Catching the Attention

Week 3 provided Lexi and our first experience of teaching our new class. It was our goal to introduce vocabulary and kick off the new book. Each class was 2 hours long, meaning we had to keep the attention of students with intellectual disabilities, many lacking an attention span of more than 10 or 15 minute. The task seemed daunting, but a task I observed Elizabeth complete just a week prior.

           We declared Monday “Vocabulary Day” and set forth on the task of teaching our students 10 new vocabulary words. These words varied in difficultly, but all came from the text that would be introduced on Wednesday. The normal Monday morning routine took about 45 minutes, a great cut in our learning time. The planned vocabulary went well until about the 5^th word. Attention was gone. Energy had fleeted. Lexi and I decided to stop and does some quick vocabulary exercise. For each word, an exercise was created that pertained to the number of letters in the word. For example, “Buttermilk” has ten letters in it, so students completed ten jumping jacks. This provided both an opportunity to get students out of their chairs, while also providing another learning opportunity.

           Wednesday began the reading of “Popcorn Days and Buttermilk Nights”. The students had already read the first three chapters of the book prior to our arrival, but stopped due to difficulty of the text. Elizabeth believed the students were now ready. We began with a book walk and predictions. Students were asked to predict what they believed would occur in the text relying only the front cover. This assignment really showed the varying levels of the students - some students wrote one sentence and others wrote short vignettes.

           It is funny how connected students and teachers can become in less than two weeks. I truly believe that my students, all twelve, trust me. As I assisted one with the editing of her autobiography, she told me I could be one of her “best friends”. This trust is vital for the progression of the classroom. If teachers want students to work hard, they must in turn work hard to build that trusting relationship. A student will never want to disappoint someone who they knew truly cares about them.

           After this week, I continue to struggle with the best practice of holding student attention spans. How can I get the best work from them? Where should I place breaks in the lessons? What should students do during these breaks? With time, I believe these questions will be answered to some extent, but the challenges will always remain.