10 Tips to Keep Classroom Concentration High

We’ve all had children in our classrooms who struggle to keep their concentration.

But unfortunately, the more they struggle, the more disruptive they can be to the other students.

So, how do you stop their minds from wandering off during lesson time?

Here are ten tips to keep your students engaged and receptive to what you are teaching them.

1. Make them hand in their mobile phones

Phones can be very distracting for students, especially if they hear their notifications pinging regularly during their lessons.

The temptation to check them will prove too much to some who subsequently won’t take in much of what you are saying.

For this reason, it is a good idea to get your students to hand over their mobile phones to you at the start of the lesson.

Some teachers even put them in a lockable cupboard to ensure they can’t get to them until the bell sounds. You can see a selection of these on the TechXpress website.

2. Take attention breaks

To prevent your student’s attention from waning, it is a good idea to take an attention break every now and then.

During this time, you can let them engage in quiet conversation with their friends, read, meditate or even play some soft, relaxing music.

You should only give them a couple of minutes to do this, but it will go a long way towards getting their concentration back on track.

3. Make the lessons as varied as possible

Some experts believe that in a classroom setting, children are only able to concentrate for a period of time that equates to their age multiplied by two to five minutes.

Therefore, if you have a classroom of five-year-olds, they typically can only stay focused for between 10 and 25 minutes.

For this reason, it is important to make your lessons as varied as possible. Thankfully, there are several ways you can do this.

One of the most effective is to create different learning stations where small groups of students all take turns to do various tasks such as watching a video, reading an article, creating artwork, listening to you teach and completing puzzles.

Another is to break your lesson up into chunks that focus on learning via a different sense, e.g., seeing, hearing, touching, and, where appropriate, smell.

4. Open the windows

Did you know your brain uses 20% of the oxygen you take in to function properly? Subsequently, unless it is cold, you should open the windows of the classroom as much as possible.

Exposing your students to increased levels of fresh air can be a very effective way of providing them with much more clarity of thought and concentration.

5. Take the lesson outside

While on the subject of fresh air, if it is a nice day and you have somewhere to sit, why not consider taking your children outside?

As the adage goes, a change is as good as a rest. So, just by moving out of the classroom environment, you can greatly improve your students’ concentration.

6. Get the children to switch seats

If you don’t want to take them outside or the weather is not conducive to it, consider getting your pupils to switch seats halfway through the lesson.

Doing this will give them a different viewpoint of the classroom, which should result in them regaining their focus for a bit longer.

7. Keep visual distractions to a minimum

While it’s good to showcase various learning materials and students’ work on your walls, you can have too much of a good thing.

Indeed, the more you have on display, the more visual stimulus there is to distract your students. Which, in turn, could easily result in their ears and minds drifting away from what you are saying.

For this reason, it is worth adopting a less is more approach to keep your students on task.

8. Play Memory Games

Another good way to keep your students focused is to build their ability to concentrate for longer through memory games.

You don’t have to make this overly complicated. A simple game of ‘match the numbers’ or ‘I went to the shops and bought’ can do wonders for improving their attention span.

9. Keep them well hydrated

In addition to fresh air, water is an excellent way to help your students focus on what you are teaching them. So, you should encourage them to sip water regularly throughout the lesson.

By staying hydrated, it helps their brain cells to better communicate with each other. It also gets rid of the toxins and waste that can reduce the effectiveness of brain function and ensures it receives the healthy nutrients it needs.

10. Start a competition

Sometimes, the best way to engage your students is through a good, old-fashioned competition.

Splitting them into teams and testing them on various pearls of wisdom you imparted in the lesson can often be enough to get them instantly engaged and interested.