It's a post on Ten Steps to Better Student Engagement. That's something I can always work on.
Here are the Ten Steps
Create an Emotionally Safe Classroom
Create an Intellectually Safe Classroom
I have to admit after I read those first two suggestions, I thought, "Gee. Tell us something we don't know." It started sounding like all those relatively worthless education classes I had to sit through as an undergrad in order to become a teacher.
The emotional side, though, is something that took me awhile to resolve. I still, though, tend to use humor - sarcasm - to some times put students in their places. That's something I need to work on.
The intellectual side is something I've gotten better at. Though, I'm not quite up to the standards of this article, which suggest having an activity that 95% of the class can do without my help. They argue that using an activity like this will get the kids thinking and used to working independently. Then the assignments will increase in difficulty throughout the lesson.
I like the sounds of that. And once in awhile I'm able to pull that off. But I'm just not organized enough for that. Instead, I try to start each lesson just talking with the kids. I look for an "in" that I can use to link to the lesson or what we're talking about.
Sometimes this calls for me to shift gears at a moment's notice. One of the best examples I can think of was a few years ago my students came in angry from another class. I think the previous teacher was supposed to have their tests or papers corrected but went golfing instead.
The students were worked up and venting. I listened to them and let them blow off steam. Since it was an American Lit class, I sought to find an 'in' to what we'd be reading that day, "The Yellow Wallpaper."
But as I saw them ranting, I decided that they just weren't in the right state of mind for that story. Quickly, I shifted gears and made copies of "A&P" by John Updike. And I was able to link all their anger and frustration into Sammy's plight and his ridiculous attempt at impressing Quennie and her friends.
It worked. The kids poured all of their frustration and anger into the story, and they could relate quite well to Sammy's ordeal.
Cultivate Your Engagement Meter
This means monitoring your students closely to make sure that they are engaged in the classroom as much as possible.
The enemy of engagement: busy work.
This is one of the most difficult aspects of teaching. It requires flexibility. Sometimes students get wrapped up in an assignment far more than I anticipated. That's when you have to gauge their engagement and learn to let go and not shut it down.
The problem here is that every class is different.
A number of years ago my first block Comm 10 class were totally engaged in a lesson on the Langston Hughes' poem "Harlem" or better known as "A Dream Deferred."
I was blown away in how engaged everyone was. We kept it going and it ate up the whole block.
I was so eager to try this with my next Comm 10 class. Guess what? It bombed. Well, it didn't exactly bomb. But the students were not nearly as into the poem as the first class was.
I think one reason we have gotten ourselves into the horrific state of education that we are in is that too often this element was overlooked.
Who cares if students are engaged? They come to class, sit still, take the notes, study the notes, regurgitate it on the test, get their grade and move on.
Well, that form of education worked 50 years ago, but not anymore.
Well, I am not sure that it ever worked at all. Perhaps, we should be amazed that education in such a boring fashion ever worked at all.
Just think back to your own high school experiences. How many teachers did you have who closely monitored you and supplemented your work or challenged you or knew when to back off or interject when something was too difficult?
How many of you had teachers who would hand out a worksheet or assign a chapter to read and then they would go back to their desks to read the paper or fall asleep.
I'm ashamed to admit that just about everyone I talk to had a teacher just like that. My niece's husband talked last week about their history teacher who would hand out busy work or put on a movie and then back to his desk to nod off. He would sleep so hard that students would take turns trying to hit him with balled up pieces of paper.
My wife recalls a geography teacher who handed out busywork and went to his desk to read the paper or sleep.
And we tolerate such lousy teaching.
Engagement is vital.
Create Appropriate Intermediate Steps
This is otherwise known as scaffolding. Carefully, layer assignments so there is a balance of student struggle with success.
Where I need to get better at this is with my multi-genre research paper. Most students have written in all of the various genres we can use (research, personal narrative, letters, drawings or artwork, reviews, journal entries, comparison, persuasive and so on), but they aren't used - at all - to weaving or braiding it all together to create a very complex piece.
