Keeping students focused up until the end of term can seem like an impossible task. Focus is elusive at the best of times - to capture it is a tall order and when you do, it can disappear again in a moment.

To make matters harder, the world today is more distracting than ever, devices beep and flash for attention constantly, information and media is instant and extended focus is increasingly rate.

And never is this more obvious than in a hot classroom, with 30 young people, at the end of term.

With that in mind, here are a few tips to help you keep your classes’ concentration on you and the task in hand.

1. Acknowledge the challenges of focus

I have been guilty in the past of assuming students can focus and becoming frustrated when they don’t. Sometimes they do well, other times I see them looking out of the window midway through a lesson. Stop and explain to them that focus is a skill - it’s one we are going to work on and improve together - starting with just focusing on the teacher.

2. Time focus

Many people can only really focus for about 15 minutes. Maybe you can focus for longer if you’re reading or being creative - but that’s because you’ve had years of practice. During a period of intense work, I’ll give students a time limit, this introduces a sense of urgency and reduces the frustration that they’re being asked to do the same thing for “ages”. When thinking about the lesson in advance, I’ll change something every 15 minutes. This way they have a new task every time their concentration dwindles.

3. Disband the multitasking myth

Multitasking is a lie. No one can do it. If you think you’re multitasking what you’re really doing is switching between multiple tasks at the same time. This is alright for low-level skills - making tea while you’re buttering toast - but for something important, you need to concentrate. Model this in your classroom: “I’m not talking while you’re writing, we’re all going to stop and focus as you can only do one thing at once.”

4. Focus builds over time

That rowdy group you had at the start of the year may have struggled with their focus initially, but (hopefully) they’ve gotten better with the practice. Even a task like silent reading will develop students’ ability to focus because they’re drawn into a single activity at the expense of all others. Make a point of this every lesson: do something which requires complete focus and increase the length, even at the end of term when the sun is shining and we’re all ready for a holiday. 

Luke Richardson is an English teacher and blogger. He tweets @LukeRicha