Visual Attention Precedes Mental Focus: Yes, No, Maybe?

Juila Grover-Barrey OTR/L
Founder of In-Tuned®

Absolutely, undeniably “YES”.

Teachers have you ever noticed the students with the most difficulty attending, self-regulating and staying seated are usually students with wandering eyes?

Wandering eyes typically precedes wandering hands and sometimes whole bodies.

Does it usually do any good to say “pay attention”?

As Andrew Huberman of the Huberman Lab at Stanford School of Medicine says, “It’s hard to control the mind with the mind.”

So, what to do when presented with the visually inattentive and mentally unfocused student in the classroom?

Employ an In-Tuned® Real Time Tool by providing an opportunity to prime the “mental focus” pump by giving the eyes something to deliberately attend to…and then add a bit of tension to make the brain take notice of the change. Noticing the change helps the visual attention and mental focus stick.

Hint: Don’t wait until you are at the point of saying “pay attention”. Do this simple and quick series of eye and head movements at the beginning and middle of the learning cycle. There are no equipment requirements (teacher is the equipment) and this tool takes less than 2 minutes to employ.

Warm Up: Teacher directs all students to stand up and get into a football huddle-style stance (1/2 squat, feet firmly on the floor, hands firm on knees) with eyes forward on teacher.

Teacher – “Let’s get ready for the best (fill in subject)  class ever!! Let’s get our brain ready to learn by having our eyes and head bust some moves.”

“Look into my eyes while I look into your eyes and count out loud to 7.”

 “Without moving your head just shift your eyes to look just above and beyond my head and count to 7.”

 Repeat this several times, counting slowly.

 Yes, No and Maybe Transition: “Stay in our huddle position. Keep your eyes on my eyes and nod your head up and down saying yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.” One yes for each head movement and corresponding to a 7 second count.

 “Keep your eyes looking into my eyes and shake your head side to side saying no, no, no, no, no, no, no.”

 “Ear to shoulder side to side and say maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe.”

 Repeat the yes, no and maybe cycle x3.

Attention issues can be very subtle or very obvious. Taking the time to use this kind of tool with an entire classroom covers both kinds…no maybes about it. 

Julia