Teachers have always worried about a lack of student engagement. This concern around engagement has become even more drastic during the pandemic. For example, according to a study by EdWeek.org, teachers in schools with the highest level of poverty reported that nearly one-third of their students had not logged in or made contact.
Educators feel responsible for delivering content to their students, including in remote settings. Even before the pandemic, students may not have fully participated in class activities. As a result, students fell behind their peers academically and socially.
I remember struggling with engagement when I first started teaching in K-12 environments—then struggling again when I began working with adults at the university level. I have since learned there is research and a millennium of storytelling that could support my teaching.
While no one strategy can address all areas of student engagement (many issues around engagement are not related to instruction), there are time-honored strategies to help your efforts.
Save the Cat
When you watch any movie with a hero, look for a scene in the first 20 minutes where they do something kind (e.g., help someone cross the street, save someone’s life). This scene is written because many screenwriters have read the book Save the Cat: The Last Book on Screen Writing You Will Ever Need. The idea behind the book is that the hero must do something early on (e.g., save a cat from a tree, help a small child cross the road) to make us connect with their character in some way. The point is, if we don’t connect with the hero, we will not care if they win in the end. From Pixar movies (watch Moana save a turtle link) to Rocky (see Rocky talk to puppies at 5:36 in this clip link), the heroes can be seen doing something where we can connect with them.
Similarly, research indicates that student-teacher connection can lead to a better environment and improved outcomes for students through relatively small activities.
Strategies for Engagement
We adapted the steps for increasing student engagement from Clay Cook and Colleagues (link) Joseph Allen and Colleagues (link). These steps can include:
- Laughing with students (not at students)
- Giving students a choice on how to respond in an assignment (e.g., topic, partners)
- Providing an out of desk greeting at the beginning of class (or at the beginning of an online class)
- Asking about life events like sports (not about their romantic interests)
- Asking students why they answered a question a certain way (e.g., why did you say..)
- Delivering specific praise (e.g., five positives for every one corrective statement, thanks for being on time)
- Providing approval statements (e.g., this assignment was well done..I liked how you..)
- Provide positive non-verbal gestures (e.g., thumbs up) to specific students exhibiting expected behaviors or the entire class as a whole
Below you will find a short video on supporting engagement in secondary classrooms based on these strategies. You can use this video for your learning or as a part of the professional development you offer.
Here is a link to the slides from the video (link).
Certainly, these steps will not help you to engage every student. However, they do provide suggestions for increasing the chance students will feel more connected to your class.
Please take a moment to rank order these suggestions above by your level of comfort with them. You also could take a moment to brainstorm your own strategies for engagement. Find one method you feel most comfortable with, and give it a try this week.
By implementing some of the strategies for increasing student engagement, you may find:
- Your students feel more connected to your classroom
- Your students are more connected to your content
- Your students are more successful academically and behaviorally
By not engaging your students, you may:
- Limit your own ability to connect with students
- Continue a cycle of frustration for both you and your students
- Create barriers to accessing the important content you are trying to teach
For more information on engagement, check out chapter 14 (Increasing Student Engagement) in our book: Implementing Systematic Interventions A Guide for Secondary Teams (check out the book here).
Also, here are some additional blogs we have written about increasing student engagement, particularly in secondary schools (link).
Finally, I really like this module from the National Center on Intensive Interventions on antecedent and instructional strategies (link). Their module includes useful strategies for increasing student engagement.
By addressing student engagement, you can move from simply trying to share content to increasing student learning. Take time this week to save the cat!
I would love to hear about strategies you are using to engage your students in learning. Please take a moment to respond below with your ideas.