Attention Seeking Students

Technique: Balance is the key here. This covers a great number of behaviors. For students who are just making a bid for attention it is best to remember that paying attention meets the immediate need. Some student increase the bid for attention when love and support is supplied, but most children feel at peace and can go for increasingly longer periods of time without disrupting. All of us need attention and it is important to nurture and meet the needs of students. It is also important for students to learn to be successful in social settings and to share the "stage" with others.

Procedures:

Look for the studentâs real need. Examples:
1. Wants additional stimulation
2. Wants to show s/he has the answer
3. Lacks self discipline - has to act on impulses
4. Cannot relate to peers so turns to teacher to meet need for acceptance
5. Gains peer approval by teasing or hassling the teachr

2. To stop a simple bid for attention:

Set times when attention needs can be met without disturbing others
Agree on a nonverbal signal to alert student to excessive demands
Have student self monitor using a checklist and ask for attention on the fifth time
Define a number of times student may respond
1. Put up one finger to be touched as the teacher passes by and gives the student a wink
2. Journal feelings or put thoughts on sticky pad to be discussed later
3. Provide time during group for student to share ideas with peers

3. Help students value attention from peers.

Use cooperative learning groups interspersed with other learning modes
Pair students for learning sessions - when asking questions, have students share a response with a partner and then move on

There is a behavior modification strategy which suggests the following:
1. Ignore all inappropriate bids. Since the student wishes attention, ignoring unwanted behavior is the fastest way to extinguish it.
2. At the same time increase attention to an acceptable behavior in the studentâs repertoire
3. Expect the student to first increase the noxious behavior that is being ignored and then to decrease the response.
To help a student learn to share the floor during discussions: Pass out two chips around the class. Explain to the entire class that when the a response is given the chip is turned in. Once the two chips are used, no more responses are allowed until every student has used the two chips. Practice this occasionally to remind attention seekers to calm their responses and give more time to reticent students
Remember, when working with young children, that many of them are involved in magical thinking -- they think they disappear when they close their eyes, or that they are not thinking if they arenât talking. Use guided imagery to help them realize that they can hold a thought and not speak it.