I copied this one from the internet for our assignment
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This is a problem that every teacher faces at some point or another. You're faced with an entire classroom full of kids that won't just sit down and learn. Frustrating, isn't it?
We all hope that we'll entire the classroom full of great ideas. These kids will all sit quietly and pay attention. They'll speak when they're asked a question. They'll participate when it's required. They'll learn everything that you're trying to teach them the first time. And they'll be well behaved at all times.
Unfortunately, this just doesn't happen.
However, here are a few ideas that may help you out in getting your kids to pay attention.
1. Offer external rewards. We all hope that our students will think of learning as its own reward, but with very young students, this isn't always the case. The smile system works well in my class. Each child receives a smile if he or she behaved well throughout the class. I also occasionally pick a "champion" for the lesson. This child receives a sticker. (I keep a list of all my students and cross each one off as they become champion. This way I can keep track of who has been champion and try to offer each student a chance to be champion at one point.
2. Match your classroom activities to their interests. Find out what your students are interested in outside of the classroom situation and try to match your activities to those interests. For example, during play time I noticed that my students liked to line up the chairs and pretend that it was a train. So I started to incorporate that into my lessons. We make a train out of the chairs that I call the "color train". We pretend that we're riding a train and each stop is a different color. The kids must then get off the train and touch something that is that color. A class that is interested in sports may be interested in playing a game that is active and sports-like. A class that likes art projects might like activities that involve drawing.
3. Change your routine. Some kids get bored by routines. Occasionally, I'll notice that the kids get restless when we do the same Hello Song for a few months. Other activities as well can become boring if they are done too much. If you notice that there is a particular part of your lesson where the kids are losing interest, then change that part of your lesson. By presenting something new, your kids are more likely to pay attention.
4. Stick to your routines. I know this sounds contradictory after what I just said. But some kids respond better to routines and things that might, to us, seem boring. I remember one challenging class that I had. This was a class that I only saw once a month (The rest of the time they had an English-speaking Japanese teacher.). As soon as they came into the classroom, they'd start running around. I could never get control of that class. Since they were so active, I would always try to play really active games that would get them speaking, with no luck. One day, I decided to just sit down with the flash cards and a sign that the regular teacher had that said "I like..." To my complete surprise, the students all gathered around me, sat quietly and were quite well behaved. This was the routine that they were comfortable with and once they were presented with that routine, they behaved quite well.
5. Change the timing of your lesson. If you're in a classroom situation where it's possible, change the time of your lesson. Some kids will learn better and behave better early in the morning. Others need to get their energy out early in the day through play time, and will be able to pay attention after lunch. If you have the freedom to do so, changing the time of your lesson can make a very big difference.
Hope this helps!
Love,
Shannon Sensei
How Can I Make My Students Pay Attention?
This letter is very wonderful for me because it gives me specific ideas on how to get my future students attention.
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