Inattention In The Classroom Case Study

Classroom teachers need to be aware of strategies and support methods to help children who display distraction and inattention in the classroom. The following will discuss how to support a student who is easily distracted, continuously commenting at inappropriate times and their current work efforts are diminishing throughout the year. It will also discuss further steps to consider if the strategies and support methods are unsuccessful in this case.

Inattention of students occurs for a number of reasons and these need to be worked through collaboratively between teacher and student to understand why the student is easily distracted and what can be done to manage the inattention (Thorne, Thomas & Lawson, 2005). This approach of working together

This is not only the physical environment, but also how lessons are planned, executed and how they flow and transition. Many students can become distracted with what is going on outside, certain posters or artworks near to where they sit, who they sit next to or near and also how the lessons are constructed (Grubaugh & Houston, 1990). A student who lacks focus and attention should be moved away from windows or corridor doors (Wright, 2006). In the case of this student, by keeping them from gazing outside of the classroom allows them to become self focused on the task at hand. Another simple solution would be to ensure the clutter of the classroom walls in direct sight of the student is limited. Grubaugh and Houston (1990) believe that this physical layout of the classroom and that of the teacher’s desk should be kept clean concise and uncluttered for the benefit of the students to not become overwhelmed during learning. Creating a positive learning environment with little to no distractions is beneficial for all students, however, certain physical tools can be of great benefit in keeping students on task and

Once such tool that can be used in several ways are sticky notes. Stormont (2008) explicates these sticky notes as a resource are effective as they are readily available in a classroom setting, inexpensive, simple to use and can be taken home if need be to further develop attention strategies. In the case with a student with inattention and constant verbal remarks, Stormont (2008) believes students could write down the verbal instructions so they can follow along with each process of the activity. This keeps the student focused on the task at hand and not questioning in their mind what they need to do next. Many students struggle with verbal instruction and also require visual cues to keep them on task and engaged (Montague & Warger, 1997). These visual cues act as a lesson or activity structure so their focus is not outside the current activity and sways them to acknowledge and enact on what is needed next (Wright,