Keeping a Student’s Attention

Keeping a Student’s Attention

When reprimanding a student, there are several actions you can take to make sure the student keeps listening as you talk. First, sit down with the student, maintain continuous eye contact, and give the student and the issue your undivided attention. Second, don’t mix several issues, high and low priorities, or keep bringing up past misdeeds. Rather, focus only on the present issue. Third, as you counsel about misbehaviour, don’t add trivial points to a list of major problems. If you do, you’ll weaken your message. Fourth, never use worn out expressions such as “I’ve told you before” or “I know you’ve heard me say this before.” Such statements tell students not to listen to you because they’ve already heard what you are going to say.