Giving Students Choice to Boost End-of-Year Engagement

At the end of the year, students and teachers alike are antsy. We all feel the toll of the school year and can start to get lost in its tide. Repetition in lesson structure and lack of challenging content due to assessment prep can dull the interest of even the best students. Mandated testing can often interrupt progression of course content and growth. Monotony can really diminish the returns. And let’s face it: By this point, we are tired. Eyes start wandering out the window toward the longer and warmer days of summer.

But there are ways to combat these end-of-year struggles and wrap the school year with vigor. By sprinkling in student choice, checking progress, and adding novelty, we can pull students’ focus back into the learning.

Let’s talk about how to do this.

Giving students choice

Giving students some choice doesn’t have to be grandiose, but it should require them to engage with what is next. Use a repeatable framework that is reflective and helps students make informed choices about their learning. It should require students to consider their level of confidence about the learning that they just experienced and exercise autonomy to choose an action that offers them what they feel they need.

To provide the choice, deliver the lesson and then, for the work time, give the students three options:

1. Review the basics: A set of practice problems with an explainer video.

2. Go deeper: A few extension problems to work on collaboratively.

3. Go on a tangent: A student-driven option that connects the lesson to other learning.

I’ve provided the tangent option in multiple courses for a number of years now. Students don’t choose this one a lot, but when they do, it is an inspired choice. In Language Arts, a student liked the piece we read and wanted to read another piece by that same author. They proposed to me that they would report back on how three literary devices were used as evidence of their learning. In Health, a nutrition unit motivated a student-athlete to learn more about how to fuel their body better before soccer games. We agreed that they would find reliable articles and share the articles and their key takeaways with me.

These options all happen during the same work time, without the need for any additional lesson materials. This means that not one moment is wasted for those who got it, those whose interest is piqued, or those who need the practice.

Reflecting on progress

Students are so often disempowered in their learning because they have little ownership in the process. Try doing a progress check that requires the students to reflect on the course objectives and gauge where they are and what they need to accomplish before the end of the year to be ready for the next grade or class. Let them self-assess what they can do and what they still have to learn by using student-friendly “I can” statements:

• I am still learning this.
• I can do this.
• I could teach someone else.

This clearly shows them the scope of work. You can use starter phrases like “Next year in third grade…” or “Next year in Algebra…” to remind them that they are prepping for the next stage. It is enticing to know that their efforts are going toward something. Reassessing their skills and identifying areas where they need to practice creates a sense of confidence about what they gained over the school year and that they are nearly ready for the next phase.

The easiest place to integrate this approach is in the established time frames for practicing skills: during state assessment reviews, bell ringers, or any end-of-week recaps when students complete missing work or reinforce concepts. This is not an added thing but rather a refocus of existing scheduled time to target learning more closely and build student ownership.

You can combine this with the learning choices for more informed next steps.

Including novelty

Including novelty should be a light lift, but it should be unexpected in order to increase excitement—for them and for you. To liven up standard lessons, pick one easy-to-implement thing per week. Typical bell ringer? How about “Ask an Expert” instead? Students can role-play or have a quick 10-minute Zoom call with a guest speaker. Usual Wednesday vocab quiz? How about a lively game of Vocabulary Bingo instead? Basic content review? Maybe dress like a character from a book the class read and the students can interview you. Spice up the norm! Trade out one or two small activities each week over the last quarter of school. And you don’t need to come up with all things yourself: Invite the kids to get involved.

Bottom line: Partner a little more with the students to make informed choices about their learning, their awareness about their progress, and their purpose for learning. Then, choose a few small items that are easy to change up for a little surprise and fun. Keep your efforts focused. A little goes a long way. Students will stay more engaged if they are playing a more active part in the daily proceedings and making choices about their learning. And it’s more fun for us as teachers, too!