Engaging Students Throughout Lessons
Karen A. McCay
11 January 2017
Introduction:
Perhaps the most enjoyable experience in life is having a truly engaging conversation with another person. So it’s not surprising that our favorite moments as students are those times when class became exciting, when conversations became heated became a part of a cherished memory we still recall. When teachers help students engage in their learning goals throughout lessons, they enjoy their learning, and as a result, they retain new material faster. Three strategies, which help us to continually engage students throughout lessons are changing the learning activity at least every fifteen minutes to ensure that students interact with their content a different way, choosing relevant content to teach learning goals, and using time-saving technological tools for low-level communication to ensure that students have US for more important communication in the classroom.
Change To A New Activity At Least Every 15 Minutes
Secondary students can generally sustain a fifteen minute activity with a high level of engagement, but younger students rarely engage in meaningful learning for much longer than their age in years, and even adults will not engage for much longer than fifteen minutes. To keep students engaged in their learning goals, teachers should transition to a new activity at least every fifteen minutes to ensure their students continue to interact with their content at high levels of engagement throughout the lesson. “To keep students involved and on their toes, try to move from teacher-centered learning to student-centered active learning, and vice versa” (De Frodeville, 2009). Many teachers also like the I do, we do, you do model, which moves students from modeling to independent work on learning goals. As students move toward a higher level of independence, they also need to move to a higher level of challenge in their tasks to increase their engagement. “Students could use graphic organizers such as a web, Venn diagram, or T-chart to present the information. Your students might want to create a rhyme, poem, or song to help other students remember the information.” (McDonald, 2017). Collaborative group work, socratic seminars, and any other activities, which allow students to drive the conversation and reflection about their learning goals will also increase their challenge and allow for a transition for new engagement. Practicing fast transitions early in the year will establish the expectation that change happens often, that it should happen fast, and that students should not waste valuable learning time between learning tasks by transitioning slowly.
Choose Relevant Materials
As teachers select materials, which help their students master their content standards each year, they need to select relevant material, which will engage their specific students. A strong unit, which met all of the standards, and engaged last year’s students, may be very inappropriate for this year’s students if it is constructed around a source text that is entirely irrelevant for this year’s students. For example, the Common Core State Standards specifically mention the U.S. Constitution as literature in the 11th Grade English Language Arts Standards. Ronan (2015) recounts a difficult year engaging students and journals about finally catching their passion for the first time: “Bet those kids in the back of the class won’t fall asleep studying the U.S. Constitution through the lens of the Marvel Universe Civil War.” I remember a group of my junior athletes holding a serious protest one year because their summer reading assignment, Black Hawk Down, had no relevance, in their opinion, for an 88% female class. We need to select materials, not because they are interesting to us or because they are convenient, but because they are engaging and relevant to our students as well as strong resources for teaching our content standards.
Use Technology to Save Time
A final way we can engage students right away is by using technology well. If we have the money, we should put a device in every student’s hands. Students do more on their smartphones today than students did 20 years ago on paper: “the digital landscape is a more natural place for students to learn, explore, and create, than the traditional textbook, pen, and paper one”(Ronan, 2015). Classroom management with digital tools is no different--teachers simply need to work the room and be aware of their students’ level of engagement in activities, and the time saved with the devices in other ways is worth the learning curve required during the transition. Imagine a spot where written directions are posted digitally for late students like a facebook post so teachers don’t have to verbally address them again. Imagine a digital folder for absent students with a drop box of student samples from yesterday’s work to help students catch up with less one-on-one help. To reinforce the digital directions, teachers can create digital teamwork in their classrooms and require students to check in with one, two, or even three peers before asking the teacher to clarify directions: “By insisting that students ‘ask three before me,’ you make it clear that they are expected to seek assistance from all members of their team before they turn to you.” (De Frondeville, 2009). These precious minutes we buy back can be spent remediating skills with struggling students instead of repeating directions--which isn’t helping anyone master a skill, meet a goal, engage in learning at a high level, or be accountable for their own learning. If we start using technology in smarter ways, we will also start focusing our students toward learning in subtle ways that say YOU are part of the team here, too, and we are all going to work today.
Engagement Means Movement
If we truly want our students to engage at a high level during every lesson, then we need to move. We need to transition between activities so students can interact with content in diverse ways. We need to move our materials every year and use what’s best for our current students. We need to move into the 21st century and communicate efficiently so we don’t waste precious instructional time on low-level tasks. Finally, we need to move around our rooms because if we aren’t present and involved with every student, seeing their learning from every angle, then we won’t know when their engagement is dropping so we change change our practices and improve.
