Engaging the Secondary Student

This weekend, I attended a block party and ending up talking about my favorite subject...teaching!  One poor neighbor (a teacher from a different district) had the misfortune of sharing with me his opinion on structured engagement techniques for high school students, and we had a little "discussion"...yep, I'm that fun at a party!

Here's the truth...I was that student in your high school class.  The one who always looked to be paying attention, nodding and smiling at all the right times, cramming just before the test so that I could show mastery of what you taught, writing well enough to bypass real understanding while appearing knowledgeable, silently hiding behind that student who was bound to earn a 36 on their ACT and willing to participate in class.  Ask how much of that learning I retained...at least one of my AP tests revealed the truth.

Requiring engagement from every student in the classroom is necessary.  It's necessary in order...

• to build individual accountability
• to build social skills
• to ensure every student understands
• to expand perspectives

The list can go on and on, but check out how we engage our secondary students, and reflect on your student engagement practices.

Students take turns doing the work while their partner praises and coaches using the technique "Rally Coach."

Make students move!  Having students physically move to another location in the room for a demonstration or mini-lesson before they apply their learning resets their brains and prepares them for their next task. 

In small groups, students work to solve problems, creating solutions that apply their learning.  

Use space differently - sometimes the novel is engaging.  Writing on the desk or using vertical space gives student a new perspective.

Peer practice - students take turns practicing their student-led conference and get feedback from their partner.

Group sharing - after students reflect individually, give them a chance to share to expand their thinking.

In teams, students become the nucleus, racing to various parts of the room to learn about mitochondria and DNA structures to complete their puzzles.  (I might have messed up the details of this - sorry Mr. Edwards!  One could suspect that science was one of those subjects where I "hid" as a high schooler.)

Students rotate through stations with specific individual and group tasks.  In this station, students research various types of faults and instruct their team.

While students work in stations, teachers can pull students for small group instruction that allows for formative assessment of understanding.