Hi Linda:
It's great you have lattitude to perform a healthy and seemingly beneficial exercise. Many teachers would not.
Nonetheless, I think discussion is always beneficial, and students will usually warm up to work stories, situations, or case studies and examples that relate to the career area they're studying for.
Regards, Barry
Hi Robin:
For me, it seems that students get disengaged because they're unprepared, unfamiliar with the material, bored, tired, ill, or distracted. Whatever, getting them back on track can be simple (as you've described), or employing "change-ups", such as changing gears completely, and doing a wholly different activity. You describe group discussion. I think this one of the best ways to get students "activated" and motivated. Also, it fosters critical thinking, public speaking, class participation, self confidence, competence, and often, analysis. These are good traits to develop, and in a discussion forum, they're fun to cultivate.
Regards, Barry
Hi Theresa:
Class discussion are one of the best ways to reengage students. It also promotes critical thinking, confidence, competence, strengthens group dynamics, and public speaking. All from simple (organized) class discussions.
Regards, Barry
Hi John:
Good technique. Go with the flow and then guide the class back to topic. It works with canoeing, and probably many similar examples.
Regards, Barry
I sometimes ask the off tasks students to teach me what they are learning or explain to the class another way to view the topic I have just covered. This way the student is focused on the task at hand and may share a new view for other students to learn from as well. We remember 90% of what we say and do so it's also a great way for the student to retain information.
Lecture in the mornings and labs in the afternoon seem to work best for me.
The only problem is when the morning classes start too early and no one is awake yet--including ME. Soo, if I "read" this issue in the class, I have a "coffee break" where we gather (with our coffee or preferred beverage) and discuss progress and informally answer/ask questions and talk about related experiences.
Hi Bruce:
I agree. Students lose interest when they are tired, bored, unprepared, can't relate to the material, or are focused on other thoughts. The goal is to keep the focused on the current class topic.
Stories that are interesting, or exciting events seem to almost always "jog" students to listen and pay attention. Once that happens, we can return to the current topic. Good teachers are able to do this seamlessly (without the student even aware this tactic has been used).
Other times, more agressive maeasure are needed involving students moving around, taking a break, changing topics, activities or delivery methods. These measure are more extreme and I would say are limited to those times when the whole class just seems to be uninterested in the lesson.
Regards, Barry
One of the most challenging tasks is to get an off-track student back on track. One of the ideas that I've always used is to walk to that student, touch them gently on the shoulder and ask, "Do you have any questions? Are you all right?" or something like that. That usually works for my students who are in computer classes playing on Facebook while I'm trying to get them to work on an assignment.
Another tactic that I have used is the "stand up and stretch" method. Getting students out of their seats helps their minds refocus. Having a distraction from the topic for a few moments does really assist them and gets them out of the mindset they were in.
Also, I try to engage students in group discussion and board work, etc. Getting them to work as a team together takes some of the pressure off of individual students who cannot focus on lectures or text-reading but can work with others and communicate well.
And, as a last result, I'll start singing to them. No kidding. It really does work.
And you should see the reactions.
Every class I either have the students break into small groups to work on something together, or we have a large class discussion. I find that the off-task students like to "hide" more in a large group discussion and if I see this happening, I will change it to be small group discussions/problem solving. They are typically more engaged and interested, and there's no where to hide when you're only working with 4 other students compared to 30.
Go the direction the students are going. Join them and then bring that discussion back to your discussion.
Mr. Westling,
I find it true and appropriate to use real life examples and stories to re-focus students who are off task, or dis-engaged in class. In addition, with this mind set, I constantly give real world examples and share stories throughout each phase, to keep the overall attention of the class. I find, that everyone loves to hear exciting stories, that helps them draw parallels with the given topic at hand. This puts and keeps realism in the class room and the students minds.
Bruce
Hi Susan:
Excellent. A PPT must include discussion, either by the students or teacher, otherwise it's just reading, and that's probably not the best use of the students time.
I find a story or illustration related to the topic usually can bring folks back to task. A good teacher can make that a seamless process, almost as if it were planned that way.
Remember too, students have stories and life experiences that other students may be interested in. I would not hesitate to periodically invite students to share. Then bring it back to topic.
Regards, Barry
Hi Eric:
"Not sitting" wow, such a powerful two words. It is the key to engagement and participation, keeping attention and focus, and achieving results.
Regards, Barry
Depending on the subject of the day to help hold their interests I will get them involved with the presentation so they are working not sitting. Some do not learn in some ways so you have to find what gets thier attention. If this means you have them do some thing other related as they found the other information not chalanging they need to be chalanged.
I reengage students by asking them to comment while we are going over power points. It seems to work better when they are discussing rather than just writing the notes.
Hi Chris:
Students lose interest and need some reengaging for several reasons: tired, bored, not interested, lost their attention, can see no benefit to them (WIIFM, if you know that that is; "what's in it for me?").
If we can identify what the primary cause might be, then we have a clue about how to deal with it. One thing I think works effectively most of the time is sharing a personal experience or telling a story. People like stories, maybe because they can relate to the situation or characters , or I don't really know, but stories always work. And you don't need to take a break, necessaarily. You just merge the story back into the lesson at hand.
You can be more agressive too, by either changing the method of delivery, or changing activities altogether. Some days, the more agressive is absolutely needed; end of the week, following tests, where cramming has precede the testing), Mondays, etc. So just need to be a little creative, try to see things from the point of view of the students, and the'll get back on track.
Regards, Barry
If class progress slows to a crawl, I often stop and ask them if they need a break. If consensus is to break, we take 15 minutes and when we come back we approach the material in a new way. Like perhaps taking a walk to look at equipment or locations or to set up a practical workshop on the topic of the day.
The break also gives me a few minutes to look over my lesson plans and to figure out how we can still cover the material without the students necessarily being trapped in their seats for two more hours.
Hi Anne:
Scheduling specific activities based on the time of day is an important consideration. The natural "circadian clocks" most students operate around varies but is mostly during daylight hours. Students who work full time and attempt evening classes probably have the biggest challenge, as do their instructors who seek motivated, participative students.
Techniques that work best in just about any class involve earlier testing, creative activites (writing, lecturing), ending with discussion or lab (if applicable). If there's lab, the physical movement seems best planned at the last of the day.
Regards, Barry
I agree that I would rather teach a moring class rather than an afternoon group because it seems to be easier to get my morning groups engaged in on topic discussion. I have found with classes that are either after lunch or at the end of their day I have to give more breaks and spend more time redirecting students than in my morning classes.
Hi Kimberly:
Good techniques, Kimberly. There are simple, and there are more involved techniques, but all should work to get the attention of students back on track.
Sometimes something simple like telling a story that redirects their focus back to topic is all that is needed. Other times, swithcing to different activities, or using different media, or maybe a lab prcatice (if applicable) may be needed.
Reasons could be the students are tired, bored, unprepared, material is over their head, or they don't feel the material is important. For whatever reasons, students get disengaged when the current activity looses interest or they feel has no benefit. If that's case, then making it interesting should break the flow of the doldrums. It's not always so simplistic, I know. But there effective way to address it.
Regards, Barry
