What strategies would be effective for teachers to use to help students with attention span issues?

Abstract

If we want to achieve that students master reading without distractions, then we expect students to
demonstrate focus during reading tasks to prove that they achieved it. We assume that students or some
students might have the following difficulties in order to master reading without distractions: such as
attention span issues students may have. Attention span issues such as ADHD, lack of motivation, boredom,
or other reasons that they may lack attention and think to solve these problems by implementing the
following design criteria of choice implementation and brain breaks in our research lesson.

Introduction

Reading is used everywhere and it is therefore one of the most important skills to possess. Thus, it does not
come as a surprise that no matter what school you go to, reading will always be a huge part of the
curriculum. In language classrooms often the teacher uses reading as a way of transferring the knowledge,
first using reading to learn the language and later on use the language to study the reading (Bloemert, J., E.
Jansen and W. van de Grift. 2016). However, long pages of texts can often be quite overwhelming,
especially to students who do not enjoy reading or have attention span issues such as ADD or ADHD. When
given a piece of text, students that struggle with attention span may require more time than their fellow
classmates for reading, but at the same time we do not wish for the other students to be kept behind. This
paper aims to find out strategies that could help students focus better on their reading and help students
with diagnosed attention span issues as well as those who simply do not enjoy reading or have a lack of
motivation towards the class.

Motivation

From our newly gained knowledge in ITESS (International Teacher Education in Secondary Schools), we
have started to explore new topics related to inclusion, differentiation, and labeling. We also especially
learned more about educational needs. For our topics, we are personally motivated in the topic, as some of
us have been personally dealing with the systems that simply did not provide any support to the students
and left them to deal with it on their own. This is not ideal. That being said, we additionally are intending
as future teachers to be aware of our own students' needs and provide them with the best learning
experience we could. This all motivated us to look more specifically into our initial research question “To
what extent can brain breaks and choices of texts affect student attention”. New articles are coming more
recently discussing the problems with students motivations and attention span in the classroom, some
articles claim that this might be a more recurrent problems than we think, and attention span is shorter in
than we thought, claiming to be only about 10 -15 minutes (EU Business School, 2022), needless to say,
most lessons are far longer than that, so the question naturally rise, how do we maintain the student
attention on our lessons? How can we implement effective strategies in our lesson plans and how we
work with school and staff members to deal with this issue. All of which we are eager to research,
reflecting on the already existing work and conduct our own research.

Objectives
Our aims with this paper are:
- Reflect on the existing research
- Reflect on the literature gap
- Conduct our own research
- Learn how to conduct research and reflect on it effectively
- Improve our skills on dealing with student’s educational needs in General
- Dive into our specific topic, students attention problems and learning how to deal with it in a
professional manner.
- Learn how we can corroborate and co-teach with our colleagues and fellow teachers to implement
correct methods against attention problems.

First Research Question(s)

We are starting with our initial, but general research question, how do we effectively deal with attention
problems in the classroom?
After doing some research, we like to branch into more specific topics, also make it more related to
students' educational needs. This includes:

- To what extent can brain breaks and choices of texts affect student attention?
- What are some diagnosed and not diagnosed behavior that may cause attention issues?
- What are the assumptions regarding students with attention issues?
- What is the teacher role in the classroom regarding the students’ individual attention needs?
Finally, we keep in mind the most important question, which should be the result of our paper:
What strategies would be effective for teachers to use to help students with attention span issues?
 Summary of theories and/or relevant previous research

There is a lot of research on attention issues in the classroom, however we focused on a few particular
issues. ADHD remains to be one of the most diagnosed learning need in children, this can show in the
classroom. But also we epxlored the different types of attention, such as sustained attention, selective
attention, controlled attention, divided attention and spatial attention.
Those issues can be dealt with using intervention and academic goals, which entails preventive and
intervention strategies.
- Become more familiar with attention issues in the classroom
- Pay special attention to students with educational needs
- Implement at least some strategies in out lesson plan (this increases a lot in our 2nd lesson plan)
- Collect and reflect on feedback
- Learn how to differentiate between different students, including diagnosed, undiagnosed, and other
attention issues.
- During our 2nd lesson, we aim to further boost our methods, test our newly gained knowledge in
the topic.
- Improving our 2nd lesson by implementing feedback
Literature review

Teachers handbook (Geerts & van Kralingen):

“Ryan & Deci's (2000) motivational theory assumes that motivation is autonomous. Autonomous
motivation means that students have the feeling they have chosen a given activity themselves. This
theory is also the foundation of Stevens' (2008) previously described basic needs, and is therefore
particularly suitable to illustrate the importance of good teaching. Ryan and Deci state that
motivation can be subdivided into different degrees of autonomous motivation (from less to more).
The most autonomous form of motivation is intrinsic motivation. This can positively influence the
learning process and performance of students. A student who is intrinsically motivated derives
pleasure from the activity itself rather than from the aim of accomplishing a specific goal.
Accomplishing the task is internally regulated and verified (Vansteenkiste, Sierens, Soenens &
Lens, 2007j Peetsma & Van der Veen, 2008). Students who are intrinsically motivated are better
able to plan their study activities, obtain better results and are less easily distracted. Additionally,
these students are less likely to drop out (Vansteenkiste, Soenens, Sierens & Lens, 200S). As a
result, it is important to appeal primarily to the students' autonomous motivation. The teacher plays
a key role here.” - pg 421
“What's the Catch?”: Providing Reading Choice in a High School Classroom Denise N.
Morgan,Christopher W. Wagner”
“Researchers have identified many academic and personal benefits when students are allowed to choose
their own reading materials, including more engagement with reading”.

The Effects of Choice on Reading Engagement and Comprehension for Second- and Third-Grade Students:
An Action Research Report by Julie P. Fraumeni-McBride https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1161358
(https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1161358.pdf

- Iyengar and Lepper (2000) revealed that people are more likely to make a choice when offered six
or fewer choices, rather than 24 or 30. [...] Although this study was conducted using college
students, similar results may be found among other age groups. This research supports the idea that
a reasonable number of choices improves the likelihood that participants associate enjoyment with
their decisions.
- Campbell and Donahue (1997), teachers reported student interest and choice to be factors in test
performance. Eighth and twelfth graders who were given a choice in reading more positively
perceived those readings.
Although these results showed that students did not score better on reading assessments (tests)
when given the opportunity to choose their books, the findings did show that student perceptions
of the assignments were more positive.
- Wiesendanger and Birlem (1984) revealed that, in nine of 11 research studies of elementary-aged
children, students’ positive attitude toward reading increased in schools whose curriculum included
Sustained Silent Reading (SSR).
- Chow and Chou (2000) found that providing choice in combination with SSR resulted in increased
reading comprehension outcomes.
- According to Krashen (as cited in Sanden, 2014), silent reading improves the skills needed for
comprehension.
- To measure focus, the researcher observed and coded students’ reading intensity (e.g., appearance
of distraction, looking away from the book, pausing randomly, sluggishness, slouching, or
appearance of engagement).
- Researcher observation of child’s focus during reading, 95% CI [0.24, 0.56] (figure 1)

Brain breaks: Help or hindrance?

