Designing More Engaging Lessons

Yesterday, I discussed the importance of making lessons engaging and relevant to our students.  I talked about the different levels of engagement that Schlechty identified in Working on the Work and how you can tell what at which level each of your students is engaged.  Today, I'd like to dig deeper into Schlechty's book and discuss the 10 qualities teachers need to keep in mind when designing lessons so as to create work that is meaningful, relevant, and engaging to students.

Love this!  Doesn't this just hit the nail on the head?  Cartoon courtesy of jeffersonchae.wordpress.com.

The first design focus Schlechty discusses is Content and Substance.  We know that our students need to be challenged and that we need to raise the level of questions we are asking and, therefore, the answers we are getting, so as to prepare our students for the future.  In order to elevate the thinking of our students, we must design lessons with the end in mind. If we want our students to think critically, our lessons have to be designed in such a way that analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information is built in to the lesson.  Through the use of rich text, project-based assignments, cross-curricular lessons, and materials that build upon our student's background knowledge and increase their levels of understanding, we can design lessons full of substance that cover the curriculum in a way that does more than allow us to check something off of our list, rather we will be able to see a true understanding of the concepts in the products our students create.
These types of lessons often take more planning on the front-end but less work from the teacher on the back-end.  More student involvement equals less work for you!
Product Focus takes the first design quality a step further and emphasizes that students are almost always more engaged when they are working on a project.  If students are given the opportunity to research an idea that is interesting to them and then use that information to create a product of their choosing, they are far more likely to be authentically engaged through-out the process.
Our students should never have to guess why they are learning about a particular topic and they should especially never have to guess what they are learning about!  In the past, I have walked into classrooms and been very unsure what the objective of the lesson was. When I have asked students what they are learning and why they are learning it, they are often unclear.  Let's not keep it a secret from our students, rather, let's make sure we have an Organization of Knowledge that is apparent to our students and to anyone who walks into the classroom.  This would also include tying ideas together across subject areas every time it is appropriate to do so.
Using rubrics, checklists and models can help develop Clear and Compelling Product Standards. It is even more powerful when students are allowed to help create these rubrics and checklists.  Students need to be aware of what the end result is supposed to look like and they will do even more work if they are challenged to go above and beyond.
Our classrooms must be environments where students feel both physically and emotionally safe.  They have to know that others are not going to make fun of them when they fail.  If we can create this type of an environment, our students will be assured that they have Protection from Adverse Consequences for Initial Failures.  They must also feel that it is alright in your eyes if they take a risk and they are not successful.  The use of sarcasm or teasing can often make students feel that it's not okay to try and fail and this prevents them from taking risks.  We can help build an environment of safety by using a Social Contract, which students must sign stating how they will treat others--with kindness, respect, dignity, and fairness.  Likewise, we can encourage students to use kind words and be helpful to each other.  This will allow students to feel more comfortable with their risk taking both socially and academically.
Affiliation is another way of looking at cooperative grouping or projects where students depend on others to complete the assignment.  Much the way that students become loyal to a sports team, they can create a bond with each other that encourages engagement.  Project based learning is an amazingly powerful tool that teaches the types of skills students will need in the workforce--the ability to work together, to communicate effectively, to delegate, and to synthesize various information from multiple sources.  Giving groups a team name and allowing them to socialize and focus on getting to know each other better is a great way to encourage affiliation.
Another way to encourage students to do their best and become authentically engaged is through Affirmation.  This includes praise from the teacher, other students, and other adults like various staff members, parents, visitors, etc. If students know their work is to be displayed or viewed by multiple people, they are more likely to put in extra effort.  Portfolio based projects are an example Schlechty gives that provide opportunities to design lessons highlighting affirmation.
We all know that students love to have the opportunity to choose, so the next design quality, Choice, is no surprise. Likewise, it is not difficult to work some sort of a choice into most lesson plans. Whether you are letting students choose something complicated like a topic for a project or an end product, or something simple like which chair they would like to sit in to complete an assignment, choice is an important way to create an environment where students are happy and engaged.
Students also love Novelty and Variety. There are hundreds of apps and computer programs that we can use in our classroom for legitimate teaching purposes that provide novelty and variety for our students. Try to work as many different technological programs into your lesson plans as you can.  But that's not the only form of variety we can employee.  Costumes, props, artifacts, samples, videos, songs, all of these things go a long way in building higher levels of engagement in our students.
The final design quality is also one of the most important. It's Authenticity and it's vital not only to encouraging engagement but to ensuring students understand the relevance of what they are learning. If we do not allow students to create products that are meaningful and relevant to them, we will not be able to teach them at the level they need in order to be successful.  Whenever possible, place an authentically engaging activity in your lesson plans in place of a menial task like a common worksheet.  In fact, replace all menial tasks with authentically designed activities and you will see that the level of authentically engaged students in your class will also increase. It just makes sense that authentically designed lessons will breed authentically engaged students.
I challenge you to use at least three of these qualities in your lesson plans the next time you sit down to plan. When you are planning with your teams, pull this list out.  Talk to them about ways you can all incorporate some of these qualities into your lesson plans.  If you hear someone suggest a worksheet, be ready with a more authentic lesson or activity instead.  Let us know how this affects the level of engagement in your classroom and the student learning outcomes.  We would love to hear success stories of how you've taken a not-so-engaging lesson and turned it into something amazing.

