I am currently
teaching 4th grade student in the subjects of Language Arts and Science. My
current teaching position is at Woodfill Elementary School in Fort Thomas,
Kentucky.
Effectively engaging students is a
skill that all teachers must master in order to properly educate their
students. A teacher must have a plethora
of engaging skills in order to be diverse in the ways that they engage their
students. There are many ways in which I
have been engaging my students in my classroom.
One
engaging tool I always try to use is to make sure my lessons are paced in such
a way, that I don’t stay on the same thing for to long. Marzano states that if pacing is to slow, energy
drops, and attention wanes. If pacing is too fast, students can become confused
and frustrated. I always try to have smooth transitions by using table numbers
to line up my students, and I make sure to give transitions enough time to run
smoothly.
Another way
I have been effectively engaging my students is through technology. This was my
first year in a new school building, and we have some new state of the art
technology tools. Technology is the wave of the future in education and it is
an extremely effective way to keep students engaged.
One final
engaging skill I use coms when I am planning my lesson. When I plan my lessons
I ask myself if this is something that I myself could accomplish in this time
frame. This is a tip I learned from my principal and in reading The Highly
Engaged Classroom by Marzano. I feel that by doing this I can eliminate
certain things that might decrease the student’s involvement throughout the
lesson.
Hi John! I'm so glad to see you are taking this course. Great minds must think alike because I also chose Marzano for my textbook. I agree with you that incorporating technology is a great way to engage students. I'm looking forward to learning & collaborating with you through this course!
ReplyDeleteJohn,
ReplyDeleteI agree pacing is an extremely important strategy. I never actually thought of it as a strategy, but you are correct it is. It is probably one of the most important skills teachers can learn because we don't want to bore them yet we don't want to go to fast through the material and loose them.
Hey, I use to work with Rita Gesenhues at St. Luke Hospitals in Ft. Thomas many years ago. Are you related to her?
Rita is my Grandma, my Dad's Mom. Wow small world!! She still lives in Ft. Thomas with my Grandpa.
DeleteI just loved her. Incredible lady.
DeleteJohn,
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing what we can accomplish using technology. It is wonderful that students have access to such tools in elementary schools and that teachers can use these to engage them in learning. I have found that students that I teach do not have the understanding of technology that we expect them to. Being able to text with flying fingers does not equate with knowing how to use the discussion board and submit assignments through Blackboard.
John,
ReplyDeleteI think that pacing is SO important! You have to move through the lessons at the right speed to not overwhelm but also keep the students engaged. I also liked that you mentioned using strategies for transitions! Working in Kindergarten, I also have to make sure there is no "down time" between lessons. I have to be ready to move on to the next thing in order to keep them engaged.
By the way, congrats on the twins! I have a cousin that just had twins a couple months ago! They have been so much fun!!!!
Thanks! We are working hard to prepare everything at our house. It should be a busy summer of school work and baby prepping.
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