Top 3 Student Engagement

Hi Texas teachers!!! With a little less than a month away from school starting, I thought I would give you my three favorite ways to get students engaged in a lesson. I am a huge fan of Ron Clark. If you have not ever read his books...you need too. They are career changing, at least for me. Most of what I do in my room comes from his books. So, here are my three ways to  get students engaged........

 1) Before EVERY lesson tell the students they are going to do great at it....sounds crazy and you would think students will get tired of hearing it everyday but they don't. Get excited about the lesson your going to teach even if it is boring. As teachers, we know that not every thing is fun to teach but that is life. You have to get through some not so fun stuff to get to the fun stuff. But if your kids see you excited they will get excited.

2) MOVE around your classroom. When I visited the Ron Clark Academy, I learned that students will loose their focus every 4-7 minutes. A good way to keep them in engaged and focused is by moving around your classroom, have the students watch your every move. You can even let the students get up and move around. If you are unable to move in  the room due to space or any other reason, then move your hands.

3)  Make lessons about your STUDENTS.  This third one has two strategies in it. What I mean by making lessons about your students is to find out what your students like and put it into your lessons. I had a student last year that was so quiet. I had to do some snooping but I figured out that she loved to draw. So, one day I had the students draw their favorite book, she was so excited. I took her drawing and copied it to a worksheet we were doing the next day. She was on cloud nine about seeing her drawing on our paper that day. The point is to get to know your students, if you know their likes and dislikes your lessons will be great.

An important thing to remember is to do what works for you in your classroom. This is what I have found works for me. Below, I have added links to the Ron Clark Academy and Elementary Shenanigans. Hope King, a teacher at RCA, is also the blogger of Elementary Shenanigans. She has a new series out about student engagement. It is awesome!!!

http://www.elementaryshenanigans.com/2014/07/increase-student-engagement-ebook-guide.html

http://www.ronclarkacademy.com/Educator-Welcome

Kelcee