Maintain Student Interest
Keeping students interested in a lesson can be a Sisyphean task for educators. During the day students will tune in or out during lessons. This behavior is natural for all humans, but how can a teacher keep students engaged during lessons?
Rewarding students for performing and behaving well in class is common and supported by behavioral scientists like B.F. Skinner (a video on Positive versus Negative reinforcement can be found here), but this is the wrong way to solve the problem of waning attention spans. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) note that, "doling out rewards can, in fact, alter behavior, but not always in the manner we might hope". (Be Supportive, Item 5, Going about it all wrong, para. 3) Rewards can be good in the short-term, but they do not creating lasting behavioral changes. There are other ways that teachers can get students engaged.
One sure-fire method for grabbing the attention of students is to employ hooks at the beginning of lessons, and every ten minutes. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) state, "the right question at the beginning of a lesson can spark student interest and curiosity and focus them on what's important (not just novel) about what they are about to learn". (Be Supportive, Item 5, I hook student interest as I launch my lessons, para. 2) Teachers can also issue challenges to students or use novelties like surprise (Goodwin & Hubbell, 2013).
Another way to keep students on their toes is to mix up their daily routine. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) state, "students (and adults) tend to "check out" mentally after about 10 minutes unless something happens to reengage them in the learning task at hand". (Be Supportive, Item 5, I mix things up during my lessons, para. 1) Changing the lesson or engaging in a different task every 10 to 15 minutes are ways to mix things up. A good way to do this is by offering students choices that can dictate the direction of the next lesson, and then going in that direction. As long as a teacher avoids overwhelming students with too many choices then students won't, as stated by Goodwin and Hubbell (2013), "expend all of their mental energy on deciding what to do rather than on actually doing the project."
Finally, a teacher can build their lessons around mysteries and puzzles. (Goodwin & Hubbell, 2013) For example, create challenges during a lesson where students need to uncover mysteries that reveal additional parts of the lesson. The Teaching Channel offers a number of different techniques like this to keep students engaged here. Additional engagement strategies include Think-Pair-Share, Numbered Heads Together, Traveling File, and Learning Jigsaw .
Rewarding students for performing and behaving well in class is common and supported by behavioral scientists like B.F. Skinner (a video on Positive versus Negative reinforcement can be found here), but this is the wrong way to solve the problem of waning attention spans. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) note that, "doling out rewards can, in fact, alter behavior, but not always in the manner we might hope". (Be Supportive, Item 5, Going about it all wrong, para. 3) Rewards can be good in the short-term, but they do not creating lasting behavioral changes. There are other ways that teachers can get students engaged.
One sure-fire method for grabbing the attention of students is to employ hooks at the beginning of lessons, and every ten minutes. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) state, "the right question at the beginning of a lesson can spark student interest and curiosity and focus them on what's important (not just novel) about what they are about to learn". (Be Supportive, Item 5, I hook student interest as I launch my lessons, para. 2) Teachers can also issue challenges to students or use novelties like surprise (Goodwin & Hubbell, 2013).
Another way to keep students on their toes is to mix up their daily routine. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) state, "students (and adults) tend to "check out" mentally after about 10 minutes unless something happens to reengage them in the learning task at hand". (Be Supportive, Item 5, I mix things up during my lessons, para. 1) Changing the lesson or engaging in a different task every 10 to 15 minutes are ways to mix things up. A good way to do this is by offering students choices that can dictate the direction of the next lesson, and then going in that direction. As long as a teacher avoids overwhelming students with too many choices then students won't, as stated by Goodwin and Hubbell (2013), "expend all of their mental energy on deciding what to do rather than on actually doing the project."
Finally, a teacher can build their lessons around mysteries and puzzles. (Goodwin & Hubbell, 2013) For example, create challenges during a lesson where students need to uncover mysteries that reveal additional parts of the lesson. The Teaching Channel offers a number of different techniques like this to keep students engaged here. Additional engagement strategies include Think-Pair-Share, Numbered Heads Together, Traveling File, and Learning Jigsaw .
|
To access Item 6- Meaningful Interactions please click here
|
