Strategies for Attention and Listening
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- Before giving an instruction , perform an action to show the child that he needs to listen.
- Say child’s name before giving an instruction.
- Make sure the child is looking at you when you give an instruction.
- Break up complex instructions in smaller parts.
- Focus the child by giving key points to listen for.
- Reduce background noise/distractions including the potentially distracting behaviour of other children .
- Make sure tasks are intrinsically rewarding.
- Use simple physical, visual or verbal prompts to help a child focus on a task.
- Present information in a range of ways to use all modalities and cater for individual learning style.
- Check for listening by asking the child to repeat an instruction.
- Choose the child’s position in the class with care taking account of proximity to
teacher
board/equipment
peers - Negotiate and agree the length of an activity.
- Use some tangible measure to show an activity is finished eg a finished box.
- Use timer to gradually increase the length of time the child is expected to give to an activity.
- Use visual or verbal prompts to reinforce good listening.
- Ask the child to self monitor and check whether he has listened well.
- Use other children in the class to model good attention and listening behaviours.
- Before starting an activity, check or get the child to check that he has what he heeds for the activity.
- Keep classroom equipment in consistent places and well labelled.
- Teach good listening behaviours, such as sitting still, turn taking, not calling out.
