STUDENT ENGAGEMENT
What is student engagement? Many teachers, experienced and novice teachers alike, are puzzled by this question.
It seems obvious, doesn’t it? Student engagement means that students are “engaged”; that they are active and participating in the lesson. Isn’t that obvious? Or, is it?
Student engagement means much more than students raising their hands and answering questions or filling in the blanks or working on math problems on a work sheet.
Student engagement means that students are actively participating and taking ownership for their own learning. Not only are they responding to the teacher’s questions, but they are also asking questions. There is two-way conversation: teacher to student, student to teacher, and student to student. It also involves more than just a few students.
The effective and conscientious teacher constantly assesses her lessons and her student participation. She observes and strives to keep 100% of her students engaged. That may seem like a utopian goal, but there are many teachers out there who will say that it is achievable.
In her blog, Heather Wolpert-Gowron listed responses from her middle school students when she posed the question, “What engages students?” These are some of their responses:
• Students want to work with their peers.
• Students want to work with technology.
• Students want to know that there are real world connections with the work that they do.
• Students want to know that their teachers genuinely love what they do.
• Students want to be active and welcome the opportunity to get out of their seats.
• Students want visuals to help clarify the topic at hand.
• Students want to be given the opportunity to take ownership and make choices.
• Students want their teachers to “lighten up” and be human.
So how do you know that your students are engaged? Here are some things to look for:
• Students are alert and paying attention and listening to the speaker.
• Students are taking notes either from what the speaker is saying or from reading critically.
• Students are asking and responding to questions either in whole group or small group.
• Students are reacting to what is being said by the speaker (showing some kind of emotional response).
• Students are writing to learn or writing to create.
• Students are alert and on task.
How do you know that all of your students are engaged in learning?
