(Click Here to go straight to the Challenge instead)
Watch the video above and then I want you to think about this scenario…
I want you to picture the perfect, fairytale story of being a teacher:
That definition might be a little different for everyone, but I’m confident there are some bold similarities:
Your classroom is full of happy, respectful students who enjoy learning in your community and want to be there because they are engaged and focused on learning and not grades.
They are driving instruction and won’t give up until they succeed. Because of this, they feel like they are successful and believe in themselves…they feel safe to ask questions.
They might make mistakes, but they learn from them and because of this, your classroom is full of laughter and everyone feels valued and loved.
Your lesson? Perfection. You’re having conversations with every student and building those oh-so-important relationships.
As the students work, they’re engaged in discussion, asking questions, working together, etc., even if they’re not quite mastering the content yet…which is fine, because you have another activity ready to go to build off those topics later on, so you’re confident they’ll get there.
The best part? Students leave your class saying how much they enjoyed it and what they learned today.
When you’re not physically in school, you have the leisure of choosing if you would rather get ahead with work OR spend time doing what you love instead (or maybe picking up that habit you’ve been starting “tomorrow” since 2009) because either way, you’re not falling behind or struggling to keep up.
You have a schedule for the classroom and one for home, always having enough time to complete what you need to (or want to).
You can take the time to binge-watch your favorite show or play with your kids or your dog…or even getting lost in a really good book without the guilt.
Here’s the thing though….and stick with me here…
We each have glimmers of these moments in the classroom, right? The moments where everything seems to click.
Those are the moments that bring us back in, no matter how tough of a day we are having, to remind us why we’re teachers.
If only there was a way to “schedule” those moments to happen all at once.
It couldn’t be that easy though, right? If it was, wouldn’t we have figured it out by now?
Maybe it’s been that we haven’t been shown the tools to make it all sync up…
So, How Do I Get Started Increasing Student Engagement?
I’m so glad you asked 🙂
I have a ton of resources that I am going to be sending your way to help you navigate your own student engagement formula.
I say “your own” because no two formulas will be alike. You have your own unique teaching preferences and the dynamic of students in your classroom is unlike anyone else’s.
While yes, there may be similarities, there is only one true formula that you will develop that works for your personal classroom community.
Today is the first step in determining that formula.
Step 1 : Understand WHY our students are different
Even prior to March 2020, the current generation of students in our classrooms was learning substantially differently than their predecessors. Add in the trauma of the past several years (for all of us!) and you have a recipe for student engagement breakdown (and I’m guessing that’s why you’re here).
Below is a short article that breaks down the psyche of both “Generation Z” (our older kids) and “Generation Alpha” (our littles) that I will be expanding upon during our workshop (with defined ways to counter the issues we are seeing across the board…cell phone addiction, anyone??)
Step 2: Recognize that we are NOT alone…
Go ahead into our Facebook group and post what your biggest frustration is when it comes to the current state of your student engagement. No issue is too big or too small, too massive or too minute.
I want you to do this for two reasons…
- I want to see what everyone’s biggest frustrations are so we can address them
- I want you to see (and fully understand) that you’re not alone!
So often we are swept up in the daily happenings of our own classrooms or our own school buildings that we forget that there is a huge resource of support, understanding, and frankly, really great ideas out there in each other…other teachers who are reading the same script with a different cast of characters.
We are here to support each other, and I am here to support YOU. Welcome to our community 😃