The Highly
Engaged
Classroom
Induction Session
Joy MacKenzie
Principal of Hershey Primary
Renee Owens
Middle School Teacher
Bell ringer:
What is engagement?
Please
take a few minutes and write
down some descriptors of what it “looks
like” and “sounds like” when students are
engaged in your classroom.
We
will compare this definition with one
you will describe at the end of this session
Essential Questions:
What
can I do to get students’ attention?
What can I do to keep students
engaged?
What will work for me? What will I take
back to my classroom to implement?
Introductions
Questions
on the move
Activity
Find out more about the group
Debrief
How/Why
is this engaging?
Materials for today’s class:
https://will2will.wikispaces.com/Professional+De
velopment
Working Definition of
Engagement
Attention:
How do I feel? (affective side of learning)
Am I interested? (extent to which
classroom activities intrigue students)
Attention is a short-term phenomenon that
ranges from a few seconds to a few minutes
Working Definition of
Engagement
Engagement:
Is this important? (extent to which students
perceive classroom goals as related to their
personal goals)
Can I do this? (extent to which students
have or cultivate a sense of self-efficacy)
Engagement is a more long term
phenomenon lasting beyond initial attention
A Bit of Research:
Students
will fill their “working memory”
with “permanent memory” if they are not
engaged.
Outside
World
Sensory Memory
Working Memory
Permanent
Memory
Part One:
How do I feel?
How do I Feel?
Students will be more engaged in a lively, positive and accepting
classroom
Effective Pacing
Transitions
Presentation of new content
Commitment and Community
Let’s look at the Teaching
Rubric
The
classroom environment
Creating an environment of respect and
rapport
Establish a culture for learning
Managing classroom procedures
Managing student behavior
Communicating clearly and accurately
Engaging students in learning
Effective Pacing
Pacing
too slow– energy drops; too fast
and students can become confused
Need routines for
Handing in assignments
Distributing materials
Storing materials after activity
Getting organized into groups
Whip around/pass around
Choose
one of the previous areas and tell
us what that routine looks like in your room
Other ideas?
Student Grouping
Jigsaw
“active participation strategies”
Be ready to share with the group
Transitions
Entering
the classroom
Posting expectation
Write
to a prompt
Check homework
Think-pair-share to a question
Transitions
What
to do when I am through?
Helping other students
Work on more advanced content
Studying a topic of their own choice
Homework
Read
Transitions
Exiting
classroom
Ticket out the door
Question for the next day
Reflection/Summary
Lino.it
Let’s
try it
Presentation of New Content
Chunk and Chew
3 minute pause
Knew and new
Ask a question (students of each other)
Incorporating Physical Movement
Inside/outside circle
Four Corners
Vote with your feet
Give one, Get one
Classroom Community
Student
inventories
3X5 cards
Name
Three words to describe me
Learning is fun when
I like classes that
Something that really challenges me is
Student/Teacher
commitments
Reflection
What
were strategies you already knew?
What
is something new that you can use?
Part 2
Am I Interested?
Strategies to increase interest
Games
Interesting
facts
White boards
Anticipation Guides
Surveys
Questioning to increase response rates
Let’s look at the teaching
rubric
Establishing
a culture of learning
Demonstrating knowledge of students
Selecting Instructional goals
Using questioning and discussion
techniques
Engaging students in learning
Games
Questions
Each student has a card with one question
to ask and one answer that belongs to
someone else’s question
Which
and answers connect
one doesn’t belong?
4 vocabulary or concepts/3 are related;
one is not
Interesting Information
Unusual information
The New York Times (www.nytimes.com) science, social studies and language
arts
Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (http://free.ed.gov) science,
social studies, language arts, math
The History Channel (www.history.com) “This day in history”
Trivia Library(ww.trivia-library.com) all content areas
Book: Napoleon’s Buttons: 17 molecules that changed history
Students can find unusual information/put on wiki site etc.
Personal stories to illustrate a point or concept
Don’t do trivia to do trivia– link to content
QR scavenger hunt
Movie clips, music etc.
Questioning to increase
response rates
Answering
a question occupies a
student’s working memory
Call on students randomly
Paired responses
Wait time (varies)
Error correction
Simultaneous responses
All
write, choral responses, signals, response
cards, act-i-votes
Reflection on part two
How
can these strategies increase student
attention?
Which
would be most useful at this time in
your classroom?
Part 3
Is this important?
Is This Important?
Relating
objective or essential question to
real life or larger context (rationale)
Allow choice
Choice of task
Create
a poster illustrating the main themes in
“To Kill a Mockingbird”
Investigate the time period in which “to Kill a
Mockingbird” takes place. Compare and
Contrast that time period with current time.
Strive for higher level (HEAT
FRAMEWORK)
Analyze
Argue
Against
Compare/contrast
Criticize
Defend
Evaluate
Interview
Recommend
Is This Important?
Choice of reporting format
Written
Oral
Debate
Demonstration
Visual representation
Drama, Song, Rap
Reflection on Part 3
How
can you take one of your
assignments and provide student choice?
Be ready to share with the group
Part 4
Can I do this?
Self-efficacy
Most
important factor
Tracking progress
Effective Verbal Feedback
Look for opportunities to assess selfefficacy, and integrate the concept into
your classroom
Respond to these 3 questions
Strongly
Agree(1-2-3-4-5)Strongly Disagree
You have a certain amount of
intelligence and there isn’t much you can
do about it
Your intelligence is something about you
that you can’t change very much
You can learn new things, but you can’t
really can’t change your basic
intelligence
Two Theories
Entity
theory (fixed intelligence)
Incremental
intelligence)
How
theory (growth in
can we make a shift?
Jigsaw article by Carol Dweck
Break
into groups
Read a portion of the article
Write main points on a poster paper
Share
Choice
of output (example: voice thread
or google docs)
Self-theory survey
Designed
by Carol Dweck (2000)
Ask three questions using a 5 point Leiter
scale
Keep the conversation alive
How does your self theory affect you in
school?
What are you doing to enhance your belief
in the growth theory
Track Progress
Visual
representation of progress
Graphs
Rubrics
Checklist
Goal setting
Specific written feedback
Providing feedback
Avoid
fixed characteristics – “see how
smart you are” (either you have it or you
don’t)
Praise effort and quality of work– link two
together
Specific feedback
Examples
Successful student
performance
Point
out aspects
of the task that
were done well
Comment on
obvious effort and
preparation
Learned helpless concept
Unsuccessful student
performance
Point
out aspects
done well and
done less well
Asks about effort
and preparation
Integrating Self-efficacy
Stories about the power of efficacy
Dare to Dream! 25 Extraordinary Lives
(Humphrey, 2005)
Movie Clips: The Pursuit of Happyness; Babe
Quotes/discussion of quotes about efficacy
The man on top of the mountain did not fall
there– Anonymous
Genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration—
Thomas A. Edison
Reflection
Think
of a time when you contributed to a
student’s self-efficacy or when you as a
student had a teacher who did the same
Share this example with a partner
And in conclusion
What is your “take-away?”
3
things to consider
2
“must do’s”
1
major “ah-ha”
Resources for presentation
The
Highly Engaged Classroom. 2011.
Marzano. Solution Tree Publishers
How to Teach so Students Remember.
2005. Sprenger. ASCD Publishers
Summarization in Any Subject. 2005.
Wormeli. ASCD Publishers
Thanks for Coming
0
