Our mission for our 21st century chat is to create a positive 21st century learning environment for our students by sharing resources and ideas that has worked in our classrooms. Join us every Sunday from 8:00-9:00 PM (EST) on Twitter using the hashtag #21stedchat. All are welcome!
Welcome everyone to #21stedchat we will get the questions started in a couple of minutes. Don't forget the #21stedchat tag in your replies along with A1, A2, etc.
Hey #21stedchat friends! If you are working to coach teachers to improve student engagement, you want to learn The Impact Cycle! Join us for the workshop in ATL Sept.26-27 presented by a consultant from Jim Knight’s Instructional Coaching Group https://t.co/U14DXd6A58#educoach
A1: I think student engagement is how self-motivated students are to discover, learn, and create in your classroom. For me, it looks a lot like organized chaos but everyone is actually on task. #21stedchat#LUlearns
A1. Student engagement is when the student is motivated to learn because they have curiosity, interest and/or passion about what they are learning. #21stedchat
A1- Student engagement is observable when students are wholly absorbed in the learning process propelling themselves forward b/c learning is meaningful & viewed as necessary by them #21stedchat
Agreed. When students are really engaged in their learning, it can certainly look like chaos. Classroom should appear busy, have noise, and conversations. #21stedchat
I think that is a key factor. If you know your Ss and can make it something that already has built in appeal and engagement, the self-motivation is intrinsic. #21stedchat
A1: Student engagement involves voice and choice. Classrooms should be bustling with activity and students actively working on meaningful assignments #21stedchat
A2. If the teacher allows authentic Student Voice which often gets confused with students responses and they are not the same. Misconceptions of Student Voice and How to Overcome Them
https://t.co/5snmgZuPb2#21stedchat
Q2: Poor planning, antiquated teaching methods, little teacher interest, and restrictive assignments/projects can all negatively affect engagement. Kids know when you don't care or haven't planned and it rubs off on them. #21stedchat
Q2: I think the physical classroom environment has a big impact on student engagement. Desks in clusters or students sitting at tables promotes student discussions and collaboration. #21stedchat
I think that's a good point. Even if your room is set up in rows though, you can still get that engagement through flexible seating, movement, and other Kagan strategies. #21stedchat
A2a I have many students that school is a safe place from home and a place to relax their guard and learning may not be at the top of their list. #21stedchat
A2a: Absolutely! If a student has experienced #Trauma of any kind, that will have a dramatic effect on their engagement and performance in school. That’s why we must know our students well #21stedchat
A2A: Yes, if home life is rough than that is a lot of time what they are focused on through the day. It is not impossible to engage them, but harder. #21stedchat
a2a: Home life has a massive effect on Ss learning. I teach on a military base where Ps are frequently deployed. PS Hi! Manda from KS Academic Tutor #21stedchat
A2a: I have this same issue. However I have found that those are the students if you build the relationship piece with them first, they will walk through fire for you. If they know you care, they will do anything for you. #21stedchat
Q3: Does the culture of standardized testing affect engagement? Many of you are mentioning choice but in HS we have to get from A to Z by April testing. #21stedchat
I can agree with that. But those days are going to happen no matter what. Kids have bad days just like we do. Don't the good days outweigh the bad when you have that relationship piece with those kids? #21stedchat
A1: student engagement is somewhere in between “going through the motions” and absolute ownership. Ss engage because they are obidient, or enjoy learning, or want to please. They take ownership because they have passion. #21stedchat
A3: To an extent standardized assessments affect engagement. Testing is a genre within itself and teachers can certainly address what students will see on those tests throughout the year, BUT classes shouldn’t be all test prep. That will kill engagement #21stedchat
A3: There is waaaaay too much emphasis on standardized tests. The whole you must get this taught by March kills Ts/Ss choice in learning the standards at an appropriate pace, there's way too much testing prior to the test too #21stedchat
A3- I don’t personally believe that the culture of testing has to destroy engagement- it is all about the environment the teacher establishes! #21stedchat
A3: Yes and no, I have to meet standards but I find ways to do it that is engaging. A big way is project based learning. Still hitting standards, but they are having fun while doing it. #21stedchat
A3. If we allow it to then it will but you can easily prepare students for these tests through authentic learning and engagement and not have to do test prep. #21stedchat
A3: Yep. Most schools over test and strive for coverage over deep drives. This is why #PBL is so important when we discuss engagement and 21st century skills. #21stedchat
When I say "doing things", I mean that they will try their best even when they don't feel like it. Student engagement for me is about building an intrinsic sense of self-motivation. Not for me, but because of what they've come to believe about themselves. #21stedchat
A3 cont. also district mandated curriculums kill engagement/creativity - sometimes Ts need the freedom to teach the material using their prof. judgment not based on pacing guides created by some1 who's not in the classroom anymore #21stedchat
A1: Students might be engaged, but if I walked out of the classroom, would that remain? When students take ownership, they don’t learn to please — they learn because they are passionate! #21stedchat
A3 I think it can. It depends on how you react and deal with the pressure. I think if you build a culture that is engaging ss will do fine on the standardize test.
