I would have never thought how Attention and Learning go hand in hand, but it makes perfect sense. How can a student learn if he or she isn't paying attention. Our attention skills are very important but sometimes are taken for granted. It's important for teachers to be innovative because that is key to keeping a student's attention. Student's especially younger students have very short attention spans so its key to be able to find ways to keep them focused so they don't miss out on any learning. Implementing the suggestions for focusing and maintaining a students attention are a great tool! We begin with "Signals" making sure a student realizes that the lesson or activity is about to start. Getting their attention from the beginning is very important, otherwise they will be lost from the get go. "Movement" wow! I would have never thought how important that could be but its so true. If the teacher remains in one place such as their desk, students may tend to get bored and then tune the teacher out. Moving around the classroom keeps the students engaged! I like that. "Variety" make lessons interesting and different, even the tone of voice the teacher uses is important. "Interest" I think it's common knowledge that students learn so much better when they like what is being learned. Any subject can be interesting if the lessons are fun and exciting. Teachers should be as innovative as possible and make the lessons fun. This could really prove to be a great tool because if the students are having fun learning; their grades will be better and the teacher will have a higher success rate in the class. And lastly "Questions" When we have students engaged in the learning process and make the lessons their own by allowing them to ask different questions and create a dialog amongst eachother, the retention of what they are learning will stick much better.
I believe if I were a teacher I would definitely use these tools in my classroom. As educators we should always try to find interesting and innovative ways to help students learn. For those of you who are teachers in our class; have you used these tools in your classrooms, if so was the outcome positive?
