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Steven Rankin- "Shine the Spotlight on Attention"

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Steven Rankin- "Shine the Spotlight on Attention"

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Steven Rankin 5th Grade

The activity is used as a way of drawing attention to how students have remained focused on something else in their life- sports, playing an instrument, fishing, or training a dog. While drawing their attention to the fact that they have focused on other things in their life, the point is to practice and utilize those same skills when it comes to classwork, note-taking, or an assignment.

I would use this as it is described. I would allow students to brainstorm other things that they needed focus for in their lives and let them compare the different techniques that they have used to remain focused. Additionally, I am sure there are videos of professionals that have shared their focusing techniques and we could find and listen to them as well.

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Krissy Harmsma - "8 quick ways to improve your attention span"

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Krissy Harmsma - "8 quick ways to improve your attention span"

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I teach K-5 PE. The purpose of the article is to learn ways to increase attention span. One of the ways is exercise, so that is great since PE is all about that. Another strategy was to listen to music. I think freeze dance would help students focus by having to stand as still as possible when the music stops. We could also match our movements to music. For example, run when the music is fast, crawl when it is slow, etc. Meditation was another strategy mentioned in the article. We could listen to our heart beats before and after exercise to help students focus on their bodies. I did not think of these as ways to improve attention span before, but I will focus on incorporating them more now that I see how they can be beneficial.

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Nancy Ghidro: 8 Quick Ways To Improve Your Attention Span

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Nancy Ghidro: 8 Quick Ways To Improve Your Attention Span

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I teach resource reading in grades 6 -7. This article focused on mind wandering and eight ways to increase focus. The strategies that appealed to me most were: asking questions, taking notes, and meditation.

This year, I decided to call on students randomly to encrease engagement and hopefully keep them well, engaged. So far, it's been helpings as I have had all students participate. Taking notes can be a struggle in resource. I've noticed a real decline in penmanship and resistance to writing. However, it does keep students focused, so I continue to have students take notes to increase focus and help them learn. As for meditation, I plan on incorporating that into my bell ringer. As someone in class mentioned, just doing it 30 seconds at the start of class to focus.

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Debora Vida- Whole Brain Teaching: Clap Twice-Teach

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Debora Vida- Whole Brain Teaching: Clap Twice-Teach

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I teach first grade and I love this idea. It starts with the premise that, as educators (especially primary teachers), we talk too much! Guilty as charged! And I know I don't talk nearly as much as my colleagues either. What this article suggests is that teachers talk for a minute and stay entirely on topic. At the end of the minute, the teacher claps twice and says, "Teach." The students respond with "Okay" and they proceed to talk to their partner explaining what I just taught them. This helps them stay focused, take ownership of their learning, and teach others. It helps me know who is getting it or who might need more help! Brilliant!

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Jessica Collette - Teaching Executive Function to All Students

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Jessica Collette - Teaching Executive Function to All Students

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I teach high school math, and even though we would think that by the time they get to high school that students are organized and have mastered using executive functioning skills. In reality, most students are still struggling with that, but only students with accommodation plans typically get any help with it. Weathers' system is a quick strategy that can be used in all classes without adding another piece to the lesson.

In the future, I plan to use Weathers’ system in my math classroom to build both structure and stronger learning habits. I would start each class with a Kickoff — a quick problem that reviews a past concept like factoring, solving equations, or applying the Pythagorean Theorem. This would refresh prior knowledge and prepare students for new material.

Next, we would go over the Agenda so students know the plan for the day and have a clear record of what we covered. Students would then update their Table of Contents by filing handouts and notes in order, and use the Academic Toolkit to keep important resources like formula sheets and calculator guides. At the end of class, the Concluding Routine would give students time to reflect on what they learned, which would also help me see where they may need more support. Overall, this system would keep my students organized, improve their confidence, and strengthen their math learning.

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8 Quick Ways to Improve Your Attention Span

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8 Quick Ways to Improve Your Attention Span

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Brain Breaks with Locomotor/Non-Locomotor Skills

Name: David DeLia
Grade Level: K–5 PE

Purpose of the Activity:
The purpose is to sustain attention and support processing by giving students short, movement-based resets. According to “8 Quick Ways to Improve Your Attention Span”, the brain stays more focused when it gets brief breaks to recharge. Using kinesthetic brain breaks in PE also strengthens motor skill development.

How I Would Use It in My Classroom:
I would use my Four Corners Game as a structured brain break that doubles as motor skill practice:

I spin a wheel filled with different locomotor movements (skipping, galloping, hopping, running, etc.). Students have 10 seconds to perform that movement to reach a corner of the gym.

Then, I spin a second wheel with corner numbers. If it lands on their corner, those students perform a non-locomotor exercise like 10 jumping jacks, balancing, twisting, or stretching.

