Ministry of Education, Guyana

"Stop talking." "You're interrupting." "Please, wait your turn." Repeating statements such as these can make even the most effective teacher sound like a broken-down record. Students who interrupt class and talk out of turn create distractions that impede the flow and effectiveness of even the best-prepared lessons. Steps can be taken to prevent excessive talking and to minimize the poor habits that may already be in place, including classroom arrangements and family involvement.

Many preschool teachers often struggle with maintaining the attention span of their pupils. By the time children reach preschool age, their attention spans are still relatively short. A 3-year-old, for example, may only be able to concentrate on a single task for three to eight minutes while a 4-year-old may concentrate for up to 15 minutes on a new and interesting activity. Although it may seem challenging, planning and preparation can help you to increase the attention span of your preschoolers.

The natural tendency of children to get distracted often affects the pace of classroom activities. To accomplish more, a teacher needs to get attention from the class. When dealing with an inattentive classroom, teachers tend to get stressed and end up talking louder in an attempt to grab attention. The strain this creates often proves draining. Building up a system that kids recognize and training them to follow it is vital to getting attention on demand. Visual and sound cues as well as a perceptible slowing down will achieve better results than shouting at students.