Student Engagement Strategies and
Critical Thinking
CTE Professional Development Session
Session 2 - 2015
Bellwork
 How
can you become a
teacher that students will
remember forever?
Do this on the yellow bellwork log in your binder.
IcebreakerShare Wear
Think about something you
are wearing today that might
have an interesting story behind it.
Share your story with your table and decide
who has the BEST story and share it with the
rest of the class.
Section Objective

Topic: Meaningful Feedback

Do:
 Level
Identify and discuss effective ways to
provide meaningful feedback
of Thinking: Understanding
Read the first page of the article,
“Giving Student Feedback: 20 Tips to Do It Right “.
Think about these questions while reading.

How does feedback relate to the learning process?

What is the ultimate goal of providing feedback to
our students?

What happens when feedback is negative?

How can you become a teacher that students will
remember forever?
So exactly what is feedback?
Feedback is any response from a
teacher in regard to a students
performance or behavior.
It can be verbal, written or a
gesture.
JIGSAW
 Read
2 (assigned) tips from the article.
 Explain your 2 tips to the group.
 Put a star next to the tips you already
do well
 Highlight the tips that you will work to
improve upon.
The Feedback Link to Engagement
Correction
can’t happen without
feedback
Feedback can’t happen without
monitoring
Monitoring can’t happen without
student responses through active
engagement
Key Features of Feedback

Occurs frequently

Descriptive

Timely/Frequent

Highly Specific

Corrective/reinforcing

Non-punitive
3,2,1 Closure on Feedback
3 key features of feedback
 2 ways you plan to provide effective
feedback
 1 question or comment you still have
about feedback

Closure

Topic: Lesson Planning/Closure

Do: Identify and discuss effective ways to
close a lesson

Level of Thinking: Understanding
Closure… What is it …
and why is it important to have it
every day?
◦
On your slates, answer this prompt.
Closure is what the instructor does
to facilitate wrap up of the end of a
lesson.

It is a quick review of what should have been
learned

It should come from your students

It should provide you with information for
planning for the next day
34 Engaging Closure Ideas

Highlight two closure examples that you
have used or think you would like to use.

Explain how to implement your choices
to the class.

Class will do a “thumbs up or thumbs
down” if this is something they like too.
Closure 3-W’s
1.
What did I learn today about Closure?
2. So What? (relevancy, importance, usefulness)
3. Now What? (How does this fit into what I am
doing in the classroom)
Section objective
Topic: Student Engagement
Do:
 Define Student Engagement / Critical
Thinking
 Identify simple and more structured ways to
incorporate more engagement into your
informational lessons
 Examine the significance of feedback
Level of Thinking: Analyzing
Engagement strategies provide
opportunities for formative
feedback
Teachers
can check for understanding
through the effective use of engagement
strategies that indicate levels of
understanding
These
strategies can be a way to assess
every student every day and provide
them with valuable feedback.
Engagement is emphasized in the
Framework for Teaching
Engagement is key to:
Domain 3 – Instruction
◦ Engaging students in learning
 Activities and assignments
 Grouping of students
◦ Using assessment in instruction
 Monitoring of student learning
 Feedback to students
Domain
1 – Planning and Preparation
◦ Learning activities & Instructional groups
Domain
2 – The Classroom
Environment
◦ Culture for learning, Classroom
procedures, & Instructional groups
Crucial Points for Setting
up engaging activities
Set rules in advance
BE SPECIFIC with your expectations
Management – Monitor closely!
Insist on participation from all
Re-teach expectations as needed
Look at the Article from Schlechty
Center on engagement…
Your task:
With a highlighter and/or pencil in hand, read
to the article.
Anonymously On an index card, write a text-dependent
question about what you read.
Please write legibly enough for others to read and
understand your question!
It’s our job!
Teachers must take
responsibility for engaging
their students – Do not
expect them to come to
class engaged!
Break Time!
Topic: Student Thinking
Do:
• Identify characteristics of critical thinkers and
how teachers can encourage higher level
thinking
• Think creatively
Levels of thinking: Understanding / Applying
Thinking is…
any mental activity that helps formulate or
solve a problem, make a decision, or fulfill
a desire to understand
 searching for answers or reaching for
meaning

Replace

Mind-stuffing
with
Mind-building
By teaching students to
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
Look for connections between ideas
Explain their thinking
Test hypotheses
Identify errors in reasoning
Solve problems
Come up with their own questions
Slate Activity
Independently, write down two things that
you think would be characteristics of good
thinkers
Compare among your table group
Characteristics of Critical Thinkers
Curious
 Risk taker
 Creative / Imaginative
 Flexible
 Interested in the thinking process
(metacognitive)
 Interest in one’s own attitudes, beliefs, and
values
 Good listeners

Characteristics of Critical Thinkers
(continued)
Desire to base judgments on evidence
 Reflective – ponder ideas of self and
others
 Tolerance of complexity, ambiguity and
controversy
 Seeks connections between ideas
 Willingness to consider others’ points of
view

Skills Possessed by Critical Thinkers
(They Can and Do:)
Define problems
 Identify and pursue promising lines of
inquiry
 Ask worthwhile questions
 Test hypotheses
 Interpret factual data
 Evaluate ideas
 Identify bias and reliability of sources

