Teaching Methods That Are Sure to Keep Your Students Engaged:

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I had the opportunity to establish a dialogue with Sara Bell. She has generosity volunteered to post to the teaching embellishments blog. She has a very enjoyable article by the name ‘teaching methods that are sure to keep your students engaged’. Her bio and webpage is at the bottom of this article. Please check them out. Thank you and happy reading.

It’s 8:00 a.m. and your students are groggy. You’ve got a big day of learning planned for them, but they don’t seem the least bit interested in participating today. What do you do?

Making just a few tweaks to your lesson plans can make a huge difference in the level of engagement in your elementary school classroom. Implementing these methods will help remind your students that learning can–and should–be a fun, positive experience.

  1. Have Them Write In a Journal

Having quiet reflection time a few times a week will benefit your classroom in multiple ways.

First, both you and your students will benefit from quiet time you all can use to think and reorganize your thoughts after a busy day of learning. You might need this break as much as they do!

Writing time also encourages creativity in your classroom. Whether you assign journaling prompts or allow your students to write freely, journaling will help your students learn how to communicate their thoughts and feelings.

  1. Teach with Storytelling

Telling stories in the classroom is crucial to your students’ creative and emotional development.

Using children’s literature is the most literal way to put this method into practice, but you can also try implementing storytelling into your daily lesson plans, too. English and history subjects work great with storytelling, and it’ll only take a bit of extra effort to find ways to turn science and math subjects into engaging stories as well. Inject humor and current pop culture references whenever possible to give your students something to get excited about.

  1. Use Interactive Exercises

It’s a good idea to limit your use of lectures and Powerpoint presentations as much as possible. Instead, look for parts of your lesson plan that can be taught with a hands-on exercise or activity.

Role playing, group projects, and kinesthetic activities are all great ways to keep your students curious and excited about what they’re learning. You might even keep a box full of historical costume pieces and accessories on hand for the kids to put on when they’re giving presentations or dramatizing historical events. Often, costume pieces can be made from donated Halloween costumes or by using items purchased at a local consignment store or from your own closet. Letting them dress up is a great way to spice things up for the kids and really helps them immerse themselves in the lesson.

  1. Give Praise Often

Do you make an effort to regularly let your students know that you’re proud of them?

Don’t underestimate the importance of praise in the classroom. To be effective, praise should be clear and specific so your students know exactly what parts of their behavior you appreciate and would like to continue seeing.

Positive feedback will boost your students’ confidence and make them want to continue to live up to your praise in the future.

No matter what your lesson plan for the day is, remember that it doesn’t have to be boring. It will take practice on your part, but continuing to make these small changes in your teaching approach will have your students growing increasingly curious about learning with each passing day.

Sara Bell grew up in a family of teachers—her dad has taught high school for 30 years and her mom is a university professor. At EducatorLabs, she puts the lessons they instilled in her about the importance of curiosity and learning to great use. When she isn’t working, she enjoys reading, writing, and knitting.

http://educatorlabs.org/.

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