Please choose one of the following:
- What do you see as the unique role of attention in learning? Think of students in your classes whose attention controls are not operating in an efficient manner. What characterisitics do they exhibit? More importantly, what are accomodations and interventions you might implement to help these students?
- React to the following quote from Mind at a Time. " We know he can do the work if he wants to. In fact, when he overcomes his attitude problems, he will succeed. Until then , it is up to him. We can't help him until he helps himself>"
26 comments:
Often time it seems as if parents feel that their children need to help themselves in order to succeed; however, the reality is that if the children can do it themselves they would have done it. It is important to know that children are inexperience enough or have not yet mastered a skill because they do not know how to, let alone have the tools do so by themselves. Working with children with delays in an array of areas, has made it clear to me that children need support to engage in a continuum that will begin to demystify the “problem”. In my opinion it should be stated the other way around “We have to
help him, so that he can learn to help himself.” At the same rate I don’t expect us to do everything for the child; helping him attain the skills and abilities to get his needs met is one of two goals. The second goal is fostering the child’s strengths, that will allow him to do things for himself. In other words, it would be a fade out plan. Teaching him enough to do so himself, and slowly moving out of the way.
Jose Chavez
SPED 504MM
M 4:20 PM
Attention problems seem to be some of the more common and misunderstood problems in the classroom, especially as children get into higher grades they are required to do more independent work and listen to longer lectures. I currently work with a first grade child whose greatest hurdle is his inability to pay attention. Often times the teacher, like many teachers, will treat his lack of attention like it is his choice, but it is part of his disability, and she gets very frustrated with him. Teaching him to cope with his attention problem has been difficult, but he genuinely wants to pay attention seeing as him not paying attention has caused him to finish his work last thus making him feel inferior to his peers. I try to modify work often, also, I give him a checklist of tasks he must complete when going to his desk, I give him verbal and nonverbal prompts to stay on task, I also give him opportunities to do work standing up and praise when he tries his best to pay attention.
Vanessa Bruton
SPED 504MM
In regards to the quote from Mind at a Time, I feel that is what’s wrong with many teachers today. Every child in the world has the potential to do great in school and in order to fulfill that potential teachers must go beyond just lecturing and teaching material. There are many reasons why a student might not be able to learn and succeed properly inside the classroom and teachers should be able to find what they are and make the proper accommodations. If there is an attitude problem with a student then the teacher should try and figure out what could be the cause of it. Students that do not try or put in the effort usually lack motivation and/or support and teachers need to find ways to help them. Students should never feel like they are on an island all by themselves, especially inside the classroom where the teacher should always be in their corner.
Today, I worked as a tutor for a group of three students in a high school resource center, where I discovered a crucial trick to gaining their attention - engagement. These students had attention problems for a variety of reasons, but I can say with confidence, that none of the three were purposely intending to lose focus and blow off the assignment. All three were there to work on an assignment they needed to improve their grades. All three lost focus at different times for different reasons. Yet, all three were able to maintain focus under the same circumstance. When they were engaged in the lesson, they were all focused. It happened when they were actively involved with contributing ideas. When their prior knowledge was activated, they all had something pertinent to say. When they discovered that they each had something important to contribute to the discussion, they became animated, their eyes lit up, they sat forward in their seats, and they were paying attention. When it came time to write down their ideas, their attention drifted again. This was obviously a challenge area for all of them. One disappeared for awhile, another started texting, and the other struck up conversation about unrelated topics. I spoke to their resource teacher, and she gave me some ideas on how to re-engage them in the process. We started out with me working as the scribe. We reviewed the actual parameters of the assignment while I jotted down and categorized their pertinent thoughts. Then, two of them made their own copies of these structured notes, while (at the teacher’s suggestion) I acted as scribe for the third student. During this time, all three were again working diligently on their assignment. When they occasionally lost focus, I was easily able to point them back in a productive direction because they knew exactly what to do. I must add that I think the reason this was a successful experience for me and the students, was that I acted as a guide, but I did not do the work for them. I gave them structure, but I did not do the thinking for them. I’m certain that if I’d just given them a lecture and told them what to think, I would not have been able to grab their attention and hold it long enough for them to actually engage in their work.
