Engaging Students

Engagement in schools is a word that is tossed around quite frequently. Teachers and administrators everywhere are constantly implementing strategies and creating programs to increase student engagement, sometimes to no avail. As a camp director, I have spent entire summers with kids of all ages. At the end of the summer, I always ask them if they are looking forward to going back to school, and I am sure you can guess what their responses are. Why is there this disconnect? How is it that students still have this gloomy attitude about school even when so many educators are working towards making kids want to come to school?

I in no way have an answer to this question, but I do know from experience that when those same kids are asked about their experiences at camp, they have very different answers than with school. So, to me, would it not make sense to align what students love doing at camp with the 10 months they spend in school? As mentioned in past posts, I recognize that there is more to education than playing team building games, creating interesting art projects, going swimming and playing sports. However, it is proved that kids love to do this, so why not try to replicate those feelings in a classroom environment?

There are so many educators before me that have discovered this secret, and they are doing amazing things in the classroom. There are so many examples on Teachers Pay Teachers of teachers that have created camping-themed units to do with their students. The units are integrated across multiple subjects. Students incorporate science, math and language while learning how to build tents, solve camping related problems and learn high frequency words associated with the theme. I cannot think of anything cooler!

Another amazing idea I found on Pinterest was in a blog by the The Brown-Bag Teacher. In her classroom, she decided to do a Place Value Bootcamp, where she dressed up as an army sergeant and took her class through an entire day of bootcamp filled with math games to practice their place value knowledge. She also incorporated youtube videos to teach her students a song about place value, as well as DPA when she found they were getting restless. Doing an activity like this would definitely take time to plan, probably more than any teacher wants to take on. But! Wouldn't it be worth it to see your students truly engaged in their learning? I do, but everyone needs to decide for themselves. 

These 2 ideas are only the tip of the iceberg when considering how to engage students in meaningful ways. My Pinterest page has many more ideas, including holding dress up days for you and your students to take part in or using brain breaks to give your students time to be silly before focusing on their work. I absolutely love finding teachers who are taking the time to truly make their students' learning meaningful. By engaging students in unique ways, I truly believe more authentic and deep learning can occur.