#21stedchat
A3 Standardized testing does take some of that time but you can still work in #PBL and other innovative learning experiences to achieve depths beyond “coverage” #21stedchat
A3: Absolutely. I am fortunate to not have to test in my area but for the teachers that do, I can tell that it is a harder to keep student choice, motivation, and engagement up. Worse when test time approaches. #21stedchat
Ugh, I'm so sorry. I hate that practice. What a child does on a multiple choice, short answer test for 90 minutes should not be summed up as 40% of a teacher's proficiency in their area. #21stedchat
A4- As Teachers we should expect this but it requires us to plan and set the classroom up for 100% engagement - it won’t happen by accident - teachers should strive for this!!! #21stedchat
AQ4: 100% engagement every day is a bit unrealistic. Students may come to school tired, sick or emotionally drained from a situation at home. #21stedchat
A4 Absolutely. High expectations = high results. Engagement for students is easy if you make connections with your students and make learning relevant, fully using 21st century skills. #21stedchat
A4: It's unrealistic to expect 100% every day. We know when Ps are deploying or returning home Ss are going to be less engaged. If Ss have poor home life or simply a rough morning before school sometimes we need to focus on the emotional more than academics #21stedchat
Q4: I think we can HOPE for it, but chances are No. As others stated, there is too much out of our control (home life, the class before, friends, etc.) that affect Ss engagement. But on the days you do get it? It's the reminder of why I became a teacher. #21stedchat
engagement can put a lot on a teacher. Depending on the activity. When I was adding gamification into my classroom it took a lot of time and weekends to plan. I think one thing I should have done is give leadership roles to ss to have them help me plan the activities. #21stedchat
Even demonstrating a catalyst reaction 3 different ways with practice and more. Students still missed the questions on the test. #21stedchathttps://t.co/uhp85Rwcw6
A5: When I taught 5th I had leeway in social studies/science so I gave the Ss 3-4 topics & they voted on what we learned based on the standards. Also Ss created a class constitution so they had ownership in our rules for class #21stedchat
What are some examples of how you gamified your classroom? If you don't mind sharing? I used a monopoly game based on our base community for behavior but would like other ideas #21stedchat
A5: Choices, Games, Designing Plans and Projects with their interests and experiences in mind. Students can tell when you've gone out of your way for them. It really does help. #21stedchat
Instead of learning about a new topic, I set things out at different stations in the room and make it a detective game. Each station has a part of the new learning target/project and together they have to decipher what we are going to/learn by the last station. #21stedchat
A6: I need more Legos, Paint, and GIF's in my teaching?...Or maybe that there are many different pieces to making student engagement successful. Not one answer fits all. #21stedchat
Thanks everyone for a great chat tonight. See you next week when @Edu_Thompson goes ROGUE - Revolutionizing PD. See you next Sunday at 8 PM ET #21stedchat
