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One of the main problems that teachers face when teaching a group of young students is that they have short attention spans. Teachers who do not know how to handle students like this often feel lost and can be upset when they are unable to get their attention back. This is why teachers need to know what to do so that their students do not get disciplined often. A key way for students with short attention spans to learn is to be both physically active while they are learning. So, some of the ways that a teacher can do that and add variety is to plan for songs, games, and activities for the students to do within their lessons. Students, especially young learns, like to sing songs. Songs can keep the students' attention for longer since they are focusing on the lyrics while singing and it can also help with their energy if they are dancing as well. This is one of the most effective ways to teach a child since they are both physically moving while learning English. Songs are a great source of verity as well since there are hundreds of songs that a teacher can choose from. This means that a teacher can plan a lesson and easily find a song that fits the theme of their lesson plan. Just like songs, young learners enjoy playing games and teachers will be able to easily change the rules of a game to make it so the students learn. Games are good for all ages and can easily add variety to the classroom. Games like pictionary, memory, and miming are just a few examples of what teachers could use as games. Pictionary is one that most young students seem to enjoy the most and helps them learn vocabulary. Memory games tend to lose a students attention span quickly so for the game to be quicker and more effect consider putting the students in small groups so their turn comes fast and keep the stack of cards small. Lastly, miming is a fun way to teach students, mostly the young ones, this is where the teacher will be able to make fun of themselves and mime different actions or animals to see if the students can guess. This will keep the students’ attention and help the students learn vocabulary. Just like songs and games, activities can also help teach students and keep their attention. Activities are very effective when teaching all ages of students, they will be able to focus on the task for themselves rather than focus on a teacher or a peer who is doing the work. Young learners are the ones who like activities, preferably the ones that involve arts and crafts. Arts and crafts are the easiest for teachers to observe all that they need to do is observe the students and possibly make the craft for themselves. For example, if a teacher wants their students to create a monster and then present it to the class, the teacher can make a monster with their students and when it comes time to present their creations the teacher goes first. Doing something like this will help the students understand what they need to do. In conclusion, there are several ways that a teacher can keep a students attention without having to use discipline, the most common ways are singing, playing games, and doing activities. Teachers should be prepared to add variety to their lessons to keep the attention of their students. Plus, after some trial and error, every teacher should know what does and does not work with their short attention span students.
