Keeping Students Engaged at School pt. 2

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I have compiled a few more tips for fellow educators and parents to use to help children stay focused during a lesson! I have personal experience with some of these, while others I learned from researching online and recommend trying out! You can click [here] for my first post.

4) Confiscate Cell Phones at the Start of Class. Many schools in South Korea do this, where students are notoriously tech-savvy and even the younger children come to school weighed down with a Samsung Note 7. As students enter the classroom, they are asked by their teachers (seun seng nim 선생님) to deposit their cell phones in a communal bin at the front, and can only retrieve their electronic property during the lunch break and then again after school. I am intrigued by this idea because it serves two purposes: is prevents students from ignoring the lesson, as well as preventing other students from disrupting the class whenever they forget to put their phone on silent. Cell phones are fast becoming public enemy number one in schools. They are exceedingly hard to regulate, and are a huge player when it comes to disrupting classroom learning.

5) Ask Questions. A healthy classroom should have questions coming from both sides: from instructors and students. But sometimes no matter how encouraging you are, there will be days when students do not ask any questions during the lesson. Now, this does not necessarily mean they are not paying attention, but studies demonstrate the important role questions play in learning, especially the right types of questions. For each lesson, try to come up with some questions to punctuate your lecture that will facilitate classroom discussion and students' engagement and participation. These questions shouldn't feel like you are "quizzing" your students, as if you are putting them on the spot. I highly recommend taking a look at this amazing resource from The Teaching Center that will teach you all about asking the right questions, and how different types of questions improve the retention of information and critical thinking. 

6) Enthusiasm is Contagious. Students will feed off of your energy. Even if they find the subject boring, students will demonstrate interest if they are captivated by an enthusiastic instructor who knows how to make the lesson interesting, entertaining, engaging, etc. If you can find ways to visibly show your own interest in the lesson, you really can inspire students to pay attention and get involved in the content.

Please let me know in the comments what you think! Have a fantastic day.



About Post Author

I am a passionate Vice Principal and IB coordinator at St. Jude's Academy, who loves to blog about education in my free time! Please leave a comment as I would love to hear your thoughts and answer your questions!

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Where: Ontario, Canada

Who: A passionate Vice Principal and IB coordinator

Why: I love blogging about education in my spare time!

St. Jude's Academy is an IB School

St. Jude's Academy is an IB School

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