As a new teacher, you need to do something to maintain the attention of students all the time. But, as a new teacher, the challenge is to engage their immediate attention right away.

One way to take control of lesson is in a lesson’s beginning. There are two things you should take into account while writing lessons: time and interest. Lesson beginnings should be short (no more than 7 minutes) and should engage the class from the start.

Another issue you should consider is purpose. Engaging the students from the start is always better than straight forward lecturing. Getting quiet is of course a prerequisite before any learning can occur.

The key is to provide 5-7 minutes on an interesting topic that involves all the students.

Here are a few examples:

1. How many healthy things can you think of? Students then share their answers with a partner. The teacher can also make it competitive. For example, “Let’s see who can write 7 healthy things.”

2. Brainstorm on topic X.

3. Which sentences are true and which are false about person X?

Now that you have the students’ attention, you will be ready to take control of the transitional stage leading to the next part of your lesson.

So what are you waiting for? Try it!

Remember: Good teaching and learning happen when students are least aware of how they are being taught.

You CAN take control of the classroom!

Are you ready to begin your lesson?

As a writer, I query a lot to major magazines. I have learnt the importance of saying a lot but in just a few words.

I suppose effective lesson beginnings are like a strong pitch to an editor. You have to do something to grab your students just like pitching your story.

Editors are also very much like students - they need to be engaged and quickly!

And like editors, students want to feel a sense of connection with their teacher.

So on that note, learning the art of effective beginnings is a real lesson for many new teachers because of the trickiness involved in building a connection.

Obviously, your aim is to engage all students 100% of the time but there is also the element of classroom management. So how is it possible to do that in just ten minutes and yet still build some sort of connection?

The trick is to build personal touch with students (in smallish doses) consistently with each student over a period of time which will have the full class effect. Don’t worry if you haven’t built a personal connection with all your students. Some students won’t respond as positively to the personal touch and that is fine. Students will notice and feel the kind of person you are and will connect to you in one way or another. The most important thing is not just keep to your role as classroom manager teaching academic content.

After all, you are not teaching x number of students, you are teaching 30 INDIVIDUAL students with individual needs. There is a real difference.

You will begin to also notice that building this connection will also affect how well you are able to engage your students right from the very minute you enter their class.

If they don’t feel a connection with you however slight as it may be, they may not necessarily feel compelled to learn. with that said, I’m not suggesting you go out to be their best friend, but connecting with your students does not necessarily begin with teaching academic content.

So in order to help you build the right classroom environment for starting a lesson, pay attention to the following issues, which can substantially affect the ‘pitch’ of your lesson.

1. Is the class calm enough? Maybe your class would use a little more personal contact with students. Start small. You don’t have to have a lengthy conversation just say something short and sweet like: “I noticed how well you did during that football game - well done!” Just keep it genuine.

2. Pay attention to external circumstances - temperatures, excessive heart, the time of day.

3. Entering the classroom with a smile on your face is humbling and brights up the room. A smile brings the students closer to who you are.

Have you entered this month’s giveaway? The end of the month is quickly approaching and this month’s theme is “Back to School.”

Lesson beginnings are the trickiest for new (and seasoned) teachers to nail. Students can react adversely or positively. The difference between a poor and great lesson beginning is often how well classroom management and content are factored into those first ten minutes.

Here is a checklist to help you implement those great lesson beginnings.

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT TIPS

1. Lesson beginnings work with the start of the lesson. Begin your lesson ON TIME.

2. DON’T start by taking the roll call. This is an easy way to LOOSE your students.. DO greet your students, (smile if you can) say “good morning.” Avoid any prolonged discussions with students. You can set a time to talk about this with a student after the lesson. (ie. talking about a grade, etc.)

3. Maintain eye contact as much as possible during those first ten minutes especially. It can be a great discipline preventer.

4. DO write your lesson beginnings on the board including the times, followed by other activities of your lesson plan. Don’t forget the date.

5. Lesson beginnings should be no more than 10 minutes long. Check off your lesson beginning as you transition to the middle (main) part of your lesson.

CONTENT TIPS FOR LESSON BEGINNINGS

1. Effective lesson beginnings should set out to engage ALL the students. In a brainstorming activity for example, stronger students share their answers while the more silent ones listen. In the end, EVERYBODY writes the brainstormed list on the board. In just one simple activity, students are speaking, listening to their peers and writing.

2. Great beginnings should activate the students’ prior knowledge. Again, a brainstorm activity is excellent because it makes use of what students already know before any new information is presented to them.

Anything that will help the students become motivated in the lesson or topic you is a great beginning activity. It sets the stage for the middle (or main) part of the lesson which should also be engaging.

Teacher talk: What kinds of lesson beginnings have worked for you? What was particularly challenging about starting a lesson?