The classroom is loud, students are talking to each other, on their phones making tiktoks, others are eating in the corner, and most are sleeping at their desks. With the teacher sitting in their chair, getting the assignment ready for the day, the students’ volumes are left unchecked. None of them are paying attention as their teacher stands up and walks to the front of the class, ´´Okay, let’s get started for the day,” yet the students are too loud. They are listening to their own conversations or too busy catching up on missed sleep.
Teachers have to deal with these occurrences on a daily basis. Sometimes the class settles down easily, but the majority of the time the teacher has difficulty getting their kids to pay attention.
Every class is different, some need more hand-holding during class while others only require a little help with paying attention and following instructions. Teachers have come up with many different phrases or methods of getting students to listen, the most popular phrases being ´´1, 2, 3, eyes on me!´´ following with, ´´1, 2, eyes on you!´´ Many elementary teachers tend to use that phrase in order to get their kids ready to focus on instructions, but for middle schoolers and high schoolers, teachers tend to use smaller and quieter methods.
Kristina Zavala, a photography teacher at Cy-Springs high school, says she uses the phrase ´´Hey y´all´´ or ´´Ok y´all´´ when she is ready to start her instructions for the day. She has stated that it is best that students learn to listen the first time rather than have their teacher repeat themselves millions of times.
Many teachers use attention-getting methods in their classrooms. These techniques are widely used throughout the Cy Fair district and even more so throughout the U.S. But even with the many different methods and techniques to grab students’ attention, it must be known that patience and persistence are necessary. It will take time for students to get used to their teachers’ methods, but with practice and reinforcing the good behavior of students listening, it will become easier for both the teacher and class to get through their day and assignments.
´´Take time to explicitly teach your attention-getting method and practice it with your students. Reinforce the desired behavior by providing positive feedback and acknowledging students who respond promptly,´´ Cy Springs teacher Arthur Green said.
To add on to this, students should first feel comfortable in their class. They should want to go to class and like their teachers, meaning that teachers need to first build up a relationship with their students and make their classroom feel comfortable. Teachers should feel easy to talk to, students shouldn’t have to feel like they can not ask their teacher something.
This issue relates to why kids don’t listen to their teachers either, they may not feel a connection with them or might not even want to be in that class. So to really solve this problem of teachers not having their kids’ attention and the kids not wanting to pay attention, everyone needs to take a step back and see if there is even a bond between teacher and student in the first place. Without that bond or understanding, it will ultimately be difficult to get anything done.
To debrief everything, without a bond or some sort of connection with teacher and students, neither side will be able to properly teach or learn. Kids like the sense of being able to connect with someone, or even be able to look up to them. With that fact alone, teachers need to make efforts to truly be able to bond with them. Once that first step is done, then it will be much easier to get students to listen.
Before, the class was loud and in complete chaos. The kids were running around, jumping out of their seats. Some were eating food, causing crumbs to fall on the floor, others were drinking from their bottles, spilling their drinks everywhere. And in all of that chaos, the teacher is at her or his desk, trying to get the assignment ready and also trying to tell their students to behave. Even after the instructions, which took half the class to get through and then had to be repeated many more times, the kids did not do their work, and if they did, it was mostly done wrong.
Now, the class is quiet. The kids who were once running around or jumping out of their seats now sit at their desk, chatting to one another in quiet and calm voices. No longer are their crumbs on the floor or drinks spilt everywhere, now the room is kept clean. In the quiet and calm room, the teacher who was once stressed out or lost on what to do, they now are walking around, helping their students with their assignment if they have questions. The lecture and instructions only lasted a few minutes as before it lasted the entire class, so now that the kids know what to do, they ask quiet questions when they need help, writing down their answers or solving their problems. The last five minutes of class, the students turn in their now completed work, clean up anything that is out of place, and the teacher begins to grade their work all while wishing them a good day.
There was no connection between teacher and class before, but with some work, the teacher was able to make that connection with their students. Now everything is better. The students listen when it is time too and then do their assignments, even asking questions when they need help. All it takes is one determined teacher to make their students willing to learn, to ask questions when they are confused or lost. No longer are the repeated directions or loud classrooms. Now there is only a quiet one with its students ready to learn.
