Why Aren’t these Kids Engaged?

Can’t be bothered! Name Reasons for lack of engagement (knowledge, attitudes, habits and skills)

Overview Flow: A theory for high engagement Play: Strategies for making lessons fun In your classroom: Strategies to implement

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Flow: high skill levels meet high challenges “You know that what you need to do is possible to do, even though difficult, and sense of time disappears. You forget yourself. You feel part of something larger.” When was the last time you experienced FLOW? Can you think of a time when the students in your class have been in FLOW?

Creating more flow Flow: The Six Foundations Tasks are appropriately challenging (Bloom’s Taxonomy) Teacher input minimal (30:70 or 10:90) Necessary Learning Skills (KASH) Goals are clear and worthwhile (not LO, what you are doing and why) Feedback (give/ receive feedback/ self assess) Tasks are intrinsically motivating.

Six Foundations of Flow: Evaluation Wheel

Key Reasons for Low Engagement - KASH Studies show that, on average, students are in a state of apathy for 28% of their lessons Flow happens most outside of school “Anything that is learned can be unlearned” Training students to cope with being stuck Encourage students to become option thinkers Training students to do their best – descriptive praise / effort levels Group work

Three Resources

Sir, I really enjoyed that lesson Creating flow by exploiting the power of play. chat up Fatima and Rayanne doodle distract Dean write nothing throw stuff at the bin/ people ‘Including planned or unplanned play in lessons can help to strengthen motivation, learning dispositions and student feedback.’

‘By play we mean a range of active and creative strategies which help students to explore and interact with their learning.’ Write down techniques you already use to make your classroom ‘playful’. How do the students respond? How does it make you feel?

How do I build play into my classes? 5. Reflect on learning 1. Get attention Use play to... 2. Develop social skills needed for tasks 4. Question students 3. Test memory/recap content

Can’t be bothered! Name Strategies

How do I build play into my classes? Now begin planning a lesson that you have this week, trying to incorporate a new strategy.