Search Results for: student engagement

I once heard teaching described as “herding cats,” and I laughed because I’ve lived it. Not in my own high school history classroom (11th graders are a different kind of chaos), but in the elementary classrooms I’ve spent time in as a trainer and as a parent volunteer. I remember standing in a kindergarten classroom … Read more

I was standing at the front of my fourth-period U.S. History class during the second semester of 2015, feeling pretty good about myself. I had spent the weekend crafting this incredible lesson on the New Deal, complete with primary sources and a mock congressional hearing. My sophomores were going to be so into it. About … Read more

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when the energy in a classroom shifts from curious engagement to passive compliance, yet experienced teachers recognize the signs immediately. Students slouch a little lower in their chairs, their eyes drift toward the clock, and the questions you worked so hard to prepare land with a thud in the silence. … Read more

Searching for student engagement tips that will actually transform your classroom into what you have always envisioned can be daunting. You see strategies that make sense in theory, others that would “never” work with your kids, and honestly? It is scary to try something new when you are already exhausted, and the rest of the … Read more

It’s no secret that there is a direct correlation between student engagement and academic performance, but many teachers are unsure how to consistently make that connection so it sticks. After teaching over 1,700 students, first at a nationally ranked academic high school, then at a Title I CTE school, and now training K-12 teachers on … Read more

I started teaching high school history in 2007, back when “engagement measurement” meant scanning the room during a lecture and hoping the kids in the back weren’t passing notes. I taught in two vastly different worlds over my time in the classroom…first at a nationally ranked academic school where students stressed over tenths of a … Read more

Ask any educator what keeps them up at night, and somewhere in the answer, you’ll find the struggle to create meaningful connections. After almost a decade of observing schools across every level, from rural elementary schools to urban community colleges to elite research universities, one pattern emerges clearly: student engagement event ideas aren’t about what … Read more

When I started my first year teaching high school social studies back in 2007, I thought student engagement meant keeping everyone busy and entertained. I spent countless Sunday evenings hunting for flashy activities, convinced that if my students were laughing and moving, they were learning. I was wrong. In 2018, I became an instructional coach … Read more

Here’s what I know about student engagement goals after almost 20 years in various classrooms: they’re almost always too small. We set goals like “increase participation” or “get through the curriculum without losing them.” But I’ve watched too many teachers, myself included, confuse compliance with connection. A quiet room isn’t necessarily a learning room. Raised … Read more

I started teaching high school history in 2007, back when “engagement” still meant hoping the overhead projector bulb didn’t burn out mid-lecture. Over 1,700 students later, and in the midst of the current student apathy crisis, I’ve learned that best practices for student engagement aren’t something you master and file away. They’re something you live, adjust, and … Read more

One of the most frequent and pressing questions I hear from educators, from elementary school to higher education institutions, is for strategies for increasing student engagement. We’ve all faced the quiet room, the glazed eyes, and yes, the challenge of that “one kid” who seems impervious to our best efforts. While no method is a … Read more