Nov 20, 2020

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

I have some questions for my middle school teachers out there. Are you struggling with your students’ level of engagement?

How much harder has online learning made middle school student engagement?

And then the big one: are middle schoolers truly hard to teach?

THE STRUGGLE IS REAL

If you are struggling with your students’ engagement (and let’s face it, I’m 100% positive that if you’re not struggling with it at this moment, you have in the past or you will in the future) I’m curious what it looks like for you.

Does it seems to have a ripple effect...first they seem “bored”, then the misbehavior starts?

Or maybe it’s like that scene in Ferris Bueller where the teacher is droning on and on and the kids are zoned out?

Maybe you’re frustrated because the lack of engagement has affected your pacing. Now you are overwhelmed and getting further and further behind on your curriculum?

Keeping students engaged can feel like a moving target.

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IS UNDER YOUR UMBRELLA

So, first, let me reassure you that part of it is simply their age. It’s developmentally appropriate for students to be self-conscious, insecure, and avoid failure

However, engaging students is absolutely something that’s under our umbrellas. It is a skill that we can learn, something we can add to our toolkits and refine as we go.

Like we talked about in the last episode, the environments we create in our classrooms can affect students, including how organized it is and even your stress level.

And those are true for their engagement level as well.

However, there is one thing that impacts engagement more than anything else:

Your connection.

And the path to connection takes patience.

THE PATH TO CONNECTION AND ENGAGEMENT

Stephen Covey (“Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”) said, “...with people, fast is slow and slow is fast”.

In other words, you have to take your time with people. You cannot “manage” them. We talked about that a couple of episodes ago.

What does that have to do with middle schoolers and engagement? Well, you can’t rush into the curriculum, especially with middle schoolers.

You must first build community and relationships.

Is that possible with middle schoolers, when you potentially have hundreds of students?

YES, IT IS.

ENGAGEMENT EVIDENCE

This article about middle school in Nevada describes how administrators hang the names of all kids up during staff meetings. All the teachers go through and check off certain benchmarks, like, name/face, something personal, personal/family story, academic standing.

The principal shares that a large part of their motivation was not only to increase graduation rates, but also because “students who don’t form meaningful connections at school may be at risk for behavior problems, dropping out, and even committing suicide.”

Since they started, they’ve increased attendance rates and state test scores, graduation rates have gone up 18%, and they’ve had fewer disciplinary infractions. All things that point to more student engagement.

FOUR THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT ENGAGEMENT

If you want to increase student engagement, you need to have patience, and you need to keep a few things in mind.

Middle schoolers can spot authenticity.

“They don’t care what you know until they know that you care. When they know you care, they will become invested.

If they are invested they are more likely to learn.

It’s beneficial to take the time to have group discussions about their engagement.

I know – that’s really meta, engaging them about engagement. But doing it can build relationships and engagement at the same time.

Quote “All students, to some extent, seek mastery, understanding, self-expression, and positive interpersonal relationships. But they are all different as well. Imagine what could happen if we engaged our students in a discussion of these four types of motivation. What might they tell us about themselves and their classrooms? Could we actually teach them to design their own work in ways that match their own unique potential for engagement?”

You need the right mindset - none of this will work without it.

Do you have any of these limiting beliefs that will keep you from connecting with students?

“This is a job on the way to a high school assignment”

“They are difficult!”

“It is what it is” I don’t have high expectations of them.

You need a genuine curiosity and interest in your students.

Students can tell if you are genuine

What it looks like when you are genuinely interested:

• Have conversations that aren’t just about curriculum
• Call them by name
• Greet them at the door
• Remember personal details
• Have a relationship with their family (parents)
• Do things like giving them the opportunity to communicate with you so they can share things with you (ie, a dropbox - physical or digital - where they can share).

CAPTIVATING ENGAGEMENT

Capturing your students’ attention and inspiring them to interact is an art and a journey that starts with connection.

They can tell if you truly care about them and/or your job or not. If you are genuine, show genuine concern for them (first) and their learning (second). If you do, you will find their engagement will follow.

Before anything else, build relationships. Build community. Once your students feel safe, cared for, and accepted they will be more motivated to engage in your learning space.

And you’ll transcend your teaching role to become a mentor. And teens need the adults in their lives to be their mentors. 

This isn’t an easy or quick progress. Just because it works, doesn’t mean it happens overnight! If you are looking for support to help grow your connection with students and inspire more classroom engagement, I can help you. I’m putting together a workshop, and if you want to be the first to know when it opens up, click here.