Regardless of why some students are disengaged from school, their behaviors and attitudes threaten their learning, the learning of others, and our teaching. Have you ever noticed that when you re-engage them, no matter how briefly, they’re easier to live and work with? What if we could improve our re-engagement of these learners and do it more often? Join us in considering the high-impact strategies that re-engage all learners, including those who challenge us the most.

Strategies:

• Inviting Schools
  • Class Procedures
  • Connecting to Kids
  • School Climate
  • Enthusiasm
  • Humor
• Continuous Improvement
  • Transparent Curriculum
  • Flexibility of Pace
  • Flexibility of Path
  • Formative Feedback
• Learning by Doing
  • Follow-up “Craft Projects”
  • Experiments
  • Building Things
  • Field Trips
  • Drama
• Student Voice & Choice
  • Choice of Activities or Resources
  • Student Designed Work
  • Projects
  • Collect Student Input & Feedback
• Higher Order Thinking
  • Compare & Contrast
  • Design Projects
  • Metaphors & Examples
  • “Engaging Tasks”
• Real World Connections
  • Real World Uses
  • Real Audience for Work
  • Community Connections
  • Simulations

Resources:

• Motivating Students: Focus on 6 Strategies 
• What Motivates Underachieving Students? (Middle School Journal, Nov. 2001)
• Tone of Voice Matters (In Surprising Ways)
• What Makes for Good Learning Experiences? 
• The Good and Bad of Extrinsic Motivation
• Classifying a Student’s Level of Motivation
• Engaging Tasks – a high impact motivation strategy
• Mike’s Motivation Page

 

Mike’s Sites:

• Mike’s Consulting: StudentLearning.Guru
• Mike’s Day Job: Principal East Grand School (Danforth)
• Mike’s Blogs and Resources: https://mikemuir.us