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. 

The classic game Candyland when you think about it has virtually nothing to do with candy. The purpose of the game is to simply roll dice and move along a path to reach the end of the board. “Candy” as the game's theme simply contributes to making it fun and engaging. What can be learned from games is that adding narrative, storyline, a theme, or fun graphics can make an activity more engaging or impactful.

If you teach a career readiness course, you know how important cover letters are in the modern job market. Many employers won’t even look at a job application unless the candidate includes a cover letter explaining their qualifications and passion for the position. 

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.