I always hand out some of the best MGRP for students to use as examples, but we don't go over them in depth like we need to.
One thing that I've done to try to help this is to teach the braided essay in College Comp I. So when students get to the MGRP in CC II, they have already done a braided essay and dealt with weaving together different pieces of their work.
But I still need to guide them better. Perhaps, actually writing a MGRP with them would be the key to this. I brainstorm and come up with a shell of a MGRP with them, but I don't actually sit down and write it out.
I'm going to do that this fall to see if that helps.
Practice Journal or Blog Writing to Communicate with Students
While I use a class blog in CC II, I could use one for each class. The author talks about how students could have a chance to sum up or critique or ask questions on a class blog at the end of class. This is similar to an exit slip, which I've used via text messages before.
Create a Culture of Explanation Instead of a Culture of the Right Answer
"You know you have created a rich learning event when all students are engaged in arguing about the best approach to the assignment. When you use questions and problems that allow for multiple strategies to reach a successful outcome, you give students the opportunity to make choices and then compare their approaches. This strategy challenges them to operate at a higher level of thinking than when they can share only the "correct" answer."
Now that is far easier said than done. This is something I aim for every day, but ever day, I struggle to attain it.
Teach Self-Awareness About Knowledge
This is something I've started doing more and more. I asked Kim Donehower at UND a few years ago what she wished high school teachers did more of to prepare the freshmen writers she would be getting from us.
One of the most important things she shared was "Teach them How They Learn." So we do quite a bit of discussion and analysis of how they learn. That means knowing their weaknesses (such as procrastination), knowing how they learn best (visually or audibly), knowing their strengths (such as excelling under pressure or outlining).
Use Questioning Strategies that Make All Students Think and Answer
Ah, the art of discussion and questioning. I work on this constantly. I've gotten better than I was five years ago, but that isn't really saying a whole lot. I've been guilty of letting a few people in the class dominate the discussions.
Some things I've done to improve on this are listed below
1. For some assignments or readings (such as "The Yellow Wallpaper" and "Young Goodman Brown" and the article "Pearls Before Breakfast") I will type out a question for each student in the class specifically tied to the story. Then I will give them bonus questions that anyone can answer.
2. I will grade them on discussion. Dr. Drake always did this at NCTC. I will simply take my grade book up to the podium and tell them I'll be grading this discussion and open it up. As I look at the scores, I'll keep in mind that some haven't shared anything, so I might call on them and give them the chance to share.
3. I use the blog and cell phones to assist in this. Often I'll have students read something and text me five observations. The next day in class, I'll share their thoughts and open that up to discussion. Other things like Polleverywhere or Wiffiti or Wallwisher, also allow for more engagement in class discussion.
Practice Using the Design Process to Increase the Quality of Student Work
I love this idea and need to use it in class NOW
"Engineers build prototypes, respond to critical feedback, and refine their design before going into production. Artists make sketches of big works and revise their ideas before creating their final piece. Use the design process to drive your students to produce higher-quality work than they are used to doing when they create only a first effort. Include peer evaluation as part of the feedback they receive."
Market Your Projects
I've tried to do this by publishing and sharing student work via blogs, Youtube, Scribd, Slideshare, Prezi and so on. But that's not enough.
The author notes
"When your students ask, "Why do we need to know this?" you must be ready with the best answer possible. Great projects incorporate authentic tasks that will help students in their lives, jobs, or relationships. Engage students by developing an inventory of big ideas to help you make the connections between your assignments and important life skills, expertise, high-quality work, and craftsmanship. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills provides a good starter list.
Also, search out the powerful processes and ideas experts in your own subject use repeatedly. (In math, for instance, my list includes generalizing and parts and wholes.) Keep a journal of the big ideas you've discovered simply by teaching your subject. By continually referring to these big ideas, you will encourage students to think and act like subject-matter experts and develop skills they will use throughout their lives."
Tobias, one of my former students, gave me a great suggestion a few weeks ago: have students find a professional blog that interests them or connects to one of their passions. Then have them leave feedback on the blog to engage in professional discussion.That's what I need to do more of.
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