My dad often jokes that he was so poor growing up that he couldn't even pay attention. (Rimshot, if you please.)
As an educator with over 22 years of experience, I've seen quite a few students not paying attention--to a lesson, to each other, to life, to themselves.
I am also guilty myself of not paying attention. My list of side quests is quite extensive. For example, instead of writing a syllabus for a new class, I am am writing a blog post. I have also become quite adept at Retro Bowl lately. We all go down the rabbit hole every once in a while, right?
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| Taken from https://imgflip.com/memetemplate/242759032/Distracted-Student |
This morning I gave my composition class a work day--they have a research essay draft due next week, and between answering their questions and helping them refine their research questions, I read. And as I am wont to do while I read, I share short passages that cause me to ponder.
From All Learning is Social and Emotional: Helping Students Develop Essential Skills for the Classroom and Beyond by Nancy Frey, Doug Fisher, and Dominique Smith (2019), I dug out this nugget:
"In truth, any person's sustained attention is punctuated with intermittent loss of focus. Things seem to pop into our minds out of nowhere, and then we're off task or off-topic. The skill of maintaining attention, then, is not about extending one's attention span but rather about choosing to return to a task after attention has been lost. It includes noticing when attention has faded and having strategies to bring it back to full strength. These strategies can be as simple as writing a note about the thing that popped into your head and then returning to the task at hand, or taking a breath and refocusing" (p. 72).
A nervous smattering of chuckles came from a couple groups who were "working together." One girl piped up to the others: "Teach just outted y'all!" They cackled for another minute, but then we began an earnest discussion about study habits and what they needed to stay focused.
Now this may not be revelatory to many, but I think it makes a lot of sense. Someone else can explain the science, but the use of strategic metacognition works wonders for me (when I want it to). However, I believe that most students need to have these types of skills taught to them explicitly. That may come in the form of a study skills class, or simply being aware of themselves and their tendencies to become distracted.
If I can train my students simple strategies to get themselves back on task, the possibilities are endless!
So I am asking you few readers, what are some strategies that you use to get yourself back on track, especially when the task at hand is an onerous one? What makes up your ladder to climb back up the rabbit hole?
