For effective teaching and learning, having students concentrate in the classroom is very important. With a good concentration level, students listen actively to teachers, understand well, participate more and achieve academic success. But many teachers face difficulties in having effective student concentration in the class.
We often say lack of accountability, poor sleep, and no self-study can be the reasons behind this problem. This is not always true, sometimes problems from teachers’ end or wrong teaching practices can also make students less concentrated in the class. Let us discuss the reasons behind this problem and effective ways to overcome it.
Why students concentrate less in the class: problems from teachers’ end
- Monotonous teaching practices
Using the same method of teaching every day makes students feel bored and less interested in the class. Only using textbooks and guides to teach is an example of a monotonous teaching method. Because of this students pay less concentration to the teachers.
- Very lenient with students
Some teachers are very lenient with students. They don’t focus well on whether disciplinary measures have been followed by all students or not. Being lenient is not bad, but a strict tone towards students is important too. When teachers keep on ignoring students’ mistakes and mischief, they cause more trouble and distractions to the class.
- Teacher-centered approach to teaching
A teacher-centered approach to teaching means a teacher entering the classroom, and explaining the lessons continuously, whereas students simply sit as mere listeners. With no opportunity to interact, speak up, share, and ask, students feel bored and less concentrated. Also, they are not able to ask their doubts and queries. This makes students relate to and understand the teaching content less.
- Lengthy lectures
The mind is not a machine. Our brain also needs some rest to store particular information and stay well focused in class. When teachers conduct classes of long durations, it causes fatigue in students. Not only physically but also mentally they feel exhausted. After a certain limit, students stop listening to the teachers attentively and lose active concentration.
Tips to overcome
1. Use technology
Only teaching through textbooks is not enjoyable and very understandable to students. Listening to the teachers reading out the textbook material can become a reason for a distracting classroom. To overcome this problem, using technology helps.
By using the best app for online classes, teachers can access several audiovisual tools like educational videos, modules, demonstrations, picture cards, PowerPoint presentations, and more. Today’s kids are highly attracted to technology and using the same in the classroom is quite effective. With the help of visualization, students tend to understand the concepts better, quicker, and stay well-concentrated too.
2. Ask students to read aloud the texts
Other than using technology to teach, going through the main coursebooks and the lessons are very important. Many times, we see teachers reading the lessons to students. But this is not very effective. Listening to the teachers reading out the lengthy theoretical topics makes students feel bored and less relatable to the content.
To make sure that students stay engaged and well-concentrated, reverse the process. Ask students to read and you listen to them. One by one ask students to read. For more effective classes, you can randomly ask any student in between to read. You can also have interesting participatory activities like group discussions, recitations, question-answer rounds, presentations, etc.
3. Moderate durations of classes or include breaks
As we discussed above, when lectures are lengthy, students get physically and mentally exhausted. Also in the case of online teaching, lengthy lectures can lead to excessive screen time which further affects the health of students. To overcome this problem, teachers should try to conduct lectures of moderate durations only.
A class of thirty-five to forty minutes is enough to make students well concentrated and active. This will help you to teach online as well as in conventional classrooms effectively. If you have planned a long lecture, then make sure to give students a break in between. Even small breaks are enough for students to re-energize and rebuild their focus.
Conclusion
For effective teaching and learning, students need to stay concentrated in the classroom. But some wrong teaching practices affect effective student concentration. However, by following the above-mentioned tips that are using technology, conducting moderate duration lectures, aloud reading, and having interesting participatory activities, teachers can enhance students’ concentration in the classroom.
