Have you ever stopped and asked yourself “What are the most effective student engagement strategies that I use in my classroom?” You may be thinking what in the world, I have no idea what the most effective student engagement strategies are that I use in my classroom, I’m just surviving day by day!
I have been there and done that! The 9-yard stare can be intense! I’m sure you have seen this plenty of times in your classroom! That’s why I wanted to share a quick list of student engagement strategies that you can start implementing today!
Engaging and motivating secondary math students is kinda my thing. I talk more about this in my 3 part mini-series on math motivation in the secondary classroom here. Over the years, I have had students who would only work for me and no one else. I’m not a magician by any means, but I do share my top 5 secrets here.
I’m super excited though because today we are going to talk about quick wins to reengage those students who are not on task or unmotivated to get busy!
What are Student Engagement Strategies?
Student engagement strategies are strategies that you use in your classroom to keep your students engaged during the lesson. Sounds simple enough, right?!
You can also use these strategies to reengage a student who is lacking focus or simply use them to motivate a student to work through their activity or lesson.
Why would you need to use student engagement strategies? Well, there are plenty of times particularly in my classroom where I couldn’t get my students motivated to do their work.
They would just sit there looking busy when in reality that didn’t even start on their assignment.
I remember thinking to myself, there has to be a way to get these students motivated and enjoy the math that they are working on. Sounds like I’m looking for a miracle, but I promise you that it doesn’t have to be that difficult!
This is where my journey began with motivating secondary math students in my classroom. I made it my mission to keep all of my students motivated and engaged during my math classes.
List of Student Engagement Strategies
I’m going to share 3 simple ways that I keep students engaged in my classroom all year long. I use this list of student engagement strategies all the time, but I have noticed that they are particularly helpful during holidays, standardized testing, or near the end of the school year.
I realized that I needed something quick and this is what worked for me in my classroom.
- Use a timer
- Student Choice
- Brain Breaks
Best Student Engagement Strategies
#1: Use a timer
Yep, it’s that simple. Using a timer is an easy and effective way to keep students engaged during your class.
This is how I use a timer in my classroom. If I notice students having a hard time getting started on the materials for the day, I set a timer anywhere between 2 or 3 minutes.
You can use your phone, I use my iPhone, an old kitchen timer, or a timer that you can find on the internet if you wanted to project it onto your board.
Here is what happens in those 2 to 3 minutes. Students have a chance to get settled, find their homework, class materials (you know that stubby pencil), or talk to their friends.
Once the timer goes off they are ready to go!
I also use a timer to give kids breaks. I will set a timer for 10-15 minutes and tell them to work uninterrupted for that period of time and then they can have a break. You may guess what I’ll say, I set another timer.
During my math centers, I use timers to rotate through groups as well.
You may be thinking holy cow you set timers for everything! Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. It just all depends on the mood set for the day. If I need to reengage my students or get them to work, a timer does the trick every time!
#2: Student Choice
My students love that they get a say in what they do in my classroom! This is the best student engagement strategy in my opinion.
How do you give students choice? Give them options. Do they want to work on this or that?
It doesn’t need to be overly complicated. Put names or activities on popsicle sticks and let them pull one out of a cup. Have a student of the day that gets to choose what activity they get to do and so forth. The options are endless!
#3: Brain Breaks
Every student and teacher need brain breaks. Have you ever sat through a 3-hour long training on teacher in-service day on why students can’t comprehend the material after so many minutes without a break?
I always dreaded those pieces of training because I’m like practice what you preach people! No one can sit for long periods and absorb information without some type of break!
These are a few of my favorite brain breaks to do in my classroom:
- Just dance! I love playing music and having my students do a few TikToks to keep me in the loop! As long as they are appropriate!
- Suction ball throw. I have a cheap suction cup ball from the dollar store that I play a review game with. I let each student throw it and by the time they all get to throw it, they are usually ready to get started on the lesson.
- Spill the tea! I let students tell me the current news that’s trending for their age. Usually, it’s games or clothing trends that they like to talk to me about.
You can read more about what type of brain breaks work best in secondary classrooms here.
Effective Teaching Strategies and Student Engagement: Students with Learning Disabilities
My school is a tiny rural school with graduating classes that average between 10-13 students. With that being said every student who has a learning disability is mainstreamed into the regular education classroom.
I know that these quick strategies work with students that have learning disabilities because it takes the pressure off of having to be attentive for long periods of time.
When students know that they will have a quick break it is more than likely that they will work during their work time.
Effective Strategies for Student Engagement
These 3 strategies that I talked about today are just a few of the strategies that I like to share with my fellow teacher besties. The main thing is to pick a few strategies and be consistent.
If you’re consistent with your strategies then your students know what to expect and then there aren’t any miscommunications occurring. This is also helpful in managing your classroom!
What effective student engagement strategies will you try in your classroom today?
Need more ideas on effective student engagement strategies? Here are 3 additional articles I found that I wanted to share.
17 Best Student Engagement Strategies
20 Student Engagement Strategies for a Captivating Classroom
How to Keep Kids Engaged in Class
Here are more articles from secondary math teachers who I think are pretty special in the CEO Teacher community that I am blessed to be a part of!
5 Effective Strategies for Teaching Math In Today’s High School Classroom
Teachers! Here Is A Unique Technique For Quadratic Equation Graphs!
PS. I am so excited that my business coach bestie has an amazing post all on 7 Helpful Tips on How to Blog Like a Boss
These tips have helped me and I hope that they can help you!
PPS. Still interested in all of my secrets on how to motivate the most unmotivated math student?
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