Student Engagement: Keeping Students Interested

 Have you ever looked around the classroom and noticed that one student was staring out the window, another was jerking awake, and still another was staring at you with glazed eyes? Yeah, it happens to me as well. While sometimes unavoidable, here are some things that have helped with the level of engagement in my classroom:

1. Don't Treat the Class Like a Group- This sounds strange, but it is important. Do you talk one way when you are addressing the group and another way when you are talking to an individual student? Students can sense this and fade into the background of the collective when possible. When you are talking to the group, you should avoid generalizations and still look for the individuals in front of you. 

2. Cold Calling- I know this is stressful and not recommended. But I think that it is useful in the right situation. After all, don't we cold call all the time in our day-to-day conversations? This is a normal part of socialization. In small groups, my students know that I am going to stop at any point and they should all be ready to identify where we are and to answer questions with specific examples from the text. 

3. Require Every Hand- When I was student teaching, my cooperating teacher required that all students put their hand up to try every question. At first I thought this was crazy, but she removed the stigma around getting answers incorrect, so of course we wanted every student to be willing to try. When you ask a question, don't just look for the correct answer. Look for the process. Look for engagement. 

4. Open-Ended Responses- Ask students to explain, connect, relate, discuss, analyze. This loosens the structure of class and encourages real thinking and discussion. 

5. Change the Structure- Changing the layout of the classroom or the structure of class really livens things up. If my kids are drowsy, we go outside. If they are inattentive, we all stand up. If they are too comfortable, we try a new activity. 

6. Incorporate Student Interests- Do they like video games? Drawing? Superheroes? Music? Add it to the lesson.