Written by Diane Titche, Kent ISD Early Literacy Coach

As educators we are always striving to engage our students in their learning. But what exactly does it mean to have engaged students? When you step back to observe your students and see the work they have produced, how can you tell if they are truly engaged in their learning? 

Let’s consider some of the behaviors you might see in students who are NOT engaged. Then we can dig a little deeper into those behaviors, and consider how we can increase their levels of engagement.

1. Students are not paying attention or completing assignments.

If any of your students are not paying attention while you are teaching and/or they are not completing assignments, they may not be engaged. When you look at the behaviors these students exhibit, to what do you attribute their lack of engagement?

Often our answers to that question pins the blame squarely on the students. We often hear statements such as “They just don’t care,” “They can’t do this level of work,” or “They are struggling with issues at home that are interfering with their learning.” While some or all of these things may be true, it does not mean we can’t help these students engage at higher levels (more on that to come).

2. Students do not remember what was recently taught.

This one might be a little shocking. Students that appear to pay attention to the lessons, answer questions, and complete assignments seem to be engaged, right? But, if you ask those students a question about the lesson (even a short period of time after it was taught) do they retain the information? If the answer is no, this is a sure sign that the student is NOT truly engaged.

On the surface these students appear to be engaged, but they are actually working at the levels of compliance and participation, and are not truly invested in learning the material we are teaching. Often they will study and remember the material for the test or project that serves as our final assessment, but shortly after that, it’s like they never learned it at all.

This can be both frustrating and infuriating as it can leave us feeling like we’ve wasted our time. Then we may start to wonder why we even bothered to put so much effort into our teaching. It also results in teachers at one grade level wondering what the teachers in the grade level before them actually taught. The problem isn’t that the material isn’t being taught. It’s that our students haven’t been engaged in learning it! 

3. Students say “This is boring” or “Why do we have to learn this”

When your students express that what they are learning about is boring or they don’t understand why they have to learn it, they are exhibiting signs of compliance and participation, but they are NOT engaged in their learning. These students go through the motions with us, but are unlikely to remember what we’ve taught and even less likely to be able to apply their learning in new situations. 

So how can you increase student engagement? 

There are several steps you can take to turn your students from NOT engaged to HIGHLY engaged in their learning.

Give your students ownership!

While we can work hard to make our lessons engaging, there is ultimately nothing we can do to make students engaged. It is up to them to choose to engage in their learning. The foundation of their ownership over their own engagement is an understanding of what engagement is.

When we teach our students what true engagement looks like, sounds like, and feels like, we are helping them learn to recognize when they are engaged and when they are not. We can also help them develop strategies for reengaging when they recognize that they are not engaged. By helping them recognize their own engagement, we are giving them the knowledge and tools they need to take control of their own engagement. 

Give students voice and choice over their learning.

This does not mean abandoning our standards and curriculum or making our classrooms a free-for-all. What it does mean is allowing students to choose within the content we are teaching. They can choose “WHAT,” within the content, they most want to learn about. They can choose “HOW” they want to learn about it. And finally, they can choose “HOW” they want to share their learning. 

Center ALL students’ identities in our lessons. 

It is very important that students see themselves reflected in the content we are teaching and the materials we are using to teach. It is vital to their ability to connect with the content and engage in their learning. This means critically evaluating our lessons and resources and looking for opportunities to center our students within them. 

Teach real world content.

When we center the skills we need to teach in real world content, including and especially in topics that are in the news, our lessons become more relevant, authentic, and engaging. While this can mean delving into topics that may be considered controversial, our students want and need to learn about the issues in our world today.

We honor our students when we help them to understand current issues and provide them with authentic audiences with whom to share their learning. This empowers even our youngest students to be problem solvers.

When our students get involved in improving their world, whether that be their classroom, their school, their community, or the lives of others halfway around the world, they reach incredibly high levels of engagement. Students learn the importance of the skills we are teaching them, and they are able to remember and reapply their learning across a wide variety of contexts. 

How can you learn more about student engagement?

These are just a few of the practices educators in the Ignite Engagement Cohorts have been learning and applying in their classrooms. In doing so, they have seen engagement among their students reach new levels, have found renewed joy in their teaching, and experienced the rewards of teaching students who are truly invested in their learning.

If you would like to apply to join the 2022-2023 Ignite Engagement Apprentice Cohort, please complete and submit the appropriate application by Wednesday, June 15th.

If you have questions about Ignite Engagement, please email Diane Titche.

#StudentEngagement #IgniteEngagement #WeLeadLearning #KentISDpd