Back to: Delivering
It isn’t difficult to understand how inattention can interfere with students’ ability to successfully complete a task. Effective teachers recognize the importance of student attention to tasks and use a variety of tactics to gain students attention before and during instruction. Sounds so basic and practical, right? Take note of your teaching behavior. How do you gain all your students’ attention? How do you know you have their attention? For some, it is making sure “all eyes are up front.” But what if making eye contact is culturally inappropriate? What do you do to maintain student attention once you get it? Here are some tactics to help.
teach listening as a skill
The average student spends over half his/her time in school listening. That means students give more time and energy to listening than to lots of other things in school. For many students listening does not come naturally. For others it is as natural as walking or eating. Hearing is an ability, but listening is more than just hearing. Listening means directing your attention to what you are hearing and trying to make sense of what you’ve heard. Listening is a skill. Like any skill, it requires learning and practice. To be a good listener is to be an active listener: Keep your thoughts directed to what you are listening to. In general it is estimated that students can think at a rate of 4,009 words per minute. People can speak at a rate of 125 words per minute. Therefore, the speaking rate is approximately three times slower than the thinking rate. In order to gain and maintain students’ attention, they need to be listening first. Have students evaluate and document how well they listen and use the results to teach the skill of listening.
use speak, listen, respond
When delivering any amount of information, it is important to check in with students to assess whether they are actively involved in the lesson and understand the content. Before you start your lesson write on the board or post a chart:
- Summarize
- Questions
- Reactions
- Miscellaneous
Tell the students that after a period of time you will stop the lesson and ask them to respond in one of the formats listed above. At a likely time in your lesson, stop and say:
Tell the students they will have about two minutes to write. Monitor student progress by wandering around the classroom. During this time students may want and need clarification on presented information. This can be handled many ways. One way is to directly answer the questions. Another is to have students write the questions as per option 2. Another is to have students ask a partner or study buddy for clarification.
Be careful that the partner format does not preclude these students from recording their responses to one of the four choices.
Some teachers have students keep a daily Speak, Listen, Respond log for each class and periodically collect them for review. Other teachers use the log to start the next day’s lesson by soliciting information from any of the four choices. Still other teachers have students break into base or cooperative learning groups and share their Speak, Listen, Respond logs.
Take a moment and respond to one of the four choices on the board. You can (1) summarize the important points you just heard, in your own words; (2) record any questions you may have about the lesson so far; (3) respond or react to anything you heard; or (4) record, draw, or write any other miscellaneous things that help to capture your thoughts about our lesson.
Adapted from Harmin, M. (1995). Strategies to inspire active learning.
use clap patterns
Here’s a fun, quick way to gain students’ attention. Anytime students are engaged in a small group or large group activity, it is always a challenge to pull them back together as a group or to simply regain their attention. Simply choose a clapping rhythm and demonstrate it. Then say, “If you can hear me, clap my clap.” Students who can hear you will repeat the rhythm, drawing others’ attention to it. Soon the entire group will be clapping the clap or simply attending to you for their next direction. For example, try this rhythm: 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1, 2, 1-2, 1-2-3. (Saying this pattern in your head may help you hear the rhythm.)
give zero noise signals
The zero-noise signal is made by curling your fingers into a zero and resting them on your thumb. Explain to your students that anytime they see you give the zero-noise signal they are to stop what they are doing, stop talking, look at you, and mirror the signal back. This tactic is especially useful when students are engaged in activities that require them to be spread over the space of the room, some with their backs to you. Simply raise the zero-noise signal over your head. Students who are facing you should respond by mirroring the signal. Other students who may not be able to see you will see these students and are cued that the signal has been given. Note: It is important to remember that different hand gestures or signals connote different things in different cultures. For example, in one culture the zero-noise signal connotes a rather offensive word. In this case a better alternative might be a “thumbs up” signal. Be sure you check the signals out in respect of the cultural differences your students may bring to class.
teach how to listen, but good
Teach students how to listen in fun motivating ways. Use riddles or brain teasers. Students will become all ears when they are faced with an ear bending puzzle. Have students work in groups and collectively problem-solve. Use teams or let students try their hand at them first before moving into groups. For example:
Question: Why can’t a person living in Lexington, Kentucky be buried west of the Mississippi?
Answer: Because a person who is living can’t be buried!
