Every good teacher knows their curriculum is what makes or breaks them, especially at the middle to high school levels. This day and age kids need to be stimulated or their mind is halfway around the world, building an airship capable of space travel or training with monks in Tibet. What is it that allows kids to succeed? Is it adding a little competition, such as a stock market game, teaching kids about trading and investing plus pitting themselves against their fellow peers? Is it allowing time for outdoor stimulation so their is a healthy balance between mind and body? Teachers around the nation have supplied their feedback in efforts of helping educators that find themselves struggling with keeping their students attention span focused on what is being taught.
- Active Learning – Many teachers implement the practice of active learning. Children usually have the mentality of, “Why should I be paying attention if other students aren’t?”. This puts teachers in a very precarious place, but not one that is impossible to control. A fantastic book which acts as a resource for this method is Inspiring Active Learning. One great idea is that students pay less attention when the lesson is coming from a teacher, but pay much more attention when students are utilized in the teaching of the lesson. This puts themselves in the role of teacher, which is a form of make-believe that can be incredibly beneficial. I suggest checking out the book to see how active learning can help you in your classroom routines.
- Classroom Games – Now, this can be somewhat of a touchy subject, as different teachers have varied opinions on whether or not games help or hurt the efforts of their teaching. My input would be that it greatly depends upon the game you’re playing. For example, a local high school economics teacher friend of mine started using a virtual stock exchange game in her classroom called SmartStocks. This game allows kids the opportunity to learn the basics of the stock market, supplies them with all currently traded stocks, and provides a little friendly competition between their fellow classmates. Not only has this helped them understand the way trading works (which I never had the chance to learn as a teenager), but it gives them some of the most important skills required for economics, which is keeping up to date on the happenings of the market. I guess the advice would be, pick the games you’ll implement in your classroom wisely. Don’t pick something that gives very little learning just for the sake of distraction.
- Daily Routine Boosters – Now this is not one specific activity, but several throughout the day that help kids stay alert and attentive.
- Mind Warm-Up – An example of a mind warm up would be to have kids help you find mistakes in content you supply through a handout or written on the board, aiding greatly your efforts in having the kids learn specific details regarding curriculum material.
- Simple Exercise – Jumping jacks, pushups, or simply stretching their muscles periodically keeps blood flowing to not only the brain, but other parts of the body as well. Find an exercise that is appropriate for your classroom age level.
- Working Together! – A lesson that is vital in teaching young children is the importance of working together. Exercises and activities that require collaboration teaches this principle as well as the important social interaction that many children miss out on during the day.
While this brief article contains a few helpful suggestions, there are countless resources for teachers on helping their students learn effectively and efficiently.
