beginnings are always the hardest

8/13/2019 Beginnings Are Always the Hardest

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Beginnings are always the hardest. Ask any teacher who walks in at thebeginning of the class session and finds Casy text-messagingsomeone, Katie and Sam chatting, and Tom snoozing.

This behavior isn t limited to children, either; inattention is endemic in our fast-pacedculture with so much competing media and information distracting us. However, it is

necessary to get the classs attention at the beginning of the session to establish

order, the plan for the day, and begin instruction. But it s not alway s so easy.

What can you do to get the class s attention riveted on you?

Starting off Strong

Often students goof off because they just don t know what else to do. You can start

strong every day by establishing a clear routine and expectations for starting off: thatthey come to attention, be in their seats, and ready to work. Hold to this routine to

establish order in the class. Having a clear plan for the day also gets student s attention.

5 Tips to Get the Classs Attention

1Change the level and tone of your voice

Often just changing the level and tone of your voice, lowering it orraising it, will signal to the students it s time to pay attention.

2Use props like a bell or whistle Better for lower level or younger learners, props like these clearly

mark beginnings, endings, and other transitions within the class.See our other article on using realia: Realia: 9 Ways To BringReal Life Into The Classroom

3Use a visual related to the instruction Holding up a striking picture related to the session, such asenvironmental debris if the class topic is related to the environment ,
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is sure to get all eyes on you. Don t comment on it; allow students tostart the dialogue.

4 Make a startling statement or give a quote Writing a surprising statement or quote related to the content on theboard has a similar effect: for example More than half of children inCalifornia speak some language other than English at home if thetopic is language acquisition.

5Write a pop quiz question on the board Write a basic comprehension question related to the reading on theboard. Students have to answer it on slips of paper and turn them in.This gets students focused right away on course material. Thequestion can then lead to discussion after the quiz.

10 Tips for Holding Attention Now you have your students attention; holding it is another story.

1Relevant tasks

Know your students and relate content to them, and relate thecontent to the course objectives. For example, if the content is theVietnam War, finding out what they already know about the VietnamWar and how it relates to their lives is important.

2Teach at appropriate level of difficulty Material too hard or too difficult can result in student inattention.Check for understanding or boredom at the beginning. Then tailorthe material to the class: for example, if you are teaching the past

tense and find students already have control over the simplepast and past progressive , find out what they know about the past
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perfect . Or if you ve given all three tenses at them, assuming it s just review, but they appear lost, focus on just one tense.

3 Use choral chants of material Better for lower-level students, having students chant together keyphrases or sentences from the material gets them focused on thematerial. This also provides practice in the rhythm andintonation of English.

4Make presentations clear

Use of clear charts and visuals hold students attention and makethe content clear.

5Involve students in lecture Don t just lecture on the past tense with charts and board work; thiswill surely put everyone to sleep. During the lecture, stop to askstudents about last weekend, summer, etc., to keep them involvedin the content and practicing the material.

6Use humor Use of humor related to the content is another attention-getter:students appreciate teachers who know how to use humorappropriately related to the material. For example, relating a briefhumorous anecdote about what a bad day you had yesterday todemonstrate past tense verbs will get students attention and lightenthe mood.

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Establish the routine, task, and time limit

If students are to work in groups, for example, they should knowwhich group they belong in, what they will be doing, and for howlong.

8Plan carefully and fully; make the plan apparent to students

Students will lose focus if the objectives and plan for the lesson are

not clear to them. Writing what the class will be doing on the boardhelps keep focus.

9Divide tasks into manageable subskills If students are going to be participating in a class debate , tellingthem to Debate the issue may result in a lot of students wanderingaround confused. Outline what is involved in a debate on the boardand break it down: today decide the issue and our sides; tomorrowestablish the roles within our teams, the next day research, and soforth.

10Establish clear roles

In doing the debate, to continue the example, everyone within thegroup should have a task : either preparing some research for thedebate, outlining the debate, preparing a counterargument, etc. Ifeveryone s role is clear, and everyone has a job to do, this results inless web-surfing and updating Facebook profiles during class. ( Yes,adults and ESL students do it, too. )
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beginnings are always the hardest

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