Retaining the attention of your students is not easy. They have quite a limited attention span. Before you know it, they are already busy doing other things. Therefore, if you are a school administrator or a teacher, you need to find a way to sustain the interest of your students. These tips will help you keep them engaged and maximize learning.
Use mystery when doing your lessons:
Kids love mysteries. If you give them the chance to solve one or be a part of it, they will stay tuned until the end. Do not reveal the answer until the end of the class. It is a great way to keep their interest and make them listen to your entire lesson.
Avoid repeating materials and strategies:
If possible, you need to have a gap when you intend to use similar materials or an approach. Even then, it is crucial for you to make tweaks to avoid boring your kids. They might find it amusing at first, but they might not feel the same way if you repeat it too often. They were happy and attentive at first, but only because of the novelty of the materials. If it starts wearing off, they will not listen to you again.
Create games:
Children love games, and they will be participative if you come up with exciting games for them to try. However, you need to be careful to not distract them from learning. They love playing games, but they also need to understand various concepts at the same time. You can test their skills in maths, spelling, general knowledge and many other aspects through games. It is also a method of promoting healthy competition.
Try differentiated learning:
You need to understand that not all of your students are the same. Some of them are excellent in maths while others love expressing themselves through words. Make sure that you come up with activities where students have the chance to shine with their skills. It allows them to feel engaged because they see their worth. You also need to give them the opportunity to choose how they want to learn. The concept of learning styles indicates that students learn in different ways, and they will not learn if forced to follow a particular method that they do not like.
Avoid being too serious:
You need to change your attitude when you are in class. Try to be jolly and exciting. If you are too severe or you do not feel engaged with the lesson at all, you cannot expect your kids to feel engaged. You can even come to the class in a costume if it helps catch the attention of the students and make them listen.
Use modular classrooms:
If you are yet to see these modular buildings, they are like regular classrooms but made from an old trailer. You can transform the old vehicle into an interesting classroom setup. You can also move it around the school depending on the need. The students will feel amazed seeing one and would most likely listen to the teacher who conducts a class in this type of room.
Try to show them slides instead of boring pages:
It is evident through many types of research done, that human beings are most drawn to visuals than other methods when they are engaged in some studies or other researches. Even Google got that part too!
This is why we can see more images in children’s books, to engage and educate them in a more effective and creative way. With modern digitization, it has become much more possible for teachers to create a slideshow of the chapter they will be covering and hold it in front of the class in a much more easy and creative way.
Try to tell them stories instead of just reciting from textbooks. This will not only intrigue them in listening to what you are teaching them but will also create a sense of curiosity among them to explore more about the topic. This will also help them in understanding better and score good marks in their examination.
You need to be clever and creative if you want to maintain the attention of your students since most of them are not easy to please.
