The Process

01

Realization of the Struggle to Engage

I was warned that one of my classes was known throughout the school for their lack of participation while the other class struggled with academics and did not enjoy doing school work.

Compared to previous experience (my schooling and teaching an unit in a diploma class), I knew I needed to learn how to engage my teenage students.

02

Research

My TPGP was on understanding students which has led me to the importance of relationships, as well as making learning relevant and interesting.

These areas also relate to engagement. Articles emphasized the importance of relationships, classroom environment and student self-efficacy.

03

Implement

strategies

I wrote a list of things to focus on based on the research. This list lengthened throughout the project, as I noticed valuable areas.

Strategies included:

- exit slips

- tying in stories

- stress-free labs

- high expectations

- relationships

04

Observations and colleting data

For each strategy, I wrote numerous notes throughout the term. An effort was also made to listen to how students experienced different strategies through casual conversations.

Students were also asked to complete a survey which asked questions such as the ease of following along, level of engagement, how comfortable and included they felt and whether they learned things.

05

Findings

I collected the information from what I saw, heard and read. Details are provided here.

One major theme that came out for me was the idea of constantly working on a classroom culture suitable for engagement where students know that they are expected to learn, where they are encouraged and where they aren't afraid of making mistakes.

Throughout this project, I have been able to see the direct results of my efforts with students participating and approaching questions with more confidence than before.

06

Continual learning

I did not see engagement in all students and thus have not mastered the art of engaging all learners, but I have small measures of improvement. The more I learned during this project, the more I began to realize that there is left to learn.

With this in mind, I plan to continue my efforts of finding ways that result in student focus, interest and real learning