The way of thinking significantly affects the feelings and behavior of children. Unpleasant, overly critical thoughts can harm

1. Air, water, breaks and good lessons
2 days ago
Air, water, breaks and good lessons
How concentration and motivation can be increased
Concentration and motivation are crucial factors for successful learning. However, it was already
known before Corona that things were not going well for many schoolchildren. Studies suggest it
hasn’t gotten any better. The lack of social contacts, physical and psychological problems and
fears of the disease – all of this did not exactly help to improve the concentration and motivation
of the students. Skills that are in demand right now, after all, it is about catching up on learning
deficits and finding joy in learning again.

2. Are all the children motivated and focused in class? A dream that will never come true. Teachers
know that they have to say goodbye to the idea of being able to reach all children equally well at
all times – no matter how good the lessons are. Nevertheless, they want to get as close as
possible to this goal.
The external conditions
Motivation and focus are closely related. Anyone who is motivated to find out more about a
topic, to learn something new, will also be able to concentrate well. And those who learn and
work with concentration will be successful and increase their own motivation. But motivation
and concentration cannot be conjured up with a snap of the fingers, as they depend on many
factors. First of all, there are the external conditions, which can often be easily influenced.
Good air
Pupils and their teachers spend a lot of time at school – mostly together in classrooms. And not
only since Corona have we known how important fresh air is. However, the air quality in many
classrooms leaves a lot to be desired. If these rooms are not adequately ventilated, the air quality
deteriorates rapidly. And bad indoor air impairs the ability to concentrate and makes people tired.
To ensure better air quality, ventilation breaks of at least three minutes should be taken in every
lesson – or at the beginning and end of the lesson – by opening all windows at once or
completely opening windows and doors on the opposite side. In addition, the air quality in the
classroom can also be measured. There are many unhealthy substances in the air, but measuring
them all would be difficult and expensive. However, the CO₂ level is a reliable indicator of air
quality. And that can be easily determined with the commercially available CO2 measuring
devices. They are affordable and can be purchased through a parent donation or with the support
of the association. In addition, the students can independently determine the CO2 content at any
time and act accordingly.
If the weather permits, the lessons can also be moved outside from time to time, which not only
brings fresh air, but also additional motivation from the new environment?
Nutrition
Clearly, teachers do not have a far-reaching influence on the nutrition of their students. The
parents and the private environment are decisive here. Nevertheless, they can use the leeway that
is available to them and deal with the topic of nutrition in class from time to time. What do the
body and brain need in order to be and stay fit? How does diet affect concentration? What does
“balanced nutrition” mean? What are the effects of soft drinks, fast food and sweets?
Water
For a long time, drinking was forbidden in schools. Last but not least, the “Drinking in the
classroom” initiative has triggered a rethink. Since 2004, she has been campaigning for students
to be allowed to drink during class – preferably water. A study by a University and the Mineral

3. Water Information Center also showed in 2013 that students who are well supplied with liquid
during class do better in performance tests. And they also have good concentration and memory.
It doesn’t matter whether the association buys water dispensers, whether it is agreed at parents’
evenings that all children bring a drinking bottle with water from home, or whether the tap water
at school is of good drinking quality – it is so easy to turn this screw !
Breaks
A lesson lasts 45 minutes, period. It’s just that this division of time doesn’t fit children’s
attention spans at all. For this reason, breaks should also be taken during a lesson. They don’t
even have to consist of pure doing nothing. In elementary school, they can be filled with
movement games or a short rest. For example, by having all the students close their eyes and not
speak or move for a minute. As children grow older, so does their attention span. Nevertheless,
even in the higher classes one should take breaks to move or for a short meditation. The “loss of
time” caused by these breaks has long since been made up for by better concentration and
motivation on the part of the students.
The lesson
Train concentration
Concentration is achieved through competitions, among other things. Most students love games
in which they solve problems in competition with others. And if something has to be done under
time pressure or in competition, then you have to concentrate intensively.
For primary school children there are movement exercises that promote concentration. An
example: A movement stands for a vowel. For the letter A, the arms are stretched wide apart at
an angle, or for the I they are lifted straight up. For example, one child says the word “tree” and
another child translates the vowels into movement. A side effect: the children improve their
spelling because they have to imagine the word written.
In addition, “city-country-river” games are usually very well received in all classes. Depending
on the children’s ability to read and write, they can find terms from A to Z for the different
categories. In the higher grades it can be vocabulary, foreign words or technical terms, for
example from the natural sciences or mathematics. These two copy templates for primary and
secondary school offer many more training examples on the subject of concentration.
A good mixture
Frontal teaching, group work, station learning, and open teaching – the discussion about the best
forms of teaching continues. But does one have to be the best? Isn’t it much better to offer a mix
of methods that then does justice to all students? Those who listen with concentration during
frontal teaching, those who really thrive in group work or those who can follow their own
learning path while learning at stations? The same applies to the media mix of books,
worksheets, blackboards or other traditional and digital media.

4. Know where the kids are
Pupils who lack previous knowledge or who are not interested in a certain topic will hardly are
able to follow the lesson with motivation and concentration. However, if teachers know where
their individual students are, they can respond specifically and provide appropriate assistance.
So-called diagnostic tools have proven to be extremely useful for this purpose.