I'm Engaged!

I'm engaged!  Pic courtesy of luvimages.com

A few years ago the district I was teaching in at the time decided to do a staff development on Schlechty's Working on the Work.  We all got black t-shirts with the phrase, "I'm Engaged!" on the front in white.  We thought they were so cute until one of us went to pick up lunch solo and got all kinds of congratulatory remarks.  This just goes to show that, when we think about or talk about engagement, we are not all talking about the same thing and sometimes this causes us to miss the boat with our students as well.
Schlechty talks about 5 different levels of engagement.  I will discuss each one briefly and give you some samples.  The district I currently worked in has also done some work with engagement this year and I have developed a nice little guide that you can use while analyzing your students as well. (You can find this in the "pages" section of my blog or email me for the color copy.)  It is important to consider if your students are engaged, but we also need to ask why are they engaged. Schlechty helps us to answer that question.

The first level of engagement is Authentic Engagement.  Students are authentically engaged when they want to learn the material and find relevance in the lesson.  They understand that this information is going to be pertinent to them and they do not necessarily even view the assignment as work but they would do it even if there was no tangible pay-off for them--like a good grade or praise from the teacher. These are the most difficult lessons to design but it's certainly not impossible to reach this level of engagement consistently.  Much of it has to do with creating a climate where learning is valued in your classroom and then designing your lesson with your particular students in mind.  Allowing students to choose their own topics or books can often lead to Authentic Engagement.  Letting them do problem solving activities that are relevant to their lives can also create this type of engagement.  For example, let them determine what should be on the lunch menu or if they have enough marbles in the jar to have a party.  Family history projects or those that relate to a place they find interesting often lead to authentic engagement, as does the use of many technology apps or websites.
Ritual Engagement is the next level on Schlechty's list.  This is a slightly lower level than Authentic Engagement but it is still something to strive for. The student completes the assignment because they want to earn good grades or receive praise from a parent or teacher. They are not genuinely interested in the topic but they don't mind it so much either.  They would not complete the work if there was no reward but they do complete it in order to receive something in return.  Assignments that fit the bill for Ritual Engagement might include a book assigned by the teacher, finishing a certain amount of math problems in order to receive a specific grade, completing a worksheet so that they earn a star or a sticker.  The student doesn't see that the work is important or relevant but they understand that the teacher sees it as such so they do it.

The third level of engagement is Passive Compliance.  Rather than trying to earn something, the student in this situation completes an assignment to avoid something--a phone call home, detention, being sent to the office. They are not trying to get a reward, they just don't want to be punished.  Sometimes it may be something as simple as being scorned by the teacher or a parent that pushes the student to complete the assignment, the "I don't want to get in trouble" factor.  In the case of a student who was previously even less engaged, they may be hanging out here for a while because they are not yet capable of seeing the relevance in schoolwork which would eventually cause them to be more engaged. This is not a level of engagement where we want our students to spend a lot of time.  A classroom with a lot of students engaged at this level (or even less engaged) is not going to be extremely productive.
The next level of engagement is Retreatism.  This one can be tricky to spot so a teacher must be watching carefully.  In this level, a student does not complete his or her work but does not disrupt others either.  He or she sits there and either does something else or nothing at all.  It is often easy for these students to blend in until an assignment is due or to completely get by without working in the case of a group assignment.  These are the kids who consistently fail to find a partner whenever there is paired work to be done. They slink into the corners and hope that no one sees them and then they often stare into outer space while those around them cover the material.
The final level of engagement is really no engagement at all. It's called Rebellion and we have all had at least a few students over the years who fit the description completely.  Rebellion is characterized by refusal to complete assignments, yelling out in class, arguing with the teacher, disrupting others, aimlessly wandering around the classroom--all of those things that make us want to pull our hair out at the end of the day. And the most frustrating thing about having a Rebel in your class is that sometimes it doesn't even matter how engaging the rest of your students find the assignment--they are still rebelling! This may be an indicator that something else is wrong and that the student needs more than just a different lesson plan to keep him or her engaged.  In the case of the consistently rebellious student, do not hesitate to ask for help from your teammates, administrators, or specialists. It is nearly impossible to keep the rest of your class engaged when you have a rebel on the loose.
What does all of this mean for the classroom teacher?  Schlechty continues with a discussion of how to plan lessons so that students are more engaged.  In fact, he has written extensively about how to engage students at higher levels. I will discuss his suggestions for developing lessons that help students to become more authentically engaged tomorrow.  For now, take a look at the students in your classroom. How many of them would you say consistently fit into each of these categories  If they are not authentically engaged, do you know why? Is there anything you can change to make your lessons more engaging?  Are there outside forces at work in your classroom and if so is there anything you can do to alleviate or influence these sources?  There are a lot of things to consider when it comes to creating engaging classrooms.  I would really like to hear your thoughts!