30 Great Ways Teachers Can Reach Students with Active Engagement Activities

Getting students actively engaged in the classroom is one of the most important tasks of a teacher.  Do you really know what the words actively engaged means?  Contrary to popular believe, "active engagement" involves more than just hands-on learning.  It involves the mind and the hands to be considered actively engaged.  When students minds and hands are fully engaged in a task, they are actively doing and actively thinking.  As a principal, I cringe at the thought of students "sitting and getting."  I refer to "sit and get" as students simply sitting at their desk and the teacher is doing all the talking and all the learning.  We want students to think and students to do some of the talking too.

There are several active engagement tools available to teachers.

 I made this set of 30 Interactive Engagement Activities to make the life easier for the classroom teachers.  It has simple but effective strategies to help get students participating in the lesson.  Having students actively engaged in the classroom is not optional....it's essential to learning.

Strategy cards, such as You're in the Hot Seat, give directions to the teacher and a short explanation on how to implement it in the classroom.  These ideas do not involve a lot of planning.

Pinch cards and response cards are also included.  Just print and go. I had my set printed, laminated and then put on a metal ring.

Are some of these tools already in your toolbox?  Perhaps so.  If not, you may need a little help getting started or a bit more practice with others.  I do guarantee this one bit of information...if you begin to use these strategies you will begin to build better lessons.  As your lessons become better, your students will learn more.

Let's think back to a time when you went to a workshop or professional development class and you sat in your seat all day and never had the opportunity to talk, interactive with others around you, and you left exhausted.  You leave exhausted because your brain was asleep.  

Teachers Doing the Learning:  Students will be paying attention, taking notes, asking questions, following requests, etc...

VS.

Students Doing the Learning: Students will be reading critically, writing to learn, creating, planning, problem solving, discussing, debating, exploring, interacting, etc...

Have you found success in engaging students?  Let's get started today with engaging students!

Try not to be this teacher!