Effective teachers use these exercises to teach students common causes for listening errors:
- Focusing on a single word rather than the entire direction, question, or sentence
- Jumping to a conclusion based on your expectations rather than what is actually being said
- Not paying attention to or asking for clarification of key words
- Switching or hearing the order of the words differently than what is spoken
- Overlooking verb tense or other clues that tell something has happened
Effective teachers take time to process students’ correct and incorrect answers to reinforce and model listening and thinking skills.
vary presentation formats
Effective teachers vary the way they present their content. For example, one teacher starts his lesson using pantomime of what he wants students to do to get ready for the lesson. Other teachers use whispering. One teacher used the whispering technique as follows: “The first answer to Friday’s social studies test is …” There was an immediate hush that fell across the room. Other times she tells a joke or riddle for students to solve. Start a lesson with an unusual prop! One science teacher wraps himself in plastic packing bubbles to start his lesson on plastics. Use drawing, role plays, and acting to draw and maintain attention to your lesson. Varying the formats of content presentation provides both you and your students a break from traditional verbal or written modes and adds novelty to the lesson.
keep students and content active
Sometimes the easiest way to gain and maintain student attention is by delivering content that requires them to be actively involved. Use choral responding, or have students respond by using signals. Pose questions or problems to the class and have students hold up response cards (Yes/No, punctuation mark, numbers, vocabulary words, etc.) Some teachers find individual chalkboards or magic slates to be the novelty students enjoy best. They provide all students the opportunity to show what they know while allowing the teacher to do a quick check of student understanding and progress.
use quick-paced instruction
The simple use of brisk-paced instruction helps maintain student attention. Varying question formats, who you call on, and how you call on them has a positive impact on gaining and maintaining student attention. Use of random questioning formats is best. No predictable patterns can be noted. All students will be more likely to attend if they don’t know who you will call on next. For example, ask Ron to repeat the directions and Amanda to put them in her own words. Then have Jacob show the class what they are to do, while Robert evaluates if the directions were followed correctly. This format can be used for classroom procedures, instructional tasks, strategies, and other tasks that require completion.
Catch ’em while they’re hot
Use errors to motivate students. Deliberately make an error in a written lesson or procedure and reward students who catch it while it’s “hot off the press.” One teacher makes a tally sheet called “Hot Pursuit.” Tallies are kept for the students who are in “hot pursuit” of teacher-made errors. Students are considered “hot” on the trail of attending if they catch the teacher’s error. It is important to have the student tell what the error is and how to correct it. This tactic provides teachers the opportunity to model error correction procedures while checking on student understanding of the fact, concept, or strategy that was in error.
use response sheets and format organizers to focus attention
For some students maintaining attention to tasks or lesson presentation is an especially challenging task. Help students by providing them a written outline of major points you will be making during you lesson. Have these students check off each point as it is covered in the lesson. During the delivery of the lesson, stop and review with students what points have been covered thus far. It is also helpful to show students the sequence of your lesson by writing the format that will be followed on the board. Allowing students this overview and framework for a lesson helps them see the big picture and anticipate what’s coming. For many students putting the lesson format on the board provides a level of comfort. The lesson routine is sequenced and predictable for both you and your students.
cue important points
Effective teachers use a variety of ways to draw students’ attention to important points in a lesson. One way is to use voice inflections. Another is to use words to highlight. For example, “Here is a point you will want to remember,” or “The key fact to remember in this passage is …” Or perhaps the combination of both: Whisper to the students, “This is really important to write in your notes.” A high school soccer coach who teaches health raises a yellow card to signal students to highlight the fact they need to know. In the game of soccer, if a referee holds up a yellow card over a player, it means that player has been issued a game warning. For this well-known school coach, the use of the yellow card is a novel signal that he can hold up, signaling an important point for students to be sure and note or highlight, while not missing a beat of lecture.
use wait time effectively
Effective teachers know the importance of using wait time during the presentation and delivery of instruction. It is not uncommon for teachers to move too quickly during questions and answers or choose the class pacers or those students who the teacher can count on to give the correct answer. In the meantime, the other students may be lost, unable to transition as quickly from one question to the next. This in turn can cause frustration for many students, and they may lose interest in the lesson. Effective teachers are cognizant of the importance of waiting at least three to five seconds for students to respond. It is important to watch students and monitor their use of wait time. Some students are inherently slower to think and respond than others. The effective use of wait time encourages optimal levels of student response.