What will I Do to Engage Students? Suzanne Whisler ESU 4 August 6, 2012

Are Our Students Engaged?

What will I do to engage students? " Education is not filling a bucket but lighting a fire.” William Butler Yeats

Session Outcome O Utilize a variety of strategies that enhance learning and engage students. O Physical Movement O Written Responses O Discussion Groups O Academic Games

The following emotions are associated with engagement…. O Enthusiasm O Interest O Enjoyment O Satisfaction O Pride O Vitality O Can You Think of Others?

The following emotions are associated with a lack of engagement…. O Boredom O Disinterest O Frustration O Anger O Sadness O Worry O Anxiety O Shame O Self-blame O Can you think of others?

Lecture Reading Audio-visual Demonstration Discussion Groups Practice by doing Teach others/immediate use of learning Average Retention Rate after 24 hours 5% 10% 20% 30% 50% 75% 90% Adapted from David Sousa’s figure 3.8 in his text, How the Brain Learns Boosting Retention

Student Engagement: How do we increase it? From This… To This…

Chunking The brain needs time to create connections and pathways to move learning into long term memory. The hippocampus can only hold so much Too much, too fast, it won’t last.

Share One; Get One O Give the students a note card or sticky note. O Ask the students to record 1 to 3 different concepts, facts, or skills they learned from a lesson. O Ask students to walk around the room, share their card with another student, and then trade cards with that student. O Continue the process. O Share out as a whole class or in small groups.

Take Off…Touch Down O Students should move more than the teacher. O The brain needs oxygen for optimal learning. O For most students, provide 20 minutes of instruction and 5 minutes of processing. O Chunking instruction allows time for students to process information.

Have a Standing Meeting O What have you heard so far that makes sense? O What changes will you make in your teaching because of this? O Find a group of 3-ish to have your conversation.

Say Something O Form pairs of students O Ask students to read silently to a designated stopping point. O When each partner is ready, stop and “say something”. O Continue this process until the selection is read.

Summary Ball O Begin the activity by tossing a ball to any student. O The student who catches the ball has 3 seconds to state any fact, concept or skill learned from the lesson. O The student then tosses the ball to another student in the room who has not spoken. O The second student states a fact, concept, or skill that hasn’t been mentioned, then tosses the ball.

Whip Around What have you learned about engaging students? O Start with one person sharing an idea. O Go around the room with each person giving a new idea. O If the person’s idea has already been given he/she can say pass. O Keep going around the room until all ideas are presented.

Teach Back: Ten to Two O Work in pairs O One person is teacher, one is student O Teacher: Explain the Ten to Two philosophy. Use the words “chunk” and “process” in your explanation. O Student: Listen to the teacher. Ask questions for clarification. O Switch roles.

One Word Summaries O Ask students to write one word that summarizes the lesson’s topic. O Ask them to explain why they chose that word. ABCYa Wordle Tagxedo

Sum It Up

One Sentence Paraphrase O Requires students to synthesize information O Puts focus on bigger picture learning rather than specific details O Steps in the process O Model the process O After reading, put away or hide passage O Students write one sentence that reflects their understanding O Share sentences, looking for similarities & differences

Final Countdown O Ask students to reflect on what they have learned about the topic. O Use the Final Countdown strategy. O First Tier - Write the three most important facts that the student learned. O Second Tier - Write two questions that the student still has about the topic. O Top Tier - Write one way in which the student can connect the topic to material previously learned. from Instructional Strategies for Engaging Learners Guilford County Schools TF, 2002

Using Games O Games stimulate attention because they involve missing information O Games should focus on academic content so that they represent a form of review Let’s play!

Talk a Mile a Minute O Students are given a list of terms that have been organized into categories. O Each team designates a talker. O The talker tries to get the team to say each of the words by quickly describing them. O The talker is allowed to say anything about the terms while talking but may not use any words in the category title or any rhyming words. O The talker keeps talking until the team members identify all terms in the category. O If members of the team are having difficulty with a particular term, the talker skips it and comes back to it later.

Things associated with weather Tornado Hurricane Cold front Cumulus clouds Sleet Barometer El Nino

Play Charades O Each team designates an actor O The actor tries to get the team to say each of the words by acting them out. O The actor keeps acting until the team members identify all terms in the category. O If members of the team are having difficulty with a particular term, the actor skips it and comes back to it later.

Charades- Science Oxygen Carbon Monoxide Helium Neon Rotate Revolve Atom

$100,000 Pyramid O One player on each team, the clue giver, is able to see the game board. O Other students, the guessers, cannot see the game board. O As the teacher reveals the first category, clue givers begin to list terms that pertain to that category until the guessers name the category. O The teacher reveals the next category as soon as she sees that a team has correctly identified the first category and is ready to move to the next.

100 POINTS Things that are living Liquids Prime numbers Parts of the digestive system Things that conduct heat 50 POINTS50 POINTS50 POINTS 200 POINTS Vocabulary Terms & Phrases Adverbs 100 POINTS

Socrative O Please complete the Socrative Exit Slip. O m.socrative.com O Room Number 88339

“A good teacher is like a candle - it consumes itself to light the way for others.” ~Author Unknown