Attention is a big part of learning. When you let your mind drift off a lot of information can be missed. I’ve seen students who I thought were not attending since they were not looking at me do very well when I check for understanding. I have others who just look at me as if I was a window. I found that one of the best strategies for those capable is to provide a small lap size whiteboard for them to copy what I write to maintain focus. I also find that if I provide Velcro or something with a texture attached to the underneath of the table it give their hands something to do which lessens the need to get distracted by looking around for something to play with. Once these accommodations are provided attention can increase.
Alisa Friedman
SPED 504MM
Attention is what helps student to be able to understand and learn what we are trying to teach. A student who is focused on what teachers are explaining is a learning student. When problems with attention accure, student does not hear what the teacher is saying and can not really understand or learn from it.
I think that strategies to help students with focusing are to make explanations shorter, interesting and relate to the student world.
When you do that you give the student enough tools to like the subject, feel that he wants to learn it, and be a part of the learning process.
I really get a horrible feeling when reading and digesting this quote. It is so important to understand that children who are diverse learners do not grasp everything in the same way or even overcome obstacles as naturally as we think they should be able too. A child does not automatically want to fail at anything, so saying that he is on his own in an area he clearly is lacking the skills to achieve in is setting the child up for even more attitude problems. A child with attention needs really can benefit by being taught ways to overcome their need, so that they can begin achieve some self regulation skills. The child is already frustrated and the attitude problems come from the frustration so adding more pressure to the child will not exactly end up in self independence and adaptability. Educators need to expose the strategies to help the child cope or overcome the lack of attention. After the child develops the strategies then he can indefinably help himself from the knowledge that he has gained. Children needs the knowledge so they can help themselves, we can not expect them to figure everything out on their own. It is okay to help the child, but we can never give up.
I believe this quote shows why so many students are stigmatized as problem children. Some people believe that if a student has a bad attitude then that means that that student doesn't want to learn. The truth is that the child's attitude could stem from so many things, ranging from family problems to societal pressures and even frustration with a possible learning disability. If this is the case, a teacher may do more harm than good by giving up on a student and making them fend for themself in the classroom. I believe a teacher should pursue every student to uncover and understand their distinctive way of learning. Of course this is quite difficult to do in a class of 25 to 35 students, but I believe a teacher is failing at their profession if they take the attitude inherent in this quote.
Stephanie Garcia
There are many roles that play a significant part in learning. Attention is one of the main roles that creates an instant response towards the students learning. Students that have a hard time focusing in class and listening to the teacher, don’t get to see the examples that the teacher is giving for the assignment as well as listening to the lectures that lead to the assignments. Some characteristics that the students exhibit are: staring into “space” or daydreaming, playing with anything that is around them, not being able to sit still, making conversation with someone next to them, and so forth. Since the students attention span is at a shorter level than other grade-level students, it might be best that as teachers, we have shorter lectures. The lectures should be short and to the point rather than dragging it on. The students needs to see what is necessary so that he/she can complete his/her assignment. Another thing that could possibly help would be visuals that strike the students interests as well as attention. By using objects or visuals that catch the students eye, the student can focus on what the teacher is saying. Some may argue that the student may only be focusing on the visual, however, the students attention is towards the teacher and he/she will at least be able to obtain at least some if not all of the information.
The quote: “We know he can do the work if he wants to. In fact, when he overcomes his attitude problems, he will succeed. Until then , it is up to him. We can't help him until he helps himself,” really reflects the mentality of a positive thinker. Each and every child is capable of learning certain things however, it is up to the teacher to find out more about the child to figure out how the teach the subject/topic in order for the student to be able to make a connection to it and not find it differ cult but interesting. There may be many ups and downs during the process, but once you reach the product, it is worth it.
