How To Ensure Students Are Actively Engaged and Not Just Compliant

8 qualities that indicate students are engaged:

Does the activity, strategy, task, or idea allow for the student to personalize his or her response? Can they bring their life experiences into the activity and make it their own?

Are there clear and modeled expectations?

Is there a sense of audience above and beyond the teacher and the test? Does the activity have value to someone else?

Is there social interaction? Do students have an opportunity to talk about the learning and interact?

Is there a culture of emotional safety? Are mistake valued because they are an opportunity to learn?

Do students have opportunities to choose within the activity?

Is it an authentic activity? This doesn’t mean it always must connect directly to the student’s world, but it should connect to reality.

Is the task new and novel? If kids are bored, it’s hard to see engagement

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