Active Engagement Strategies

I read this powerful statistic excerpt on Edutopia recently:

"In his book Results Now, Dr. Michael Schmoker shares a powerful study.  Of 1,500 classrooms visited, 85 percent of them had engaged less than 50 percent of the students.  In other words, only 15 percent of the classrooms had more than half of the class paying attention to the lesson."

My first reaction was WOW!  That is a very small percentage of students!  How does this affect their learning?  It doesn't take a PhD to realize this is not good for growth, not good at all.

Active engagement is students actively participating in meaningful and authentic learning.  It's not easy to structure every single part of your day so every single student is actively engaged!  But try we must!  You'll find that introducing some simple strategies to involve all students will create a base that you can build on. 

*Set reasonable rules and routines for your classroom.  (Think like Goldilocks-not too many rules, not too few rules, just the right amount for your age level.)  In establishing rules and routines keep them realistic. Explicitly teach the rules and routines, over and over again if necessary.  Without a good management system you will not be able to keep the kids actively engaged.

*Design your lessons around a gradual release model.  Don't lecture and then expect your students to go out and work independently immediately.  Your struggling students will give up as soon as you start talking.

Doug Fisher explains Gradual Release

*Keep your mini-lessons brief.  Remember the capacity to pay attention is around 1 minute for each year (10 year old=10 minutes).  Start with a very brief review of yesterday's lesson.  Give students a relateable meaningful reason why you are teaching that skill.  Deliver your lesson at a brisk pace.  Always end the lesson with a link to their independent work.

*Use think-pair-share.  This is my number one go-to for getting kids to participate.  Depending on your class you may want to designate partner #1 and partner #2.  Then you can start a question or command with "Partner #1 turn and tell Partner #2...".  This will make sure you don't have one student dominating the conversation.

Think-Pair-Share

*Active Reading-Don't round robin (or popcorn)!  Instead try one of these:
echo reading
choral reading
cloze reading
partner reading
whisper reading
jigsaw reading (content)
stop and think reading
teacher reading
switch-off reading

A great resource book:








 *Use collaborative groups whenever possible. Some group tips:

• establish a variety of grouping choices for different activities
• keep size small
• use consistently
• have individual and group expectations (and explicitly teach them)

This is just a small sampling of the many techniques and activities out there that can keep your students actively engaged.  Remember-don't overwhelm yourself!  Start with a few strategies, and once those have been solidified with your class, add more. You'll find yourself an active engagement pro in no time!