Student Engagement - Domain I

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My students are actively involved in and focused on their learning. 

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Discuss the kinds of observable practice that this factor represents…

1. Ability to establish and support classroom and school-wide behavior expectations.

2. Ability to provide effective classroom management.

3. Ability to ensure smooth transitions.

4. Ability to connect with each student and for students to connect with each other; to build meaningful relationships with and between my students that better support and facilitate their learning and social-emotional needs.

5. Ability to reach reluctant learners.

6. Ability to promote parent communication and involvement.

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Target Four Skills and Resources

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The teacher scans the room and notices when students are not paying attention or not cognitively engaged and takes overt action.  The teacher uses academic games to cognitively engage or re-engage students.  The teacher uses physical movement to maintain student engagement in content.  The teacher uses pacing techniques to maintain student engagement in content.  The teacher demonstrates intensity and enthusiasm for content by sharing a deep level of content knowledge in a variety of ways.  The teacher uses friendly controversy techniques to maintain student engagement in content.  The teacher provides students with opportunities to relate content being presented in class to their personal interests.

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1. Ability to establish and support classroom and school-wide behavior expectations. - (Domain III)

• PBIS

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  2. Ability to provide effective classroom management.

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 Engagement is divided into four components: (1) paying attention, (2) being energized, (3) being intrigued, and (4) being inspired.  A teacher must be aware and react when students are disengaged.  The teacher scans the room and identifies specific students who appear to be disengaged and monitors levels of engagement of the whole class.  The teacher periodically asks students to signal their level of engagement.  If the teacher notices that the energy levels in the classroom are low the teacher does something to increase everyone's engagement.  If a student is not engaged the teacher takes action to re-engage that student.  To increase response rates call on random names by having paper or Popsicle sticks, have students response with hand signals, response cards, response chaining, paired response, choral response, wait time, prove answer, have multiple types of questions.  Use physical movement by having students stand up and stretch, vote with your feet, corners activities, stand and be counted, drama related activities.  Maintain a lively pace.  Demonstrate intensity and enthusiasm.  Use friendly controversy and academic games.  Provide opportunities for students to talk about themselves so they feel welcome in the class.  

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Resources:

• See Classroom Management Page

• See Canvas Page on Classroom Management

• Monitoring for Learning

• Noticing when students are not engaged

• Increasing Response Rates

• Canvas Page on Engagement - Use the next button on the bottom of each page

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  3.  Ability to ensure smooth transitions.

• Effective Use of Class time

• Student Engagaement

• Engaging Students

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 4.  Ability to connect with each student and for students to connect with each other; to build meaningful relationships with and between my students that better support and facilitate their learning and social-emotional needs.

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 5. Ability to reach reluctant learners

 The teacher exhibits behaviors that demonstrate value and respect for low expectancy students’ thinking regarding the content.  The teacher asks questions of low expectancy students with the same frequency and depth as with high expectancy students.  The teacher probes incorrect answers of low expectancy students by requiring them to provide evidence for their conclusions and examine the sources of their evidence.  If a teacher's category for reluctant learners includes generalizations like "these students simply won't try hard" or "these students will give up if they are challenged," then they will act accordingly.  Teachers must be aware of their expectations for students and the possible negative consequences.  Build relationships with students, have them track their own progress and set goals, have students work with peers for support, re-teach information in small group, allow students to re-take assessments.  When planning think of students that the teacher is not pushing to excel.  Plan behaviors to ensure that reluctant learners receive the message that their thinking is valued and they are expected to perform at high levels.

• The teacher communicates high expectations for all students

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  6.  Ability to promote parent communication and involvement

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Example Teacher Evidence:

• Teacher notices when specific students or groups of students are not paying attention or not cognitively engaged

• Teacher notices when the energy level in the room is low or students are not participating

• Teacher takes action or uses specific strategies to re-engage students

• Teacher uses academic games that focus on or reinforce important concepts

• Teacher uses academic games that create generalizations or test principles

• Teacher uses structured, inconsequential competition games such as Jeopardy and Family Feud

• Teacher develops impromptu games such as making a game out of which answer might be correct for a given question

• Teacher uses friendly competition along with classroom games

• Teacher develops conative skills during academic games (taking various perspectives, interacting responsibly, handling controversy and conflict)

• Teacher facilitates movement to learning stations or to work with other students

• Teacher has students move after brief chunks of content engagement

• Teacher has students stand up and stretch or do related activities when their energy is low

• Teacher uses activities that require students to physically move to respond to questions

• Teacher has students physically act out or model content to increase energy and engagement

• Teacher uses give-one-get-one activities that require students to move about the room

• Teacher balances a lively pace with the need for adequate time to respond to specific activities and assignments

• Teacher employs crisp transitions from one activity to another

• Teacher alters pace appropriately (i.e., speeds up and slows down)

• Teacher enthusiastically demonstrates depth of content knowledge

• Teacher demonstrates importance of content by relating it to authentic, real-world situations

• Teacher describes personal experiences that relate to the content

• Teacher signals excitement for content by (physical gestures, voice tone, dramatization of information)

• Teacher strategically adjusts his/her energy level in response to student engagement

• Teacher structures mini-debates about the content

• Teacher structures activities that require students to provide evidence for their positions in a friendly controversy

• Teacher has students reveal sources of evidence to support their positions

• Teacher has students examine multiple perspectives and opinions about the content

• Teacher elicits different opinions on content from members of the class

• Teacher develops conative skills during friendly controversy

• Teacher is aware of student interests and makes connections between these interests and class content

• Teacher structures activities that ask students to make connections between the content and their personal interests

• Teacher appears encouraging and interested when students are explaining how content relates to their personal interests

• Teacher highlights student use of specific cognitive skills (e.g., identifying basic relationships, generating conclusions, and
  identifying common logical errors) and conative skills (e.g., becoming aware of the power of interpretations) when students
  are explaining how content relates to their personal interests

Example Student Evidence:

• Students appear aware of the fact that the teacher is noticing their level of engagement

• Students increase their level of engagement when the teacher uses engagement strategies

• Students explain that the teacher expects high levels of engagement

• Students report that the teacher notices when students are not engaged

• Students engage in the games with some enthusiasm

• Students can explain how the games keep their interest and help them learn or remember content

• Students appear to take various perspectives when engaged in academic games

• Students interact responsibly during academic games

• Students handle controversy and conflict during academic games

• Student behavior shows physical movement strategies increase cognitive engagement

• Students engage in the physical activities designed by the teacher

• Students can explain how the physical movement keeps their interest and helps them learn

• Students stay engaged when the pace of the class is not too fast or too slow

• Students quickly adapt to transitions and re-engage when a new activity is begun

• Students describe the pace of the class as not too fast or not too slow

• Students say that the teacher “likes the content” and “likes teaching”

• Student attention levels or cognitive engagement increase when the teacher demonstrates enthusiasm and intensity for the
  content

• Students engage or re-engage in friendly controversy activities with enhanced engagement

• Students describe friendly controversy activities as “stimulating,” “fun,” and “engaging”

• Students explain how a friendly controversy activity helped them better understand the content

• Students appear to take various perspectives while engaged in friendly controversy

• Students interact responsibly during friendly controversy

• Students appropriately handle controversy and conflict while engaged in friendly controversy

• Students engage in activities that require them to make connections between their personal interests and the content

• Students explain how making connections between content and their personal interests engages them and helps them
  better understand the content

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