Career & Technical Education Blog

As a middle school teacher, you’re probably well aware of how difficult it can be to get students to pay attention in class. These days, middle schoolers seem to be suffering more and more from short attention spans and behavioral problems, which makes your job all the harder. 

If you teach high school business courses, you know that sports and entertainment marketing is quickly becoming one of the most popular topics among students today. High schoolers love this topic, which makes it all the more important that you have exciting and engaging course material to teach it to them. 

Even though your students spend so much of their lives connected to the internet, it can still be difficult to grab their attention when they walk into your computer class. Maybe they prefer using their phones, or maybe they’re just so immersed in technology that computers no longer impress. Whatever the reason, it can be incredibly frustrating for computer teachers to wrangle students at the start of every class period. As a computer applications curriculum developer, we’ve heard hundreds of teachers voice these complaints about student engagement, and in response, we’ve developed a list of activities--called bell ringers--designed to hook your students in as soon as they walk through your door.  In this article, you’ll discover 5 of the best bell ringers you can use to quickly engage students in your computer applications class:

It can be frustrating when your students don’t pay attention in your computer applications courses. After all, the knowledge they gain in your classroom will be the foundation for computer skills they carry with them throughout their lives. But when students don’t engage with course material, they sabotage that foundation in ways they can’t see. 

With how much of our lives takes place over the internet, digital citizenship skills have become essential for students to develop in the modern day. Students who have developed these skills are well-equipped to handle technology healthily, while those who haven’t may fall victim to pitfalls like cyberbullying or irresponsible social media use. 

As a new school year begins, business education students can benefit from warm-up activities to grab their attention at the beginning of class. After a weekend, a holiday break, or even a night away from school, these “bell ringers” are perfect for priming student attention and preparing them to learn.