Refocusing Attention: Tackling Student Distractions by Gaining Their Attention | Online Learning for Teachers pursuing Continuing Education and Professional Development | The Connecting Link

 

Refocusing Attention: Tackling Student Distractions by Gaining Their Attention

Graduate-Level Credit / Non-Credit Hours
3 Semester Credits or 45 Clock Hours

Course Description

Participants in this course will learn how to build academic success by exploring and developing tools for cultivating their students’ attention and designing active learning experiences for all learners. Participants will explore creative strategies for reaching students from distractions to regaining and focusing their attention for learning. Research is based on Caitrin Blake, Neil Bradbury and Jaren Cooney Horvath, among others. Foundational work in this course will include the research on understanding distraction, strategies to decrease distractions, bringing students' attention within the classroom, and the different types of attention: curious, divided, structured, sustaining, mindful. Participants will synthesize these paradigms and develop a new understanding of the role that attention can play in student learning along with new tools, strategies and techniques for cultivating students’ attention along with a state-of-the-art approach in learning to meet their educational goals.
 

Global Goals of the Course

The following global goals of the course exist to deepen and/or apply the content and skills of teachers’ existing professional knowledge:

  1. To examine current research in best practices to help students stay attentive in their learning (NBPTS 3,4)
  2. To develop an understanding of the need for effective teaching strategies to develop attentive and curious students in today’s classroom (NBPTS 1,3,4)
  3. To analyze current instructional practices to create engaging and attention-driven practices to better support student learning (NBPTS 1,3,4)
  4. To explore possible applications or modify the classroom in order to respond to students’ needs and problem-based solving teaching models in the classroom in order to respond to students’ needs (NBPTS 1,2,3,4)
  5. To explore research-proven methods of lesson plan development that leads to capturing the attention of students and keeping it a meaningful learning experience. (NBTS 1,2,3,4)
  6. To synthesize best practices of and with others regarding attentive, creative, curious, and relevant teaching research and classroom applications (NBPTS 2,5)


Reviews


By Linda Huemann
Reviewed 1 year ago
I loved the class. The conversation was engaging. I felt like the instructor valued my time and expertise as a teacher. The course work was not busy work, but was productive and useful.


By Brian Spark
Reviewed 2 months ago
The Connecting Link has been such a great resource for completing my lane change, I've been wanting to take more classes and finally found a course catalog with classes that truly interest me.


By Elizabeth Deckinga
Reviewed 1 year ago
Mary is a fabulous instructor who knows the real struggles teachers face.


By Marie Ortmann
Reviewed 2 months ago
Steve knows his students well and is very personable. I love the flow of his classes and always learn a lot from his classes.


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Ongoing Enrollment

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Interactive courses are delivered via Zoom at specific times with a live instructor.

10/21/24 - 11/17/24
Oct 21 - Nov 17, 2024
Zoom Meetings will be on Mondays (October 21, 28, November 04, 2024) and Tuesday (November 12, 2024) at 4:00pm Central Time.

01/06/25 - 02/02/25
Jan 06 - Feb 02, 2025
Zoom Meetings will be on Thursdays (January 09, 16, 23, 30, 2025) from 4:15pm - 5:45pm Central Time.