is a scenario wherein boredom will loom over the room thus making it harder to focus on the lesson.
Teachers must find a way to help students maintain their focus and also help them whenever they feel overwhelmed. Proper teaching skills should be applied in order to effectively instill teaching in the students.
This will not only help you catch the attention of the students, but this will also be an advantage for you as a teacher to use on a daily basis.
Teaching is not all about relaying lessons to students, you need to make sure that students will be able to understand the lesson, they won’t be able to understand if they are not well-focused.
There are many reasons why students are unable to concentrate in class. Find the time to talk to the students about their problems and give attention to their needs, make sure to let their parents be aware of their problems.
Go easy on them because sitting in class for a long period of time is no joke, it is physically and mentally draining. Think about what will be best for your students, be creative on what kind of method you will use when teaching.
Students will eventually come around and find themselves actively participating more in class if you find the correct way to teach them.
