Keeping students engaged in a lesson can be challenging at times, but there are several strategies that can be implemented into our lesson plans that will help us keep our students engaged. One of the most interesting methods discussed in our text is including some sort of physical activity as this stimulates the flow of oxygen to the brain, keeping students awake and engaged (Marzano, R., 2007). Other strategies include implementing games in the lesson; including a little competition will help students remain engaged as well. Another method is to make the lessons relatable for students; if they find common ground in the material that is a great tool for them to become interested in what they are learning. One way that I can think of to add physical activity to my lessons would be to have work stations that require students to move around the room after a certain amount of time. I also thought of implementing kinesthetics into some of the lessons, which will require students to use body movement in order to show what they are learning. In one of the classes I observed the teacher had students use kinesthetics to show their understanding of the different elements in a story. This activity can actually be turned into a game of charades, the rest of the class can try to guess which part of the story students are trying to interpret with their body movement. For example, to portray falling action, a student could be running in place and quickly fall to the ground.
It would also be important to stay current with events pertaining to our students so that we can find ways to relate to them. This will help them make connections with the material and find it interesting. While teaching about click bait in my computer class, I used Fortnite as an example for students to understand how advertisers will use things to grab their attention. This got majority of students excited and participating in the lesson.
All in all, keeping students engaged is all about taking the material we want them to learn and putting a twist to it that will make it exciting.
Marzano, R. J. The Art and Science of Teaching: A Comprehensive Framework for Effective Instruction. [Columbia College]. Retrieved from https://ccis.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781416614975/
Lisset,
ReplyDeleteGreat post, I really like the idea of implementing physical activity into our lesson plans to keep students engaged. I would have to agree with you that it is really important to keep our students moving and active. There is a teacher that I follow on instagram her name is @the_active_educator she does so many active lesson plans with her students and they are awesome. She even sells them on teacher pay teacher. There are so many great ideas though, you should check her out!
Great post,
Rylee
Lisset,
ReplyDeleteI think it is super important to keep kids engaged in the lesson I feel like that's when they are able to learn the most. I think the perfect balance of fun, and learning creates an engaging lesson. I think educational games are a good thing to bring into a lesson, for example fun math games after the students have done their independent practices. I think physical activity is an amazing idea! I know students spend so many hours sitting and having to focus giving students the chance to get up and walk around is a great idea.
Great work, I loved the examples,
Abagail