-Sophia K.
All teachers will have students whose attention controls are not operating in an efficient manner. Yes we know they are capable of doing the work but it is not up to the student solely to overcome his attitude and attention problems. We as teachers need to give these students the recourses they need to be successful. Students will not be able to “help themselves” without the proper tools and guidance from adults. Waiting for a child to help themselves is only going to make your classroom and teaching experience unbearable. There is a student that I work with that has attention issues. This student is capable of doing the work but rarely do we get him to complete assignments because he is so off task. He constantly is out of his seat, on the floor, making noises and playing with anything he could find. I have seen his regular education teacher struggle with his behavior and because of the constant battle it seems he is always in trouble and gets many privileges taken away. I look forward to trying to help this student find ways to help him gain the skills he needs to have attention control and to work on his weaknesses while finding his learning strengths. As Mel Levine said there is a buried treasure in each student and it’s up to us to try and find it.
Janine Trauger
The role attention plays in students learning is ultimately one of the biggest components of learning itself. We as humans often pay close attention to the things that interest us and that we find worthy of our attention. Children are in a different situation when it comes to classroom learning. They are expected to pay attention to everything whether they find it attention worthy or not. With all of the different kinds of attention miscommunications, like those discussed in Ch. 3 of A Mind at a Time, that can go on in a students mind it is often difficult to determine what needs to be give more attention, why, and how. As for the students in my class, their attention skills and control abilities are all over the board. There are those who have days where they at attentive, focused, and producing only to lose it again the next day for no “apparent” reason. Sometimes it is baffling and other times its frustrating, for not only the adults but the student as well. These students often gaze out the window, play with items in their supply boxes, wander around the room, bother their peers, and simply engage in avoidance tactics so as not to do the work. some of the ways we have worked to help some of these students is to allow them to work with partners, take breaks, give choices between different assignments, sit with an adult at a work stations, and just redirect them when that is all it takes.
If a student lacks the attention to focus on lectures, book readings, or instructions, he is missing valuable information. But it’s not an issue of a student not having an ability to pay attention; it is more of a problem with distractibility. The student that zones out in 30 seconds in an English class can pay close attention to a video game for 4 or 5 hours, as a high-functioning child with autism I work with does on a regular basis. The quote, “We can’t help him until he helps himself,” is obviously stated in an unawareness of how students with attention issues function. Our roles as teachers ask us to give our students tools on how to increase their ability to pay attention. This may include using more visuals in class (overhead projectors, power-point presentations, videos), design a floor plan that minimizes distractions, and offer interesting lesson plans.
All too recently, I heard someone say something very similar to the quote from Mind at a Time about my son. My son has significant challenges with attention and processing. The person who said the copycat quote had been trying to do some math homework with my son. The person was frustrated by my son’s seemingly lack of all drive and ownership of his math homework. My son was also frustrated – slumped over, not looking at the homework, repeatedly dropping his pencil or chewing on something he shouldn’t like a Lego or the eraser, complaining repeatedly about how tired he was, claiming to “show his work” when he wasn’t; trying to do the problems in his head without putting the paper to the pencil at all. My son would be guided through a math problem and then seconds later when he was to attempt the next problem on his own, all knowledge on how to do the problem had vanished from his brain. So, I can clearly understand how one could believe and say something like “he has to decide to want to do the work and then he’ll be able to do it” but the real problem is that he actually does want to do the work but he can’t. He can, but not without the tools and supports he needs like accommodations (less rote problems, use of calculator – even though he doesn’t have fluency with his basic math facts-, and time); modifications (more conceptual background and creative problem solving) and a lot of patience. Basically my son must get the proper help and then he will be able to help himself. Left on his own and with his brain’s wiring, he can’t help himself (with math yet), but boy can he paint a beautiful picture.
