It’s a tale as old as time for teachers: the struggle to keep students’ attention. Whether teaching in a one-room schoolhouse or a massive public school in modern day America the myriad number of reasons why students don’t/can’t pay attention has been an ever-growing problem. So how do you spark the interest of an otherwise disinterested pupil? Here are some things that I learned from being a student and looking back on my extensive learning experience. Lessons I learned that will come in handy for online and offline tutors and students alike. no matter what you’re studying, whether that’s GED, K-12 or ASVAB.

Everyone Loves a Good Game

I hated math in school (and still do to this day). Keeping my attention in a math class from kindergarten to college required no small Act of God. But when I was in second grade I remember that we played a game using the multiplication tables. The teacher would begin in the front of the class, the row closest to the door, and the first two students would stand up. She would hold up a card with an unsolved multiplication table on it and the first to solve the problem got to advance. The student who failed to respond quickest took their seat. As much as I loathed math, I loved this game. It kept me engaged throughout, and I learned far more from that game than any other tool used by my teachers to beat math into my stubborn artistic brain. The game was constant during the class period; it was interesting and competitive, which held the attention of each and every student. Breaking from lecturing or note-taking with activities such as this one can help you keep even the most Attention Deficit student in the learning loop.

Get Physical

Activities that get kids moving are sometimes a great way to keep them engaged. It’s hard to zone out when you’re clapping your hands, repeating a rhyme and trying to keep time with your fellow pupils. Introducing this type of interaction also makes it easier for students to remember facts and lesson material. Not to mention that getting all that blood flowing is a whole lot more engaging the listening to a lecture.

Keep it Challenging

Think about the last meeting you were in where someone stood at the front of the room and lectured about a topic that you were already well versed in. Adults get bored and disengaged when we do not have to try very hard, and students are much the same way. Being able to breeze through simple subject matter leaves them with a feeling that they don’t need to pay attention or focus on the task at hand, because they know (or at least think) that they can handle an upcoming test with ease. Making your class activities too easy isn’t doing anyone any favors. Even if it’s a game, keep it challenging. Vary rhymes or physical activities such as clapping or snapping every few minutes to keep them guessing and focused, use unusual factoids in your lesson and expect them to remember them. Perhaps most importantly, vary your test types. I can remember from school that after a while it became easy to detect a pattern in the way a certain teacher tested, what type of questions they would ask, etc. It meant that I was able to pick and choose through the material what I would need to retain and leave the rest, which meant that I only learned a finite amount of the lesson (in hindsight, something that did me no favors). One of the greatest teachers that I ever had was my U.S. History After 1877 teacher in college. All he did was lecture, that was it, which would normally have put me straight to sleep. But he introduced all types of little strange facts about history as he went and touched on pieces of history that other teachers would have never paid credence to, and they were on the test. In point of fact, you never, ever knew what to expect from his tests. It was impossible to ignore any part of his lecture because you were so feverishly concerned that the one thing you missed would be on the test, and usually it was. While it was the hardest class I ever took, it was also the one that I retained the most information from.

Keeping your students engaged may seem like an impossible act, but with some creative lesson planning and activities you might find yourself surprised. Some of your most difficult pupils may just be awaiting the right stimuli.
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