3c: Engaging Students in Learning

Student engagement in learning is the centerpiece of the Framework for Teaching; all other components contribute to it. When students are engaged in learning, they are not merely “busy,” nor are they only “on task.” Rather, they are intellectually active in learning important and challenging content. The critical distinction between a classroom in which students are compliant and busy and one in which they are engaged is that in the latter, students are developing their understanding through what they do. That is, they are engaged in discussion, debate, answering “what if?” questions, discovering patterns, and the like. They may be selecting their work from a range of (teacher-arranged) choices, and making important contributions to the intellectual life of the class. Such activities don’t typically consume an entire lesson, but they are essential components of engagement.

A lesson in which students are engaged usually has a discernible structure: a beginning, a middle, and an end, with scaffolding provided by the teacher or by the activities themselves. Student tasks are organized to provide cognitive challenge, and then students are encouraged to reflect on what they have done and what they have learned. That is, the lesson has closure, in which teachers encourage students to derive the important learning from the learning tasks, from the discussion, or from what they have read. Critical questions for an observer in determining the degree of student engagement are “What are the students being asked to do? Does the learning task involve thinking? Are students challenged to discern patterns or make predictions?” If the answer to these questions is that students are, for example, filling in blanks on a worksheet or performing a rote procedure, they are unlikely to be cognitively engaged.

In observing a lesson, it is essential not only to watch the teacher but also to pay close attention to the students and what they are doing. The best evidence for student engagement is what students are saying and doing as a consequence of what the teacher does, or has done, or has planned. And while students may be physically active (e.g., using manipulative materials in mathematics or making a map in social studies), it is not essential that they be involved in a hands-on manner; it is, however, essential that they be challenged to be “minds-on.”

Danielson, C. 2013

In the beginning of this lesson, time was not as an engaging as it could have been. At about 3:20, students become more willing to participate in the proper noun discussion. As shown, students are excited to share their knowledge in the engaging activity to write on the board (starts at about 5:15). For further engagement, I learned to have students write on their whiteboards; this doubles as a formative assessment! This lesson was designed to scaffold, as well as provide a beginning, middle, and end.

This engaging 10-minute lesson allows first graders' attention span to be filled with a captivation and scaffolding--a beginning, a middle, and an end. They are cognitively engaged when asked to think about naming words (nouns) for places and things, while thinking with a more "minds-on" activity--writing on a whiteboard.

This lesson is also part of "Daily 5"--a routine where students switch between activities every 10 minutes for one hour and forty-five minutes.