Download 140,000+ pages of incredible time-saving teaching resources. Plan scheduled brain breaks if... 3. Using visual brain teasers in the classroom encourages critical thinking in your students, plus, kids love them! Have students turn in growth-mindset exit tickets. Looking for ways to help students focus in your classroom? Using tools like brainstorms or Focus Storms, help students quickly get as many ideas as possible. Just like it can be hard for some adults to work at a messy desk, or in a messy room, some students will struggle with the sensory overload of a busy classroom space. There are a host of short, easy Mindfulness activities for kids that can be incorporated into your daily routine. Many of us take the time to ensure that students are not only hearing the words that we speak, but actually taking a moment to let it soak in and really listen to them. Recently, I shared some strategies to help kids improve impulse control. Make your classroom buzz! Brainstorming is a powerful tool to help writers flush out all the ideas and then a Focus Storm helps them to organize and fine-tune their ideas. #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #teacherspayteachers #teachersofthegram #teachersoftpt #tptteachers #teachersofig #iteach #iteachthird #iteach345 #iteachtoo #iteachelementary #backtoschool #classroom #firstdayofschool #classroommanagement, A post shared by Allie McMillen (@thirdgradeparade) on Sep 5, 2017 at 3:56pm PDT. It is a way of setting up your classroom by ditching the traditional notion of “rows of desks facing the teacher at the front”. In Goleman's book, he discusses a growing number of computer-based games and procedures designed to help build attention. One important way to help students build stamina is to give them strategies for getting back on track when they lose focus. Keeping students focused can be a daunting task. The goal is to help students feel good about themselves and their behavior in the classroom. Stay tuned for the full reveal (hopefully by next week!) Familiar card games like Go Fish, Snap and Memory are great. In “7 Ways to Increase a Student’s Attention Span,” by Edutopia, David Reeves gives a list of strategies for educators in regards to how they can help a child focus better on educational tasks in the classroom. There are really so many ways to cater to the varying concentration spans of your class group. Highlight the important keywords to help the student stay on topic. When the alarm goes off, select a random card or paddle pop stick from this great Brain Breaks resource to run a fun, short activity with your students. Instead, aim to provide students with a variety of seating options so they can choose the one that is most comfortable for them. Seating. For example, I model breathing techniques (such as inhaling and exhaling slowly three times) and then students practice them. Customise and create your own teaching resources and display materials. Have a look at our post 18 Amazing Mindfulness Activities for the Classroom for ideas and instructions. Here’s how to help students get and stay organized: Strategies to Help Students. Regardless of the cause, teachers can use strategies that engage their students' focus and help them remain on task. 12 months access to everything for one low fee. How to increase classroom engagement. Physical reminders make work seem less abstract for students. List of Strategies to Keep Students Focused & on Task 1 Warm Up. Take a look at these blog posts with activities and instructions for a simple but fun Drama activities. Provide Frequent Feedback. Mindfulness is a superpower that your students can master with just five minutes practise a day. Photo credit: @teaching6. It can be an effective way to keep easily-distracted students focused on a task and has the added benefit of giving them the opportunity to ask for help or clarification if needed. The blog post “Flexible Seating: Unreal or Unrealistic” and accompanying Flexible Seating Posters explain the concept in more detail, exploring the benefits and practical considerations teacher’s need to think about when adopting flexible seating in their classroom. To help students build useable skills, teachers embed strategy instruction in content-area learning. Results are not guaranteed and should not be viewed as typical. Help students find intrinsic motivation ), but I do want to share my classroom management board from @headoverheelsforteaching! Resting their eyes on these for a short while during periods of concentration will act as a mini-brain break for some. When learned and applied in context, students more readily adopt strategies they can use again … These ocean-themed movement cards are a really great way to get your class up and moving. These include note taking, studying, and test-taking strategies. Daily maths warm-ups are intended to be a quick warm-up of the brain. Ask students that you know struggle with attention to show their work after a certain amount of time. *The success stories on our website show real Math Genie students who have achieved various academic results. It may be as simple as changing from direct instruction to pair work, or from individual writing to sharing the work they have completed so far amongst a small group. Flexible seating another proactive approach to improving student outcomes. Active learning: Create a teaching and learning environment primed for student participation, such as calling on students to answer a question, individual reflection, think pair share and group problem-solving. The blank page can be daunting to a young writer who struggles with coming up with ideas. A 2010 report by The Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement (CCSRI) looks at strategies for improving student behavior. Jigsaw and crossword puzzles are a great activity to give your child’s brain a workout outside of the classroom. These fitness exercise cards will mean you are never short of ideas for movement breaks. Memory, Which is why it is so important to incorporate some form of regular movement into your students’ days. Attention, Classroom rules should be clear and concise. Not only that but sometimes, just like us, our kids will be having a bad day and perhaps their attention will be more fleeting than what is typical of them. Once all the post it notes have been removed, a surprise will appear! Students with autism face unique challenges in the classroom. Taking a break to bounce on an exercise ball, breaking up learning into chunks, and outdoor play times, or providing a quick stretching or jumping jacks break in the classroom, can all help the attention-challenged student stay focused. But for most schools, it is difficult to provide this to all students. Image Source: Reach Academy via Mindshift. Here are some research-driven methods you can use to increase attention and focus in your classroom: A fun, engaging board game to consolidate students' understanding of digraphs and rhyme. ... Focus on recognizing and rewarding acceptable behavior more than punishing misbehavior. 1. Even your most on task student will benefit from these ideas. These activities require problem-solving and focus, both of which your child can use in the classroom and while doing schoolwork. Finally, the most obvious go to of all, physical activity! Plan scheduled brain breaks if you are a clock-watcher like me and set some kind of singing alarm on your tablet or phone. Many things contribute to inattention, ranging from an inadequate breakfast to a restless night's sleep. Dec 26, 2017 - I've used these strategies on a regular basis and they help with overall classroom management, behavior, and student's engagement with the lesson. 1. and everyone benefits from a couple new strategies to help gain and retain students’ attention on the learning at hand. In the Classroom. It encourages you to pay attention to your environment, feelings, emotions and senses. When planning a single lesson or session consider breaking it down into smaller chunks. Making a classroom more culturally responsive means engaging families and communities in the academic lives of students. Make Brain Breaks Routine. If you notice a student losing focus during a regular or challenging task, have no fear.There are strategies that might help increase your student’s focus. Drama Games can serve as excellent brain breaks as well. No first day of school pictures here (where did the time go today ? . Here are a few tips and suggestions. Focus, They might get sad, annoyed, or frustrated and throw a fit. Rather than sending your class for a run across the oval (though this is a perfectly wonderful thing to do), give your students an added context to make movement breaks fun! Drawing might help students learn new vocabulary by capturing the meaning of a word and sketching it. Here are our top ten strategies and practices that can help all students overcome barriers. Just the plethora of different acronyms alone can be overwhelming to the practitioner but trying to understand the complexities of each and utilize relevant classroom strategies for each can seem overwhelming. Mindfulness is a psychological practice that focuses your thoughts on the present. Topics: Teachers can use these interests to make things more interesting and relatable to students, keeping students motivated for longer. 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