High Impact Recipe for Engaging Learners in K-12, University, and Beyond

According to a recent survey conducted by Youth Truth:

• 50% of students enjoy school. This means that 50% do not.
• 68% of students in small schools self-report that they are engaged in learning as opposed to 57% of students in large schools.
• 78% of elementary students self-report being engaged as compared to 60% of students in middle and/or high school.

So how can we increase engagement especially as students enter middle and/or high school? Adult learners?

Ensure that Lesson Plans Have Structure

Schools and universities are beginning to understand the importance of lesson structure and are now hiring not only content experts but instructors with a grounding in both learning theory and pedagogy. In ensuring that lessons are aligned with learning objectives, I have found the following lesson agenda to be helpful in teaching children and in facilitating adult learning as well:

A. Do Now/Quick Write Aligned to Lesson Objective - 5 minutes

B. Mini-Lesson/Instructor Models Learning - 10-15 minutes

C. Students Practice Learning Independently and/or in a Group - 20 - 25 minutes

D. Lesson Summary - Did Students Achieve the Objective? - 5 minutes

Implementing the above agenda is good news. In expecting educators to develop lessons aligned to learning outcomes, we are more likely to see students and/or trainees meeting learning targets because teachers must consider how they will check for student understanding at each stage of the lesson (A - D), and, by systematizing a process where learners need to practice learning (C), teachers further must consider how learners will DEEPLY engage with academic material.

Still, educators need additional strategies through which to engage students. For example, while asking students to respond to teacher directed questions is a good strategy to check for student understanding, especially when the instructional facilitator "cold calls" on learners, the overuse of a Q&A engagement strategy can lead to student boredom. Further, when teachers do use Q&A strategies, they often do not use Q&A strategies to full effect. For instance, by accepting question responses from only one learner at a time, teachers may be getting a sense of an individual's level of understanding but not that of the class as a whole. Worse still, I still see teachers making the mistake of accepting shout out answers from the extroverts among a student group. What then about the introvert's level of understanding? Lastly, teacher directed Q&A limits student to student engagement in learning. This is a shame given that research conducted by Dr. Paul Vermette at Niagara University indicates a 90% learning retention rate when students engage in reciprocal teaching.

Ensure that Each Lesson Stage Embeds Varied Student Engagement Strategies

So, how then can instructors use varied engagement strategies more effectively? Consider which engagement strategies work best with which stages of an objective aligned lesson. For example, since the Do Now/Quick Write and Summary stages of a lesson are short in length, engagement strategies should also be short in duration and designed to obtain a cursory quick read on student understanding. Yes - When modeling learning, instructors can use Q&A strategies, along with other basic checks for understanding (CFU) techniques, to survey individual and collective student learning and to pivot instruction as necessary. Just don't beat any one engagement strategy to death! Also, for students to deeply process learning, engagement strategies need to go beyond that of just taking a quick pulse on student comprehension in that engagement strategies also need to elicit rigorous academic discourse among and between students.

I am developing a "Lesson Engagement Strategy Template", as an eventual Google document, so that schools in which I work can edit/amend as teachers learn additional engagement strategies. I would be interested in receiving any reader thoughts on how to improve the draft idea for this document below:

A. Do Now/Quick Write Aligned to Lesson Objective - 5 Minutes

Engagement Strategies - Quick Write then:

Pair-Share with popcorn questioning (student tells what partner said and picks the next student to answer) and/or whip around responses (students one by one quickly respond)

B. Mini-Lesson/Instructor Models Learning - 10-15 Minutes

Engagement Strategies - Q&A with use of cold calling (teacher randomly picks students by saying name after the question), student hand signals (to express true/false, yes/no, agreement/disagreement, ABCD answers, etc.), choral response (at the count of three, 1...2...3, students in unison say answer which lets teacher know if anyone is not in line/understanding), and/or individual student white boards (a.k.a. chalkboard splash - teachers can also use sheets of white paper behind a transparency sheet). I particularly like the the use of individual white boards because this can allow students to view, reflect, and comment upon peer responses and can allow the teacher to quickly assess EVERY student's learning with EVERY question asked.

C. Students Practice Learning Individually and/or in Groups - 20-25 Minutes

Here, teachers should plan to spend the bulk of their planning time in ensuring that students can reflect and dialogue on their thinking processes as well as on the targeted academic content. Teachers can consider, for example, using activities such as Socratic Seminar, Four Corners, Jigsaw, Give One Take One, and/or Gallery Walk engagement strategies, etc. The key goal in this part of the lesson is to have the student/s practice their learning so that they can analyze, synthesize, evaluate, and create new meanings from information provided to them.

D. Lesson Summary - Did Students Achieve the Learning Objective? - 5 Minutes

Consider using short writing activities such as Word Splash, 3-2-1 Exit Ticket, etc. Students can also discuss as a Pair-Share if there is time.

Feel free to reach out if you would like a copy of the final document. Happy Holidays!