Full attention. A girl went to the board to do a problem. She kept turning around to look at the other students. I spoke with her the next day, describing her behavior, telling her she should focus on her work. Students simply may not know how to work and think. They are unsure of themselves. She kept turning around for confirmation of her behavior. She needs to understand that she has to give her full attention to the work she is doing, and be fully focused on the task.

 

It is interesting that I discovered the concept of full attention only in graduate school. There is no reason why high school students not be made aware of this important approach.

 

When telling a student an idea like full attention, we instruct them in the same way a tennis instructor would tell the student how to hold the racket. We do not criticize or belittle their behavior, as they simply do not know what to do. Instead, we inform them the correct mental approach, and then praise and encourage them when they follow our advice.

 

The human brain cannot properly multitask. Recent scientific work has clearly shown this. For example, if we are focused on learning a new task, and our attention is divided to something else like television, our retention of the new task will suffer. This people have always known, but it now has been proven. If you want to listen to music, enjoy the music. If you want to study, put your full attention on your study material.