Clara Smith
Educator
21 Teaching Straegies to Promote Student Engagement
Tanner, K. D. (2013). Structure Matters: Twenty-One Teaching Strategies to Promote Student Engagement and Cultivate Classroom Equity. CBE Life Sciences Education, 12(3), 322–331. http://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.13-06-0115
According to the article “21 Strategies to Promote Student Engagement” there are five goals they want teachers to think about in terms of student engagement. With the first section in mind the ultimate goal is to get students talking and to allow them time to think. A lot of times a teacher will pose a question and then take the first hand that shot up without giving adequate think time. When we don’t give that think time to the students who need more processing time it is unfair to them and their learning. Through strategies like think-pair-share or wait time we can provide students that time to think so our classes can engage in a discussion. Now that we gave the kids time to think and process, how do we get them to participate and hold them accountable? Sometimes it is easy for kids to hide in class because they know other students will answer and they will be off the hook. As a teacher we need to find ways to get everyone talking and participating so they all have the chance to learn. Strategies such as whip around or simply requiring students to raise their hands can provide that equal participation time.
Part of having equal participation is making sure the classroom is a welcoming environment. As teachers we want all students to participate in class and so we need to make sure they feel safe doing so. Ways to make an accepting classroom environment include; knowing student's name, working in small groups or using culturally diverse learning examples (but don’t be over the top). Using these strategies are just a few very easy ways to include all students. There are some other deeper level strategies teachers can use to create a welcoming environment as well. One way is to watch how you respond to students answers and ideas. Teachers do not want to be quick to praise and say excellent or perfect! We also don’t want to judge the wrong answers either. Once we have over praised a student then others will assume they won’t have a good enough answer or once we say someone is wrong they may stop responding. Establishing early on classroom norms is good or posing open ended questions can help with this too. The best way to do this would be to set up the kind of classroom environment you want and expect right away. As soon as students walk through the door start teaching them how you want the classroom to be and how you want people to be treated.
I really enjoyed this article even though it was talking about a college level biology class. I was able to learn from it and reflect on my own teaching practices. I want to be better about requiring my students to raise their hands. I have a small group of students for math each day and I often allow them to shout out an answer without requesting they raise their hand. After reading the article I see I am cheating some of those slower processors out of a fair chance at think time. One strategy I read about was called whip around where you go around the room and each student has to answer the question or share how they solved a problem but it has to be different then the person before. I think that would be a fun and also challenging strategy to use in my classroom. I know it will push my students which is good. This article had a lot of points that I had been told once and it reminded me to use them and make sure I am being fair to my students.
Cool Tools for School: Twenty-First-Century Tools for Student Engagement
Kyoko, J., Troncale, J., Trucks, C., Calhoun, C., & Alvidrez, M. (2017). Cool Tools for School: Twenty-First-Century Tools for Student Engagement. Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 84(1), 53-58.
Cool Tools for School is an article that provides four different types of online engagement strategies for teachers to use. Through the use of these four tools teachers can encourage collaboration and interactions between others, they provide opportunities for a flipped classroom and allow for students to do some critical thinking. One of the tools suggested was Google Classroom. By using Google Classroom teachers can encourage students to create, collaborate, gain and share information. Collaboration is a major part of schools these days and Google Classroom provides that outlet for students. Teachers are also able to track students progress. Another great source for collaboration was Fakebook. There is a website that looks just like Facebook but is made for school. Students could be a part of a response group on there or the teacher could post discussion topics for them to answer.
The second point that kept coming up was a flipped classroom. A lot of teachers are going to this model because it allows them more time to help students when they are at school. I have found that most of my parents can’t really help students with their math homework and so flipping the classroom allows for the teacher to help them in class. Google Classroom is one that allows teachers to flip their classroom and lets students drive the instruction when they come back together (p.56). Educreations also allows teachers to flip their classroom by using interactive whiteboards, screenshots and videos to teach a lesson and then coming back the next day and discussing it. Both of these tools engage students because they get to use technology and then they can get specialized support the next day on an assignment. Fakebook could be used for this as well by creating lesson pages or group discussions.
The last point of this article was to encourage critical thinking. Through the use of all these online tools teachers can encourage critical thinking. They could pose questions on the Fakebook site or they could create an assignment in Google Classroom. Seasaw would also be a good one because it is a place to hold students assignments and they can create a portfolio on there. Using these tools helps students to think critically because it is a different way for them to respond to a question or something that was asked of them instead of having to write something down. Having them think critically online changes their mindset a little bit and they will be more engaged to answer and respond to something.
I really like the idea of a flipped classroom and wish it was something I could use with my students. The reason I can’t use it is because a lot of my students don’t have access to internet and so they wouldn’t be able to watch it. I think using these four tools would make the lesson more interesting and then when they come to class the next day we could focus on the assignment and they could ask me questions. Another tool I liked out of the list was Google Classroom. I have used Google Classroom before and I liked how I could keep track of students progress and everything was right there. You can give students the assignment and then they are encouraged to work independently which is important for students to learn how to do. All of these tools seem like a new and engaging way to teach my content and get my students to learn in a different way.
