Engagement vs. On Task

Until last year, I had not given engagement much thought.  I felt that if students were working they were engaged; however, after using Serravallo's Engagement Inventory and reflecting with other coaches, I defined engagement quite differently.  As Jim Knight says in his book, Focus on Teaching, there is a big difference between engagement and compliance.

Students who are compliant:

• Take notes
• Look at you
• Look at the board
• "Follow along"
• Turn in papers

BUT.....with engagement, there has to be original thought and creation.  

• Are students actively reading?
• Are students actively writing (not copying)?
• Are students solving problems?
• Are students questioning?
• Are students THINKING?

If your answer is "I don't know" or "no" to any of the above questions, what can you do to create opportunities for engagement.

Here are some quick tips:

• Model conversation
• Allow choice in reading and writing
• Create opportunities for productive struggle-STEM and STEAM challenges naturally lend themselves to that
• Know your kids.  How do they learn best?  How do they want to respond to you?

Engagement is not on task.  Engagement is students taking control of their own learning and creating new understanding or knowledge based on the process.