Do you ever wish that your students were more engaged, or that they cared more about what they were learning or that they would take learning more seriously? Do you want to increase student engagement?
Lets face it, it is more fun and less stressful to teach students who are engaged. When your students are engaged, you will have fewer behavior challenges. Your lessons will run more smoothly and you will accomplish more in less time. Students will complete tasks and turn in their assignments. They will also likely remember more of what they learned.
Does that sound like a dream? It’s possible.
How can you increase student engagement?
In previous posts, we have written about many strategies that increase student engagement. You can check out the links to some of those posts at the end of this article. In this post, we are going to address the bottom line, the three things every student needs to know so that they will be more engaged.
What is the secret sauce? Here are three things every student needs to know in every lesson:
What are we going to learn?
Tell students the objectives of the lesson. Share the the outcomes. Show them the learning standard. However you do it, make sure students know what they are going to learn. Tell them and post it on the board. Use this prompt:
Today you are going to learn to…
Why is it so important?
When students understand the purpose for their learning, they are more motivated to learn. Students are less likely to engage when they view the work as a waste of time. When students can answer the question, “why is this important?” they understand the purpose of the lesson. Use this prompt:
Today’s lesson is important because…
How will I use this?
This piece creates relevance. When students understand how they might use something, or how it will help them in the future, or how it will improve their skills such as critical thinking or the ability to analyze, they will be more likely to buy in to the activity. Use this prompt:
Here are some of the ways you will use this information or skill in the future…
You can increase student engagement with these three steps. In every lesson, make sure students know what they are going to learn, why they are going to learn it and how they will use the information. It is a simple yet powerful formula to increase student engagement.
Our best,
Here are some other strategies to increase student engagement:
4 Great Active Learning Strategies for All Content Areas
Mix and Match Active Learning Strategy
8 Simple Ways to Create a Joyful Classroom
How to Engage Students the Week Before Break
Spring Fever? Take Students Outside!
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