
When I first saw this infographic (created by Dr. Roland Rios) based on Schlechty’s Levels of Engagement, it actually took me a moment to collect my thoughts.
I quickly asked myself, “What the heck does student engagement even mean?” And then followed that with, “I wonder if my students actually have high attention and commitment, or are they just being strategically compliant?”
Sometimes a picture can say a thousand words. For me, this picture led to a thousand questions.
For some reason, classroom management’s connection to student engagement was not part of my discussions as an undergrad, student teacher, or even first year teacher. We seemed to miss the piece that a “well managed classroom” doesn’t necessarily mean students are learning, and classroom management is actually very easy when students are engaged.
To be fair, I did not seek out this information myself either. When I started to think about these things and make student engagement a main focus in my instructional practice, things began to dramatically change. Whereas before I was worried about “entertaining” my students to keep them engaged, I soon realized that when students care about what they are doing, and find meaning and relevance in their task…it’s much more likely they’ll have high attention and high commitment.
I write a lot about student choice, inquiry-based learning, and how to bring innovation back into the classroom. Yet, when I boil down the reasons I love choice in learning…it seems to always come back to a connection with student engagement.
John Spencer and I decided to devote the entire month of April to the topic of “Student Engagement” on our podcast Classroom Questions.
What followed is 18 episodes and over 300 minutes of in-depth conversations on student engagement in the classroom. I hope you enjoy this epic guide, and subscribe to our podcast Classroom Questions for May’s topic of Professional Development.
The Classroom Questions podcast is on iTunes and Stitcher. You can listen and subscribe on iTunes here or on Stitcher here. Enjoy!
CQ 032: Top 5 Ways to Boost Student Engagement
In this final episode of April’s “student engagement” theme, John and A.J. look back on the Top 5 ways to boost student engagement in the classroom.
Related Resources:
- Book: Engaging Students by Phil Schlechty
- Book: The Rise of Superman by Steven Kotler
- Book: Flow: The Psychology of Human Performance Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
- Blog Post: How to Create a State of Flow in the Classroom by AJ Juliani
- Blog Post: Five Ways to Increase Flow in the Classroom by John Spencer
CQ 031: How can we create a student ownership in the classroom?
John and A.J. discuss what student ownership looks like, and how to instill a sense of ownership through various learning activities and experiences.
Recommended Resources:
- Book: Mastery by Robert Greene
- Book: Mindset by Carol Dweck
- Teachers Leading Teachers Conference
CQ 030: Are extroverts always engaged, or are we missing an opportunity for learning?
A follow-up episode to the previous discussion on introverts, John and A.J. talk about how we often miss an opportunity to engage extroverts in our classrooms.
Recommended Resources:
- Book: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
- Blog Post: Differentiation for Introverts and Extroverts by John Spencer
- Blog Post: Are Schools Failing Extroverts by John Spencer
CQ 029: How do we engage the shy student in class?
John and A.J. discuss whether being shy is the same thing as being an introvert, and why the distinction is important when it comes to engaging students in our classrooms.
Recommended Resources:
- Book: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
- Blog Post: Differentiation for Introverts and Extroverts by John Spencer
- Blog Post: Teaching Introverts by John Spencer
CQ 028: How can positive peer pressure drive student engagement?
John and A.J. discuss the possibility of positive peer pressure in the classroom, and how a negative terms might be thought about differently.
Recommended Resources:
- Book: Where Good Ideas Come from by Steven Johnson
- Book: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
- Book: The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki
- Book: Choice Theory by William Glasser
CQ 027: How can I take an old lesson, and revise it for flow? (Part 3)
John and A.J. take two of their personal lessons (that tanked) and fix them up to include a space for student engagement and flow!
Recommended Resources:
- Book: Flow: The Psychology of Human Performance Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
- Blog Post: How to Create a State of Flow in the Classroom by AJ Juliani
- Blog Post: Five Ways to Increase Flow in the Classroom by John Spencer
CQ 026: Flow in the classroom, continued (Part 2)
John and A.J. continue their discussion on flow in the classroom.
Recommended Resources:
- Book: Flow: The Psychology of Human Performance Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
CQ 025: What is “flow” and how does it impact learning? (Part 1)
John and A.J. begin a three-part discussion on Flow and how important it is for student learning.
Recommended Resources:
- Book: Flow: The Psychology of Human Performance Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
- Blog Post: How to Create a State of Flow in the Classroom by AJ Juliani
- Blog Post: Five Ways to Increase Flow in the Classroom by John Spencer
CQ24: How do I pace my class so that kids don’t get bored?
John discusses the pacing of class in this solo show about boredom, engagement, and how fast (or slow) to go while instructing.
Recommended Reading:
- Book Series: Stories with Holes by Nathan Levy
- Blog Post: A Key Ingredient Missing from My Lessons (Action Versus Suspense) by John Spencer
CQ 23: Is technology a distraction in the classroom?
In this episode John and A.J. discuss whether or not technology is engaging or distracting in the classroom. Each shares stories of their use of tech in the classroom and how it played a role in engagement.
