Engagement

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Engagement (minds-on grappling with content) is important in school at all times; however, the move to remote learning makes it even more important! Teachers can't easily reach out and redirect students who are learning from home. One of the seven attributes of a remote/hybrid learning environment is "an atmosphere of continual motivation," and that requires students to be engaged in their learning.

Engage students in learning anywhere, anytime through the 5 Ps of PBL:

• Problem-Based Learning (solving a real-world problem)

• Project-Based Learning (tackling a real-world challenge)

• Place-Based Learning (problems and challenges in the school, home, community, state, country, world, or space)

• Profession-Based Learning (problems and challenges related to a career)

• Pursuit-Based Learning (problems and challenges identified by the student based on personal interest)

The Power of Teacher-Made Videos for Remote-Learner Engagement

When students are learning remotely, teachers need to remain connected to them. We recommend Five Types of Videos to build student engagement (samples are in this blog post):

• Morning Message — a 1- to 2-minute video welcoming students to the day; for kindergarten students, we recommend a recorded morning meeting, complete with calendar, weather, and singing! Examples: kindergarten morning message and secondary English Language Arts

• The Benchmark Lesson — a 2- to 3-minute inspirational video to inspire students to want to learn curricular content. Examples: Butterfly Life Cycle and Math Concept of Pi

• The Directions Video — a brief screencast to provide directions, especially when students are working from home and can't always access ready help. Example: How to Use a Graphic Organizer on Multiple Perspectives and how to use a specific website to find missing letters in words

• The Instructional Video — a 5- to 15-minute video of recorded direct instruction, in lieu of live instruction, that is interactive and targeted to the current group of students. Example: math video

• The Insights Video — a 5- to 10-minute video of the teacher's (or a student's) insights from the content, applying the learning to future content or anything else that typically emerges while facilitating or learning. Example: elementary school and middle school