SUSTAIN-O, THE GREAT!: SUSTAINED ATTENTION
Examples of Sustained Attention Challenges
In the classroom, students may appear “tuned out” of lessons, either quietly disengaged or actively distracting themselves and others. They are unable to participate and may have difficulty working in groups. They often miss chunks of information, making task completion challenging. While these students may often know lots of information, they have difficulty demonstrating their knowledge during class time.
During unstructured time, these students may not be able to stick with a game, have trouble following rules, and may not be able to resolve conflicts independently.
About the Character
“Hocus pocus, where’s your focus?” This tagline works really well in our classrooms. Often just starting the tagline; “Hocus pocus…” would prompt students enough to fill in the rest. It is important to explain to your students what focus looks like and feels like, and practise this skill often. A timer can be helpful in breaking the skill down into manageable chunks of time so that students can be successful. It is also important for the children to become aware of when paying attention is hardest for them and when they find it easy. That way, they can begin to feel ownership over when and how to use the strategies that help them best.