The Importance of Paying Attention in Class: Reflection

Introduction

Because of my former misconducts, I was asked to write an essay about behavior: how to behave in class and what to do to ensure avoiding chaos and getting myself in big problems (punishments) and how to respond to trouble makers (classmates who want me to disturb class). The essay articulates three big parts. The first part was about the importance of paying attention in class. It is really hard if not impossible to not talk and pay attention during the whole session but students must at least try to focus because it is a sign of respect to the professor and to the classmates’ as well.

The Importance of Paying Attention in Class

The professor doesn’t appreciate it when students don’t listen to him when he is tiring himself to explain the course to them but instead, they talk to each other or simply play with their phones. Also, many students can’t focus and understand the course if the class is noisy that’s why it is disrespectful to disturb the class. (Tabios,2015).

Added to that, paying attention to the professor is key to improving the grades. It helps with the participation grade: professors know if students are paying attention to them or not and they, most certainly, would give a good participation grade to those who take notes and ask questions related to the course and try to understand and improve their knowledge and sometimes, this grade is what differs between a B grade and an A. (Haase,2018).

Besides, this would help students to prepare properly for the midterms as well as the finals because the notes would make it easy for them to review and they save a lot of time to do an extra work and they would understand the course better in class than by themselves. Haase also said in 2018 that professors don’t sympathize with the students who don’t care about the course (they simply don’t care about their future) and they don’t help them much during the office hours or even when they need only 0.5 point to pass the course and that’s because they were playing the whole year. Also, students could get to some serious troubles when they get kicked out of the classroom and they may get punished by the school administration because they broke the policies and they didn’t respect the others around them.

Strategies for Ensuring Focus in Class

The second part is about the steps that should be taken in order to ensure paying attention in class. There is a couple of stuff that could help students focus in class and pay attention like sitting at the front of the class alone or with someone who is actually interested in the course and having good grades. This helps the student to see the board clearly and to better hear the teacher and this helps improving the student skills and knowledge. Besides, students should avoid all the distractions like the phones or the distractions that come from their classmates: playing or chatting with their friends. They should switch their phones off and put it away from them in order to be able to focus on the lecture and sit by themselves if they know that they won’t be able to focus because their friends make a huge distraction. (Sarjoo,2017).

Added to that, students should avoid slipping in class or thinking about other things like games or food or anything else that could make them lose their focus. If they feel like they are dragged away from the lesson, they should try to refocus by making themselves think about the course again or wash their face or anything that they find useful. Creating motivation could also help a lot.

Achieving Academic Success

One of the bad things is that a student tries to be the funny guy. Don’t try to make other people laugh at some jokes you make in the class to show off in front of them because this could affect you really badly: you could get yourself expelled and this would cause some serious problems and punishments like the one I’m doing right now (I’m not complaining) and this would be bad for your academic record.

Also, try to take notes, ask some questions related to the course and participate in group discussions and any other activities that the professor demands. This shows that you are interested and motivated to learn and this would have a positive impact on you and your grades as well. (Sarjoo, 2017).

The last part of the essay is about the appropriate response to your friends who want you to disturb the class with them. You could simply change your seat if the person sitting next to you is talking too much and wants to involve you in his little chat. This wouldn’t upset him and would certainly be beneficial for you because it is better for you to focus when you are away from distraction as I said before: try to pick a seat which is close to the professor to be away from the distractions that are facing you and to hear the teacher better.

Conclusion

You can also stay silent and avoid responding to them if they call you and if they became really annoying, you can just ask them nicely to stop talking to you during the session because it would be disturbing for you and it would make you lose your focus. I’m sure they won’t be bothered or mad at you if you do that. In order to have better grades, avoid problems and to have a better studying experience, you need to behave well in class and try your best to stay calm and focused and avoid all the distractions as much as possible.

References

1. Haase, H. (2018, April 10). Students should pay attention more in class. Retrieved from http://www.tcnjsignal.net/2018/04/10/students-should-pay-attention-more-in-class/
2. How to Avoid Talking in Class. (2019, May 05). Retrieved from https://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-Talking-in-Class
3. How to Pay Attention in Class. (2019, May 01). Retrieved from https://www.wikihow.com/Pay-Attention-in-Class
4. Sarjoo, S. (2017, June 21). Why it's important to stay focused in a class. Retrieved from https://www.hotcourses.com/articles/study-guide/why-concentration-is-important-in-a-class/
5. Tabios, J. (2015, May 19). Why you should pay attention in class. Retrieved from https://prezi.com/5feco4b63ss7/why-you-should-pay-attention-in-class/