Lesley Lauer
SPED 504MM
Attitude problems do play an important role in getting assignments completed; however, ADHD can severely interfere with one's attitude and desire to complete assignments. ADHD is a medical disorder and it needs to be treated as such. Both psychotherapy and medication need to be in place in order to help an individual to overcome and deal with their ADHD symptoms. These symptoms include careless mistakes, incomplete work, lost assignments and attentional problems. Students with ADHD do not perform up to their potential without the proper medical treatment. For students with ADHD, it is not their attitude that is keeping them from achieving success; it is their medical disorder that is not being addressed/treated. Steve Goldstein
Learning is an active process. It requires attention. Students do not learn by osmosis or by simply being in the classroom. I know everyone can think of a time when they were not actively paying attention to what they were reading or what someone else was telling them and moments later realized that they can't remember what they just read or what they other person said, because they were engaged in thinking about something else. Many of our students have the extreme difficulty of being very easily distracted. As educators, we should minimize distractions in our room, whether caused by other students, outside noises, or especially distracting posters on the wall. Once we have done our job to minimize distractions in the classroom and maximize how we engage our students in the lesson, it then falls upon the students to place their attention to what is being taught. At that point the student must want to learn. They could be thinking about several other things during their time in class, but unless they choose to force the other thoughts out to allow themselves to pay attention to the lesson, then the student will unable to learn the fullness of what is being taught.
It is one of the most important areas that needs to be paid more attention in SPED. Those students fit under SLD, which is more than %50 of the overall SPED population, most of the time. The unique role of attention in learning process is indispensable. It is a must. If there is no attention, there is no learning.
Those students are off the task, talking to their neighbors, turning around, walking around in the classroom, drawing, etc. when their attention controls are not operating in an efficient manner.
Preferential seating, have them sit in front or close to the teachers, checking for understanding, usually helps them pay more attention when teachers ask randomly questions, and also pay more attention to the people who are sitting next to them.
Sometimes making a behavior log for the studnets with their parents may be helpful. Say Jose has 3 reminders in each class to stay in focus, if he does not use more than 3 reminders he gets some rewords, if he uses more than 3 no rewords, at the end of each class his teachers need to sign it, and Jose needs to take home have his parents sign it and bring it bact to his teacher.
Mustafa Sahin
504MM
It is impossible to separate attitude from success. Attitude and success define the ultimate in enmeshed relationships. You can't have one without the other. The quote insinuating that once the student overcomes his attitude problems then he will find success makes no sense and while there maybe be some truth to the saying that you can't help someone who doesn't want to help themselves, what about a student who might not know how to help themselves. If the student is struggling in math for example, their attitude will reflect that. Who wants to do something they know they're not good at?! So maybe by giving the student tools to help them solve that algebra problem for example, the attitude will change. It's like going to the dentist. You're never going to force someone to have a good attitude about it, but you can give them the tools they need to make the experience less painful.
I find that it is difficult to learn effectively if one has trouble maintaining focus or attention. More importantly, I have worked with students who are bright, insightful, and funny yet struggled with focusing on a task or writing a story. I was excited to read about Clark and April in Chapter 3, as they reminded me of a student with whom I’ve had the pleasure of working the past two years. My student is a sensitive and bright boy with an outstanding sense of humor. His comedic timing is better than some of the best sitcom stars, and it is painfully obvious that he wants to succeed in school. The reason I believe his weakness is attention is because he demonstrates impulsivity (consistently falling out of his chair or dancing when he’s excited or his name is mentioned), has great difficulty completing assignments in a timely manner, and has the greatest difficulty with writing. Even copying homework from the board into his planner is a task that often requires the teacher to sit with him and spell each word for him, aloud. (The latter example could be a result of language issues as well.) I have tried both as his teacher, and as an adult who cares about his success, to implement accommodations. For instance, as his teacher, I allowed him to type reports. I have used a cardboard sectional and let him work at another table to help him be more successful in completing assignments on time. Finally, last year I made a deal with him that if he could try to limit his outbursts, he would be allowed to tell a joke at the end of the class or school day. This last agreement gave him a sense of pride and was something to which he looked forward. The trouble I see, now, is that despite my communication with his teachers this year, I feel that some of them do not give him the same accommodations. It is difficult to feel that he would be more successful were he allowed to work in his own way, using some of his strengths to balance out the weakness of attention. I continue to communicate with his teachers, parents, and most importantly with my former student to try to help him be successful and to understand his needs.