This cycle keeps students active, provides novelty and choice (which sustains attention through the RAS), and reinforces both locomotor and non-locomotor skills.

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Lisa Erickson - 12th grade - "The Deep-Dive Breath"

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Lisa Erickson - 12th grade - "The Deep-Dive Breath"

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Lisa Erickson - 12th grade

The Deep Dive Breath involves inhaling for four counts, holding for four, and then exhaling slowly for four counts. The count can increase as students get used to the exercise. I like this activity for the high school age students. This activity can help with a variety of things such as focus, stress relief, and the initial phase of a time of reflection.

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Mark Dowell Discutido: Writing Notes in Math Class

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Mark Dowell Discutido: Writing Notes in Math Class

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The purpose of the activity is for students to keep writing notes on specific pages of their notebook so they can keep track of the topics discussed and to keep focus on the next tasks. While students are writing, I see to it that everybody writes. When someone stopped writing, I will their name immediately and ask to read the notes using their notebook. I made them aware that when someone stopped writing, it means they're done and ready to read their notes. I can also assess their reading ability and handwriting as well. I also correct the way they pronounce words, especially our mathematical vocabularies.

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The purpose of this article is to consider ways to better support students with ADHD in the classroom. 8 principles are outlined, beginning with having plans in place to be proactive instead of reactive, such as restating expectations before transitions. The second principle is making the internal external to assist working memory by using visual cues, such as color-coded folders, timers, etc. Next is chunking tasks, which can be helpful for all students. The following principle pertains to reinforcement. It is suggested that two weeks of positive reinforcements be provided before introducing negative ones. These should also be varied as they lose their potency. The fifth principle aligns with the first in being proactive by providing an environment that allows for movement. Next is mixing low-interest topics with high-interest topics to maintain engagement. The seventh principle refers to the incorporation of technology, noting that students with ADHD tend to engage more with technology than with a worksheet. Finally, the eighth principle is to monitor and modify interventions to ensure that they support the student.

The fourth principle was the most interesting in that positive reinforcement should be provided for at least two weeks before introducing negative reinforcement. This aligns with what I am seeing this school year, in that positive tickets have been handed out so far, students have been praised for following directions, and now that we are in week three, some adjustments need to be made. I will consider other ways to be proactive and provide more opportunities for movement throughout the school day.

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Exit statements or “Ticket out the Door”

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Exit statements or “Ticket out the Door”

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1. Melissa Gruber-Vidrio

2. 3rd grade

3. Strategies for Teaching Executive Function

4. I used this strategy today in my class. Before the activity I told students that they would be taught on the subject (Mexico). They had to complete an exit ticket at the end of the lesson. I front loaded expectations by telling them what questions they would have to answer on the exit ticket. I read the questions twice and then taught the lesson. At the end of the lesson, I gave the exit tickets out for students to write down their thoughts. I also supported them with sentence stems for both questions. One of the questions was why is what you learned important? Students were very engaged in the exit ticket. I am hoping to continue the practice of exit tickets.

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Tara Leppert

Kindergarten

Purpose: Collaborative Learning Strategy

I use the clap, clap, teach strategy from Whole Brain Teaching as a lively way to capture attention and keep engagement. When my students clap back, repeat, and then teach the concept to a partner, their activating multiple learning modalities all at once. So, I’m going to add the SWITCH! component. This will guarantee that every single student gets a turn to share, reteach, and build discourse with a partner. It’s fun and interactive. It gives me a clearer snapshot of who’s tuned in and truly grasping the content.

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Fawnda Sanchez

Kindergarten

The overall purpose of the whole brain teaching activity known as “clap, clap, teach” is to quickly gain attention, maintain classroom control, and engage students’ brains and bodies in active learning. We have a school wide way of gaining students attention which requires a shout back from students with a hand motion. However I tried the clapping method with my students today & once they got the hang of it I think I liked it better. I liked that there is no shouting required. This is a type of attention getter that can be used for a wide variety of grade levels as well.

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My name is Rebecca Witalka. I teach elementary, K-5, library. The purpose of the activity is to help with teaching and maintaining focus and attention. This activity is a brain break to help change up the routine and process new information. For this activity, which has students working to complete a one minute story started by another in a silly way, I would have students use it to explain a concept. I would start the story basing it off what we are learning about. I would then have the students finish it using the information they were taught in the lesson. For example, I might start a story about a student working on a group project project on a shared online platform when teaching about digital citizenship. Students would then need to complete the story to include the dos and don'ts of working online. I would have them take turns sharing their finished story with a partner. I would also use this as strategy for teaching about storytelling and being creative.

