Eight Tips to Engage Your Students

The following information was shared with me and I am reminded that there are ideas that we need to return to, reflect upon and consider as we go about our business of educating our students. From the ASCD 2011 Conference website:

Eight TIps to Engage Your Students

"We cannot use the excuse 'I've always done it this way,'" said speaker Laura Erlauer Myrah.

In the session "Instructional Tips to Tell Teachers," Laura Erlauer Myrah provided eight tips for educators and teachers to engage their students and allow them to remember concepts taught in class. The eight tips cover categories such as the body and brain, movement, emotional environment, collaboration, relevant learning, enriched environment, and Net Generation learners.

Tips that can be used in the classroom: 

1. Body and Brain 

• Open windows 
• Have plants in classrooms 
• Allow your students to have water bottles 
• Educate parents and students regarding the need for adequate sleep 

2. Movement 

• Ask your students to stand instead of raising their hands 
• Questions around the room 
• Clapping rhythms 
• New location for important material 

3. Emotional Environment 

• Make every student feel unique and secure 
• Meet and greet 
• Give recognition 
• Listen and show interest 
• Expect respect from all 
• Relationships transcend everything 
• Emotions and memory

4. Collaboration 

• Collaborative learning/projects 
• Pair and share (tell students to talk to classmates and practice answers) 
• Connections with other levels 
• Connections with community 

5. Relevant Learning 

• Make the relevance obvious to students 
• Make it interesting and fun through your delivery 
• Experience learning 

6. Enriched Environment 

• Challenging problem solving 
• Physical classroom 
• You can play music during tests or writing 
• Use of music: a. Primer; b. Carrier; c. Arousal/Mood 

7. Assessment and Feedback 

• Know it well 
• Remember it always 
• Use it readily 

8. Net Generation Learners 

• Youth don't see working, learning, collaborating, and having fun as separate experiences. 
• They believe in, and want, these experiences occurring simultaneously in school and in future careers. 
• This generation wants to problem-solve and innovate. 

Source:  http://www.ascd.org/conferences/annual-conference/conference-daily/2011-eight-tips.aspx