Engaging & Maintaining Students’ Attention (Part II)
August 3, 2012
FOCUSING STUDENTS’ ATTENTION
by Sandra Rief
This is the second of a 4-part blog on getting, focusing, and maintaining students’ attention – particularly important for students with ADD / ADHD. Part I was on “Getting Students’ Attention”. Here are some strategies for focusing students’ attention once you initially capture it:
- Employ multisensory strategies when directions are given and a lesson is presented.
- Maintain your visibility.
- Project your voice and make sure you can be heard clearly by all students.
- Be aware of competing sounds in your room environment (e.g., noisy heaters or air conditioning units).
- Call students up front and close to you for direct instruction (e.g., seated on the carpet by the board.)
- Position all students so that they can see the board and/or screen. Always allow students to readjust their seating and signal you if their visibility is blocked.
- Explain the purpose and relevance to hook students in to your lesson.
- Incorporate demonstrations and hand-on presentations into your teaching whenever possible.
- Use study guides/sheets that are partial outlines. While you are presenting a lesson or giving a lecture, students fill in the missing words based on what you are saying and/or writing on the board or document camera/overhead.
- Use lots of visuals.
- Write key words or pictures while presenting.
- Illustrate, Illustrate, Illustrate. It doesn’t matter if you don’t draw well to illustrate throughout your presentation. (Stick figures work well.) Drawings don’t have to be sophisticated or accurate. In fact, often the sillier – the better. Have fun with it. These silly illustrations get and maintain attention and help students understand and remember the material (sequence of events, key points, abstract information, vocabulary, concepts, etc.)
- Point to written material you want students to focus on with a dowel, a stick/pointer, or laser pointer. If you can find a pointer/dowel with a little hand/finger on it… even better.
- Have students write down brief notes or illustrate key points during instruction.
Adapted from my books: How to Reach & Teach Children with ADD/ADHD, 2nd edition and The ADD/ADHD Checklist, 2nd edition (published by Jossey-Bass)
Tags: ADD/ADHD, ADHD, attention, focusing attention, student engagement
