Concentration is a very important skill when studying. But today I want to talk about the importance of concentrating in class.
My definition of concentration would be focusing on the speaker (teacher or other students answering questions) and blocking out the rest of the noise. Concentrating involved hearing and understanding what the teacher is saying.
Now classes can be noisy places. You have people talking, students tapping, a class clown trying to distract you, coughs, sneezes and even noises outside.
But your mind can also make it easy for you to stop concentrating on the topic. You could start day dreaming about the holidays, the girl sitting next to you or a funny thing you saw on television.
Do you know how often you are distracted in class?
Tomorrow in class I want you to grab a small piece of scrap paper. Every time you notice yourself listening to someone else or day dreaming I want you to make a tally mark on the scrap paper. At the end of the lesson, count up how many marks. Now I am thinking you probably loose concentration more than that, but if it more than 10 times you have a problem and are probably missing very important information.
How do I pay attention in class?
Here are my top tips to paying attention in class.
- Intend to listen to the teacher. Go into class thinking that you are going to concentrate
- Use the tally mark trick I mentioned above
- Follow the speaker: Also look at the person speaking to you – teacher or student
- Answer questions – either aloud or in your head
Remember, if you concentrate more in class you will hear more information. If you hear more information and you understand it then you have less to study.
And wouldn’t you agree that less studying is a good thing.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m not going to bring the piece of paper into class (I think IT would be a big distraction in and of itself), but I am very confident that I do NOT get distracted often.
Unlike other kids whom are tempted to talk, I am shy, and do not want to break the rules, so I do not. Also, I find the lessons very interesting, so I my mind tends to stay on the topic.
However, I know that many people do get distracted quite often, and I think this will be good for them. I hope you’ll make a post in the next few days/weeks expanding on tips to stop getting distracted.
Hi Daniel,
Your request will be granted – I will write some more posts about the art of listening, and how not to be distracted.
Ainslie