Quality instruction in any school environment takes place at the point in which instructors truly connect with their students and capture their full attention. The routine challenge of teachers, therefore, is to devise methods that will enable them to draw students into a given lesson effectively. Part of the difficulty of establishing a dynamic influence over or connection with young minds, however, is the process of learning which methods to employ in order to set the stage for genuine learning.
Every teaching lesson must have a beginning, a starting point. This starting point, in some respects, is the most critical step in the work of establishing a point of contact with students. If instructors fail to establish the interest or attention of their students early in the lesson, it is seldom profitable for them to proceed.
Students commonly find it difficult to remain focused on subject matter. Apparent inattention by pupils at the opening of a lesson, however, does not necessarily mean that such students lack the capacity to concentrate. The boy or girl with the far-away look in their eye is, after all, paying attention — but not to you. The difference between a trained teacher and a novice is often apparent during the first five minutes of a lesson. The novice looks first at the lesson, whereas the seasoned teacher looks first at his pupils.
The question might well be asked, “Who is responsible to ensure that a student is paying attention during the process of teaching and learning?” Like it or not, the answer is: the teacher is responsible. It is not the pupil’s fault if a teacher is not willing to make a serious attempt to command the attention of his students. The story is told of an usher, who while performing his duties at a local church asked the pastor if he should awaken any member who might fall asleep during the sermon. “No,” the preacher replied, “come to the pulpit and wake me up.” The hard truth is that the teacher, at least in most instances, must assume responsibility for the attention of his audience.
The first goal, therefore, of any teacher must be to bring students to the place where they are truly focused on the subject being presented. Educators who struggle to capture the attention of their students should consider incorporating the following teaching strategies:
- Eliminate as many external distractions as possible by doing things like providing adequate lighting, removing unnecessary noise ( i.e. phones, radio/television programs, etc.), ensuring that the seating for students is reasonably comfortable, and striving to make the temperature in the study area moderate.
- Teachers can also help to ease the burden of their students to stay attentive by limiting the scope of a particular topic to “bite-size” chunks, rather than to a wide spectrum of complex concepts. For example, geography instructors could ask pupils to learn the names of major rivers in one region of a continent, instead of requiring them to memorize all of the rivers located throughout the entire continent.
- Very few students have the capacity to pay close attention to a teacher for more than twenty minutes at a time. Particularly in the case of young children, instructors need to limit their lecture time and include other teaching strategies into their daily lessons. It is often helpful to include a healthy dose of variety into the teaching routine in order to keep youngsters alert. Adding an element of surprise or curiosity can often keep students properly focused.
- The specific manner in which teachers address their students can go a long way towards helping them stay focused. One important technique is for teachers to ask personalized questions in order to keep their students alert. General questions have their place, but learners will seldom stay focused unless they are trained to anticipate direct questions without formal notice. Students will also benefit from instructors who include plenty of interesting examples, parables, or stimulating word pictures in their efforts to communicate.
- As a general rule, teachers will best maintain the attention of young minds by speaking to them in a down to earth familiar language. Teach to communicate, not to impress, and you will find that most students will stay engaged with the instruction you are seeking to give them. As often as possible, select teaching themes that focus upon issues to which students can naturally relate. The human mind tends to perk up when it is confronted with subjects to which it is personally acquainted. For example, if a teacher desires to explain the destructive power of a tornado, he should begin by reminding his students of any instances in which a tornado may have struck their region in the recent past. This is often known as the technique of interest by association.
- Educators can encourage students to stay attentive by developing a series of comprehension questions/quizzes that are related to their topic of study that can be answered in a “game show” format. Children love competition, and games styled after shows such as “Jeopardy” or “Wheel of Fortune” can be just the thing to keep children attentive. Spelling bees are simply one other example of how to bring variety and competition into the teaching routine.
- Instructors can also incorporate a wide variety of visual aids and hands-on learning techniques with their students as they strive to get or keep students focused. Science or history teachers, for example, could bring in objects to the teaching process that students could handle, identify or operate. Care must be taken, however, not to dazzle students with too many objects or visual aids during a given lesson.
As any teacher can testify, it is comparatively easy to teach those who are ready and eager to be taught. To hold the attention of such students is no major accomplishment. The simple fact, however, is that very few students are willing to approach the learning process with an eager and attentive disposition each and every day. One of the major challenges of teaching, therefore, involves the process of getting and holding the attention of pupils whose thoughts are focused on anything but the lesson of the day.
The intent of the preceding article has been to guide educators to the place where they can begin to incorporate teaching strategies that will empower them to capture their student’s attention without having to resort to brute force. Sooner or later, most teachers come to realize the futility of trying to bully or force children to pay attention during a teaching session. Displaying fits of anger in order to demand attention may seem productive to some teachers, but these tactics rarely, if ever, provide any lasting results. Forcing children to pay attention through fits of anger yields only temporary results at best, and often requires instructors to stay angry most of the time.
It is my hope that educators will refuse to utilize heavy-handed methods as they seek to encourage their children to pay attention while they are being taught. In place of such unproductive strategies, I trust that home educators will choose to be imitators of God as they seek to capture their student’s attention with a ‘still small voice’ of wisdom and creativity.
