Before assuming students are unmotivated, consider how much they are being asked to process at once.
Teachers recognize the moment when students begin to lose the lesson.
One student is looking around the room. Two students have started talking. Someone is clicking through unrelated tabs on a Chromebook. Another student has stopped working and is waiting for help.
From the outside, it may look like the students have lost interest.
Sometimes they have. Students can become distracted or decide that they do not want to complete an assignment.
At other times, students stop participating because the lesson is asking them to process too much at once.
Attention Is Not the Same as Motivation
When a student is not working, it is easy to assume the student needs more motivation or a more engaging activity.
That may not address the actual problem.
A student might be trying to understand unfamiliar vocabulary, remember several directions, locate information in a text, navigate a digital tool, and figure out what the finished response should look like.
Each part of the task may be reasonable on its own. Together, they can become difficult to manage.
This is especially important for multilingual learners who are processing both language and content. It can also affect students with IEPs or 504 plans, students with executive function challenges, and students who need additional time to process information.
However, attention overload is not limited to students with identified needs. Any student can lose track of a task that requires too many things at once.
What Attention Overload Can Look Like
Students who are overwhelmed by a task do not always say, “This is too much information.”
Instead, they may:
- Begin the assignment incorrectly
- Forget the directions after completing the first step
- Ask the same question several times
- Copy what another student is doing without understanding it
- Move between the text, directions, and assignment without making progress
- Stop working and wait for the teacher
- Become distracted by something unrelated to the lesson
These behaviors can also have other causes. A repeated question may come from inattention. Copying may be an attempt to avoid the work. A student who stops working may simply be tired.
The behavior alone does not tell us what caused it.
That is why it helps to look at where the student lost the task.
Look at What Students Are Being Asked to Hold in Mind
Multi-step directions place demands on working memory. If students must remember the directions while also reading, writing, and making decisions, some of those directions may be lost.
This often leads to the familiar question:
Wait, what are we doing?
Repeating the entire explanation may not help. The student may need fewer directions at one time or a written place to check the next step.
It can help to ask:
- How many steps did I give at once?
- Are the directions available after I stop speaking?
- Do students know which material they should look at first?
- Is unfamiliar vocabulary preventing them from understanding the task?
- Are students switching between too many papers, slides, tabs, or resources?
These questions do not replace classroom expectations. They help determine whether the structure of the assignment is contributing to the problem.
Reduce Competing Information
Teachers often provide several resources because we want students to have enough support.
A student may have a text, graphic organizer, slide presentation, notebook, and Chromebook open at the same time. Although each resource has a purpose, students may not know which one deserves their attention at a particular moment.
It helps to identify one primary focus.
If students are reading, make it clear where they should read. If they are recording evidence, direct them to the specific section of the organizer. If they are responding to a question, show them where the question and necessary information are located.
The other resources can remain available, but students should not have to search through all of them to figure out how to begin.
Break Directions Into Manageable Parts
Students do not always need the directions for the entire assignment before completing the first part.
Teachers can give one or two steps, allow students to begin, and then introduce the next part when students are ready. Numbered written directions also give students something to check without waiting for the teacher to repeat the instructions.
A model can help when students do not understand what a response should include. Reviewing essential vocabulary before beginning can also prevent students from becoming stuck on language that is necessary for understanding the task.
These supports do not remove the academic thinking. They reduce the amount of procedural information competing with it.
Allow Time to Process
Silence after a question does not automatically mean students are disengaged.
Students may need time to understand the question, recall information, and organize a response. Multilingual learners may also be processing the language they want to use before answering.
I often tell students to “sit in the struggle” because I do not want to step in the moment they are unsure. Students need opportunities to work through a challenging question.
At the same time, additional wait time will not solve a problem caused by unclear directions or inaccessible language. Teachers still need to determine whether students are thinking or whether they have lost their way into the task.
One Question to Ask
Before adding another activity or engagement strategy, ask:
Is the student uninterested, or is too much competing for the student’s attention?
There will not always be one clear answer.
If several students lose focus at the same point, however, it is worth examining the directions, vocabulary, materials, and number of steps involved. A smaller adjustment may help more than adding another layer to the lesson.
Attention overload does not explain every instance of disengagement. It is one possibility teachers should consider before deciding that students are simply unmotivated.
Coming Next in the Quiet Truths Series
Quiet Truth #5: Consistency Is Doing More Work Than Creativity Ever Will
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