BUILDING CONCENTRATION IN CLASS

  To begin this article, I’ll want you to know this:
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Have a concentrated mind, it's the mind of the successful.

Efzibarh. 
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  Developing a concentrating mind in class has always been a challenge to many students especially when the class is boring. This has made many students remain academically poor because when there’s no concentration, there’s no learning.

   Well, in this article, I’ll be showing you various ways to help concentrate in class but they can only help if you’ll pave way for it.

   A student, Ella said:

  Whenever I try to concentrate in class, I end up doing otherwise, every sound fades away gradually as my mind drifts into various thoughts. I jerk back into reality when I’m being hit or shouted to. At the end, I gain little or nothing at all.

   So what exactly is concentration? It is state of concentrating, that is, channeling all your attention to a particular thing, in this case, your teacher. But before diving into building your concentration in class, let’s quickly look at some of the things that makes students lose concentration(i.e distraction) :

 - Side talk with friends

- Boredom

- Stress

 - Hunger

 - Health issues; such as headache.

 - Reading ahead of class: this on its own is a very good thing but the thought of “I’ve read about all he’s teaching” can make you lose concentration if care isn’t taken.   Etc.

 So how can I build my concentration?

•   Strive to sit at the front of the class;

  Research have shown that about 65%  of those that perform academically well have their sit at the front of the class. Well, this isn’t strange, simply because at the front, there’s less distraction which aid higher concentration. Don’t be afraid that you might be often called to answer questions. It helps a lot in boosting concentration.

• Don’t sit with your friends(especially those ones that talk during teaching);

  It’s a cool thing to have friends to hang around with but you should also be careful, they can be a major means of distraction.

   Mike explained how he often got distracted by his friends:

I had a bunch of friends then, they are silly, I must say.
  During classes, they’d always find something funny about the teacher, then tap me “hey, Micky, look at his bald head, the ceiling fan’s reflecting on it”, hearing that alone gets me distracted as I’ll be fighting within myself not to laugh or look.

•   Be involved in class activities:

Participating in classes also play a role in building concentration in class. When you answer questions, or ask questions or raise suggestions or take class works, you’ll automatically concentrate unlike when the teacher keeps talking and talking and you keep staring and staring, that alone is discouraging.

• Eat good food:

  This may sound rather weird, you may think “what has food got to do with my concentrating in class”. Shocking enough, it does. There have been various research on how food affects students behavior in class. Let’s consider two students A and B, if A eats yam with stew and B takes scrambled egg with a glass of milk, will there be a productivity difference at school? The answer is ‘Yes’. B will be more energetic and vibrant compared to A. This is because foods that contain carbohydrates such as bread, yam, rice and potatoes produces serotonin, which can boost our mood but also make us feel sleepy.

• Sit with serious minded people:

  Instead of sitting around those naughty friends who disturb you in class, why not sit with serious minded people? It’s like a nail being brought close to a magnet, gradually, the nail will begin to possess magnetic properties.(you got the point?).

• Get enough sleep:

Having a good night sleep can help to perform optimally during school hours which builds one ability to concentrate. When students sleep during teaching hours , it means they’ve probably denied themselves a good sleep at home and because nature can’t be cheated, they fall asleep in class at the detriment of their concentration in class.

To round off this article, I’ll like you to hold this:
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Individuals with a degree of concentration achieve more within a short time.

Efzibarh. 

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