It’s one of the great challenges of teaching.
How do you interest them in what you’re offering when their entertainment options are so immediate, so exciting, and so easy?
How do you sell them on the cool complexity of a quadratic equation or the beauty of a delicate ecosystem?
How do you get them to appreciate the harsh struggle of the Lewis and Clark expedition or the clean simplicity of a well-written sentence?
1. Move Around
One of the simplest ways to grab your students’ attention is to simply walk around the classroom. All the time. Stand next to students if you see them reach for their phones. Move to the back of the classroom. Students need to feel that there is no place for them to hide and slack off while you teach.
2. Lose the Structure
Too many students are accustomed to a specific classroom setup. The best students sit in the front. The shier ones sit in the back where they “hide”. Do away with these physical constraints! Have them all sit in a circle on the floor. Or arrange their desks in a circle. For they won’t know what comes next.
3. Eliminate Routines
And speaking of not knowing what comes next… Students may wander more easily when they know what to expect and what will happen next. They come in and sit down. You ask them if they did their homework. You tell them to open their books. But what if instead of beginning the class the way you usually do, you do something completely unexpected? What if you show them a video first? They’ll certainly be intrigued!
4. Remove Distractions
Sometimes you have no choice. Sometimes you have to enforce a “no cell phone” rule. However, they may still need them to take photos or film videos during class. So, simply ask them to deposit their phones in a designated box at the start of class and give them back as needed. Yes, they will complain. No, they won’t like it. But if you engage them with activities they enjoy, they’ll forget about their little tech gadget for a while.
5. Make them More Active
Have them do what you would ordinarily do. Have a student write on the board, have another hand out worksheets, and yet another help a classmate with something they don’t understand.
6. Divide and Conquer
Students are forced to focus when they can’t hide within a larger group. Divide the class into pairs or small groups for some activities. Walk around and assist as needed.
7. Change the level and tone of your voice
Often just changing the level and tone of your voice, lowering it or raising it, will signal to the students it’s time to pay attention.
8. Use Props
Grab a small, soft ball. Ask a question and toss the ball to a student. Prompt him/her to answer your question. Have them throw the ball back to you and choose your next target. Who will be next? They won’t know! Use balls, hats, toys, anything and everything that will make a drilling session more interesting and dynamic.
9. Make a startling statement or give a quote
Writing a surprising statement or quote related to the content on the board has a similar effect: for example “More than half of children in California speak some language other than English at home” if the topic is language acquisition.
10. Surprise Them!
Have a box with the word “Box of Randomness” written on the side. Inside the box have pieces of paper with a variety of actions and things your class will have to do. At any given time during the class, whip out the box and have a student take out a piece of paper that will state something that he/she or the entire class will have to do. You may want to save this box for when you see someone not paying attention. Here are some ideas for your Box of Randomness:
- “Pop quiz!” – the entire class has to take a graded pop quiz on a recent topic.
- “Random dancing” – play a tune from your phone and have the entire class stand up and dance.
- “Your turn to teach” – the student who takes this slip of paper has to stand up in front of the class and teach something/ask the others questions/lead a discussion.
You can have lots of fun with your Box of Randomness, and it’s a great “penalty” for not paying attention.