https://research.avondale.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&context=teachcollection
 - Hannaford (1995) claims that “movement is essential for learning” and this claim is recognised by
educational theorists to incorporate them in the classroom to achieve optimal learning
- According to Norman (2003), giving breaks in lessons positively impacts reading comprehension
and the student’s vision, assuming the activity during the break is well-developed
- Ratey (2008) connects the positive connection between physical activity and to learning - Little
evidence to support that this is being incorporated in lessons other than PE
- According to teaching expertise (2004), kinesthetic activities increase oxygen in the bloodstream
which improves concentration. Brain breaks offer a chance for students to relax, recharge, and
refocus. Long periods of class time without breaks is unreasonable according to the same source.
- Jensen (2008) links short physical activities to increased dopamine production -> higher
attentiveness
- Ramsay & Rostain (2003) argued that students with attention issues benefit more from breaks than
mainstream students by offering a fair chance to learn.
- Spaulding, Mostert, & Beam (2010) see brain breaks with skepticism and that it should not be
universally accepted and advise rigorous trialing.
Limitations:
- Study was conducted for primary schools so it might not apply to teenagers
- The method was done for a maths class instead of an English one so the techniques might not work
elsewhere.

“Teachers’ and Students’ Opinions About Students’ Attention Problems During the Lesson”
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1232893.pdf
In a limited study called “Teachers’ and Students’ Opinions About Students’ Attention Problems During
the Lesson”, we take a look at this research which investigates teachers’ and students’ opinions about
students’ attention problems during the lesson. As a consequence of the study, it was found that professors
primarily saw the attention issues that students had during the course as a problem that sprang from the
students themselves, whereas the students did not.
In addition to themselves, other pupils, teachers, and the surroundings are associated with this issue. The
findings showed that both teachers and students readily identified the psychological traits, despite the
actions they took and their poor academic performance, the teachers view this as more of a discipline issue.
A total of 432 teachers and 1023 students voluntarily participated in the study, from the region of Adana.

Results
The students reported traits connected to other students and the professors in the class as crucial variables,
and they concurred with their teachers that their failure to complete their academic tasks negatively
influenced their attention. The complex structure of caution is influenced by factors in the physical,
emotional, social, psychological, and environmental spheres. Therefore, expecting the teachers to provide
a remedy for the attention issues that children in the classroom experience is not practical. However, given
that concentration issues are a widespread issue at all academic levels. Noise coming from other students
speaking was the most common problem.
These findings lead the authors to recommend that teachers use indications that pupils are paying attention
as a cue to alter the learning process.
• To lessen the cognitive load throughout the course, it is advised that teachers should pay close attention
to their jobs and scheduling plans when teaching and provide brief pauses.
• Teachers can be advised to remember that certain children may require greater assistance with self-
regulation, concentration, and attention maintenance owing to individual variations.
jel.ccsenet.org 8, No. 6; 2019; Journal of Education and Learning
• It may be proposed that teachers allot extra time for the proper teaching techniques (educational games,
puzzles, etc.) to avoid their pupils becoming bored and to stimulate their participation in the class.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347555599_Students'_attention_in_class_Patterns_perceptions_
of_cause_and_a_tool_for_measuring_classroom_quality_of_life
For this article, the results tends to agree with already established research about this topic, in which it
affirms that In answering this issue, it is important to note that the findings support the notion that attention
is not at its peak during the first ten minutes of a session and does not always decline throughout the course
of a class instead showing a wave-like pattern.though there is notable increased tuning-out and low attention
after the final five minutes.
Although flow views attention as a necessary condition, it really seems to be a result of how a person feels
about an activity (Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi, 2002). Contrarily, sustained attention is concerned with
how top-down and bottom-up attention interact. It is primarily concerned with a long list of environmental
factors, some of which can be controlled by the teacher, such as challenging (but not overly challenging)
tasks, and some of which cannot, such as nutrition and sleep.

http://www.ocerint.org/intcess15_e-publication/abstracts/a186.pdf
We explore the meaning of “student paying attention” and dive into a deep understanding of attention and
its importance. We talk about types of attention, such as sustained attention, selective attention, controlled
attention, divided attention and spatial attention. Each of these types is required in different situations,
depending on the types of tasks that teachers provide for students. Additionally, there are three components
that make up the attention system: alerting, orienting or choosing, and executive control. These components
are thought to be crucial in defining the nature of the connection between attention and comprehension.

https://education.wm.edu/centers/ttac/documents/packets/adhd.pdf
In a lot of our research, usually attention issues are addressed as students who are unable to follow lessons,
they do not understand the materials or simply uninterested, and therefore they do not pay attention.
However, with further research, we are also finding out that for example hyperactivity, the opposite of the
general view of students not paying attention because they are “lazy”, is also a cause of attention problems
in the classroom. According to article (Classroom Interventions for Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity
Disorder Considerations Packet, n.d.) ADHD remains to be one of the most diagnosed learning need in
children, this can show in the classroom by the students displaying the following:
● The student may appear to be in constant motion,
● Frequently fidget or move in his or her seat,
● Become restless during quiet activities,
● Leave his or her seat when expected to remain seated,
● Interrupt others and classroom activities,
● Talk excessively, and/or o fail to follow classroom procedures (e.g., blurt out answers without
raising hand).
This however, according to the article, can be dealt with using intervention and academic goals, which
entails preventive and intervention strategies. This is done by assessment of the students strength and needs,
as well as the environment around them.

Learning and Teaching between Enjoyment and Boredom as Realized by the Students: A Survey from the
Educational Field.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ibrahim-Al-
Shara/publication/280579886_LEARNING_AND_TEACHING_BETWEEN_ENJOYMENT_AND_BO
REDOM_AS_REALIZED_BY_THE_STUDENTS_A_SURVEY_FROM_THE_EDUCATIONAL_FIEL
D/links/55ce4ef408ae502646a90f51/LEARNING-AND-TEACHING-BETWEEN-ENJOYMENT-AND-
BOREDOM-AS-REALIZED-BY-THE-STUDENTS-A-SURVEY-FROM-THE-EDUCATIONAL-
FIELD.pdf
Study done on 637 students
Found that “the implementation of learning resources” is the most important aspect to engage the students
The least important aspect is “the teacher’s teaching style”
These things were more influential to female students
Encourage students who are low achieving to engage is crucial for learning enjoyment
According to Quina (1989), when students and teachers work well together when they laugh with each
other. Kind of like a student teacher bond.
Witt, Wheeless, and Allen (2004) said that if teachers enjoy what they teach, they will become enthusiastic.
This then allows students to grasp that enthusiasm and increase their enjoyment.
Add instructional aids to help higher achieving students to engage with the materials as this would connect
the new materials with the old ones.
The main takeaway is that the bond between teacher and student has a huge influence on engagement. This
means that teachers should design activities that are attractive to students (a game for example).
The atmosphere should embrace freedom, happiness, and pleasure or in other words, a positive learning
environment.

Limitations:
Small sample size to really get the full picture.
Quite a lot of extra variables to look out for (gender, ability, year group) as well as the main focus (teaching
style, implementation of learning resources, student role in class, asking questions, school system.)

