This is a post aimed more at the students visiting this blog, if there are any; teachers can certainly learn from it as well, though they'd have to look at it from a different angle. Today's topic is a little tougher: how to pay attention. History lectures, when done correctly, can open up a whole new field to a student, inspire young minds to learn from its mistakes, leaders to learn from its successes, thinkers to study both. Above all else, it could reveal to a student an interest they hadn't even considered in the long run, and lead to important life decisions surrounding that one core moment. But when a history lecture is done poorly, it can be hard for students to pay any mind to it other than an inconvenience in an already long day, and a whole generation of future historians may be lost in less than an hour. While I always try to help out teachers by offering tips and suggestions to make history more fun for their class, I know many won't take them more than face value; there will always be a "bad" teacher, no matter how hard myself or others work to make it so there isn't. So, for you students out there with a "bad" teacher, here's a few ways to pay attention to the important parts of their lecture without being bored out of your mind.
The first is to Think Ahead. Every teacher, history or otherwise, will usually mention when there will be a big note-taking day or lecture a day before it happens, and it's the students responsibility to prepare for those days. What I did (still do, actually) was mentally go over a "checklist" for the class: will I need my notebook? Is the information going to be needed for the quiz/test/final? If any of these questions were answered with "Yes", I would make a note to come prepared and attentive for the class. You'd be surprised how thinking ahead can actually prepare you more for lectures than going in like any normal day; you'll have all the things you need and the right mindset to get through the class, no matter how much you hate learning about the Causes of the Glorious Revolution.
But even if you've thought ahead and mentally prepared, the way the teacher puts together a lesson/lecture could just as easily send it flying out the window. Boring topics, nasally voices, stuffy atmosphere: all of these can lead to a student losing attention and focusing elsewhere. That's why they should just Focus on the Important Things. In my experience, teachers will give students packets or sheets with names, places, and dates important to history that they will eventually go over in class. If you find yourself starting to fall asleep or lose focus, just listen for those "Hot Words", the stuff that's directly mentioned in the worksheet. Once you get the information you need written down, move on to the next "Hot Word" on the sheet, and continue doing so until it's filled out. For those without note outlines, simply listen for when the teacher's voice changes on a topic (look for enunciation-a part of EEI) or when something is bolded in a presentation; write down as much as you think you'll need to be comfortable with the topic for studying later. While some teachers say to listen to the whole lesson, if there's only certain parts of history you'll need to know for the whole year (like Presidents or Chinese dynasties), and there's only certain things they have you write down per lecture, why would you need to know more than what they had you take notes on? Just focus on important "Hot Words" and you should be fine.
Next, to effectively pay attention in a history class, a subject notoriously known for boring students out of their minds, you need to Eliminate Distractions. Even if you plan ahead, even if you try to focus on the important parts of the lesson, it only takes one urge to check a text message and you've missed a sizable chunk of the outcomes of the Revolutionary War. Beyond electronics, the human mind is prone to wander; what you want for dinner, what the homework for today is, did you have to write a paper for tomorrow or Thursday? While this problem ties in with thinking ahead, I've been approached by fellow students in history class enough times because I was the only one who seemed to pay attention that it warrants its own solution. Simply put the phone in a bag or put it on silent, get your mind in the right place, and repress the urge to do what everyone else is doing; they're only hurting themselves by not paying attention, and you don't need to follow suit.
Finally, the most important way to pay attention in history class is to Ask Questions. If you missed a "Hot Topic" in your notes or simply didn't understand/hear what the teacher said, raise your hand and ask. Not only will it get other peoples' attention (a new voice may cause them to snap out of boredom), but it may also tell the teacher that there are students paying attention, and the lesson may become a little more positive as their mood changes due to this discovery. When questions are asked, others may also realize that they were wondering the same thing; they just wanted someone else to ask it in fear of looking/sounding stupid. So take a chance, ask questions. You'll get refocused into the topic, and you may just get others paying attention as well.
To end this post, you CAN pay attention in history. If you simply do the four things I've outlined, you'll find that the subject of history isn't as bad as you thought, even with a "bad" teacher. These skills can also be transplanted for other classes, and eventually the workplace; in reality, paying attention is a life skill. Use this information to your advantage in life, and you'll find that you'll go far in everything you focus on!
-Pharaoh Noh-Tyep
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