Engagement Ideas

Ask any seasoned educator and they'll tell you that the first step to becoming a great teacher is to have your classroom management down pat. Consistency, fairness, firmness, and routine all play important roles in creating a flow that leads to the maximization and optimization of instructional time.

Next, you'll never be able to touch students' brains until you touch their hearts. A wise man (my husband) once told me, "They'll never care how much you know until they know how much you care." (I'm pretty sure he heard that from some other wise person!) I've also heard, "You can't TEACH 'em 'til you find a way to REACH 'em." All of this boils down to one thing: We have to find ways to connect with our students on a human level if we want them to care about anything we have to say when we stand in front of them.

After that, though, comes ENGAGEMENT! We want our students to WANT to come to our classes. We want them to be excited at the possibility of what awaits when they walk into our classrooms because we are always doing things that are fun and stimulating (while continuing to maintain a high level of rigor!). To do that, we need to start thinking outside of the box in regard to our lessons. I heard something recently that resonated with me; the speaker pointed out that, as teachers, we always tend to focus on planning and content when we get together for PLCs or for other collaborative opportunities. That speaker noted that what we seem to never talk about is PRESENTATION of information. THIS is how we can all work to elevate our lessons and really ignite sparks within our students! Below, I've started to gather some ways in which we can begin to make learning more magical for our students.