For Administrators
Administrators need to plan with similar engagement strategies in mind. We can’t wait until Friday morning to throw a Friday afternoon training together and expect it to be meaningful. We can’t play more than fifteen minutes of a video without providing some sort of reflection, group activity, or engaging movement to ensure that a transition allows teachers to interact with the content of the video in a different way that sit-and-get. We need to use the tools of effective teaching, or our teachers won’t receive effective development. And if we aren’t going to provide effective development, then we should give them their time to individualize their own videos and reflections, which might at least match their annual goals instead of one staff video, which can’t possibly be differentiated for everyone’s professional development goals for the year. We can’t expect teachers, who know the rules of engagement, to trust us as their leaders, when we ignore those same rules. If we’re struggling to complete meaningful plans for professional development on time, we can usually delegate portions of that time to various stakeholders rather than taking the entire burden upon ourselves. Either way, we need some sort of plan for that precious time, which is meaningful for our staff members. That plan needs to be both engaging and relevant if it going to help teachers grow in their craft.
More Resources:
Strategies to Increase Engagement
Professional Development Video on Engagement Research
A Variety of Engagement Strategies
Other Instructional Toolkit Pages:
Cooperative Learning Model
Instructional Time
Re-Teaching
Extending Learning Beyond Mastery
Or Return to Instructional Tools Main Page:
Instructional Tools
References
De Frondeville, T. (2009, December 03). How to Keep Kids Engaged in Class (Edutopia). Retrieved January 11, 2017, from https://www.edutopia.org/classroom-student-participation-tips
Dean, C. B., Hubbell, E. R., Pitler, H., & Stone, B. J. (2012). Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement, 2nd Edition. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Goodwin, B., & Hubbell, E. R. (2013). The 12 Touchstones of Good Teaching: A Checklist for Staying Focused Every Day. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
McDonald, E. (2017, January 26). How to Involve and Engage Students (Education World). Retrieved January 26, 2017, from http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/columnists/mcdonald/mcdonald007.shtml
Ronan, A. (2015, August 20). 5 Ways to Engage Students (Edudemic). Retrieved January 11, 2017, from http://www.edudemic.com/top-five-ways-engage-students-classroom/
Karen A. McCay
11 January 2017
Introduction:
Perhaps the most enjoyable experience in life is having a truly engaging conversation with another person. So it’s not surprising that our favorite moments as students are those times when class became exciting, when conversations became heated became a part of a cherished memory we still recall. When teachers help students engage in their learning goals throughout lessons, they enjoy their learning, and as a result, they retain new material faster. Three strategies, which help us to continually engage students throughout lessons are changing the learning activity at least every fifteen minutes to ensure that students interact with their content a different way, choosing relevant content to teach learning goals, and using time-saving technological tools for low-level communication to ensure that students have US for more important communication in the classroom.
Change To A New Activity At Least Every 15 Minutes
Secondary students can generally sustain a fifteen minute activity with a high level of engagement, but younger students rarely engage in meaningful learning for much longer than their age in years, and even adults will not engage for much longer than fifteen minutes. To keep students engaged in their learning goals, teachers should transition to a new activity at least every fifteen minutes to ensure their students continue to interact with their content at high levels of engagement throughout the lesson. “To keep students involved and on their toes, try to move from teacher-centered learning to student-centered active learning, and vice versa” (De Frodeville, 2009). Many teachers also like the I do, we do, you do model, which moves students from modeling to independent work on learning goals. As students move toward a higher level of independence, they also need to move to a higher level of challenge in their tasks to increase their engagement. “Students could use graphic organizers such as a web, Venn diagram, or T-chart to present the information. Your students might want to create a rhyme, poem, or song to help other students remember the information.” (McDonald, 2017). Collaborative group work, socratic seminars, and any other activities, which allow students to drive the conversation and reflection about their learning goals will also increase their challenge and allow for a transition for new engagement. Practicing fast transitions early in the year will establish the expectation that change happens often, that it should happen fast, and that students should not waste valuable learning time between learning tasks by transitioning slowly.
