5 Strategies to Increase Student Engagement

Student Engagement Hard Truth: A student who is unmotivated to learn will not learn. No matter how prepared you are or how amazing your lesson is, it won’t matter if a student isn’t engaged. UGH! BUT ALL HOPE IS NOT LOST! You can quickly come up with classroom management strategies that will increase student engagement for the rest of the year.

Now…if you’re a secondary teacher, quit laughing…it really IS possible to increase student engagement in Jr. High and High School too.

Imagine…Students want to come to your class each day. To them, the class that you teach is the most important class of their day. They don’t want to miss a thing because what you are teaching is so valuable. Even going to the bathroom is risky because they might miss crucial information.

It gets better. Picture students doing the dirty work of learning and seeing the value in it. They want to improve and are proud when they earn good grades. They want to reach the high standards you set.

Can it get even better? Yes, my friend. Yes, it can! Once you have this system in place, you work less and they learn more! Amazing, right?

And the best part? At the end of the class, students always say how much they learn, how fast class goes by and that they never want to miss it. And that means that they will show up. Every. Day.

After years of trial and error, this is what my classroom looks like…and yours can too…fortunately for you, minus the trial and error lol. It’s all about increasing student engagement and motivation.

But first, let’s start with student engagement…or the lack of student engagement.

Lack of student engagement is SO frustrating, isn’t it? And Oh. My. Gosh. Our teens today work hard at not working hard! We could write a whole book about that, right?!

These teens want someone else – you – to do the work for them. They expect to turn in subpar work and get a good grade. They want you to tell them exactly what they did wrong. Making excuses for their low quality of work instead of taking personal responsibility is their thing. The quickest answer is the best answer in their book. And on – and on – and on.

It all has to start with changing the mindset of students. This means changing learned behaviors. It sounds harder than it is. I promise.

Setting up a strong foundation is key. Students, especially teenagers, NEED specific details and to know exactly what you mean. SO, you need to be very clear about what you expect and how your class functions. If you need tips on setting up that strong foundation, read the article Be a Classroom Management Rockstar. And, if you’d like strategies on how to stick to your Classroom Management plan throughout the year, check out Keep Your Classroom Management Strategies Strong All Year.

Here are classroom management strategies that increase student engagement and will get your students working hard today.

Classroom Management Strategy #1

Make a few rules but follow them to a T

Classroom Management Strategy #2

Set High Standards/Expectations and only accept work that meets the standards you set

Classroom Management Strategy #3

Talk to them about how you know they can do it

Classroom Management Strategy #4

Make them do the messy work of figuring out what they did wrong

These classroom management strategies are crucial when you need to increase student engagement and motivation. And, as an added bonus, IT WILL SAVE YOU SO MUCH TIME!

If you give a man a fish, he eats for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime

Classroom Management Strategy #5

Make your class time valuable & don’t waste their time…or yours.

This is the only class I come to school for – It isn’t worth it to miss this class – This class goes by so fast and I work so hard. I never want to miss your class.

These are just a few notes I have received from students

And a gift for you!

Because I know teachers love gifts AND you so deserve one (or 1,000), I have a FREE planner called In Three Simple Steps, Get Your Students Engaged and Change Your Life PLUS a couple of inspirational and laugh out loud printable quotes just for you. Just sign up in the above box.

Although many of these strategies to increase student motivation will work at all levels of education with some adjusting, it is geared toward the secondary education. If you’d like to get specific classroom management ideas for elementary level, check out this great article! It can change your classroom life!

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