Design Criteria

For our initial/first lesson, we mainly opted to use the literature review and, admintenly, our own intuitive
feelings as teacher. We decided to go for the integrated learning approach combining history and english,
as we ourselves are a mixed subject group.
Lesson plan is largely created with the collaborative work of the group, and taught by Mitchell.
We assigned different roles to students with different attention issues, this is to help us better understand
what we need to do. Referring back to our feedback (check appendix) there has been a lot of room for
improvement in our first attempt, nonetheless, we achieved a great part of our initial lesson goals:
- Become more familiar with attention issues in the classroom
- Pay special attention to students with educational needs
- Implement at least some strategies in out lesson plan (this increases a lot in our 2nd lesson plan)
- Collect and reflect on feedback
- Learn how to differentiate between different students, including diagnosed, undiagnosed, and other
attention issues.
- During our 2nd lesson, we aim to further boost our methods, test our newly gained knowledge in
the topic.
- Improving our 2nd lesson by implementing feedback
 Initial lesson plan
Books related to the Industrial Revolution is the topic of the lesson, students will be given three books to
choose from for their reading. This is helpful as Fraumeni-Mcbride (2017) indicated the motivational
benefits of positivity when reading the books.
Our first attempt of teaching a lesson that applies the research we have done, was not a big success as it
lacked preparations.
We started with a quick greeting followed by our first activity, asking the students what they already know
about the industrial revolution in a think-pair-share type of activity. Students need to think for themselves
for a minute what comes to their mind when thinking back to their history classes, after which they will
pair up with one or two other students to create a mind-map on which they can write down their ideas and
thoughts that came to their minds. Walk across the room to ensure everyone is contributing to the activity.
When students are done, they can share some of the ideas they have written down, such as: child labor,
inventions, England, and deaths.
Once the students’ minds have been activated by their prior knowledge, introduce the literature students
will be able to choose from. Two clips have been provided in the presentation, one on Oliver Twist and one
on Hard Times, the two books students will be able to pick from. Start by watching the clip from Oliver
Twist, once the clip is over ask the students if they can describe what a horse is, this is our quick energiser
that feels different from the rest of the lesson, but it is also a part of the clip we have chosen to show for
Hard Times, which we watch after the ‘what is a horse?’ discussion. After having watched both clips,
students are asked to choose from one of the books, and read the part from the clip. If students want to
change after reading the scene, they still are allowed to change if they wish to, so be sure to ask the students
if they are satisfied with their choice. If there is still time left, students can read the book of their choosing,
and will be asked to finish chapters one and two as homework. Throwing brain breaks in between tasks
helps students’ reading comprehension as shown by Westlake (2015).
See table 1

Time in Lesson plan Expected student Materials

minutes behaviour

1 Welcome
Welcome all students to class and ask how they are Students sit down -
doing. and greet the
teacher followed
by a little chit-
 chat.

5 Activity one
Ask students to think of the Industrial Revolution for a Students think -
minute, after that pair them up to work on a mind-map and pair up and
about the Industrial revolution. draw a mind-
Walk around class during the activity to ensure everyone map, some
is working on their mind-map. students may
At the end of the activity ask some students to share what make drawings
they have written down. instead of writing
but that is okay if
it is still related
to the topic.

4 Clip 1
On the screen, start the clip of Oliver Twist that has been Students watch Link to
chosen for this lesson. the clip, some Oliver Twist
video:
students may be https://www.
disinterested at youtube.com
first but this clip /watch?v=7t
may motivate OkpntQtBM
them to start &t=147s
paying attention.

2 Activity 2 -
As a short and quick break from the videos, ask the Students start
students the following question: What is a horse? making
Students will likely answer with “animal with 4 legs that descriptions as
you can ride” but there are other animals that can fit that accurate as
description. After this start clip 2. possible and
others may
contradict them
by calling out
other animals or
things that fit the
descriptions.

2 Clip 2 Link to Hard

Start the second clip, the video of Hard Times, in which a Students watch Times video:
https://www.
boy describes accurately what a horse is. the clip, students youtube.com
may be interested /watch?v=Lf
to hear the book’s Dmr7hmmO
description of I
what a horse is.

See appendix
1 Choose for PDF
Students are allowed to choose one of the two books for Students choose versions of
reading. Ask them to raise their hand if they want to read their book, if a the books.
Oliver Twist or Hard Times. They will be send both student does not
 books in PDF versions by email. raise their hand
ask them which
book between
these they think
they could enjoy
the most. See appendix
for PDF
5 Read versions of
Ask the students to read a couple of pages from the book, Students read a the books.
preferably the ones that cover the scene students just few pages from
watched. their chosen
Oliver twist: pages 20-21 book. -
Hard Times: pages 3-4

2 Confirm
Ask students if they are happy with the book they have Students may be
chosen or if they would like to change. satisfied with
their chosen book
or would like to See appendix
change. for PDF
versions of
10 Read the books.
Let students read their chosen book, they are allowed to Students read
read the way they like, for example by listening to music their prefered -
in the meantime, as long as it does not disturb other way.
students. If students wish to read together in groups that
is also allowed.
3 discuss -
Discuss the books with the students, let them share their Students share
thoughts. their thoughts.

5 Homework
Ask the students to finish the 2nd chapter at home, they Students note
should have finished chapter one at school. down the
This time can also be used as additional time if needed. homework and
may ask
questions related
to the class
Table 1

What is the lesson plan?

What went well? (reference to feedback forms)
What didn’t go well? How have we improved that? (reference to feedback forms)
Lesson plan motivation:
During our initial lesson, we discovered the different causes of attention issues, with this, we also were able
to build 3 different characters with different range of attention span issues. Namely, Student who is bored,
students who is very achieving and student with ADHD. this initial lesson was motivated the theory of
‘Thinking about the need of students in a differentiated classroom’ (Tomlinson, 2017) which also inspired
the roles we picked. In this theory we learn about about attention problems role and we try to cater for
advanced learners, see the paragraph ‘Thinking about and addressing the needs of advanced learner’ and of
course in contract, we think about the ‘struggling learner’.
We are inspired again by the work of (Tomlinson, 2017) in the chapter ‘Strategies for managing
differentiated classrooms’ in which we try to implement activities, videos and testing out a concept so called
“Brain breaks”, the results of this concepts to be determined in the feedback.

