How to Keep Kids Engaged in Class

How to Keep Kids Engaged in Class

When students let their minds drift off, they're losing valuable learning time. Here are ten smart ways to increase classroom participation.

1. Start Class with a Mind Warm-Up 

A classic warm-up is to ask students to find the mistakes planted in material written on the board. (You can use this idea in any subject area.) But instead of asking them to work silently and alone, and then debrief in a classic question-and-answer session with one student at a time (while many sit inattentively), use a mix of collaboration and competition to eliminate what could potentially become dead time. 

2. Use Movement to Get Kids Focused

Ask all students to stand behind their desks and join in simple choreographed physical movement. Because most kids find it invigorating and it's easy to monitor full participation, it may become one of your favorite ways to get kids focused and kill dead time. 

3. Teach Students How to Collaborate Before Expecting Success 

Doing project learning and other team-based work without prior training can lead to lots of dead time. You can nip much of it in the bud by teaching collaboration skills before projects get started. You don't need to use an activity related to your subject area to teach teamwork.
Here's how: One way is to give teams of students a pair of scissors, two sheets of paper, ten paper clips, and a 10-inch piece of tape, and ask them to build the tallest free-standing tower in 20 minutes. 

4. Use Quickwrites When You Want Quiet Time and Student Reflection 

When interest is waning in your presentations, or you want to settle students down after a noisy teamwork activity, ask them to do a quickwrite, or short journal-writing assignment.
Here's how,: Ask, "What was most interesting about [blank]?" "What was confusing about [blank]?" "What was the clearest thing you understood?" "What was boring about [blank]?" "What did [blank] make you think of in your life?" 

5. Run a Tight Ship When Giving Instructions 

Preventing dead time is especially important when giving instructions. There are a lot of great ways to ask for your students' attention, but many succeed or fail based on how demanding you are of the final outcome.
Whichever method you use, before you begin speaking, it is critical to require (1) total silence, (2) complete attention, and (3) all eyeballs on you. (4) l give them a signal (you can count out loud from one to three, ring a bell, and so on) and wait until they are perfectly ready for you to speak. 

6. Use a Fairness Cup to Keep Students Thinking 

The more you can manage your classroom to be a supportive environment, where students are encouraged to take risks without fear of being put down or teased, the easier it will be to use your fairness cup regularly, without feeling that you are setting students up for failure.
Here's how: Write each student's name on a Popsicle stick and put the sticks in a cup. To keep students on their toes, pull a random stick to choose someone to speak or answer a question. Important: When you begin using your fairness cup, prepare a range of questions, some of which all your students can successfully answer. This strategy allows the bottom third of your class to get involved and answer questions without being put on the spot. 

7. Use Signaling to Allow Everyone to Answer Your Question 

To help ensure that all students are actively thinking, regularly ask questions to which everyone must prepare at least one answer -- letting them know you expect an answer. Then wait for all students to signal they are ready. 

8. Use Minimal-Supervision Tasks to Squeeze Dead Time out of Regular Routines 

Tasks that require minimal supervision add purposeful activity during moments that might normally revert to dead time. They come in handy when passing out papers, working with a small group of students, handling an unforeseen interruption, addressing students who didn't do their homework, or providing work to those who have finished an assignment before others.

9. Mix up Your Teaching Styles 

To keep students involved and on their toes, try to move from teacher-centered learning to student-centered active learning, and vice versa.
To encourage active listening, provide students with a list of important questions in advance. Interrupt the presentation with a quickwrite and then have students "pair-share" by asking them to compare their entries with a neighbor. Pull sticks from your fairness cup to choose pairs of students to present their thoughts to the class. 

10. Create Teamwork Tactics That Emphasize Accountability 

By insisting that students "ask three before me," you make it clear that they are expected to seek assistance from all members of their team before they turn to you.