How Engagement Strategies and Literature Circles Promote Critical response in a 4th grade Urban Classroom
Long, T. W., & Gove, M. K. (2003). How engagement strategies and literature circles promote critical response in a fourth-grade, urban classroom. Reading Teacher, 57(4), 350-361.
For this article I found myself reading a research paper but I was still able to pick up on some strategies that I can use in my classroom. The points of this article were to help students find a deeper meaning in their reading, get students talking about the text and making them avid readers. There were three strategies that were posed to do this. One of the strategies was called “Ask, listen, honor, respond and encourage (p.352).” The point of this strategy is for teachers to ask students question about what they are reading and then hearing their response. Once they have said their response teachers need to then honor it and maybe challenge it or help them make understanding. This discussion is mainly ran by the teacher and in order for it to be successful the teacher needs to read the text ahead of time and come prepared with their questions. Students enjoy talking about what they read in a structured and somewhat challenging environment.
The second strategy to encourage students to talk about what they read is called “investigate and find out (p.352).” This strategy really gets the students to dig deep and then discuss what they found. Students are encouraged to investigate further into their story and think about in a deeper level. Once they have done this they can then partner up with a peer and discuss what they found. Here they are able to collaborate with peers and then share ideas. They are also talking about what they read and making meaning of it. The teacher can facilitate this or they can choose to observe and guide discussions when needed.
The last strategy is called “pose and solve problems (p.353).” For this strategy the teacher will pose a problem that students need to work together and solve. The problem could simply be a real life situation or they could give them a problem that lines up with the text they are reading. Students then work together to solve this problem. Here they are collaborating and working together to reach a census and come up with a solution. This strategy gives them purpose for reading and then they are more engaged with their story.
I really like the strategies this article has for getting students more engaged in their reading. Students seem to have lost interest with reading these days but when they are encouraged to work together and talk about the text they are more interested. I recently just switched my reading block to follow a similar model. I have found that students are more engaged and are actually discussing the text at a deeper level than they were before. Allowing them to collaborate and work together has also made them more engaged in the reading and I am hoping it will help improve their interest in reading too. I would like to try and do more literature circles like the article talked about because those can be a lot of fun for students. When they get to pick their own book and then engage in their own conversation about it, they are more likely to enjoy what they are reading.
Integration of Education: Using Social Media Networks to Engage Students
Blair, R. Serafini, T. (2014). Integration of Education: Using Social Media Networks to Engage Students. Journal of Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics, 12(6), 28-31. 1690-4524. http://www.iiisci.org/Journal/CV$/sci/pdfs/HA312LG14.pdf
I never thought that I would find a positive way for Facebook or Instagram to be used in my classroom but that is what the article “Integration of Education: Using Social Media Networks to Engage Students” has done. With the advancements of technology and social media students are connected to things and people way more then they were just 10 or so years ago. The article talks about ways to use social media networks in the classroom and how that will engage students more. By using social media we can encourage students to collaborate, we can engage students with something they already know and we can use social media as another way to deliver content. It is hard to believe that social media could do these things but I am convinced now it could be a good tool.
Social media can encourage collaboration with other students because students can connect with other students through the social media outlet. Through the use of Facebook or Twitter students could connect with another student and share something they learned that day and engage in discussions with them about it. Or they could work together on coming up with a solution to a problem or reach out to other peers when they have problems on a homework assignment or something in class. By connecting with others on social media students are expanding their world and their network. Facebook can create opportunities for collaboration which is important for students to do.
Let’s face it, our students are using things like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter already, some of my kids are even on YouTube! By allowing our students the ability to use something they already know they will be more interested in it then if they had to learn something new. According to the article, students are comfortable in a digital world and they seek out opportunities to use social media (p.28). By giving them structured ways to use social media they will like the idea of using something already familiar to them. Social media can be used as another way to deliver content as well. As a teacher you could post a blog or link on Facebook. You may create a board on Pinterest for a Social Studies lesson that your students can reference as you go. By delivering the information through social media it may be more appealing simply because it came to them on Twitter instead of a piece of paper.
I thought this article was really beneficial in the ideas that were presented and shared. I found a few new ideas that I could use in my classroom. One thing I thought about doing was finding a way to connect my students with other students through Facebook. I think it would be the modern version of pen pals. Most of my students already have a Facebook account or some kind of social media account that they could use or we could create one so that it is regularly monitored to make sure they are following rules. I like the idea of using Pinterest in the classroom. One way I thought I could do this was using it as an extension tool or differentiation tool. By creating a board with activities or links on there for students to use and follow when they finish an assignment. I like the idea of using social media in my classroom and I want to explore it more to see if there are ways to engage my students in a way they wouldn’t expect from me.