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Blogs on Student Engagement

Student Engagement

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Get advice from educators on how to build a positive climate for learning, improve student curiosity, and enhance classroom collaboration.

16
Back to School: Rules and Routines in the Classroom
Rebecca AlberSeptember 6, 2010
Tags Classroom Management, Teacher Development, Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle (6-8), High (9-12)

I admit it. I allowed students to chew gum in class. Why? I chewed gum. I have a throat that tends to dry up mid-morning. Gum helps.

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6
News Flash: How Tiny Boosts to Personal Identity Improve Minority Students' Grades
EdutopiaAugust 18, 2010
Tags Comprehensive Assessment, Mental Health, Mentoring, , Student Engagement, Teacher Development, All Grades, English Language Arts

A few years ago I wrote a story about a new piece of research that blew my mind. A group of Yale University researchers led by Geoffrey Cohen gave a bunch of Connecticut seventh-graders a 15-minute writing assignment. Half the children in this racially-diverse, working-class school were prompted to write about their personal values - a task designed to validate their identity and self-worth -- and half were assigned a more neutral subject.

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9
Help Students Set Up an Effective Writing Routine
Todd FinleyAugust 16, 2010
Tags Curriculum, Dropout Prevention, Student Engagement, Teacher Development, Technology Integration, Middle (6-8), High (9-12), English Language Arts

For students to write with ease and creativity, it is helpful for them to understand writing processes and writing routines. The paragraphs below take up the latter.

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4
Bassline Buff Verbs
Gaetan PappalardoJuly 30, 2010
Tags Arts Education, Integrated Studies, Primary (K-2), Upper Elementary (3-5), English Language Arts, Music, Visual Arts

We found the groove. Make sure your seatbelts are fastened and have a good time.

 -- From the song "20th Century," by the band Brad

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1
Amelia's Daughters: A Legacy of Women in Flight
Cheryl YoungJuly 23, 2010
Tags After-School Learning, Career and Technical Education, Integrated Studies, Middle (6-8), High (9-12), History, Minnesota, Wisconsin

Editor's Note: Today's guest blog is in honor of Amelia Earhart's birthday, July 24, 1897. The author is Cheryl Young, educator, founder of Young Education Services (YES) and biographer of Elizabeth Strohfus, WWII pilot.

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Learning Inside an Out-of-School Newsroom
Betty RayJuly 19, 2010
Tags After-School Learning, Career and Technical Education, Integrated Studies, Mentoring, Student Engagement, Technology Integration, High (9-12), California

Editor's Note: Our guest blogger this week is Elisabeth (Lissa) Soep, PhD, research director and senior producer at Youth Radio, a Peabody Award-winning, youth-driven production company in Oakland, California, with bureaus across the country and partners around the world.

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Students Redesign a New Orleans School with a View...of Dignity
Betty RayJune 16, 2010
Tags Community Partnerships, Environmental Education, Louisiana

Editor's Note: Our guest blogger today is Karen Brown from the Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, CA.

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13
Personalized Learning and the School of One
EdutopiaJune 11, 2010
Tags Classroom Management, Dropout Prevention, Integrated Studies, Primary (K-2), , Technology Integration, Upper Elementary (3-5), New York

Personalized learning has been a lot on our minds at Edutopia lately. We just launched some major coverage on Forest Lake Elementary School in Columbia, South Carolina -- a kind of "little school that could" for differentiated instruction. It's an earnest, humble place (except for the slew of awards touted on the façade) full of earnest, humble people who are simply determined to teach each child as a unique individual. Through strong leadership, dogged grant-writing and constant collaboration, they've done it.

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63
How Do You Handle Difficult Situations with Students?
Ben JohnsonMay 19, 2010
Tags Classroom Management, Teacher Development, High (9-12)

"So do you have a problem with me?" the student asked.

"Yes I do." I testily answered. "You need to be quiet and listen to the teacher!"

"What do you care? Just keep fixing that computer!" replied the student.

Unfortunately, I was only a visitor in the classroom that day (there to fix the computer). The above exchange occurred when I just couldn't stand it any longer and turned and looked for the student who was making all that noise while the teacher was trying to teach high school biology.

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The Kentucky Derby, Springboard to Lessons in American Culture
David MarkusApril 30, 2010
Tags Place-Based Learning, History, Kentucky

May 1st is the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, Kentucky, known around the globe as "the most exciting two minutes in sports." For my money, it's also a treasure chest of inspiration for social studies and other interesting class discussions.

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