5 Tips to Get Your Students’ Attention in Learning Classes
Grabbing students’ attention is no easy task. There are a number of difficulties for them to focus on what is being said in live classes. When it comes to history, the challenge becomes even greater.
If in a classroom, there is always that student who takes advantage of the weaker lighting to take a nap from a distance, the dispute with the other tabs, the world around and even the student’s tiredness can harm classes.
Therefore, it is essential that classes contain creative and lively presentations which manage to keep students awake and interested. I have put together some tips to help you in this endeavor. Check out!
Contents
Be Dynamic
Nothing is more boring than a lecture presented in a monotonous tone of voice, in which the teacher just remains motionless, reading the content of the slides. So that your classes are not synonymous with sleep and boredom, those that make you want to speed up to end soon, give it a more lively pace by being dynamic.
Vary the tone of voice to emphasize important concepts and use different resources, such as audio and video. Also, remember to ask questions to create interaction with your audience. The most important thing: try to explain and never just read the topics.
Provide Handouts
To keep the attention and engagement of the class, providing handouts is a must. This will help them concentrate and prevent them from taking notes because they know that they already have an accurate copy of your topic. You can create your presentations in PDF format to provide handouts and just convert PDF to PowerPoint for your visual slide presentations.
Make Gestures
You can and should use gestures to emphasize your train of thought during a presentation. They help to grab students’ attention. However, be careful not to overdo it and make the class look like a mime show. If you’re prone to over-gesturing or ticking, holding a pen is a good technique to restrain your hands without limiting your movements. On the other hand, if you are sparing with gestures, try to bring some movement into the presentation.
Use Humour
Humour is a powerful tool to capture the attention of any audience. After all, who doesn’t like to have fun? You can tell a funny story or make fun comments related to the topic. But remember to avoid any kind of offensive or prejudiced remarks in the presentations. Also, avoid getting into embarrassing situations with jokes in bad taste.
Invest in Audiovisual
Invest in audiovisuals to hold the attention of history students. Illustrating ideas and concepts with pictures helps to hold students’ attention. This tactic provides greater fixation. You must use impactful images to capture students’ attention. The same goes for music or sound at an unexpected time. Remember to choose images with good quality and adjust the volume of the capture equipment to avoid noise.
Set the Tone
Ignoring the importance of tone of voice is a mistake that must be avoided. If you don’t want to turn your class into a sleep aid. Try to speak loudly, clearly and vary your pace. Intonation also has the function of highlighting what is most relevant in the content.
Conclusion
In conclusion, capturing students’ attention in live classes and especially in settings can be a challenging task. To overcome this, it is crucial to employ creative and engaging presentation techniques. A dynamic approach with varied tones of voice, the use of gestures to emphasize key points, and the incorporation humour can significantly enhance students’ interest and involvement.
By implementing these strategies and recognizing the significance of training, educators can create an environment that fosters active learning and ensures students remain attentive and enthusiastic throughout the learning experience.