With summer almost gone, it’s time to scour the ads for school
supplies and to gear up for the new school year. The beginning of school always brings up conflicting
emotions for me. First and
foremost, the excitement and anticipation of meeting new students and trying
new lessons, but also the anxiety of trying to meet so many new needs.
Continuing with the trend of Fun and Games and with the
understanding that engagement comes when students feel a connection with what
they’re learning, here are some ideas gathered from two sources that inspired
me this summer:
1)
David Warlick’s Smartbrief identified “four qualities of
gaming and social networking experiences that provoke active and deliberate
investment from the learner, into what they’re learning.” He cites:
a.
Responsiveness (“Choices work or don’t, but everything gets
feedback”);
b.
Collaboration (Learners discuss and build off one other
to participate and achieve);
c.
Personal Meaningfulness (quantifiable value and rewards
(unlocking new levels, getting likes or comments), and player and participant
identities are valued);
d.
Guided Learning in a Safe Environment (Players and
participants learn from what works and what doesn’t and adapt their
strategy).
Sounds
familiar? It should. These are the building blocks of a
successful classroom. The final question: “What would happen if students and
teachers were free to play with learning?” filled me with new energy and enthusiasm as I started to
work on my Fall Syllabus.
The
Art and Science of Teaching by Robert Marzano identifies five
common factors related to student engagement:
High Energy—Teachers
can use physical activity, appropriate pacing, and communication of enthusiasm
and intensity in working with students to promote engagement and motivation.
Missing Information—Teachers
can capitalize on the innate human need for closure by asking students to
discover and supply missing information.
The Self-System—Effective
engagement of students also involves incorporating topics, ideas, and processes
that students find inherently interesting and valuable to them.
Mild Pressure—When
students experience mild pressure while engaging in such activities as
questioning, games, and competitions, they tend to focus their attention on key
elements of the learning process.
Mild Controversy and Competition—Teachers can structure and manage non-threatening
forms of controversy and competition through such processes as debates,
tournaments, and related forms of team-based activities.
(Source
is ASCD Website)
Module
13 focuses on the use of games and other forms of non-threatening competition
as catalysts for promoting student engagement and Modules 14 and 15 present
strategies based on these five factors that teachers can use to engage
students.
