Engaging students in learning is the heart of the entire Danielson framework-the rest leads to this. Students who are engaged in learning are not merely compliant, busy, or on task. Instead, they are intellectually active in discussing, debating, asking "what if" questions, discovering patterns, and making choices in their learning of important, relevant, and challenging information. It is important to note that these activities should not take up the entire lesson, but should be a key part of it. A lesson that properly engages students should have defining factors that include a beginning, middle, and end, with scaffolding provided to get from the beginning to the end. This is part of component 1e: designing coherent instruction. At the closure of a lesson, teachers should encourage students to reflect on what they learned. An example of this done incorrectly would be a student telling about a fun lesson they did, but when asked what they learned, they have no answer. To avoid this, teachers should review at the end of a lesson so that all students are on the same page. When observing for student engagement, the observer should observe the students as well as the teacher. A crucial question to ask is, "What are the students being asked to do?" If the answer to this is just filling in blanks or performing a rote procedure, they are probably not cognitively engaged. The best evidence of student engagement is noting what the students say and do as a result of what the teacher does, has done, or has planned. Elements of engaging students in learning include:
Activities and Assignments
Since the activities and assignments are what the students are doing, they are the center of engagement. The activities and assignments that best engage students are ones that promote learning, are aligned with the desired outcomes of the lesson, require student thinking, emphasize depth of learning, and allow for some student choice.
Grouping of Students
Every day teachers must decide how to group students for particular lessons. Some of the options include: students of similar background or skill grouped together, advanced students spread throughout the groups, randomized groups, or student-selected groups. All of these can be effective, but teachers must know the best way to engage all of the students.
Instructional Materials and Resources
Similar to component 1d: demonstrating knowledge of resources , teachers should use the materials and resources that will benefit the class the most. The materials and resources used in a lesson can have a huge impact on the lesson, so teachers must be aware of how to use them to their advantage. Although many schools require the use of specific materials, teachers can also supply their own supplementary resources to enhance the lesson. For example, when learning about Native Americans, the teacher could have her class Skype with a class of Native American children.
Structure and Pacing
Nobody likes a lesson in which they finish super early and are bored, or one where they are rushed. Thus, an experienced teacher should be able to keep things moving at a steady pace within a defined structure. They should also be sure to plan enough time at the conclusion of the lesson for student review and reflection of what they have learned.
Implementing in the Classroom/Artifacts Demonstrating Competency
Activities and Assignments
Since the activities and assignments are what the students are doing, they are the center of engagement. The activities and assignments that best engage students are ones that promote learning, are aligned with the desired outcomes of the lesson, require student thinking, emphasize depth of learning, and allow for some student choice.
Grouping of Students
Every day teachers must decide how to group students for particular lessons. Some of the options include: students of similar background or skill grouped together, advanced students spread throughout the groups, randomized groups, or student-selected groups. All of these can be effective, but teachers must know the best way to engage all of the students.
Instructional Materials and Resources
Similar to component 1d: demonstrating knowledge of resources , teachers should use the materials and resources that will benefit the class the most. The materials and resources used in a lesson can have a huge impact on the lesson, so teachers must be aware of how to use them to their advantage. Although many schools require the use of specific materials, teachers can also supply their own supplementary resources to enhance the lesson. For example, when learning about Native Americans, the teacher could have her class Skype with a class of Native American children.
Structure and Pacing
Nobody likes a lesson in which they finish super early and are bored, or one where they are rushed. Thus, an experienced teacher should be able to keep things moving at a steady pace within a defined structure. They should also be sure to plan enough time at the conclusion of the lesson for student review and reflection of what they have learned.
Implementing in the Classroom/Artifacts Demonstrating Competency
- "Unpacking" the end of a lesson for students to connect what they learned to their schema and semantic knowledge
- All students are finishing an activity before moving on, but students are not sitting for a long time after finishing early
- When learning about different people groups, teacher arranges to Skype with people of that group
- Students are in groups where everybody is cognitively engaged
- The class has a group discussion about how they think they will use multiplication in real life
- Teacher uses think-pair-share to engage all students
- Teacher allows students to select a book of their choice to read for a project
- Teacher allows students to use patterns to discover the rule for subtracting negative numbers
- Teacher provides scaffolds in all levels of Piaget stages so that all students learn
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- (2018). Static.pdesas.org. Retrieved 22 March 2018, from http://static.pdesas.org/content/documents/danielson_rubric_53.pdf