Recommended Resources
- Book: Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman
- Book: It’s Complicated: The Networked Life of Teens by dana boyd
- Book: Pencil Me In by John Spencer
- Book: Modeling with Technology: Mindtools for Conceptual Change by DH Jonassen
- Blog Post: Media Criticism Questions by John Spencer
CQ22: How can inquiry increase student engagement in the classroom?
John and A.J. discuss the power of inquiry in the classroom and how any teacher can make time in their curriculum for inquiry (and student choice).
Recommended Resources:
- Book: Inquiry and Innovation in the Classroom: Using 20% Time, Genius Hour and PBL to Drive Student Success by AJ Juliani
- Book: Learning by Choice: Ten Ways Choice and Differentiation Create an Engaged Learning Experience for Every Student by AJ Juliani
- Book: Choice Theory: A New Psychology of Personal Freedom by William Glasser
- Book: The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller
- Research on AJ’s blog
CQ21: How do you engage a student who really doesn’t like math?
In this episode John and A.J. discuss how to work with a student who can’t stand the content and specific subject you teach…in this case it’s math.
Recommended Resources:
- Blog: The Reflective Educator by David Wees
- Blog: dy/dan by Dan Meyer
- Site: 101qs
- Blog Post: Seven Myths About Math by John Spencer
- Blog Post: Math As Storytelling by John Spencer
- Blog Post: Five Ways to Fix Word Problems by John Spencer
CQ20: How can student choice increase engagement?
A.J. takes on this question in a solo show about student choice. In this episode you’ll learn about A.J.’s journey as a teacher with choice in the classroom and what led him down the road to starting the 20% Project with his class.
Resources Shared:
- Book: Inquiry and Innovation in the Classroom: Using 20% Time, Genius Hour and PBL to Drive Student Success by AJ Juliani
- Book: Learning by Choice: Ten Ways Choice and Differentiation Create an Engaged Learning Experience for Every Student by AJ Juliani
- Book: Choice Theory: A New Psychology of Personal Freedom by William Glasser
- Research on AJ’s blog
CQ 019: Should teachers assess the process or the product when grading student work?
John and A.J. debate which piece of student work is better to focus on and assess: process or product. Things get a bit heated as they sit on opposite sides of this question!
Recommended Resources:
- Blog Post: Should We Focus on the Process or the Product? by John Spencer
- Book: Practical Solutions for Real Problems in Standards-Based Gradingby Thomas Guskey.
- Book: Visible Learning for Teachers by John Hattie
- Book: Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck
- Book: Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe
- Site: The Buck Institute for Education
CQ 018: Do Badges Increase Engagement?
A.J. and John debate the pros and cons of badges in the classroom, and whether or not they actually increase student engagement.
Recommended Resources:
- Book: Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink
- Book: Punished by Rewards by Alfie Kohn
- Blog Post: The Gamification of Education by AJ Juliani
- Blog Post: Fifteen Ways to Engage Reluctant Learners by John Spencer
CQ 017: How do you help that one student who is not engaged?
John and A.J. discuss what it’s like to have one student who never seems to be engaged, and offer up strategies and some stories on how they dealt with this issue in their classrooms.
Recommended Resources:
- Book Series: Stories with Holes by Nathan Levy
- Book: Authentic Learning in the Digital Age by Larissa Pahomov
- Book: They Call Me Coach by John Wooden
- Book: Engaging Students by Phil Schlechty
CQ 016: How can we make informational texts more engaging?
John and AJ discuss the power of informational texts in learning, and why they don’t have to be boring!
Recommended Resources:
- Book: Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It by Kelly Gallagher
- Book: The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child by Donalyn Miller
- Site: NEWSELA
CQ 015: What does an engaged classroom look like?
John and AJ kick off a month-long theme on “Student Engagement” and talk about what an engaged classroom actually looks like (or doesn’t look like) in this episode.
Recommended Resources:
- Blog Post: Sometimes Quantity Is Better Than Quality by John Spencer
- Book: Authentic Learning in the Digital Age: Engaging Students Through Inquiry by Larissa Pahomov
- Book: Engaging Students: The Next Level of Working on the Work by Philip Schlecty
- Book: Learning by Choice: 10 Ways Choice and Differentiation Lead to an Engaged Learning Experience for Every Student by AJ Juliani
Have a resource, blog post, or book about student engagement? Leave it in the comments to share with the community!
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[…] An Epic Guide to Student Engagement in the Classroom – A.J. Juliani […]
Quoting: “… a ‘well managed classroom’ doesn’t necessarily mean students are learning, and classroom management is actually very easy when students are engaged.” Couldn’t agree with this more than I already do!!! Though an emeritus professor, my learning objective for the coming months is student classroom engagement. Your podcasts will be incredibly important. Thanks to you and John!!! Sorry I missed them in April.
[…] The Epic Guide to Student Engagement […]
[…] an article I wrote titled, “An Epic Guide to Student Engagement“, I put it like […]
Excellent articles. Please add me to your list.
Thank you.
Lawrence
[…] minimally impacted by teachers. I can encourage, I can try and provoke, but if students won’t authentically engage with the material learning will not last. The second problem I think I usually do rather well with, […]