Spring is in the air, and you know what that means! Students and teachers are suddenly having trouble focusing and staying on tasks, while schools begin sending out information on dances, proms, graduations, honors programs, and so much more! So what can a teacher do to help students during this time of distractions? I'm glad you asked! Check out my 3 tips to spring concentration!
Tip #1 Embrace the Conversation. Even though it may feel like a waste of time to talk about social topics like proms during a learning period, it can be an excellent use of time to build relationships with your students. By talking to them about things that are important in their personal lives, it recognizes their interests and concerns, allows sharing of those feelings, and, once recognized and acknowledged, these priorities can be set aside for more educational topics with a gently topic change by the teacher.
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Tip #2 Reminder Timers Students who are having difficulty with staying on task may benefit from a simple timer. Located on their watch, computer, phone, or other device, a timer set for 10-15 minute intervals either on vibrate or a silent notification popup can remind a student to get back on task, without embarrassing the student by a verbal reminder from the teacher during the class. Of course, the timer option will need to be shared with the student in some sort of a conference, between all the teachers, so they are aware of the vibration notification, and help the student get used to the routine at first!
Tip #3 Checking for Comprehension Virtually in a Culturally Relevant Way Ever feel like students don't understand a topic but you can't tell because no one is responding virtually? One way to help this is to use break out rooms, the think/pair/share strategy, and a polling activity. First, ask the students a question central to the topic at hand and which you have been studying. It should be somewhat open ended, with more than 1 correct way to respond. Next, give the students 2 minutes to write down what they think about the topic. Next, have them go into a break out room and spend about 5 minutes sharing what they think and listening to their partner. While they do this, they should write down anything the other person stated that they did not have in their answer. Finally, they should return to the main room and the teacher should open a new document that is presented to the whole class and allow students to share wat they talked about while adding to the whole class document. Finally, the teacher can put up a polling question so that each individual student can put their new combined answer down. By allowing students to orally discuss and share before actually answering a question, they will develop common prior knowledge, which will lead to more willingness to share.
Well, that's it for now! I hope these tips help you spring into action (sorry) to help your students! Come back soon for even more tips! Let me know what questions you have in the comments section below!
