Keeping Students Engaged in learning is challenging under normal circumstances. But during a global pandemic and stuck with remote learning? Well, that’s a whole new ball game.
Here are 12 ways I’ve found to keep students engaged. I hope you’ll share your ideas with me!
1 – Use check-in questions as social-emotional temperature checks. Just jumping into academic work without checking in with students first does not work for me. Maybe that is just a personal thing. But, for me, it’s important to take a few minutes to “take the temperature” of the class and to let my students know that I care about them as people just as much as I care about them as students.
With the isolation aspect of remote learning, this is another way to help keep students connected to each other.
Here are some ideas:
*share one word that describes how you’re feeling right now
*share an emoji in the chat that fits your mood right now
*use “Would You Rather” questions from Minds in Bloom
These questions don’t have to be anything that requires a lot of thought. Just a simple “what do you think?” type of question works well for this activity.
Students can answer out loud or they can type their answer in the chat and you can read them aloud.
Other fun options (which you would need to do in advance) are to post the questions in Google Classroom Stream or to send a link to a Padlet wall where students can respond.
2 – One of my favorite classroom engagement strategies is turn-and-talk or think-pair-share. This strategy is especially helpful for ELL students. I keep looking for new ways to use that partner talk in a remote learning environment.
Here are three ways I’ve found:
~put kids in breakout rooms to discuss the topic
~ask kids to respond on a Padlet wall
~open a Jamboard in Google Meet and have kids add a word or phrase about their thinking
The advantage of the breakout room is that students hear what others say and get a chance to talk as well. A Padlet wall is good for letting kids think first and see what other people write before they add their own thoughts. A Jamboard is fun for letting everyone add at once, but it’s often difficult for students who like to see what other people write or think before they add their own thinking.
3 – Use check for understanding throughout the lesson. This is a tried and true teaching practice because checking on what students do and do not understand throughout the lesson helps you teach responsively to students’ needs. Here are some ways you can do this:
*hold up a certain number of fingers to match an answer choice
*use thumbs up to signal that their windshield is “clear” (they are understanding), thumbs sideways to signal that their windshield is “buggy” (they mostly understand but don’t feel completely clear on it yet), or thumbs down to signal that their windshield is “muddy” (they are feeling lost).
*have students type T for true or F for false in the chat (or respond to a question with some other quick response)
4 – Call on kids in random ways. You can put names on popsicle sticks, use an app like “Popsicle Sticks,” use a checklist and check off when you call on different kids — whatever works for you. Keep in mind that the purpose is not to be a “gotcha” for kids, but rather to be more equitable in calling on students and giving everyone a chance to talk and share.
5 – Use a class circle format to talk and share. Here’s a link to my post about doing these in the classroom. When I use a question in a class circle, we go around the circle and give everyone a chance to answer the question. They can always pass if they want to, but I try to encourage everyone to contribute in some way. (Sometimes I talk to kids privately about why they continually “pass.” Most of the time they are feeling a little shy and/or unprepared to answer the question. It helps to give them a preview of the next day’s question so they can be ready to share.)
6 – Stand up while you’re teaching! I tried this one day on a whim and I noticed that not only did I feel better (because I’m used to standing and moving around while teaching), but my students were SO much more interested and engaged. Then I saw this post by Michael Linsin on Smart Classroom Management and realized it makes perfect sense. Now I stand up as much as possible!
7 – If you are teaching from your classroom (or if you’re able to do that), consider doing that at least some of the time. I went into my classroom to teach from there a couple of times (mostly for my own convenience), and was pleasantly surprised at how excited my students got when they saw that I was in the school building! While we understand the importance of staying distant right now (whether we like it or not), our students are really missing their familiar places and people. I heard comments like “I miss school” and “I wish I were there right now.” Now I am making more of an effort to go into the building and actually teach from there a couple of times a week.
8 – Consider using dialogue journals with your students. I explain the process in this post, but it will be different when you are doing this virtually. I am going to create a Google doc for each student and write the first letter to them. I’ll ask them to reply by typing their letter back to me above my letter to them. Then we’ll repeat the process, with the most recent letter at the top of the document.
9 – Use check-in questions on Google forms. To keep this from getting too routine, it helps to change the questions from week to week and not to use too many questions. I try to use just two or three questions in each form. Here are some favorites:
~What was your favorite lesson from this week? Why?
~What was your least favorite lesson from this week? Why?
~What is one thing you did well this week?
~What is one thing you could have done better this week?
~What is one goal you have for yourself for next week?
~What is one thing you want me to know?
10 – Follow “_mindsnacks” on Instagram for a daily conversation prompt. While these are not always great to use with children, it can give you ideas if you’re stuck! This site also offers a collection of open-ended questions that can give you inspiration for daily questions to discuss.
11 – Use online learning games such as Kahoot, Quizizz, and Quizlet Live to review content. Games are always a great way to keep kids engaged with each other and with content, whether you are teaching face to face or remotely. Just this week I tried out Quizlet Live with breakout rooms which was a big hit.
12 – Use small group instruction as much as possible. Here are some ideas:
~for math: review concepts for those who need that, provide an enrichment problem or activity for those who need more challenge, or keep some students with you to work on the practice for the day and discuss their strategies;
~for reading: guided reading, book clubs (using online texts from Epic or Raz Kids), fluency work (using a content area text), sharing book recommendations;
~for writing: sharing part of a piece of writing and receiving feedback from other students in the group;
~for content areas: reviewing notes or study guides before a test.
These are just some of the ways I’m trying to keep my students engaged in remote learning. I would love to hear your ideas! What are your favorite ways to keep your students engaged?
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