1. Christine Prosser Bob Efken
Student Engagement
Christine Prosser
Bob Efken

2. Content Objectives
Identify activities that promote interaction and student engagement.
Recognize strategies to increase student accountability, elaborating student responses, and support student learning.

3. Language Objective
Discuss the importance of planning and allowing for interaction activities.
Explain how some of the strategies presented can work in your classroom or building.

4. Effective Teachers
Time is often wasted when teachers are not prepared, lack classroom management skills, spend too much time making announcements, or passing papers. Effective teachers minimize these behaviors and maximize time spent actively engaging students in the content.
(Mastropieri & Scruggs, 1994)

5. Leinhardt et al. (1982)
When teachers spend their time and energy teaching students the content students need to learn, students learn the material. When students spend their time actively engaged in activities that relate strongly to the materials they will be tested on, they learn more of the material.

6. Consider This…
When you walk into your classroom or are sitting down creating lesson plans, what is your mindset? Use backward design!!
Mindset A
What are we going to do today?
What am I covering?
Mindset B
What are the students going to learn today?
What do I want them to know by the end of the class?
How are they going to do this? (this is when you dig in your toolbox)

7. Student Engagement Through Interaction
Interaction with the content: student to student, student, and teacher to student
Cognitively engaged in the content related to the desired outcome
Approximately 90% to 100% of the time

8. Interaction
Teachers tend to do most of the talking in the classroom. Effective student engagement with interaction balances teacher talk with student talk. Learning is more effective when students have the opportunity to participate fully in the lesson by discussing ideas and information.
IF STUDENTS DON’T VERBALIZE, STUDENTS DON’T INTERNALIZE!!

9. Teacher Talk How much do teachers talk?
Research shows that teachers talk in a regular classroom 80% of the time!
60 minute class period
Teacher talk = 48 minutes
Student talk = 12 minutes
30 students in class
= 24 seconds for each students to practice academic language

10. Why do we need to increase interaction and student engagement?
Makes our students accountable
Students retain more with greater depth when they interact with the content in meaningful ways
Allows students the opportunity to explore content and language on their own
Provides opportunities for student to student interaction to help students develop language skills
Promotes an environment of academic risk taking
Teaches students structure, responsibility, and deadlines

11. Ways to increase student engagement and interaction
Sentence Frames
Randomizing
Student to Student discussion
Teach students what to say instead of “I don’t know!”
Well structured activities linked to desired outcome
Meaningful content focused activities

12. Interaction in my classroom
How can I reduce the amount of teacher talk in my classroom?
How often should interaction occur?
How can we make our interactions more meaningful?
How can I maintain control of my class when students are having discussions?
How can I encourage and support elaborated student responses?

13. Ideas
Provide structures, sentence frames, randomize, scaffold and support, let go!
Often, often, often!
Directly relate it to the content and learner outcome, be efficient.
Clearly outlined routines and expectations from day one! (First Days of School, Wong)

14. Elaboration Ideas “Tell me more about that.”
“What do you mean when you say…”
“What else…”
“How do you know…”
“Why is it important to…”
“What does that remind you of?”
“In other words…”

15. What to say instead of “I don’t know!”
“May I have more information please?”
“Could you please repeat the question?”
“May I have more time please?”
“Where could I find more information?”
“May I please ask a friend for help?”
When you allow students to say “I don’t know,” you are telling them “you are not important and I know you can’t do this.”

16. Randomizing Develop systems for randomizing. Index cards
Popsicle sticks
Numbering
It’s not just about equity, but paying attention. It’s about the mental rehearsal that occurs in your head when you think you might be called on.

17. Accountability
We cannot allow students the opportunity to “check out”.
When we have an academic conversation NO ONE is excluded.
Provide sentence frames to support language and accountability.

18. Strategies that promote accountability.
Carousel
Yes, No, Maybe
Each Teach
Stay and Stray
Round Table
Gallery Walk
Graffiti Writes

19. Sentence Frames I heard... Today I learned..... I wrote....
I want to mention...
I remembered...
I want to learn more about....
I already knew....
I wish ....
I was impressed with ...
I will use .....
I might....
I liked...
I loved...
I agree/disagree with _________ because__________________.
The difference between
One interesting point is.....
It is important to remember.....
The main idea of the section is.....
One thing I noticed.....
Today I learned.....
I think.....
I feel....
I didn't understand.....
I need more information about....
I am....
I know.....
I used.....
I am confused about......
I need more time on
I wonder.....
I will......
I hope.....
I need....
If I could .....
My favorite.....
I saw...
I read...

20. More sentence frames
Music – “Music has many different articulations, including _________. This articulation makes music more interesting by __________.”
Math – “I know this triangle is a __________ triangle because ___________. There are several ways to find __________, including ___________.”
Science – “The _______ of a cell is important because __________. If I add ________ to the mixture, the result will likely be __________.”
Health – “__________ is an unhealthy habit because __________. If I ___________, then my body will likely respond by _____________.”

21. More…
Comm. Arts – “The sentence I wrote could be made better by ____________. The improved sentence is ______________.”
Social Studies – “If World War III broke out today, our economy might _________. My opinion is based upon __________.”
Art – “Art can be an expression of ___________. The artist likely chose the color __________ because ____________.”
Drama – “My character’s motivation to move from A to B is _________. The line _________ shows me that my character is feeling the emotion of __________ and so my character would ______________.”

22. And more…
Nutrition – “If I add more ________ to this recipe the result would be _________. I know this because ___________.”
Business – “One action that may be taken to increase profits in a business is __________. Taking this action increases profits because __________.”
Computers – “If my antivirus software shows the error __________, I know _________. In the EXCEL if I want to __________ I need to use the function _______.”
Foreign Language – “The word ________ may be derived from the word ________. The evidence I have to support my opinion is _________.”

23. Grouping Configurations
Grouping configurations need to support the desired outcomes.
Explicitly plan for grouping opportunities.
Do not use grouping configurations if students can complete the task on their own, or without purpose.

24. Student Engagement Considerations
What modalities (reading, writing, listening, speaking) do students need to use to access your content?
What are the important content concept words I want students to understand and be able to use? (vocabulary)
What scaffolding and structures are present to promote student engagement.

25. Vocabulary Strategies
Personal Dictionaries
4-Corners Vocabulary
Use Cognates
Text Scavenger Hunt
Classifying
Who In This Room?
White Boards – speed game
Smartboard game templates –

26. Student Engagement Misconceptions
I have too much to get through. I don’t have time for my students to interact with each other.
Students never stay on topic when they are talking to each other. It becomes chaotic.
I am dummying down my content if I have the students talk about it.
I don’t teach language in my class. In my class they “do.”
When I have students talk or call on them randomly, it causes them anxiety. I can’t do that to them.
Groups just don’t work.
Interaction means I have to do silly games.

27. Triads Discussion
In your triads, use the sentence stems below to discuss the following ideas. Each person in the triad will respond to one stem.
Students should have the opportunities to interact…
We avoid allowing interaction…
I agree/I disagree/I also think…

28. Content Objective
Identify activities that promote interaction and student engagement.
Recognize strategies to increase student accountability, elaborating student responses, and support student learning.

29. Language Objective
Discuss the importance of planning and allowing for interaction activities.
Explain how some of the strategies presented can work in your classroom or building.

30. For More Information Bob Efken (314) 256-8685 befken@bayless.k12.mo.us
Christine Prosser (314)