We know that he can do the work if he wants to. In fact, when he overcomes his attitude problems, he will succeed. Until then, it is up to him. We can't help him until he helps himself",are the exact comments I was told by my son's middle school teachers. I had requested a conference with my son's teachers because he was doing poorly in school and was exhibiting behavior problems in school and at home. He would not do his work or study for tests. I tried to help him with his work,imposed consequences, and got him a tutor. None of this was helping him. I thought that his teachers might offer help and guidance since they dealt with students all day and I was at a loss as to help and motivate my son. During the conference, I was told of all my son's shortcomings and failures. He was a disruption in all of his classes. I knew that my son was a pain and a bother to all of his teachers. I felt attacked and defensive for my son. Instead of receiving any help or guidance, I left that meeting feeling more hopeless and clueless. My son was later diagnosed with ADHD and it was like a light bulb went on. Here was the reason my son who up until middle school was an ideal student; smart and well behaved. His doctor explained that he was smart enough to overcome his attention problems while in elementary school but that with an increased workload and difficulty of assignments, his attention problems became more apparent. My son exhibited all the symptoms and behaviors of a child suffering from attention problems.I am still puzzled that none of his teachers even suggested that he get tested. Even with the diagnosis, my son still had problems because he did not like the medication. It was a struggle to get him through school and he still struggles with attention and impulse problems.
"We know that he can do the work if he wants to. In fact, when he overcomes his attitide problems, he will succeed. Until then, it is up to him. We can't help him until he helps himself",are the exact comments I was told by my son's middle school teachers. I had requested a conference with my son's teachers because he was doing poorly in school and was exhibiting behavior problems in school and at home. He would not do his work or study for tests. I tried to help him with his work,imposed consequences, and got him a tutor. None of this was helping him. I thought that his teachers might offer help and guidance since they dealt with students all day and I was at a loss as to help and motivate my son. During the conference, I was told of all my son's shortcomings and failures. He was a disruption in all of his classes. I knew that my son was a pain and a bother to all of his teachers. I felt attacked and defensive for my son. Instead of receiving any help or guidance, I left that meeting feeling more hopeless and clueless. My son was later diagnosed with ADHD and it was like a light bulb went on. Here was the reason my son who up until middle school was an ideal student; smart and well behaved. His doctor explained that he was smart enough to overcome his attention problems while in elementary school but that with an increased workload and difficulty of assignments, his attention problems became more apparent. My son exhibited all the symptoms and behaviors of a child suffering from attention problems.I am still puzzled that none of his teachers even suggested that he get tested. Even with the diagnosis, my son still had problems because he did not like the medication. It was a struggle to get him through school and he still struggles with attention and impulse problems.
This quote makes me think of one student in particular. I agree that a student needs to help him or herself, but I think, as educators, we need to draw the potential out of our students sometimes too. The student I am thinking of is extremely talented and bright. He often gets angry, even violent, and cannot understand why he is being reprimanded for this behavior. This student no longer has friends at his school due to his behavior.
His parents have the same point of view as this quote. They have thrown up their hands and have said, “What can I do if he doesn’t want to change?”
The student is very self-deprecating. He often compares himself to others in the classroom. He has two brothers who are “academic superstars” in his mother’s opinion.
