Finding, planning, and executing teaching strategies to engage our students is one of the things teachers have struggled with since the beginning of education. But nowadays, students are even more distracted than ever, with a full armada of technological devices at the ready to keep kids from learning even more.

But there are some teaching strategies you can use to help you overcome the struggles of student engagement in your classroom. These are written by Janelle Cox, who is a longtime elementary educator based on the East Coast. Janelle’s ideas include:

Janelle sums up her article like this, in a paragraph entitled, “Educate Students on Their Well-Being”: “Digital distractions aren’t the only thing to blame on lack of student engagement. Poor nutrition and lack of sleep are to blame as well. Many students’ diets, or lack thereof, can lead to a poor attention span and performance in school. A child’s lack of sleep can also contribute to them giving their full potential in school. If a student is tired and hungry, how can we expect them to be engaged in our lessons? This is when we need to educate our students on proper sleep and nutrition and overall healthy well-being. Encourage students to eat healthy meals and go to bed at reasonable hour. Tell them to unplug from their digital devices at least an hour before bedtime and to not have a television in their room. Remind students that being fit, getting enough sleep, and eating right play an important role in their academic success at school.”