Choose Relevant Materials
As teachers select materials, which help their students master their content standards each year, they need to select relevant material, which will engage their specific students. A strong unit, which met all of the standards, and engaged last year’s students, may be very inappropriate for this year’s students if it is constructed around a source text that is entirely irrelevant for this year’s students. For example, the Common Core State Standards specifically mention the U.S. Constitution as literature in the 11th Grade English Language Arts Standards. Ronan (2015) recounts a difficult year engaging students and journals about finally catching their passion for the first time: “Bet those kids in the back of the class won’t fall asleep studying the U.S. Constitution through the lens of the Marvel Universe Civil War.” I remember a group of my junior athletes holding a serious protest one year because their summer reading assignment, Black Hawk Down, had no relevance, in their opinion, for an 88% female class. We need to select materials, not because they are interesting to us or because they are convenient, but because they are engaging and relevant to our students as well as strong resources for teaching our content standards.
Use Technology to Save Time
A final way we can engage students right away is by using technology well. If we have the money, we should put a device in every student’s hands. Students do more on their smartphones today than students did 20 years ago on paper: “the digital landscape is a more natural place for students to learn, explore, and create, than the traditional textbook, pen, and paper one”(Ronan, 2015). Classroom management with digital tools is no different--teachers simply need to work the room and be aware of their students’ level of engagement in activities, and the time saved with the devices in other ways is worth the learning curve required during the transition. Imagine a spot where written directions are posted digitally for late students like a facebook post so teachers don’t have to verbally address them again. Imagine a digital folder for absent students with a drop box of student samples from yesterday’s work to help students catch up with less one-on-one help. To reinforce the digital directions, teachers can create digital teamwork in their classrooms and require students to check in with one, two, or even three peers before asking the teacher to clarify directions: “By insisting that students ‘ask three before me,’ you make it clear that they are expected to seek assistance from all members of their team before they turn to you.” (De Frondeville, 2009). These precious minutes we buy back can be spent remediating skills with struggling students instead of repeating directions--which isn’t helping anyone master a skill, meet a goal, engage in learning at a high level, or be accountable for their own learning. If we start using technology in smarter ways, we will also start focusing our students toward learning in subtle ways that say YOU are part of the team here, too, and we are all going to work today.
Engagement Means Movement
If we truly want our students to engage at a high level during every lesson, then we need to move. We need to transition between activities so students can interact with content in diverse ways. We need to move our materials every year and use what’s best for our current students. We need to move into the 21st century and communicate efficiently so we don’t waste precious instructional time on low-level tasks. Finally, we need to move around our rooms because if we aren’t present and involved with every student, seeing their learning from every angle, then we won’t know when their engagement is dropping so we change change our practices and improve.
For Administrators
Administrators need to plan with similar engagement strategies in mind. We can’t wait until Friday morning to throw a Friday afternoon training together and expect it to be meaningful. We can’t play more than fifteen minutes of a video without providing some sort of reflection, group activity, or engaging movement to ensure that a transition allows teachers to interact with the content of the video in a different way that sit-and-get. We need to use the tools of effective teaching, or our teachers won’t receive effective development. And if we aren’t going to provide effective development, then we should give them their time to individualize their own videos and reflections, which might at least match their annual goals instead of one staff video, which can’t possibly be differentiated for everyone’s professional development goals for the year. We can’t expect teachers, who know the rules of engagement, to trust us as their leaders, when we ignore those same rules. If we’re struggling to complete meaningful plans for professional development on time, we can usually delegate portions of that time to various stakeholders rather than taking the entire burden upon ourselves. Either way, we need some sort of plan for that precious time, which is meaningful for our staff members. That plan needs to be both engaging and relevant if it going to help teachers grow in their craft.
More Resources:
Strategies to Increase Engagement
Professional Development Video on Engagement Research
A Variety of Engagement Strategies
Other Instructional Toolkit Pages:
Cooperative Learning Model
Instructional Time
Re-Teaching
Extending Learning Beyond Mastery
Or Return to Instructional Tools Main Page:
Instructional Tools
References
De Frondeville, T. (2009, December 03). How to Keep Kids Engaged in Class (Edutopia). Retrieved January 11, 2017, from https://www.edutopia.org/classroom-student-participation-tips
Dean, C. B., Hubbell, E. R., Pitler, H., & Stone, B. J. (2012). Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement, 2nd Edition. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Goodwin, B., & Hubbell, E. R. (2013). The 12 Touchstones of Good Teaching: A Checklist for Staying Focused Every Day. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
McDonald, E. (2017, January 26). How to Involve and Engage Students (Education World). Retrieved January 26, 2017, from http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/columnists/mcdonald/mcdonald007.shtml
Ronan, A. (2015, August 20). 5 Ways to Engage Students (Edudemic). Retrieved January 11, 2017, from http://www.edudemic.com/top-five-ways-engage-students-classroom/