Second Lesson plan

For our second attempt at teaching our research lesson, we have made some adjustments. The class starts
with a general greeting and asking students how they are feeling. We started the lesson materials by going
over the plans for the lesson with the students, so they are aware of what to expect from today’s class. As
the first activity we introduce the topic of industrial revolution, by asking the students what they already
know about it in a think-pair-share type of activity. Students need to think for themselves for a minute what
comes to their mind when thinking back to their history classes, after which they will pair up with one or
two other students to create a mind-map on which they can write down their ideas and thoughts that came
to their minds. Walk across the room to ensure everyone is contributing to the activity. When students are
done, they can share some of the ideas they have written down, such as: child labor, inventions, England,
and deaths. The teacher needs to take special attention to allot some time for students to take a break and
keep the attention span back (Al’Omairi, 2015). This should be done when the teacher sees a lack of
engagement in the materials.
Once the students’ minds have been activated by their prior knowledge, introduce the literature students
will be able to choose from. Three clips have been provided in the presentation, one on Oliver Twist, one
on Hard Times, and one on Lyddie. All three clips are about 2 minutes long. After watching these three
clips, students will have an impression of the three books, after which they can choose one of them to read.
Students can read 3 pages of the book they chose to see if the book is of interest to them. After reading,
students will be asked to stand up and move to the left side of the class if they liked the book, or the right
side if they do not like the book. Students are allowed to switch books if they do not like their current book,
and they will be given some time again for reading. The ones who did like their book, can simply continue
reading. After a couple of pages, students are once again given a small break, as they will be asked to act
out a scene from the book in small groups. The big groups preferably consists of smaller groups, some
students who read Oliver Twist, some who read Hard Times, and some students who read Lyddie. If there
is still time left during the lesson, allow students to read the book of their liking. Students are expected to
read the first chapter of their book for the next lesson.
See table 2

Time in Lesson plan Expected student Materials

minutes behavior

1 Welcome
Welcome all students to class and ask how they are Students sit down -
doing. and greet the
teacher followed
by a little chit-
chat.
1 Plans
Go over the lesson plans for today’s lesson: Students listen to Start using
- Industrial revolution the plans and the
- Movie clips manage their powerpoint.
- Choose a book expectations PPT slide 2
- Read
- Act out

5 Activity one
Ask students to think of the Industrial Revolution for a Students think -
minute, after that pair them up to work on a mind-map and pair up and
about the Industrial revolution. draw a mind-
Walk around class during the activity to ensure everyone map, some
is working on their mind-map. students may
At the end of the activity ask some students to share what make drawings
they have written down. instead of writing
but that is okay if
it is still related
to the topic.

5 Clip 1
Explain to the students they will have three books to Students watch Link to
choose from and you will now show them three movie the clip, some Oliver Twist
video:
clips of the books. They will get to choose which book students may be https://www.
they would like to read disinterested at youtube.com
On the screen, start the clip of Oliver Twist that has been first but this clip /watch?v=7t
chosen for this lesson. may motivate OkpntQtBM
them to start &t=147s
paying attention.

2 Clip 2 Link to Hard

 Start the second clip, the video of Hard Times, in which a Students watch Times video:
boy describes accurately what a horse is. the clip, students https://www.
may be interested youtube.com
to hear the book’s /watch?v=Lf
Dmr7hmmO
description of I
what a horse is.

Link to
Lyddie
2 Clip 3 Students watch video:
Play the clip of the movie adaptation from Lyddie, the clip of Lyddie https://www.
starting at 3:20 to 4:50 where a bear youtube.com
entered their /watch?v=nq
home. 6cEKmRD7
Y

See appendix
for PDF
2 Choose Students choose versions of
Students are allowed to choose one of the three books for their book, if a the books.
reading. Ask them to raise their hand if they want to read student does not
Oliver Twist or Hard Times. They will be sent the three raise their hand
books in PDF versions by email. ask them which
book between
these three they
think they would
enjoy the most. See appendix
for PDF
versions of
5 Read Students read a the books.
Ask the students to read a couple of pages from the book, few pages from
preferably the ones that cover the scene students just their chosen
watched. book.
Oliver twist: pages 20-21 -
Hard Times: pages 3-4
Lyddie: pages 1-2

5 Confirm Students may be

Ask students if they are happy with the book they have satisfied with
chosen or if they would like to change. Have all students their chosen book
stand up and move to the left side of the class if they are or would like to
happy with the book they chose, and to the right side of change. Students
class if they are not happy with the book. Ask students to share why they
elaborate on why they do or do not like the book. Allow do or do not like See appendix
students to change books. their book. for PDF
versions of
the books.
Read Students read
10 Let students read their chosen book, they are allowed to their prefered
read the way they like, for example by listening to music way.
 in the meantime, as long as it does not disturb other -
students. If students wish to read together in groups that
is also allowed.

Act out Students share

10 Divide the class into groups, 2 or three students per book their thoughts. -
in a group. Students act out the scene from the clips
using the book they are reading.

Homework Students note

5 Ask the students to finish the 2nd chapter at home, they down homework
should have finished chapter one at school. and ask questions
This time can also be used as additional time if needed. related to class.
Table 2

Lesson plan 2 motivation:

During this lesson plan, we have created a few adjustments. While our fist lesson plan was built on the
theory (our Literature review and ITESS courses). Our 2nd lesson plan still has the main structure of the
1st lesson plan, but now making use of feedback from the students, and interviews with experts.
Example of simple but new improvement is adding a simple slide with a learning objective in the
beginning of the lesson. This, according to feedback, was missing, and helped students to prepare for
what is coming and draw their attention. Our brain break was also adjusted, and a more active approach
was adopted by adding role-play activity. The initial lesson has suffered somewhat from some ‘boring’
aspects, which we tried to deal with further also in our presentation (reference to our PowerPoints).

Research Question(s)

After the research review and the design of our lesson, we decided to focus on the choice more than brain
breaks (but not completely removing them) in our lessons. This helped us find a more concrete and narrow
research question: What strategies would be effective for teachers to use to help students with attention
span issues, and how to use brain breaks effectively?

Participants and Context

The context in which we tested our Lesson Study is a mock lesson in ITESS, in which our fellow student
teachers played the role of actual students. The three case students we selected in each lesson were
assigned the following roles: student with ADHD, bored student, engaged student. In some cases we
chose people who normally behave like their assigned role, whereas in other cases we challenged our
peers by giving them a role that did not reflect them at all.
 Methods of Data Collection
For our literature review, we individually take a look at the established wisdom in the field. Each member
provides multiple sources in relation to the subquestions, and our general research question. We summarize
our findings and share it with each other, in both written format and in a shared document. After sharing
information, we analyze it carefully and look into the limitations and the gap in the literature. With this in
mind, and after reviewing the pool of exciting knowledge, we build on our 3 student characters, with as
much details as possible with the provided information that we found. Each character is assigned a ‘label’
that is of interest to our paper and will be analyzed further during our lesson study. Using the Design Based
Education (DBE) approach, we started with finding information (online, and from school lessons) then we
formulated our questions. After that we had regular meetings in the classroom and private meetings online
to reflect, share our insights and create ideas. This helped us to have a full vision on our future collective
portfolio.

Regarding lesson plans, we decided to go for the Industrial revolution. This topic was supported by our
previous theory (check Lesson Plan Motivation file) and was largely made with the support and expertise
on Mika. Although we keep in mind that to focus is not on the lesson contents, but rather the approach in
which we test our new acquired knowledge of inclusive education. To achieve the desired learning
environment, we focused on the verbal and non verbal cues, using the correct language, using correct
teaching methods that makes the lesson as digestible as possible for all types of students. We are not experts
yet on inclusive education, and we are bound to make mistakes, this is why we are keeping a special section
in the portfolio for the reflection, which will be a collaborative effort of the whole team.

