Keep the students working

It usually happens that children are not paying attention to the activity they are doing. What can we do? I deeply recommend you to watch this video of Rob Plevinson talking about it.

The steps he proposes are:

1. Give non verbal signal to the student to go back to work without anyone noticing it.

2. Get close to them so they realise they are not working.

3. Focus on what the student is doing right so that he/she feels better and motivates him/her to go on like that.

4. Offer support to the student to focus on work again avoiding confrontation.

5. Limit choices. Draw attention to the work by giving choices about what pen they are going to use, or who would they prefer to help them.

6. Set targets for the student. Instead of telling them they need to complete everything in the hour, maybe the student works better by telling him/her that in the next 5 minutes he/she is expected to do the first activity.

You have two options

You have two options. This is an easy way to control childrens' behaviour and make them reflect on what they are doing and what they can do.

For example, when a child is playing with a toy he/she shouldn't be playing with, you can tell him/her: "You have two options: you can put it away in your bag and pay attention, or you can leave it on my desk. "

They will probably choose the first one and keep them in their bags. Remember, it is better to avoid confrontation.