20 Quick Ways to Engage the Students in Your Classroom Today

Inside: How simple techniques and strategies can increase classroom engagement for students who are motivated by the subject matter, classroom activities, learning outcomes, or relationships.

Silence. 

The first thing you noticed when you walked into the classroom was… silence.  If you hadn’t observed twenty-five students sitting at desks in rows, you would have thought the classroom was empty.

The high-pitched screech of a desk sliding on the floor as a student got out of their seat broke the silence, and every head turned to see where the noise was coming from.  The student quietly walked to the back of the room, placed a paper in a tray and returned to their seat. 

We have all likely been in this classroom at one time or another.

Perhaps it was your own 7th-grade social studies class.  Or a 9th-grade English classroom where we were taking a high-stakes test.  Perhaps it has been a classroom we have taught ourselves.

How did that classroom make you feel?

Excited?

Passionate?

Energized?

Sleepy?

Bored?

Stressed?

When you think back, what was the engagement in the classroom?

While the classroom was quiet and gave the impression the teacher was “in control” of the classroom, students were likely not highly engaged in the classroom content. 

How Can Teachers Empower Students?

Students learn and engage in classrooms more when they feel passionate about what they are learning.  The subject matter, type of activity, interactions with the teacher or peers, or learning outcome can drive this joy and passion. 

Empowering students and creating an engaging classroom can be difficult when you're required to teach a set curriculum that may not be the passion area of every student in the room.

Additionally, you have learners that learn in all different ways and at all different ability levels.

So How Do You Increase Classroom Engagement?  

• The subject matter

• Unique activities

• Outcome of learning

• Relationships

Engaging Students Who Are Passionate About Your Subject Matter

This is perhaps the easiest student to reach.  They are already walking into your classroom excited to learn about what you're ready to share.

These are students you will spot because they are:

• raising their hand

• asking questions

• bringing up new ideas

Arriving at your door, the passionate-about-your-topic student may have already beat you there and be ready with a list of questions or things to tell you they learned.

Engaging and empowering this student involves a lot of listening.  They are excited to share with you what they have learned.  

• Listen to their thoughts

• Listen to their questions 

• Listen to their ponderings 

• Listen without telling them they are wrong or need to stop.  

Five Ways Teachers Can Increase Student Engagement for Students Who are Passionate About the Subject Matter:

• #1- Invite them to meet with you before or after class for a few minutes to chat about the topic
  

• #2- Ask them a question. Share something you wonder about or want to know more about.  This gives your students a chance to learn something to share with you and be the expert. And encourages them to use their technology skills.

• #3- Give them a mission.  Challenge them to find 3 facts about _____ to share with you the next day.
  

• #4- Ask them their favorite place to learn information about the topic, and then take the time to check it out yourself.
  

• #5- Extend the learning.  Connect the subject to something similar you will cover later and allow them to draw connections.

How to increase Classroom Engagement for  Students Who Are Excited About Classroom Activities

Some students may not particularly love your subject matter.  

Not everyone can absolutely adore the Industrial Revolution.  

However, you may have students who do enjoy:

• Painting

• Singing

• Or creating elaborate dioramas out of cereal boxes.

By bringing in projects and activity options that get students excited and tap into their strengths, you can get another group of students engaged in the learning in your classroom.

Empowering students to show their creativity while demonstrating their understanding of a topic will allow students to find reasons to be engaged in your classroom.

Five Ways Teachers Can Increase Engagement for Students Who are Excited About the Activities in the Classroom.

• #1- Encourage choice. Provide multiple ways students can show their knowledge within your classroom
  

• #2- Let them teach. Allow students to show their peers their method for showing understanding creatively through activities such as: 

  • Singing

  • Amazing Google Slides

  • Macaroni art.

• #3- Shake it up.  Pick different ways to allow students to show understanding.  Keep it novel and fun, and encourage unique opportunities for each unit.
  

• #4- Branch out.  Look for activities students can extend beyond the classroom.

• #5- Bring in the neighbor. Let students share their activities and projects with the neighboring classroom, the principal, or their families. 

Increasing Classroom Engagement for Students Who Are Excited About the Future

For some students, the projects aren’t thrilling, and the topic may be dull.  Our best efforts to show them how cool the Industrial Revolution is may fall flat.

Some of these students may see school as a simple stepping stone.  Just the next thing they have to do to get where they are going.  These students may take in the information you give them, dutifully write it down, and do well on the tests but never seem to get involved or want to know more.

These may be the students who will benefit most by tying what they are doing now into the future.  

Helping students see the big picture and how your class lessons and activities tie into their future can empower them to get more out of your class and become passionate about their time in your room.

Five Ways Teachers Can Engage Future-Focused Students

• #1- Give concrete examples of how the material you're teaching will benefit your students in the future. 

  • Side note- this does NOT involve making false promises of how every single topic you discuss will be important someday.  We have all proven the math teachers who told us we needed to know long division because “You won’t always have a calculator in your pocket!” wrong.  

  • Be honest and realistic when the material is simply a stepping stone to get to the next level that WILL be important to their future. 

• #2- Open the floor to discuss the student's goals and how your class ties into those goals.

• #3- Acknowledge that sometimes the only connection between your class and the future may be the need to get a good grade to move on to the next step.

• #4- Provide real-world practice in things like sending emails, organizing digital files, asking questions, self-advocacy, etc.

• #5- Bring in someone from the future.  Find a speaker or connect your student with someone with the future your student wants.  Ask them to discuss class material with the student.

Engaging the Relationship-Driven Student

The relationship-driven student is often the one who uses your classroom as a social venue.  They may not be interested in your lesson material, but they are excited to see their friends or you every day.

Interpersonal skills and relationships each require skills that are difficult to teach in a classroom.  These students are often great with these skills and have a lot to offer.

Empowering these students to connect with each other and with you to share learning and ask questions can go a long way to connecting them to your classroom.

Five Ways Teachers Can Increase Engagement for Students Who are Focused on Relationships

• #1- Allow students time to connect with each other during work times.

• #2- Provide opportunities for partner and group work.

• #3- Take time to meet with the student and get to know them.  

• #4- Ask questions.  Just like the student who is passionate about your subject matter, the relationship-driven student will connect more when they have a reason to talk to you. 

• #5- Let them share.  Allow these students to tell you what they know about your topic.

Let’s Summarize

Most students do not fall neatly into one of these categories but are a solid mix of two or three.  

Allowing every student to connect and share what they know will empower all students to be more active learners and engaged in your classroom environment.

Learn more about empowering students during digital learning with these 5 easy techniques to encourage students to take ownership of their learning.

How Can Teachers Increase Engagement in the Classroom?

• Get excited with your students

• Form relationships

• Encourage connections to the future

• Let students get creative

There is no guarantee you will never hear the horrific ear-piercing squeak of a desk cut through the classroom.  But it may be more likely to be drowned out by the excited chatter of students sharing what they have learned.