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Anything goes
"It's crucial to bear in mind what the student wants to read," says Murphy.
"Having this control shouldn't be undervalued, and I think they should be allowed
to venture from one type of book to another. [15;63]
"Introduce students to a wide variety of texts, mediums and genres – they may
surprise themselves once they have faced preconceived ideas about what they
consider enjoyable and embrace a diversity in what they read. Comics, ebooks,
short stories, online articles and magazines shouldn't be ignored."
When students feel more motivated to learn -- in other words, when
engagement is at a high level -- they perform better academically , improve
classroom behavior, and gain a higher sense of self-esteem. Unfortunately, data --
and the direct experience of many of us teachers -- shows that lack of motivation
affects many of our students, and appears to increase each year from middle
school through high school. Students can demonstrate this lack of engagement by
withholding effort and by "voting with their feet" through rising chronic
absenteeism as they get older, and chronic absenteeism is among the highest
predictors of dropping-out of school. To use terms first used by Albert O.
Hirschman, it appears that the lack of student motivation is a major contributing
cause to many choosing this option of "exit" (withdrawal from active engagement)
over "voice" ( active participation ) in academic life.
How do we respond to this challenge?
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Many guests and readers will be offering suggestions in this four-part series on
student engagement. In addition, several previous posts in this column have
addressed a similar theme, and you can find them in this compilation on Student
Motivation. Lastly, readers might also be interested in another collection of
resources titled The Best Posts & Articles On Student Engagement.
Responses in today's column come from Julia Thompson, Myron Dueck, Bryan
Harris, and Debbie Silver. In addition, you can listen to a ten-minute conversation
I had with Bryan and Debbie about this topic on my BAM! Radio Show. [22;16]
Speaking of my BAM! show, I have also just done a special one following-
up my series here last month on teacher evaluation. You can listen to a short
conversation I had with Ben Spielberg and Ted Appel (the principal of the school
where I teach) about an innovative process of evaluating teachers on "teacher
inputs" instead of "student outputs."
Now, it's time to hear from today's guests:
When students are engaged in learning, there is movement and laughter and
sometimes lots of noise. They are up and out of their seats involved in activities
that promote thought, creativity, and discovery. Students are busy, self-
disciplined, and best of all, willing to take responsibility for their own learning
because they understand that what they are doing is important.
We need to provide our students with activities that are innovative and
challenging as well as purposeful if we want them to be engaged in learning.
Although there are many different factors to consider when designing instruction
meant to engage students of various ages, there are some easy-to-implement
universal strategies that can be used to increase the engagement potential in
instructional activities.
When students can set their own goals for assignments and then work
to achieve those goals, then their work takes on a serious and meaningful
purpose.
Help students stay on the right track by providing opportunities for
frequent self-checks and plenty of other formative assessments to that they can
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monitor their own progress. Make it easy for students to be aware of how well
they are doing, and you will make it easy for them to stay engaged in a learning
activity.
Create activities and assignments that are challenging but attainable.
Students should have to work and think to succeed, but the potential for success
should always be clearly evident.
It seems obvious, but to engage students be sure to provide the
materials, supplies, and other resources needed for successful completion of the
work. For example, try to avoid the trap of assuming that students have access
to the Internet or a public library when they are not in class.
Be positive with your students. Instead of just telling them what is
wrong with their work, focus on what they are doing correctly. If you don't
believe that they will succeed, then the engagement potential in an assignment
will vanish.
Offer as many choices and optional assignments as is reasonably
possible. Students who have the ability to make sensible choices about their
work will find it intrinsically engaging because their choices provide a sense of
ownership.
Design lessons that call for students to interact with students in other
classrooms across the globe, to creatively use technology and other media, and
to solve authentic problems. The possibilities for engagement are endless when
students can see that what they do in your class can be applied to real-life
situations.
All things considered, reading is far from being a passive skill. Students
need to be engaged with what they are reading. Teachers should match tasks to the
topic, choose activities up to the students' abilities and develop teaching programs
in such a way so that to develop all the reading skills.
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