3 Simple Reasons Students Don’t Concentrate In Your Class

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For teachers, your job almost depends on the children in your class paying attention to your lessons. If they can’t concentrate, their grades will suffer and they don’t learn anything. Who gets the blame for this? Their teacher! 

It’s harsh, but that’s the way a lot of parents approach the school system. If a child isn’t doing very well, it’s automatically the teacher’s fault. When it comes to a child’s concentration levels, you can pin the problem on all sorts of factors. Usually, it’s one or all of these three things:

Too many distractions

Distractions can take a child’s attention away from a lesson and onto something else. They come in many forms, and a common classroom distraction is their friends. If children sit with all of their friends, there’s a tendency to chat and mess about. This is why lots of teachers opt for a randomised seating pattern, limiting these distractions. 

For online learning, your students obviously have loads of distractions around them. They’re in their home, so they’re distracted by toys, family members – or even things on the computer. Try to eliminate these distractions by talking to parents about creating a productive environment for homeschooling. 

Uncomfortable chairs

Yes, the chairs a child sits on will have a direct impact on their concentration. Think about it, how often do you see children fidgeting in their seats? If the answer is anything other than ‘never’ your pupils will find it hard to concentrate. They’re focused on getting comfortable – or, more accurately, how uncomfortable they currently are. This can easily be remedied with some new school furniture that’s designed to be comfortable. When a child is at ease, they’re more likely to concentrate on the lesson in front of them. 

Boring lessons

Sometimes, you have to hold your hands up and admit that you are at fault. Children don’t have very large attention spans, particularly when it comes to topics like science or maths. As interesting as these topics are, the content can be a bit confusing and boring for the children. Especially if all you do is read from a textbook and show some slides on a board. 

Instead, you have to find new ways to engage your students and make your lessons fun. While children do have short attention spans, you’ll be amazed at how hard they concentrate on things they like. For example, have you ever seen a kid watch a TV show or play a game? They’re in the zone for hours on end! As a teacher, it’s your job to bring more variety to the classroom and plan lessons that get kids involved and teach them in a more enjoyable way. 

The goal is to understand why children aren’t concentrating on your class. When you identify the reasons, you can work on fixing them. In some cases, only one of these things will cause a lack of concentration. In others, it will be a combination of the three. It’s up to you to find solutions, then look at your student’s progress to see if there are any improvements.