I use 3 strategies to capture a student's attention. The first is walking around the room. The second is making eye contact. The third is calling on the student to agree, disagree, or simply comment on what I had just said. I do this in a very friendly way so as not to punish them. It's my way of reeling a stray student back into the learning environment.
Hi John,
I concur! It is amazing what you will see from students if you are mobile while they are working. You can certainly catch those who are falling if you are mobile in the classroom.
Patricia
Walking around and mingling with my adult learners not only maintains attention but also allows my learners to ask questions of me as they are completing manual/ practical projects, in using MBWA (managing by walking around)this also enables me to prevent little 'mistakes' and errors from becoming big mistakes and errors
Walking around the classroom, asking for a volunteer to write on the board, creating open discussion, making sure everyone is responding.
I move around in the classroom. If there is a student or group of students who seem to be "drifting off" or "in their own world" I place myself near them. I might use their name if I am describing a scenario.I have often seen instructors just stop and ask "what do you think about this?" Unless I noticed that they were paying attention and have now shifted their attention to a classmate to voice their opinions, I avoid asking this question because I do not want call them out in front of the whole class.
I slightly exaggerate and/or change my voice's inflection when presenting key information. Also I increase and/or change the volume of my voice and speaking rate. Sometimes I open with a provocative question, startling statement, striking example, personal anecdote, demonstration, or mention of a recent news event.
Hi Linda,
What a great way to grab students attention. I like how all students are involved.
Patricia
Some ways I use to capture the attention of inattentive students is to call on them during class. If I have students who always conduct their own conversations during class time, I give a quiz at the end of the class. This usually works because it affects their grades.
Give them a role within the class such as teacher's assistant, handing out notebooks or handing back homework, taking attendance.
I use powerpoint presentations but limit my discussion to about 15 mintues. If there are specific topics that have multiple answers and/or reasons, I break the class into small groups, expecting all students to participate in the group discussions.
When it comes time to discuss the group topics, I select a spokesperson for the group and the topics are discussed as a class.
Hi Steven,
I like it! I really like how you make your students feel like they have ownership in the cuuriculum. I certainly see how this participation can cut back on the number of complaints. Very wise practice on your part!
Patricia
Hi Emma,
Calling on students to grab their attention is truly a simple tactic, and it is no doubt very effective.
Patricia
observe the student and maybe try applying your observations towards the student
Moving around the classroom always works.
I'm also conscious of eye contact and many times I ask questions to specific students (i.e. "Robert, can you tell me what is an oscillator?") Any student could be called upon anytime. This approach tends to keep the group more attentive and focused than just asking questions to the whole class, which many times limits the participation to only the more eager students.
Moving around the classroom works well. It prevents anyone from "hiding", gives me a better view of what they are doing and seems to get them wondering if they might be called on next. Calling on students to participate in demonstrations also seems to have a positive effect.
One of the simplest ways is to call on them to answer questions. It brings them back into class and paying attention if they will be called on again. Another way is to make them an assistant in demo (have them mixing or continuing the task I was doing while I continue to explain what is happening in the demo). I find that way they also are more engaged when they go to replicate it themseves, and do better on the assignment.
When I was going to school, I had a class on HTML programming. It was one of the most boring and irrelevant classes for me that I've ever taken. The professor had a very quiet, very monotonous voice and his lecture style was atrocious. His method was to have a PowerPoint presentation consisting of roughly 130 slides. It was all text and he spent about 10-15 seconds on each slide. The class continually told him that they disliked his methods. Because he had been teaching the class the same way with the same slides for some 5 years, he refused to change the format of his class. Well at the end of the semester, a large majority of the students decided to cumulatively give him a very bad class survey. This instructor ended up not teaching the course the following year. (not 100% sure why) The moral of the story is if the class does not like the delivery of the material, then the delivery should probably be reconsidered. Listen to your students. Pay attention to how they interact with the material and the way it's delivered.
Hi Gayle,
Great way to boost confidence. Ask them a simple question that you know they can answer. You automatically see the student's head is held high and chest is stuck out.
I totally agree that moving around the class room keeps student's attention. I found moving around a little difficult at first (i got off track) but it is absolutly beneficial to the students.
