What do I typically do when students are not engaged?

Marzano suggests that it is important as a teacher to understand when students are no longer engaged in a lesson and also to actively apply strategies to reengage students and check in to see when they re-engage. Students should also know that the teacher is looking for engagement and try to increase their level of engagement when prompted. Marzano provides several strategies to try in the classroom including scanning the room for engagement and using "proximity, questioning, or eye contact to help those students reengage." He also suggests that you can use technology to support this work. Although Marzano suggests using PollEverywhere, I have decided to use PearDeck in my classroom as my school has a subscription. The benefit of using this program is that PearDeck allows me to see student answers in real time and provides a range of types of questions I can ask students. For example, I can ask open-ended questions, multiple choice questions, and even have students underline or circle on images I upload. I am excited to give this a try because I will be able to, in real time, see when students are not engaged, identify which students need redirection, and provide it subtly within the course of the lesson by asking them questions as Marzano suggests. I will be implementing this strategy several times in the next few weeks and determining its effectiveness in my classroom.

The Game Plan

Marzano suggests that reflective educators choose two to three design questions to focus on during the course of an academic year. By remaining focused on a few clearly defined goals, it is possible to use the reflective process to improve student outcomes. In Chapter 4, Marzano outlines the steps that reflective practitioners must take in order to meet their goals. He suggests choosing a goal and then researching both its importance and instructional strategies. Next he suggests that teachers develop a protocol for using the strategies in their own classroom and develop fluency with the strategy by using it regularly. Through reflection and data collection, teachers can then make necessary adaptations to the protocol and ultimately work several protocols together into a macro strategy that can be used in future years with students. This strategy of narrowing the focus is a perfect example of how a teacher can “go slow to go fast”. By choosing only a few instructional areas of focus and strategies to work on at a time, it is possible to successfully achieve goals, which can then be added into a teacher’s toolbox of strategies for future years.

After reading through Marzano’s compendium of design questions, I have selected two that I would like to focus on for this reflective journaling project. I will keep track of my progress through each of the steps outlined above by journaling my reflections. I have identified student engagement as an area of focus and will be looking to answer two questions: “What do I typically do to notice when students are not engaged?” and “”What do I typically do to use academic games?” Marzano gives some suggestions in the compendium based on his previous work, but I also intend to do more research to develop my teaching protocols. I will be using reflective strategies that Marzano suggests in Chapter 6 to improve student learning outcomes. Marzano suggests going on instructional rounds, using small group discussion to examine the teaching of others, and taking advantage of working with an instructional coach. I will be going on instructional rounds with my department head next month and will have the opportunity to debrief with him about strategies and instructional practices that are being used in other social studies classrooms. In addition, as the PLC leader for World History, I plan to show some short videos of others teaching and discuss our findings as a group. Lastly, I will work with my academy based instructional coach and have her observe my teaching and give me feedback. As I integrate new teaching strategies into my classroom, I will reflect on the outcomes and make adjustments as needed. Throughout the process, I will keep track of my findings in a reflective journal and submit it as evidence of my work.