getting the attention of students who are distratcted
I have tried walking arround my class room as i lecture, this keeps all my students even the ones who might be off to "la-la land" focused. This method works, as for the students that seem to be distracted will start paying attention and will stay ingaged in the lecture.
Besides walking around and try to maintain an enthusiastic tone of voice. I ask the student questions about the lecture and if he/she doesn't know the answer, I ask another student to respond.
Cell phones are the biggest distraction in the classroom. I am thinking of implementing a rule that students must put their cell phones on the desk at the front of the room as they enter, and may take them back when they leave at the end of class. This will hopefully stop them from being tempted to check their phones.
This is a great way to keep students on track and paying attention. I have also found that when you make them turn to their neighbor and explain what we just discussed to them and vice vera it keeps them alert. Sometimes just making them repeat to you also keeps them engaged.
I like that idea as well. I teach in a lab where seating is assigned and find it difficult to move students around, so I commonly will move to different areas of the room to lecture and hold discussions. I also find that sometimes there are visual impediments that cause reflections, reduce their ability to see the screen, or make it difficult to hear. It is a good check of my classroom as well.
I have walked around as well, most of the time I will try to redirect and engage those students by asking them an open ended question for feedback on whatever I am lecturing on. I do this randomly and I am beginning to find the students are less distracted and pay more attention.
