If a student is having trouble focusing in their regular
education classroom there are many strategies that can be used to help with
this problem. It is important to look at
all possible reasons for this to be happening.
Are they close enough to the teacher? Are they bored? Do they have the
necessary background information to understand the concept being taught? There are a variety of strategies that can address
each of these questions. The teacher
may need to remove the student from the regular classroom and directly teach
some background information to help with the concept being taught. One strategy
that comes to mind are redirection.
Encourage the student to complete a task by getting their attention and
redirecting it so they come back to the material. The teacher can make it into a game so the
student has some motivation. Another
strategy is just moving closer to the student to be nearby so a simple tap can
help them see they need to start listening again. Another strategy could be giving them a
little extra something to do during the lesson.
This may include highlighting or writing things down multiple times to
give them something to do. A teacher
will learn many things about their student as the school year progresses. Knowing the students interests and learning
styles will increase the strategies used to help them focus in the classroom.
Positive Behavior Supports
This program seems like it would be very beneficial for a
school or district to implement. The
information from nasponline.com describes it as a function-based approach to
eliminate challenging behaviors and replace them with prosocial skills. Its
approach is to not just focus solely on the child and their behavior but to
look at all aspects such as the task demands, curriculum, instructional pace,
and individualized reinforcement. The website states that harsh punishment and
zero tolerance has not been effective, thus this program is a possible solution. This program is successful in promoting
positive behavior. It uses different strategies to maintain appropriate social
behavior. There are many facts that support this program and I believe it would
be beneficial for all districts.
I like how you mentioned that the student may need to be taught the background of the content that is being practiced in the regular classroom. That is definitely one of the reason a student may not be paying attention in class. If they are having difficult understanding the material, they are more likely to become easily distracted, and as a result not paying attention, or worse distracting other students, taking away from their learning experience as well. I also agreed that the Positive Behavior Supports would be a beneficial program to use in the school setting. Great post thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI really like the strategy of giving the child something else to do during the lesson. I have never thought of this before. If the child had to do something such as write down key words or highlight important information in the notes that the teacher was lecturing over it would definitely keep them on task. I think this would be something to require of the whole class though because it might single the student who is deaf or hard of hearing out. This would be a good strategy to use for an entire class though and it would ensure that everyone is staying on track. It might even be helpful to give a grade for completion to make sure that the students are really putting some thought and effort into it. Awesome idea!
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