How to Get Students to Focus Without Nagging

Dear Kid Whisperer,

I teach 4th grade math. I have rarely had any significant behavior issues in my 32 years of teaching. My question is about helping kids stay focused. I have a few students who drift off even though I am animated, high energy, and have good lesson plans.

I’m going to show you how to effectively prevent, mitigate, and respond to kids not paying attention, but I am aware that, as a 32-year-veteran teacher, you may have already tried some or all of the following strategies already.

First let me say that you have already done most of the hard work to get your students to pay attention: your lessons are excellent, they are being delivered with high energy, and you understand that kids need to be held accountable. Check, check, and check.

As a veteran teacher, you know not to have your 4th graders sitting for too long. Check.

Let’s first look at the most effective means of preventing kids from not paying attention. Kids want attention and control. There are no better means of systematically, rapidly giving out attention and control than through Strategic Noticing. Here’s how I did it as a teacher when delivering a lesson:

Kid Whisperer: I noticed Kid #12 has his eyes on me! I noticed Kid #7 is actively listening!

Kid Whisperer continues to teach with excitement.

Kids #5, #9, and #26, who were previously staring off at shiny objects and thinking about who would win in a fight: Wonder Woman or Skeletor, now start paying attention because Kid Whisperer has explicitly said that he is paying attention to kids who are paying attention.

Kid #5 raises her hand.

Kid Whisperer: I noticed that you raised your hand! Yes?

Of course, we can’t prevent all lack of focus, so let’s move from prevention to mitigation. The problem with the traditional means of mitigating kids not paying attention (just reminding them to pay attention) is two-fold:

First, it creates psychological reactance: when we tell kids to do something, they’re less likely to want to do it. Second, it gives kids attention and thereby control over their teacher. Do you know any kids who don’t care what kind of attention they get, positive or negative? Aren’t they the 20% of your kids that take 80% of your time?

So, instead of demands (“Pay attention!” “Eyes on me!”) that have these deficits, try using Gentle Guidance Interventions that minimize attention, assume intelligence, and assume cooperation. Here’s how I’ve done it:

Kid #5 now starts wondering if Skeletor would win the fight if he had help from his mom and the cast of Boy Meets World. This causes her to lose focus and stare at the back of her hand.

Kid Whisperer quickly moves toward Kid #5. Kid #5 responds by realizing that she has little wrinkles on her knuckles and becomes concerned that she may be aging prematurely. Kid Whisperer moves right next to Kid #5. Kid Whisperer looks at Kid #5 with a wide, strange smile. Kid #5 thinks, “Why is Kid Whisperer standing right next to me? Wait. Oh. Right. I’m at school. Skeletor, while awesome, is not real. This math lesson is real.”

Kid Whisperer gently and calmly taps the part of the math book that Kid #5 should be concentrating on as Kid Whisperer walks away and continues to teach with excitement.

Finally, allow the lack of attention given to adversely affect students. Let the world respond to the students, instead of you having to do so. If participation itself is affected, you can take participation grades. If lack of attention makes it more difficult for students to complete the subsequent work, they will get done with work after their peers. Keep teaching with enthusiasm, scaffolding, and having great lesson plans, just like you always do, but avoid owning your students’ failures caused by inattention!