Effective instructional practices have been shown to increase student engagement, lead to a greater probability for student success, and increase student interest in learning. Below are several practices that support higher levels of student engagement.
- Create a sense of safety and success in your design
When designing lessons, intentional consideration should be given to providing increased structures and prompts. This can involve providing premade study guides to identified students who struggle with effective note taking and study skills. Additional strategies might include providing visual cues, manipulatives, graphic organizers, multisensory approaches to math or reading instruction, anchor charts, or a cue the teacher and/or identified students can use to reset behavior.
Read here about Why Calling on a Student Should Be the Last Thing You Do. The RIPPLE Strategy from Total Participation Techniques holds every student responsible for answering questions. When using this strategy you are letting all students know that they are expected to answer. This provides the same high expectation for all students, regardless of their ability, language, etc.
- Increase opportunities for students to respond.
Studies have revealed that increasing the number of opportunities students have to actively participate in the lesson leads to higher levels of engagement for all students. This Active Participation chart provides numerous ideas for verbal, written and action responses. If you are seeking additional resources, check out the following article which shares strategies teachers can use to support students’ writing using opportunities to respond: 12 Ways to Increase Students’ Writing Using Opportunities to Respond
- Vary instructional approaches.
Check out this 17-minute video which explains the use of one High Leverage Practice and highlights ways to create multiple and varied opportunities for student engagement: HLP #18: Use Strategies to Promote Active Student Engagement | High-Leverage Practices. The three key components highlighted in this video include: the use of a variety of strategies for ensuring student engagement during lessons, the importance of building positive student-teacher relationships, and actively monitoring for engagement while providing ongoing feedback.
- Identify clear learning goals.
Take a moment to read the Edutopia article “Making Learning Targets Clear to Students” and learn more about how to support students with their understanding of learning expectations, their self assessment on progress, and what steps they need to take to meet established goals. For more insight, check out this 9-minute video and listen to how several teachers discuss their development of Learning Intentions and Success Criteria.
- Provide feedback for growth.
John Hattie’s research has made clear that providing feedback is one of the top 10 influences on student achievement. In the following article he outlines 7 considerations to be mindful of when seeking to provide effective student feedback: Feedback in schools by John Hattie – Visible Learning
Providing proactive and empowering feedback can prevent students from misinterpreting teacher comments and support students to positively shape their learning. WISE feedback is written or verbal teacher feedback which includes the following 3 elements: feedback description, high standards, and assurance of student ability. Read more about WISE feedback here: How to Help Students Accept Constructive Criticism: ‘Wise’ Feedback
