What’s going on? (Dis)Engagement Tracker

Are you struggling to maintain engagement during part of your day or in a particular class? Well, you can’t fix this common teacher problem until you know what might be causing the lack of engagement. This tracker can help you collect data so you can make an informed next step.

This tracker was designed for a science class but it can be adapted for any grade level and content area. It helps you notice if students are more engaged during specific kinds of activities. One theory is that if students disengage early, it is much harder to get them to re-engage. So, this tracker also helps you think about how engagement during the launch (beginning) of the lesson transferred to engagement during the rest of the lesson.

Downloads:

• What's going on? (Dis)Engagement Tracker. This will download the responses chart. To make the form, choose "Form" and then "Edit Form."

Suggestions for use:

1. Revise the first question on this tracker to represent the types of activities you use most often.
2. Use this tracker every day for at least 5 days in a row.
3. Analyze your data. Do you notice any patterns? Try to figure out if this is a whole-class issue (i.e. most of the students are disengaged during particular activities) or if this is really a challenge for just a few students.
4. Use this data when you consult with your coach, NTD, colleagues, or anyone else you collaborate with. Don’t feel like you have to figure out next steps on your own.
1. You might notice that some/most students are disengaged during a particular type of activity. Your instinct might be never to use this type of activity ever again. The problem, however, might not be with the activity but with how you are enacting it. Ask around your school for teachers who might be really good at enacting this kind of activity and check with this “expert” for help improving how you do it.