We also interviewed Mitchell’s mentor teacher from his last teaching practice, one of Vincent’s friends
(Park, 2022), who has been diagnosed with ADHD, and we asked our ITESS peers to fill out a survey.
The way this student with ADHD learns well is through auditory support when reading the text and he
recommended Kurzweil. Choices and visuals help too, but not to the same extent. Allowing students to use
different media works well for him, while brain breaks do not really help because he already does it when
he should be reading the text. He mentioned that teachers should be understanding to these students and
went to talk about deadlines and assignments.

Research Design

During our research, we created surveys for students and experts, as well as the 3 case students we
assigned for the role play. The questions include:
Interview questions for all students:
- Do you have any attention span issues?
- Do you have attention issues during all the lessons/subjects?
- Do you have attention issues during the entire school day?
- If not, when do they occur?
- What do you think could help you focus in class?

Interview questions for our three observed students:

- What are your thoughts on the lesson?
- What helped you more, brain breaks or choices?
- What do you think of the amount of options given?
- Which one is more useful?
- What are some pros and cons you can think of for choice/brain breaks?
- Is there anything you would like to add?

Questions for mentor teacher:

- How can you tell students are losing focus?
- How do you differentiate your lessons, knowing there are students with attention span issues, which
may or may not have been diagnosed?
- What strategies do you use for students who have difficulty focussing?
- Do you have support from the school to deal with students attention issues
- How do you adapt your lessons to cater for these students?

It is clear that we only have a limited number of participants, so this is not totally a quantitative research,
although we tried to collect as much information as we could. This was supported with a survey that can
be found in the appendix. In order, however, to improve the quality of our research and collected data, we
have interviewed expert teachers who dealt with the topic and students who personally suffered from the
issue; this way we could focus and refine our feedback, and optimize our lessons as much as possible.

Methods of Data Analysis

The results of our survey show that students, regardless of whether or not they have a diagnosed learning
disability, experience attention span issues especially towards the end of the school day, when receiving
long direct instructions or working on a passive task. 100% of the respondents agreed that being given a
choice significantly increases their motivation and therefore their ability to stay focused on the task and that
the amount of choices provided should depend on the type of task. However, some mentioned that being
given too many choices can be overwhelming. What surprised us is that after the first lesson, only 60% of
the respondents found brain breaks helpful and someone even said that “once the attention is gone, it’s gone
and there is no way to refill during the lesson”. We did not give up, however, and improved our lesson
based on the feedback received, as we believed that, if done properly, brain breaks, energisers and choices
could indeed restore attention. After our second lesson, we came to the conclusion that providing more than
two options to choose from, in terms of books and ways to carry out the same assignment, increases
students’ motivation and, consequently, their academic achievement. Unfortunately, we cannot consider
the survey for this second lesson to be reliable, as only two out of ten students replied to it, despite our
explicit statement that class would be dismissed for them only after taking the survey. That is why we can
only consider the feedback from our observed students and our own observations.

Conclusion
To summarize everything that has been said, to increase attention span in the classroom teachers have a
wide variety of strategies they could use, giving students between three and six options increases motivation
as discussed not only by Ryan & Deci's (2000) motivational theory and by Iyengar and Lepper (2000), but
also by our research lesson in which two books were too few and three was a good amount, which was
confirmed by 100% of our participants who filled out our survey. In addition to this strategy, brain breaks
were helpful in resetting students’ attention span. 60% of our participants felt that the brain breaks were a
helpful tool, whereas one student felt that when the attention is gone, it will not come back. Despite this,
we still consider this a valid strategy, as it still helped the majority of our case students, and as Norman
(2003) and Hannaford (1995) find it essential for learning, especially when it comes to reading
comprehension, which was the main focus of our research lesson. Comparing our research to our lesson,
we have come to the conclusion that our research is in line with what we discovered while teaching the
lesson. Focussing on key characteristics of students who may be hyperactive, or be quite the opposite and
appear bored all lesson long, we were able to determine when a student was losing focus and support this
student with our found research. Giving students several choices and brain breaks involving movement are
essential to keeping students’ focus and help students who may struggle with attention span.

Discussion
Our research covered only two strategies, given choice and brain breaks. However, there could be more,
some of which may be more helpful when having to teach certain students. Students with adhd may still
struggle a lot with reading for example despite being interested in the book and having intrinsic motivation.
Each student is different and that is why it may be difficult to find a strategy that suits all students or even
a specific one. During our research lesson one student felt that once their attention is gone, it simply does
not come back, so how do we handle situations like those in the classroom?

References

Allison, N. (2020). Students' attention in class: Patterns, perceptions of cause and a tool for
measuring classroom quality of life. Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic
Practice, 58-71.

Al'Omairi, T., & Al Balushi, H. (2015). The Influence of Paying Attention in Classroom on
Students' Academic Achievement in terms of their Comprehension and Recall Ability.
Proceedings of INTCESS15, 684-693.

Al-Shara, I. (2015). Learning and Teaching between Enjoyment and Boredom as Realized by the
Students: A Survey from the Educational Field. European Scientific Journal, 146-168.

Bloemert, J., E. Jansen and W. van de Grift. (2016). Exploring EFL literature approaches in
Dutch secondary education. Language, Culture, and Curriculum 29(2), 169–188

Cicekei, M. A., & Sadik, F. (2019). Teachers' and Students' Opinion About Students' Attention
Problems During the Lesson. Journal of Education and Learning, 15-30.

EU Business School. (2022, May 16). The Truth about Decreasing Attention Spans in University
Students. Blog | EU Business School. Retrieved October 4, 2022, from
https://www.euruni.edu/blog/the-truth-about-decreasing-attention-spans-in-university-
students/

Flynn, M. (2022, September 28). Interview with an Expert about Attention Problems. (M. Bitar,
Interviewer)

Fraumeni-McBride, J. P. (2017). The Effects of Choice on Reading Engagement and

Comprehension for Second-and Third-Grade Students: An Action Research Report.
Journal of Montessori Research, 19-38.

Geerts, W., & van Kralingen, R. (2018). The Teachers' Handbook: Secondary and Vocational
Education. Bussum: Uitgeverij Coutinho.
Morgan, D. N., & Wagner, C. W. (2013). "What's the Catch?": Providing Reading Choice in a
High School Classroom. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 659-667.

Park, M. (2022, September 16). What can Teachers do to Help Students with ADHD Focus in
Class. (V. Wichink Kruit, Interviewer)

Tomlinson, C. A. (2017). How to differentiate instruction in academically diverse classrooms

(3rd ed.). ASCD.

Weslake, A., & Christian, B. J. (2015). Brain Breaks: Help or Hinderance. TEACH
COLLECTION of Christian Education, 38-46.

William & Mary School of Education Training and Technical Assistance Center. Classroom
Interventions for Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder Considerations Packet. (n.d.).
Education.wm.edu. https://education.wm.edu/centers/ttac/documents/packets/adhd.pdf
Appendix A Survey

Survey https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ud3FIyCdDnnRg4fq3sVU9i-HhjqaISZr/view?usp=sharing

Interview questions for all students:

- Do you have any attention span issues?
- Do you have attention issues during all the lessons/subjects?
- Do you have attention issues during the entire school day?
- If not, when do they occur?
- What do you think could help you focus in class?

