Teaching Teens: HOw to Get Their Attention and Keep It!

1. Teaching Teens: HOw to Get Their Attention and Keep It! Brooke Steele, Jay High  School Steelecb@santarosa.k12.fl.us

2. Imagine • Imagine your high school classroom. Think what bothered you and what inspired you. Remember how bad you feel at faculty meetings or inservice-  • now, do it differently.

3. High schoolers want to know that we SEE them  and  HEAR them. They also have a desire to move and interact with one another solving problems. 

4. Day 1- Set the tone Meet them in hallway. Talk to them. Seating in class- card with matching card on desk (2 decks needed), numbers- just something that makes them move. 

5. Posters on wall Be a WINNER, not a WHINER We’ve got GRIT, we don’t quit

6. Bellwork • Always have something to do so you can talk to the others. These are just ideas. • Monday Memories  • Trivia Tuesday  • Wisdom Wednesday  • Thinking Thursday  • Fact Friday 

7. Class Meetings Once a week, you can have class meetings for about 10 minutes. This is a time to solve problems and go over the events of the week, set the tone, etc. After the first few weeks, students run these meetings. A sheet stays up all of the time to add to our “agenda”. If a problem comes up in class, we add it to our agenda.

8. Set up your room for success Make it feel like home to you. Make sure you have room to walk through students.  High schoolers like the “home feel”.

9. Focus Fridays I used Fridays to teach my students how to manage stress. So much of what we do in education can cause a great deal of stress in students and teachers. This 10-15 minutes teaches various strategies to handle stress. We may talk about test anxiety, yoga, anything that research shows can help. 

10. Discipline with High Schoolers • These strategies will keep this at bay, but in case:  • Don’t go head to head with them in front of students  • Go to desk and calmly ask them to talk  • If you have to write them up, follow up with them BEFORE next class- let them know you just want them to be successful and sometimes that means they are going to be in class learning and sometimes they are going to have to take a break and start again the next day”. 

11. Games while learning  • Stand up game: students get to sit as they share. This helps sleepy students, so use when necessary  • Brain Breaks  • Snowball Fight  • 6 Word Story  • Kahoot  • Move a LOT- debate. Those who agree, get on this side of the room.   • Timer on wall  • Fireplace when reading 

12. Stand up game • Think of your favorite color. • Write a 6 word story about your favorite color. It can only have 6 WORDS.  • You have 2 minutes. • Stand up Game • Snowball

13. Brain Breaks • Pen Flipping • Hand shake • Hands- left one up and down, right one side to side

14. Kahoot • Kahoot.it • Free • Quizzes on anythings • Kids use phones or laptops, can share as team

15. Music for themes as they walk in  • Lights off when computers are on sometimes  • Spooky reading Poe in the dark with flashlights (phones)  • Throw foam ball when answering questions  • When students are answering questions, make them “add to what the other student said”. This keeps them on their toes because they have to know what was said. 

16. Note taking during class- more senses used equals more retention of knowledge.  • We’re about to learn the definition of parabolas. Before we do, google 5 jobs that require you to know this. Write them on a piece of paper and the first one gets a prize.  • All kids aren’t going to like moving, so give some variety and options throughout as well. Use common sense to make sure you are doing some independent work as well.  • Athletes need to know how much of education is similar to sports: so much of test taking is MENTAL- just like hitting a baseball, when problems arise in a game, we have to make an adjustment. Athletes know that all practices aren’t “fun” but they push through with perseverance just like when studying for tests, reading, etc.  • Cherades from the board 

17. John Adams

18. World war two

19. division

20. Play dough

21. Competitions with other classes  • Surprise them with a treat of a visitor  • Be transparent, be real, laugh at yourself, laugh with students. Humble yourself and take risks- it's exactly what we want them to do so we must be willing to do it ourselves.  • Celebrate confusion: when you are confused, you are now open to finding solutions to the problem  • Grading: highlight one color means good and another color means bad. Then, students work to make corrections. Makes it more of a game. • Overachievers: need an area with a list of things they can do when "finished" so the goals isn't to just be done working.

22. Whole Brain Strategy: Chris Biffle As I teach, I use WHOLE BRAIN STRATEGIES by Chris Biffle to keep them engaged. The idea is to keep students ENGAGED at ALL times. This strategy will seem RAMBUNCTIOUS, but the idea is that with WHOLE BRAIN, we keep the rambunctiousness under control. Students are going to be rambunctious regardless, so we may as well get that energy out in a GOOD way.

23. Attention Getters  Class Class Give me 5 Alright sunflowers (anything crazy to get their attention)

24. Rules  • There are 6 Rules to Whole Brain, but you can choose as many as you want for your class. • We say them daily led by students  • Rules are different from PROCEDURES. With procedures, we prepare, prepare, prepare. Before hall assemblies, prepare. Before group work, prepare. Before group work, prepare. Practice often! 

25. Whole Group Instruction • Students can handle about 10 minutes of whole group instruction on a GOOD day. They may be looking at you, but they tune out after about 10 minutes.  • Change it up often- video clip, song, anything to keep them engaged.  • Move around while you are teaching.  • Desk switch 10 seconds- movement and new perspective for them. • Wear bright colors. • Use props that pertain to the lesson if possible.  

26. More Whole Brain Ideas • Scoreboard  • 10 FINGER WOO  • Mighty Groan  • 10 second party  • Turn and Teach  •         Train them to look at each other • Blow in your hand 

27. Thank you Brooke Steele, Jay High Email: Steelecb@santarosa.k12.fl.us