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My name is Rebecca Witalka. I teach elementary, K-5, library. The purpose of this activity is to help with teaching and maintaining focus and attention. This activity is a brain break to help change up routine and process new information. For this activity, I would have students do this to review story elements. They would have to draw in the air one of the story elements from a story read aloud for their partner to guess. I would give them a category such as character, setting, etc... to help students narrow down the guessing. I think this would be a very engaging and meaningful way to practice those elements that students can sometimes struggle with remembering and motive them to increase their focus and attention.

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8 Quick Ways To Improve Your Attention Span

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8 Quick Ways To Improve Your Attention Span

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Heather Blood

Primary Autism (K-2)

I really liked this list of resources which I use many of throughout my day without even knowing. I teach in a primary autism classroom but reflecting on last year when I did the KIDS program (pre-k, children with autism) these activities were life savers.

Music, movement and visual stimuli were big with my students. When I played calming music with visual stimuli, is when I got my most productive time from my students.

Now that I am in a primary autism classroom I see the similarities in playing music while in small groups. I keep calm quiet music with visual stimuli on through out our small group center time and the calmness and engagement I see is tremendous! I have had many guests come through and are shocked to find out that its a primary autism classroom because the students are just so calm and chill engaged working on various activities 90% of the time :)

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Janel Rennie-8 Quick ways to improve your attention span.

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Janel Rennie-8 Quick ways to improve your attention span.

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I loved the ideas in this article and she is absolutely correct...they are very quick and easy ways to help improve your attention. The eight ways include meditation, exercise, staying hydrated, asking questions, listening to music, drinking tea, taking notes by hand, and chewing gum.

I have noticed, especially since Covid, that I have a harder time paying attention in the classes I take and at the meetings that I attend. So for the past couple of years I have gone back to taking notes by hand during all the meetings I attend. I have found that I actually do pay better attention when I am writing down the important ideas from the meeting. But I have to tell my mind that I am taking these notes for someone who is not there, otherwise I don't pay as close attention as I should.

I think it is important that we start teaching our intermediate elementary students how to take notes by hand. They need to learn how to listen for the important points. It is not an easy skill to teach.

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Summaya Khan - Classroom Strategies for Teaching Attention and Focus

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Summaya Khan - Classroom Strategies for Teaching Attention and Focus

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Hello everyone, this is Summaya Khan, and I teach 3rd grade. I struggle with keeping students engaged, so I followed the resource on ‘Classroom strategies for teaching attention and focus’. This article talked about multiple strategies for enhancing students' focus, interest, and engagement during lessons. Today, I tried a few strategies from this article with my students, and I noticed a slight difference in their motivation towards the lesson. We did breathing exercises at the beginning, and a movement exercise every 8 minutes to keep their attention on the lesson. We also did ‘rise and fall’, which students enjoyed so much, and seemed happier afterwards. I decided to try new things from the resources provided every day. I think trying new strategies will make my students look forward to coming to class and finishing the lesson.

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Myla Anacta--Classroom Strategies for Teaching Attention and Focus

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Myla Anacta--Classroom Strategies for Teaching Attention and Focus

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I am currently teaching self-contained 6th-8th grade ELA, Science, and Pre-Vocational Skills. I chose the classroom strategies for teaching attention and focus particularly the "Brain Break" activities because most of my students need these to avoid frustration, stress, and anxiety. I would like to use the brain breaks---invisible pictures and other languages next week after reading a chapter in the novel book in our ELA class. This way my student will have the to process new information and will give their brain a chance to recharge.

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Attention, Focus, and executive articles. I found some of the ideas of getting the attention of the students very interesting. I like how the author said to bring random everyday house good items to the classroom and ask students to think of new ideas/uses for those objects. I would like to try that some day soon. An easy one to do in my class was having the squiggle line and then have students try to create a new picture out of the squiggle and a story to go along with it. It was appropriate for my class because it goes along with our standards and it’s the beginning of the year so the idea is to get students writing right now. All of my students were engaged with the picture part. Many enjoyed the creative writing. The kids shared their ideas using Kagan structures, which also helps with engagement and attention.

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Shelley Ives- "8 Quick Ways to Improve Your Attention Span"

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Shelley Ives- "8 Quick Ways to Improve Your Attention Span"

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Shelley Ives

HS Social Studies

"8 Quick Ways to Improve Your Attention Span"

This acticle describes several ways to focus the brain. I chose this particular one because there are two things on this list that I really like. One of the eight is listening to music. I think having some sort of background music helps focus. It also breaks the silence. I teach on a block schedule and it helps reduce students' anxiety levels and improves the focus on the task. My timers have differnt soft music. It automatically signals students to move on to the transition to the next thing. The other one I like is taking notes by hand. This forces the brain to interact more with the content being presented. It also gives the out a a few doodles on the side of a page, which has also been proven to show people are actively listening to what is being presented. Often times I will use notecatchers or graphic organizers for students to use when I am "lecturing". This allows students to have everything organized based from the lecture.