Interview questions for our three observed students:

- What are your thoughts on the lesson?
- What helped you more, brain breaks or choices?
- What do you think of the amount of options given?
- Which one is more useful?
- What are some pros and cons you can think of for choice/brain breaks?
- Is there anything you would like to add?

Questions for mentor teacher:

- How can you tell students are losing focus?
- How do you differentiate your lessons, knowing there are students with attention span issues, which
may or may not have been diagnosed?
- What strategies do you use for students who have difficulty focussing?
- Do you have support from the school to deal with students attention issues
- How do you adapt your lessons to cater for these students?
Appendix B Interview responses from observed students

Interview responses from observed students

Student A
What are your thoughts on the lesson?
I think the lesson needs more preparation and organisation, and to have a clear end goal and aim of the
lesson. Why do students need to do this? Have expectations at the start of the lesson, students that struggle
with attention lose interest when they don't know why they are doing something. Showing a video and then
having students read the chapter needs a purpose, students are taking in the same information twice so they
need to know what the differences are and why they are reading. Add purpose.

What helped you more, brain breaks or choices?

Choices work but give guidelines, energizers work every now and then but keep them connected to the
topic so it stays one whole.

What do you think of the amount of options given?

I think it's good to have the students choose their book, but maybe students are not sure what choice they
should make as not all students like literature.

Which one is more useful?

Not sure what you mean.

What are some pros and cons you can think of for choice/brain breaks?
Choice is nice but needs guidelines and a clear aim, a rubric or expectations for the end goal. Energizers
can work but don't force it on students and keep them connected to the lesson, short and quick, keep high
energy yourself too.

Is there anything you would like to add?

That's about it, I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys change
Student B:

What are your thoughts on the lesson?

I really liked the lesson! A good mix between active and not-so-active activities. Like brainstorming,
watching a video, Think pair share, mind - map, and reading! Good job!

What helped you more, brain breaks or choices?

What do you think of the amount of options given?

Maybe Good. Maybe 3 options would be ideal.

Which one is more useful?

Oliver Twist (better for that age group and I also hate Hard Times haha ).

Is there anything you would like to add?

No, all good. Nice lesson!

Student C

What are your thoughts on the lesson?

I liked the content of the lesson. The idea of combining both history and English was interesting,
however, some questions were a bit farfetched (e.g. what is a horse)
The movie scenes were also a good idea.

What helped you more: brain breaks or choices?

Choices. Brain breaks made me want to do something else.

What do you think of the amount of options given?

There weren’t many official options to choose from, but the teacher added them accordingly.

Which one is more useful?

The added ones. For example, because I was the only one to read one book, and the teacher
suggested to be my partner.
What are some pros and cons you can think of for choice/brain breaks?
Might give students some more time to think while keeping them busy. Or lighten the mood. But I
also think it is a bit forced sometimes and can be avoided because it would kill the working
environment.
Appendix C Observations
Observations

Our three types of students traits:

- No attention issues: engages with the task, frequently asks questions and takes notes on the text.
- Diagnosed ADHD or ADD (hyperactive, do not sit still, fidgeting, difficulty keeping organised).
Tries to occasionally focus but drifts off often. When told to focus again, do so but for a short time.
- Bored or with no motivation (you rather play video games at home than be in class especially as
this subject is not your favorite subject. Lean back, relax, play with a pen, enjoy yourself to the
fullest, which is not a lot, but you try.) Ask to use the computer and play games instead of engaging
with the task.

We focused on how often the students displayed “distracted” behaviour such as looking away from the
book, slouching, pausing for long periods, fidgeting, etc. These are basic indicators of not engaging with
the materials. We also checked for changes in expressions when presenting options and during tasks.
Observation notes

Student with ADHD :

The student was the first to ask a question, he is easily distracted. When given an assignment to write
thoughts on the industrial revolution, the student chooses to draw instead of writing. Perhaps that is a more
engaging way to interact with the materials. The student continues to be somewhat hyperactive, one of the
things people with ADHD might do. A continuous leg movement might indicate the need for physical
activity. The group is given a task to research some information online about the industrial revolution,
Student was able to find quite some good and important information, however, when asked to communicate
the findings to the teacher, Student hands out the information to the student (our engaged student). While
watching a small movie with the class, Student instead chooses to read about the industrial revolution on
his laptop. Later however, the movie (which was comedic and dramatic) was able to engage him. After
about 5 minutes, Student starts looking at his laptop. The film extract was only about 7 minutes long. During
our little planned ‘Brain Break’ we were able to capture Joachim's attention again, over the question of
“what is a horse”, this turned to a small humor discussion, Student laughed at it. This caused a bit of
disruption in the class, but nothing too bad. During the 2nd round of another video, Student immediately
starts scrolling again on his laptop (reflection: the videos were shown with no instructions beforehand).
Student often engaged with the inactive student, and disrupted the engaged student's learning time. At the
end of the lesson, the teacher verbally assigns homework, a bunch of students said “ok”, but whether they
will remember it, or if they can find it written down somewhere is unknown.

Bored student :
Student avoids eye-contact with the teacher and folds a piece of paper to get away from doing the exercise;
looks a bit lost. The teacher uses the excuse that she already has a piece of paper in her hands to bring her
back on task and leave her “no escape”; however, she still does not participate much and looks disappointed
whenever the teacher uses positive reinforcement. Then she starts writing something on another piece of
paper, but she quickly stops and takes her tea. The teacher asks her if she is able to read what her teammates
are writing on the mindmap, and she nods, then adds a word. She soon starts observing her classmates from
the other group and then playing with the empty tea cup. After a short pause of doing nothing, she takes out
her phone and loses all focus from the lesson. When the teacher asks her if everyone can see the screen, she
replies “yes” and goes back on her phone. The teacher quickly notices this and walks next to her, telling
her to put it away. She does, then she takes her tea and starts watching the movie, a bit distracted at first,
but then engages soon enough. After a while she opens her backpack looking for something, but does not
take anything; then she takes a sip of her tea and leans her head on the desk, then checks the time on her
phone and starts cleaning her nails, without paying any attention to the movie whatsoever. Once the movie
extract is over, the teacher starts talking again but she focuses on her computer instead; even when the
teacher asks a silly question like “what is a horse?” she only raises her eyebrows, but does not provide an
answer. She looks for cow images on the computer and the teacher notices, so he tells her “maybe next
class we can discuss cows” and asks her to take part in the conversation. He addresses other students, while
she takes her tea cup again, but when the teacher asks “So, is a horse a donkey?” she repeats the question,
confused. Her teammate says something in response to the teacher’s statement about horses being the only
animal to enter the olympics and she laughs, then plays again with her tea cup. When the second movie
extract starts, she engages immediately and keeps her eyes on the screen for about a minute, then looks
around and then focuses back on the movie. Subsequently, the teacher asks the class who would like to read
Hard Times and who would like to read Oliver Twist, giving them a choice. However, she is the only one
who does not raise her hand for either book, so the teacher asks her what book about the industrial revolution
she would like to read, even if it’s none of the two books. She says she does not like to read in general and
she does not want to choose any, but then the teacher tells the class to read the extracts of the two books he
sent them via email and she asks “why are we reading this?” and he replies something like “because reading
is important”. She does not look enthusiastic about the answer and does not read the extracts at first, but
only looks around. Then she starts looking at her computer screen, it seems like she's reading, but after only
10 seconds she starts looking around again and cleaning her nails, never looking back at the screen. Then
she starts distracting her teammate and therefore now they are both doing something else –drawing horses.
The teacher goes to their desk and first jokes about their drawing, then asks them how they're doing on the
reading and she complains it’s the same as the video. Then she takes out her phone and pays no attention
to what the teacher is saying (assigning homework). Class dismissed, she yawns and stretches.