Skills possessed by critical thinkers
(continued)
Detect errors in thinking
 Draw conclusions from evidence
 Recognizes when evidence is insufficient
 Test ideas to make sure they are sound

Two stages of thinking:
Creative – produce ideas
 Evaluative – judge ideas

Creative Thinking
break in the action!
In 3 minutes write
down as many
similarities as you
can think of between
a chicken and a
grape
Processing Task:
Independently scan through the handout
What Teachers Can Do to
Guide Students to be Deeper
Thinkers
Highlight anything that you think is realistic
for you to do in your class!
Specific things the teacher
can do to help students
become better thinkers:





Teach students about metacognition – being
aware of one’s own thinking by modeling thinkalouds and encouraging them to self-assess
Provide learning activities that require problem
solving
Provide opportunities for students to generate
ideas
Encourage risk taking
Create a culture of “explanation” instead of a
culture of “right answer”
Why is it important to teach
students to become better thinkers?
LOTS of reasons, including…
 They will be more independent in
problem solving, and less reliant on you
 They will be better prepared to be
successful in college and careers
 The AzMerit assessment will be evaluating
both the students’ answers and the
mental processes that lead to them
Using a variety of
strategies is key to
setting the stage for
students to think
critically…
Get out the
Engagement Strategies
list from last week!
From the list of strategies
be prepared to share one with the
group that you thought was “doable” in your situation.
Crucial Points for Setting up
engaging activities
Set rules in advance
 BE SPECIFIC with your expectations
 Management – Monitor closely!
 Insist on participation from all
 Re-teach expectations as needed

On your slates
With your group determine at least three
specific instructions you would give your
students related to USING whiteboards
(slates) as an engagement strategy
In a couple of minutes I will call on nonvolunteers from each group to share!
Onto some of the Active
Engagement Strategies!
Response Cards
Hold up a card to
indicate your answer
Let’s try this!
Each of you has a set –
as each slide is shown
hold up the card that
matches your “take” on
the strategy
Write on
your Slates
Independently - What do you
think would be the biggest
challenge in using engagement
strategies in your classes?
Think-Pair-Share
Do not think students will do
this proficiently without
much direction and practice!
The following slides will illustrate how to
teach the process
Think / Pair / Share





This time around I am going to let you choose your
partner
If there are an uneven number of people at your
table, three people can work together
Raise your hand when you know who your partner
is
Decide who partner “A” is and who is “B”
When we do this strategy I will pose a question
that is important enough for me to want you to
really think about it and share your ideas (There
should not be one obvious answer – the goal is to
share IDEAS!)
Think / Pair / Share
After adequate time to think I will ask you
to share your ideas with your partner
 Let’s try it! Here’s your question:
What’s an example of a think-pair-share
question you could use in a lesson?
 Think
 “B” partners share first
 I will call on non-volunteers to share, and if
you are called you can give either your
answer or your partner’s!

Give One-Get One

Draw a vertical line down
the middle of a piece of
paper

Write 3-5 ideas or answers
to the question in the left
column

When time is called rotate
and exchange ideas

Write new ideas gained
from your peers in the right
column
48
Numbered
Heads
4
Students Number 1-4
Teacher-Posed Question or Prompt allow groups to process and one “number”
from the group responds
Or… use the numbers to create new groups for
subsequent activities!
Identification
Underline
Circle or Highlight key
vocabulary or key
concepts
4 Stations or Corners
• Move with your group to
your assigned station
• Discuss the activity and
take notes
• Move to the next station
when time is called
Sort
Sort the cards or items
into groups
Create a label for each
group you are creating
Be prepared to share
Predict
Work
independently or
with your group to
predict the
outcome to the
scenario
Be prepared to
share
Jigsaw
1.
Each group member is assigned a different
portion of the text to read
2.
Read your selection
3.
Optional: Have “expert groups” discuss the part of article they read
with one person from each group forming new expert groups
4.
Teach your section to the rest of the group
5.
Be prepared to share your learning with the whole group
K-W-L
What I
know
What I
would like
to learn
What I
learned
Or K-P-(Predict)-L
Partner A turn to partner B.
Tell or teach your partner the
two most important things you
have learned so far about...
Switch roles and repeat the
process.
Graphic Organizer
Write down information from the
text or presentation into your
graphic organizer
OUTCOME STATEMENTS
I need more
help
with . . .
3 - 2 - 1
3 important terms
2 ideas or facts you would like to know
more about
1 skill or concept that you have mastered
Ticket out the door
•Write directions here.
•Write closure question here.
•Be sure it aligns to
lesson objective.
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14
18
23
In 12 words or less,
summarize the most
important aspects from
today's lesson.
Snapshot
Write a
“snapshot”
of today’s
learning in
25 words
or less.
Minute Paper
You have one minute to write down
the key points of today’s lesson.
Be prepared to share.
Find Someone Who…
Find someone who can answer
one of the questions on your
handout.
Have them write the answer and
sign your paper.
Now, find a different person to
answer another question.
Keep going until all of the
questions are answered.
Active Learning Checklist
Assessment

If we have time for this…
Take a look at the tool that can be used to
for teachers to evaluate their lessons.
Closure – 12 word summary!
On a Post-it use EXACTLY 12 words to
respond to this prompt:
Why is incorporating active engagement
strategies an important component to ALL
informational lessons?