How to Teach Young Students Remotely Without Losing their Attention, Part 1
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that remote teaching can be an effective and convenient method of instruction. But when it comes to teaching children, online learning can be difficult. As teachers, we have to compete with more distractions available to them at home, as compared to a classroom setting. At the same time, we are unable to engage them in tactile and kinesthetic learning, which is proven effective when teaching young kids.
So how do we improve our chances of keeping our students engaged, entertained and focused on their online classes?
Keep it positive and entertaining
Even hardworking students can feel tired or discouraged by boring lectures. Eventually, this will create an impression that learning, in itself, is boring, which is detrimental to the child for years to come. Provide content and learning activities that is creative and rewarding. Make sure to look for engaging and play-like ways to introduce and practice skills. Active participation, as compared to passive consumption, will also help them retain the leaning material more effectively.
Even when they have difficulty understanding a certain concept, if the experience is fun, they are more likely to stick to it, and can help teach them how to overcome challenges.
Provide the students with a sense of responsibility
Offering young students a choice of activity is a quick way of establishing a sense of independence and makes the student feel like they’re a partner in the learning process, and not just someone that sits on a chair to absorb everything given to them. By allowing them to choose an activity, like “shall we draw a picture or sing a song?” can give them invaluable practice in thinking ahead, making choices, and developing a sense of self.
With this, we are able to keep students engaged for longer and feel more invested about the outcomes of the learning process. It also allows you to understand your students’ personalities better, and, in turn, provide better-suited options for activities when planning your lessons.
There are a few more tips that we would like to share with you, so watch out for the Part 2 of this article.