This workshop is designed to introduce methods for engaging students in conversation about focus and distraction. We will discuss how language about attention and participation can appear in course syllabi and in conversations early in the semester, and we will address the particular challenges of sustaining student attention in the remote classroom. We will talk about course and assignment design that offer students many kinds of active learning, and we will also address how to discuss study and attention habits with students in ways that allow room for ongoing struggle and growth. How can our approaches to discussing distraction help students to focus and refocus on our course material? How can we accommodate all learners as we design activities for students who are stressed, negotiating care and paid labor responsibilities, and experiencing screen fatigue? How might our approach to distraction change if we frame distractions as ongoing negotiations, rather than as a barrier to a useful learning environment? How might addressing distraction contribute to a broader project of equitable pedagogy? How does the literature course present particular affordances and challenges for addressing and accommodating distracted learners and teachers alike?

Counts towards the CETLI Teaching Certificate