Engaged student:
The student maintains eye contact with the teacher. Eager and wanting to share right away. Encouraging
others in the mind mapping activity. Keeping eyes on the paper or the teacher the whole time - shows
engagement. Spitballs ideas, engages in discussion with other students. While she was engaged, she had
somewhat of a bored expression when they were done. Instantly wanted to share her answers - wanting to
continue answering the questions. Knows about Oliver Twist, willing to share with the class. Kept her eyes
on the screen. When the ad came up after the video, she didn’t care whereas others did. Curious about where
the “what is a horse” question is going to go. Brain break sparked her curiosity on the subject. She broke
character at one point about the comment where horses are the only animal to enter the Olympics. Eyes
stayed on the screen during the horse video. Repeated nodding at the comments from the teacher. Raised
hand immediately for Oliver Twist. Read the text without complaint. Finished reading the text before
everyone else. Closed laptop when class wrapped up.

General reflection

We decided to choose a small group of 3 students sitting next to each other. The students know their own
roles, but they do not know each other's roles. It would be an interesting observation to have for example
the diagnosed student sitting next to the student who is trying to be as engaged as possible. How do they
affect each other and does seating arrangement play a role?

- Videos were shown without any prior instructions, so students didn’t pay attention.
- When students were asked to read the articles, the aim or the assessment was not given for these
articles.
- The lesson plan had a clear topic, but learning objectives were lacking, so students did not know
what to expect.
- The diagnosed student somewhat engaged with the inactive student, and disturbed the reading
session of the active one.
Second observations
ADHD:
 - This time we started the lesson with making a clear display of learning objectives.
- This was able to capture the student’s attention for a while.
The student is easily distracted, however:
- When having to write down the mind map, the student was highly involved and was highly
interested in the topic at hand, and discussed various facts about the industrial revolution with his
peers.
- Our highly enchanted student had a lot to say, which landed often with our easily distracted student.
- Similarly to our first lesson, the short films proved to be rather attractive and capture the attention
of our easily-distracted student. This however was also improved by this time before explaining
the point and the aims of watching the clips.
- Discussion between the clips were somewhat boring to the student, as other students took a few
minutes to review their opinion on the clips.
- During our “brain break” our easily distracted student was visibly confused, however successfully
paying attention!
- Once again, when students are asked to choose a book, one student didn’t choose anything, this
time it is alex. We need to reflect on how to fix this issue further.
- The student finished his in-class reading quickly, this allowed him to get distracted quickly, he was
assigned another reading by the teacher, he did not seem excited about it. It’s important here to
point out that the aims of the readings have not been communicated beforehand by the teacher.

Bored Student
Avoids eye contact with the teacher, looks at the ceiling and makes strange sounds, engages with the task
but at times jokes with the engaged student. As a consequence she becomes disruptive as well, disturbing
all the other classmates. Listens to the teacher presenting with a face ready to say something silly and as
soon as the movie extract starts playing, he makes the engaged student laugh. Then he watches the movie
but keeps making silly comments, distracting the engaged student, who –again– becomes even more
disruptive than him. Then he engages with the movie and watches attentively and silently until the engaged
student says something silly and he replies to the comment with another joke. When the extract ends and
the teacher talks to the class, he starts reading on his computer. However, when the second extract starts,
he immediately engages again and watches attentively. Same as before, when the extract ends and the
teacher talks to the class, he starts reading on his computer, but this time he does not engage with the third
movie extract, until an interesting scene comes, that makes his deskmate “wow”. He watches and then starts
discussing or commenting on the scene with her, while it’s still playing, but soon he starts reading on his
computer again. This time, when the teacher starts discussing with the class which movie they found most
interesting, he is the first one to engage and raise his hand. As soon as the teacher assigns the reading, he
starts and seems very interested. However I am not sure whether he is reading the extract or something else,
as I cannot see his screen, but I think he is on task, because the teacher monitors him and does not complain.
Once the teacher leaves, I see the tab close from the reflection of his glasses and indeed, when the teacher
turns back around he tells him to go back to the book, as he is now looking at something else. At the end of
the reading, the teacher tells everyone to stand up and he shows signs of relief: he stretches and makes
relaxed sounds. While standing, he swings from one foot to the other, closes his eyes and chins up, relaxing
his whole body. Then he crosses his arms and blows out, bored, making a sound with his lips, still swinging.
End of the lesson.

Engaged student
Immediately raises her hand when the teacher asks the question about what the students know about the
industrial revolution. Has all the tools like pen and paper and is willing to share it with others. Writes
everything down, very organised. Active brainstorming encourages her partner to participate. Is somewhat
annoyed by her classmate's remarks. Willing to share first. Sitting next to the bored student caused her to
lose focus. Got frustrated when the teacher didn’t ask her. Actively and enthusiastically sharing her mind
map. Elaborates on her ideas. Knew a book about the industrial revolution. Makes comments about the
scene that was shown. Stayed focussed on the clip. Elaborates a remark she made on the clip. She watches
the second clip. Laughs at when the bear appears in the third clip. Shows that she is engaged. Continues to
make remarks during the clips. Excited about her choice for Lyddie. She is engaged with the text. “I’m
doing good” in response to how she was doing with the reading. Still reading when the teacher asked to
look at him when they were done reading. Shows she is engaged with the text. Asked for clarification for
the task.

Appendix D Feedback

Feedback
Student D:
● What are your thoughts on the lesson?
Very interesting history and english combined.
● What helped you more, brain breaks or choices?
The brain breaks were good. I also liked that we could choose a book so we can pick what we are
most interested in.
● What do you think of the amount of options given?
Good not too much to get overwhelmed
● Which one is more useful?
I think both are useful, not one more than the other.
● What are some pros and cons you can think of for choice/brain breaks?
Brain breaks are good to keep attention and choices are good to stay engaged. If you are not engaged
you lose focus.
● Is there anything you would like to add?
No

Student E:
● What are your thoughts on the lesson?
Felt more like part of a lesson than an activity - not necessarily a bad thing
● What helped you more, brain breaks or choices?
I really liked that students were given the choice of what book to read
● What do you think of the amount of options given?
Great options, perhaps could have done with a bit of classroom discussion to clarify how these books are
connected to the topic of industrial revolution (for some it was obvious, for the bear in the cabin not so
much)
● Which one is more useful?
Best choice imo is oliver twist as an accessible class-analysis of the victorian era
● What are some pros and cons you can think of for choice/brain breaks?
students who want to take the piss absolutely will - they need teacher supervision! mitchell caught me
checking the news and did nothing roflmao
● Is there anything you would like to add?
I liked it, I can see this being a successful lesson but as I said didn't necessarily feel like an activity
Student F:
Lots of moments with no activity required by me (sitting still watching movie clips, sitting still reading a
book) --> lots of time to be distracted

- Making me work on my phone will definitely get me completely distracted.