I think the student needs to be met half way. Yes, he should recognize his own behavior and try to improve his attitude. Still, educators should try to see things from his point of view too. Rather than being reprimanded all the time, someone should at least listen to why he is so angry and, even if they don’t agree with his anger, state that they see where he is coming from. I feel like this student gets so angry and frustrated because he doesn’t think anyone is listening and that he doesn’t really deserve their ear compared to other students. So although I do think he needs to recognize his “attitude problems,” I think that his teachers need to recognize that he has been conditioned to behave this way and it will take time and effort on the educator’s part to change his behavior as well.
Attention plays a big role when it comes to learning. As educators, we need to find ways to help each individual student by taking away hindrances and distractions in the classroom and implement strategies to help their attention. I know a 9th grader who is very inattentive in class all the time. He doesn’t follow along with anything the class is doing but only draws on his paper or listens to his ipod. Even during tests, he just sits there and draws on his tests. As an aide of that classroom, I go to his desk from time to time to remind him of what we are working on and ask him to take out his materials. If he really doesn’t understand the work, I work with him one-on-one reviewing the lesson. It’s important to find other ways and approaches to encourage students to learn.
Attention is key to learning. If the child is not actively engaged in the day’s lesson and subject, they will not learn the material they need to, to the degree they need to learn it. They will not be reaching their potential. My job as a teacher is to use tools and strategies to help my students achieve their potential, in spite of the obstacles.
It is difficult for anybody to be “on the ball” for every second of the school day. My students may not have had enough sleep the night before, or they might be hungry, or worried about a test later in the day. They might be completely confused about the subject matter, or concerned about a relationship, or they may have a diagnosed disability such as ADD or ADHD. Maybe they are feeling unwell but do not know how to articulate this. Maybe they feel like the lesson is too easy or too hard. Maybe they have absolutely no interest in the day’s lesson. I am not clairvoyant, and I will never be able to figure out why some children lack the attention needed on particular times or days. (I often wonder why I lack attention sometimes!)
There are a few problems with this though. If a student is not paying attention they will not grasp to material to the degree they would if they are paying full attention. On top of that though, they will be more likely to act out in class if they are not paying attention to the class material. This could lead to disruptive behaviour, (ranging from talking to their neighbours, to throwing things in class…) and might in turn disrupt the focus of other students in the class. This snowball effect can be disastrous to classroom cohesion. Furthermore, if attention sags repeatedly, these children will start to develop a reputation as a problem child. This label might be totally unwarranted; the real reason for their behavioural issues might be ignored while as a result of focusing on the consequent, rather than the cause.
There are a number of accommodations and interventions that a good teacher could implement to help his student:
• Talk to the student to try and find out the reason for their attention issues. This could solve the problem very easily.
• Talk with other teachers to see if the student is having the same challenges in their class. If they are, what accommodation intervention have they implemented? Have they worked?
• Break the lesson up into smaller chunks so the student can have more focused tasks to work on, rather than longer, protracted problems or assignments.
• Provide the child with a checklist to mark off as each part of the assignment is completed.
• Have a fixed routine for the students to follow, so they know what is expected when they come into class each day.
• Move the child away from peers who might be contributing to his or her disruptive behaviour.
• Assign a study buddy/classroom buddy for the student to work with.
• Reward good behaviour with praise.
These are a few ideas. There are probably hundreds more. They would be a good start though. The most important thing to remember is that just because the child might have some attention challenges, that does not mean they are a bad student or above all a bad person.
In response to the quote from "A Mind at a Time", some teachers tend to blame students for not completing school work based on reason like not paying attention or being lazy. As teachers, we must not base our assumptions on the exterior features of a student, but we must search for the reasons why certain behaviors occur and set up some strategies in order to help our students succeed in school. We have to make the curriculum engaging and interesting for our students to want to learn and complete their work or maybe, the student is having some trouble with the material. If teachers have a negative attitude towards a student not cooperating in the classroom, then you can only expect a negative outcome when it comes to a students education.
