5 Enjoyable Scholar Engagement Actions
This is how to keep your students focused and engaged
The COVID pandemic led to many changes in the education sector, and one of the most common and drastic was the move to the virtual classroom. Distance learning had some advantages, such as leaving disruptive students no room to act, but for the general student there was additional difficulty in focusing and staying interested from a distance. With many students moving back into the classroom amid vaccinations and the urge to take classes in the classroom, classroom engagement techniques should be polished and ready to go, as there will most likely be plenty of time to catch up with students who have been outside for almost a year in Classroom.
Achieve student engagement with these activities
Here are 5 activities to keep your students interested as they hit the home stretch of their school years and get back to the classroom.
1. Play games
The good thing about games is that most of them can be shaped for a digital classroom. Many schools use a hybrid setup while parents decide whether to walk their children back into the crowded hallways. Classic face-to-face games like trivia or book-based scavenger hunts are still great options, but the use of technology can make these games a little more interactive too. 84% of US teenagers own smartphones, and app-based games can serve a dual purpose, as Q&A can later be viewed as a learning tool.
2. Be cool
It’s always hard to keep the line between strict and arrogant when it comes to classroom behavior, but understand that the last year has been utterly terrible for many families. Jobs were lost, lives were lost, fear was constant, and money (often) wasn’t. So, when you get back into some form of normalcy, it’s important to understand that some of your students have been through more difficult situations than others so as not to push them to a point where they are just as far from the classroom as they are in the classroom as they were when they were studying from home. Empathy is often synonymous with commitment.
3. Be creative with repetition
Repetition brings with it another difficult line, and many students need it to succeed but many students don’t, causing them to lose interest. Learning new things is a great way to accomplish this. Even if you focus on the same information while using some of the different tactics on this list, this can help! Because of the diverse learning abilities of students, honing this skill should be an important focus of any teacher’s professional development [1] year by year. Diversification means more commitment from the learner and ultimately success for the students!
Here are some ideas for creative iteration:
- Quizzes
Some students make a living from competition, and when the environment is not competitive they can have difficulty finding motivation to study. Trivia games are a great way to get the minds of competitive students racing. - Show it off
This depends on the subject, but for things like history or science, Sharadesque games are a great way to stimulate the students’ minds. - Write the test
Questioning one another is a pretty classic means of testing, but some teachers succeed in allowing their students to actually ask test questions. It also helps teachers identify where there is a lack of general knowledge or interest (i.e. students do not ask questions from a specific section of the material).
4. Maintain part of the technical usage
The corporate industry mimicked education during COVID when many jobs were shed, as did learning. One trend in business is that parts will stay online as the pandemic ends. This model can also be beneficial for students, especially those who excelled in distance learning. Maintaining some level of accessibility through digital means like zoom, even when students are back in the classroom, only helps their engagement.
5. Make yourself comfortable
One thing that almost all of the distance learning students found fun was being comfortable at home. Few people will disagree that reading a book on the couch is less convenient than reading it at a plastic desk. If your school allows, a more homely decor in the classroom can ease the transition back to regularity. Bean bags are great, inexpensive alternatives to desks and even just yoga mats to stretch out on while studying.
References:
[1] Professional Development Resources for Teachers
