Engagement = Students writing, speaking, creating, DOING!
This is how we define engagement in my school district. It can also be defined as "visible learning." Engagement has been, historically, defined incorrectly as politeness. As long as they are looking at me, they are engaged.
Now, we know better!
Every week, I will be offering some simple and effective techniques that will help increase student engagement in your classroom. Let's get started with...
Yes-No-Why
1. Pose a debatable Yes/No question.
2. Provide "think-time" for the student to formulate their position. Allow no writing, no talking...just silent thinking. You choose the time allotment. Set a timer and stick to it!
3. Have the students write their answer in no more than 1-2 COMPLETE sentences. Give them about a minute to write. Again, set a timer and stick to it!
4. Students Pair/Share their responses. Have them read their answer VERBATIM! This can be with a shoulder partner or have them walk around the room to find a partner. You decide what works best for your situation.
By having them write in complete sentences and then share their responses verbatim, you are getting them to speak in complete sentences. This is something they don't do often. Writing is also visible learning!
This technique can work in any classroom, promotes writing across the curriculum, and puts them at the upper level of Bloom's Taxonomy. By having the "why" component, the activity automatically becomes an evaluation question.
Give it a go!
Have a happy day!
No comments:
Post a Comment