Guiding Students to Evaluate Their Own Level of Engagement

I created a visual representation of student engagement that I display in my classroom. It illustrates participation as a progression up a mountain. Just standing on the path does not move you up to the summit—it takes drive and momentum to get to the top. Disengagement is depicted as leaving the trail or entering a cave, and a thunderstorm symbolizes disruptive behaviors like talking out of turn, getting up, or getting sidetracked by distractions.

Students understand the concept of climbing immediately, and it helps them not only to attend to their own learning, but also to be able to assist other students to get back on the path. One morning, a student came in looking a little down and said, “I just want to go in the cave today.” After a little pep talk about the rough transition from home to school that morning, we found him a “hiking partner” for the day. It wasn’t long before he was participating and moving on from his rough morning. I believe it was because his feelings were validated and he was offered a solution to work his way through it without an impact on his learning.

Research shows that engagement is key to student achievement, yet maintaining it can be challenging. My engagement display is based on Amy Berry’s description, in her book Reimagining Student Engagement, of engagement as a continuum from active to inactive, with students shifting along the continuum throughout the day. Behaviors range from participating, driving, and investing in their learning to withdrawing, avoiding, or disrupting it. Even quiet withdrawal—like daydreaming while appearing attentive—represents disengagement. Moreover, participation doesn’t always mean active learning, and students who are simply watching or listening may not be truly engaged.

That’s why I’ve implemented simple ways to help my students stay engaged—and evaluate their own level of engagement. I especially focus on providing students with opportunities to respond by giving them frequent chances to answer questions or prompts in a set amount of time (e.g., three to five per minute). This can be done verbally or nonverbally.

NonVerbal Responses

Nonverbal responses involve students using a signal, card, writing, or movement to respond. When information is being reviewed, nonverbal responses are a way to rapidly engage students while also informally assessing the material being taught.

Fist to five is an expanded form of thumbs-up/thumbs-down. When asked about how much they understand a topic, a student displays a fist or a certain number of fingers, ranging from one finger for “I have no idea” to five fingers for “I’ve got this (and I can teach someone else).”

Thumbs-up is a popular response for checking understanding. I ask students to use a sideways thumb if they are unsure. Variations depending on the age of the students I work with might include touching their nose, putting their hand on their head, etc.

Whiteboards are great for content areas that require written answers. Small individual boards or paddles can be held up as a response. They also allow me to see the learning unfolding and to identify who might benefit from some scaffolding or reteaching.

Color cones/cards are another way to support learning by having students (individually or as a group) display a small laminated card, either red, yellow, or green. I have small cones in those colors that are very helpful with group work to display how the team is doing. A yellow or red card or cone signals assistance is needed, from either an adult or other team.

Verbal Responses

Verbal responses are effective during instruction of new material or concepts, and students can answer either individually or as a group.

Turn and talk and shoulder partners are popular ways to engage students to actively discuss the lesson. Informing students that they may be called on to explain their partner’s thoughts keeps them alert. Calling can be done by drawing sticks with individual student names. Partners might also have a colored card or cone, and when I spin a wheel of colors, the color that the wheel lands on indicates which groups will share.

This also works well for choral responding, in which students repeat a teaching point or participate in a chant or song. This can become passive for students who get lost in the whole group, but by asking students to be ready to respond when their color is called, it engages active listening. Choral responding is also a great way to transition learners back to the whole group. Since I’m from New England, my favorite way to request the students to wrap up is to sing “Sweet Caroline, good times never seemed so good,” and have students reply, “So good! So good! So good!”

I couple these strategies with giving specific praise, so the students understand exactly what they did correctly. I try to boost engagement by including specific details:

• Instead of “Good Job!” I say, “You really worked that problem through until you finished! Now check your answer with your partner.”
• Instead of “I am proud of you” I say, “You should feel so proud of yourself for solving that problem independently!”
• Instead of “Try again” I say, “You are almost there. Try again and double-check the math symbol in the equation.”
• Instead of “You’re so smart” I say, “Congratulations! You solved the problem and got things done! Share with someone how you did it!”

Increased engagement produces an uptick in student achievement, and these strategies can be successfully used in all content areas. Once verbal and nonverbal opportunities to respond are coupled with specific praise, students will be on the path to driving their own learning.