- I didn't notice any brain breaks. Choices were alright

- Choosing between different books to read doesn't help if I don't like/am bad at reading. Instead of giving
me three different (reading) books, why not an audiobook?

- Brain breaks are good, but they need to be more pronounced. Choices need to be more varied than which
book. Different ways to engage with a book would have been better
Appendix E Interview with experts

Interview with Melanie Flynn

- How can you tell students are losing focus?

When I see them looking around the room, doing activities not related to the task, fidgeting , not task
oriented, especially looking around the room, that's the most important one.

- How do you differentiate your lessons, knowing there are students with attention span issues,
which may or may not have been diagnosed?
Always use concepts, check questions, make sure everyone understands the materials. Ask the students
where they are. When you have just explained something and the students ask : “what do we have to do”
this usually is a big indicator that students' attention is not with the teacher. Having to repeat instructions
a lot, but repeat instructions anyways, printed instructions also helps, spending individual time with
students is important.

- What strategies do you use for students who have difficulty focussing?
Using activities, not talking too long, varying tasks, get them moving, changing between single work and
pair work.

- Do you have support from the school to deal with students' attention issues?
Melanie talks about a past experience she had in a high school, where the school keeps files for special
needs students, every single lesson needed accommodations based on the different files of students in that
lesson, these files contain relevant medical records and resources. Lessons are very tailored. This example
of Flynn, she says: “the problem is identified it”. Lack of concentration for example is very common, and
even though it might be a symptom of something, it's hard to identify.
“Do not wait for a diagnosis!” she says. But it helps a lot!
However, she also says, somewhat frustrated, “Every second student these days is diagnosed”. So it
depends, dont not over do it! Finally, she advised us to keep students' own personalities in mind.

Additionally, Flynn tells us that with experience, you learn to tailor your lesson to suit everyone. Are as
many as you can. Everyone learns differently and you have to find out what works, this you can read
about, but you also learn a lot by practice. Peer teaching for example also helps, invite other teachers to
give lessons with you, not only pair learning, but also pair teaching!
 Interview with Joshua Hawthorne
- How can you tell students are losing focus?
You can feel the vibes in the room. Fidgeting, chatting. I ask leading questions to students who aren't
listening to try and get them back in the room, eg, so what technique were we just talking about?
'Don't know'
Well that's because you were looking out the window. Then I repeat the question

- How do you differentiate your lessons, knowing there are students with attention span issues,
which may or may not have been diagnosed?
As I work in an SEN school each student has an extended document that talks about their needs. I keep
this in a file and differentiate the learning accordingly. Knowing your students is the most important
thing.

- What strategies do you use for students who have difficulty focussing?
Mixture of different learning styles in lesson eg. Visual, auditory kinesthetic. Active learning key. Drama.
Writing frames, sentence starters, scaffolding. Movement breaks. We also have fidget toys in each
classroom which we give out to help focus of autistic students.

- Do you have support from the school to deal with students attention issues
We are a specialist school with smaller class sizes so the teaching is individualised and tailored to each
individual learner.

- How do you adapt your lessons to cater for these students?

Read the personal learning plan. Eg some dyslexic students need blue or green paper. Large font sizes.
Sometimes print A3. Have clear instructions, use of chunking. Clear instructions, breaking the lesson up
into clear segments. Starters, plenary, Not too much teacher talk, group work, active learning
Appendix F Helpful links

PDFs:
Hard Times:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yKU8-Ma9VkTArx0D_T0SdDRvNqzce7Ep/view?usp=sharing

Lyddie:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UA3dyqpb6-gTbem6JyInlUA6Otj4erP4/view?usp=sharing

Oliver Twist:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yCP56aHF9ZzfQNsKUZ1FIwVNE-NT4s1S/view?usp=sharing

Sources

ADHD:
https://www.childpsych.theclinics.com/article/S1056-4993(14)00046-7/fulltext
https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/2811681.2824997

ADD:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1684340/ (Tourette)
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00220670109598781
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0890856719300590 (also ADHD)

Boredom:
https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.2044-8279.1975.tb03239.x
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/001872088102300308
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ibrahim-Al-
Shara/publication/280579886_LEARNING_AND_TEACHING_BETWEEN_ENJOYMENT_AND_BO
REDOM_AS_REALIZED_BY_THE_STUDENTS_A_SURVEY_FROM_THE_EDUCATIONAL_FIEL
D/links/55ce4ef408ae502646a90f51/LEARNING-AND-TEACHING-BETWEEN-ENJOYMENT-AND-
BOREDOM-AS-REALIZED-BY-THE-STUDENTS-A-SURVEY-FROM-THE-EDUCATIONAL-
FIELD.pdf
General:
https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.680.9919 (motivation)
https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/advan.00109.2016

Brain Breaks:
https://research.avondale.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&context=teachcollection

Attention in reading:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/pms.100.2.375-386
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11121-010-0182-5
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/002221948101400618
Appendix G Group work notes:

Differentiation group work

Vincent, Sara, Mitchell, Mika

Research questions: To what extent can brain breaks and choices of texts affect student attention?
Sub questions:
- What are some diagnosed and not diagnosed behaviour that may cause attention issues?
- What are the assumptions regarding students with attention issues?
- What is the teacher role in the classroom regarding the students’ individual attention needs?

Task divisions:
Next deadline according to MSN is 23 September.
- Description of 3 students (Vincent) describe the students in detail, and their needs. The more details
the better, for the coming role play, so we have a clear instruction of who we are going to play as.
Focus on the learning needs of course.
- Lesson plan (Mika) industrial revolution (done)
- Motivation for the lesson plan (Mika) (done)
- Observation tool (Vincent) talks about how we will observe, why, what methods are we using to
observe? Are we talking notes, yes, no, why? Are we recording, yes, no, why? Check Janneke’s
powerpoints.
- Interview tool/protocol (Sara) (done)
- Interview guide and questions (All) (done)
- Conduct interviews (All)

Research article:
- introduction (Mitchell) (done)
- Method is tools, methodology explain how the methods work (Mika) (done, need further editing
later on)
- Conclusion & discussion (Mitchell)
- Overall view (Sara) organising the document and information in a presentable way (done)
- Creating and formatting google form survey (Sara) (done)
- Citations in APA (Vincent)
Next deadline: This week, Finish interviews, write down notes/ link to recordings/transcribe
Next deadline: Next Week, Finish individual tasks

Last task divisions:

- Initial lesson plan + PPT+ motivation (Mitchell + Mika) (done)
- New lesson plan + motivation (Mitchell + Mika) (done)
- Collect feedback finding and observation, results. (Mika)
- Conclusion of the overall project, pros and cons of this way of working (Mitchell) (done)
- Describing the DI/LS process in a concise way. (Mika)
- Correct mistakes and English variety consistency (Sara) (done)
- Finalise layout (Sara) (done)

Improvements on the lesson:

- PPT (Mitchell) (done)
- Clear instruction/ learning objectives
- Extra materials for achieving students