In response to the Mind at a Time quote, it is our job as teachers to make sure that the students are engaged and willing and wanting to learn. We cannot do our job, giving them the instruments they need to succeed, until they are open to learning. It is our job to make the material interesting to them, and to use different strategies to gain their attention. The Students have the difficult task of learning what we put in front of them. We cannot hope for them to grasp any concepts if we don’t prepare them. We as teachers are not only teaching lessons to help them evolve in scholastics, but also in life. We teach them life skills so that they can succeed. Most teachers today just give up, and blame it on the students, that it is their fault that they aren’t learning anything. It is the teacher’s duty to find out why they aren’t learning, by trying a few different approaches, then to come up with a plan to remedy the situation. Students should never feel like they are alone in this, because they are not. Everybody learns differently, and as a teacher, we need to figure out the best way for all of our students to learn. If we give up on them, and say they need to figure it out for themselves, then they will never have a chance.
Attention and Memory are compatriots. When you are not concentrating, it is hard to remember. Therefore, measures used to improve attention will help memory function.
This prompt seems like a no-brainer, doesn't it? One has to pay attention to material if one wants to remember it. The more one pays attention, the more likely one will be to remember the information. Also, the less one pays attention, the less-likely one will be to remember information. Right?
Not always. I remember plenty of times when i really paid attention in class and tried hard to focus on the material as it was being presented, and couldn't for the life of me remember much of the lecture the next day. Then there were other times when I was daydreaming through the lecture but the information seemed to just filter into to my memory, and I could recall it with crystal clarity. The brain is weird. Memory is weird. It is not a cut-and-dry process.
With that said, what about students who do all the right things - pay attention, take notes, ask questions, and still find it much harder to remember. What about a child that is recovering from a traumatic brain injury which has affected his or her short term memory? What about a child who has a specific learning disorder, a processing gap, or any one of a number of other disabilities which hamper normal attention and recall?
Think of the number of teachers who won't take that into consideration when they quiz a student's memory for facts, rather than providing an alternate means of assessing the students knowledge. The student might be trying hard to remember, and might really be paying attention, but the memory function is out of alignment. A more hands-on task might let the student appropriately display their knowledge. Or maybe the teacher could talk with the student and assess him or her informally through conversation, discussion, or a drawing assignment.
With that said, there is no doubt that all things being equal, we want our students to pay attention; this gives them the best chance of forming solid memories. If we see their interest waning in class (and I have seen this constantly throughout my observations with my focus student, and with most students, actually ALL students at some point or another) then there are things we can do to draw them back into the lesson. I have seen teachers ask the students to get up and stretch out their tiredness, or clap their way to attentnion. A teacher might split the lesson into shorter segments.
Keeping in mind that I am observing a Sixth Grade student, which means he has an average attentnion span of 8-12 minutes, short learning bursts might be a good idea.
My student also pays better attentnion in small group situations, rather than full class lectures. Once the head goes on the desk, or the eyes start to wander around the room, the teacher should know the attentnion is going. (Obvious things such as talking with classmates, throwing things, flicking pens, pencils, paper, and acting out are also signs of inattention.)
Unfortunately, as we can see from the posting in this week's blog, there is no one way to address attention and memory. A teacher must have a toolbox of strategies. What might work well today might not work so well tomorrow. It is largely trial and error, and spontaneity.
Furthermore, many students have never been taught how to pay attentnion or remember things. (Shouting at a classroom, telling them to pay attentnion is not an instructional strategy, but I have seen this done in a number of my observations!) The teacher could go over note taking skills and memory skills (such as linking and mnemonics) with the students in class. This would assist them with encoding so that later decoding will be more effective. Suggesting that students eat breakfast and get a good eight hours' sleep might fall on deaf ears, but they might not.
- Simon S.
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