Attention and Momentum

ATTENTION and MOMENTUM are fundamental requirements in classroom achievement. Thomas Tasker subtantiates the idea about attention in “ Classroom Management “ : “ Gaining and holding students' attention throughout a lesson is an essential part of classroom management – it is the precondition for instruction to take place. Attention is about engaging and involving students in a wide range of learning experiences. It does not matter how good your lesson is if students do not pay attention.” I am particularly demanding about it in question answer work and listening. If you concentrate on the speaker without caring about who is talking or murmuring, you and the class won ‘t hear well . That is why I keep eyes on the interlocutor and noisy students. I put the palm of my hand on my mouth to mean non verbally to cease, because my saying to stop talking, or murmuring also disturbs. Then automatically the disturbers calm down. This helps gain some momentum which " is how well teachers stay on task during a lesson by minimizing delays, downtime and distractions. "
  Saphier et al (2008), cited by Tasker suggest means to gain momentum:
Have materials ready, handouts stacked, and equipment set up before class
• Understand how to work all equipment well before class. Know the person you need to contact if there’s a problem. Always have an alternate plan for technology failure.
• Information written on the board before it’s needed
• When creating pairs and small groups, know exactly how you want the configuration of students and locations to look like, and direct the students accordingly.
• Plan how you will give instructions for complicated activities, and consider whether written or oral instructions would better facilitate student understanding.
• Choose specific times for answering questions and giving feedback.
• During small group activities, be aware of what all groups are doing, and balance the needs of struggling groups who need extra attention, and more capable groups who finish early and need to be challenged with more tasks. In other words, you should have the ability to move the lesson forward without leaving students behind.
• Make students aware of how much time they have to complete tasks, and remind them when a transition to a new activity is coming.
• Establish routines for any classroom activity your students need to complete regularly; for example, getting into groups, leading discussions, and signing an attendance sheet. Students need to be made aware of the routine and how to perform it. The routine should be modeled and repeated often, and then adhered to consistently. The more routine tasks and responsibilities students can do automatically without teacher input, the more efficient your classroom will be.

The most interesting thing that makes students motivated is taking photos and uploading them on facebook.