Deepening Student Engagement: Strategies for Reflection, Goal Setting, and Active Learning

Outline

Detailed Outline of Presentation: 60-Minute Session on Student Engagement

Introduction and Overview of Engagement (10 minutes)
Content: Introduce the concept of the Engagement Continuum, outlining the three levels: Disengaged, Passive, and Engaged. Discuss how these levels impact student learning.
Engagement: Pose reflection questions to the audience to consider their own students' levels of engagement.
Activity: Brief think-pair-share where participants discuss examples of disengaged, passive, and engaged behaviors they've seen in their classrooms.

Teaching Students What Engagement Looks and Feels Like (15 minutes)
Content: Present strategies and a lesson for teaching students to recognize and understand what engagement looks like in terms of specific behaviors (e.g., active listening, contributing to discussions, staying on task).
Engagement: Role-play activity where participants act as elementary students to model examples of different engagement levels and identify cues.
Activity: Guided group discussion on how to apply these strategies in their own classrooms.

Conducting Engagement Conferences with Students (15 minutes)
Content: Introduce the concept of Engagement Conferences—short, focused check-ins with students to discuss their level of engagement and develop action steps for improvement.
Engagement: Participants will be shown a modeled Engagement Conference between the facilitator and a "student" (volunteer).
Activity: Participants then pair up and conduct a mock Engagement Conference based on provided scenarios, receiving feedback from peers. 

Encouraging Student Self-Reflection and Goal Setting (15 minutes)
Content: Teach strategies for guiding students in self-reflection on their engagement and setting personal goals for improvement.
Engagement: Show a video clip or demonstrate an example of a student discussing their engagement and setting goals.
Activity: Participants draft reflection questions and goal-setting prompts that they could use with their students.

Closing and Takeaways (5 minutes)
Content: Recap the Engagement Continuum, Engagement Conferences, and student self-reflection.
Engagement: Quick reflection on one immediate takeaway participants will implement in their classrooms.
Activity: Exit ticket (shared via devices or paper) where participants write down one strategy they'll apply in their own teaching.

Engagement Tactics Overview:
Peer-to-peer interaction: Think-pair-share, role-playing, and small group brainstorming.
Real-life application: Participants practice what they learn through role-play and scenario-based activities.

Supporting research

Berry, A., & Hattie, J. (2023). Reimagining student engagement: From disrupting to driving. Corwin, a SAGE company.

Fisher, D., Frey, N., Ortega, S., & Hattie, J. (2020). Teaching Students to Drive Their Learning: A Playbook on Engagement and Self-Regulation, K-12. Solution Tree.

Grinder, M. (2007). Envoy: Your Personal Guide to Classroom Management. Michael Grinder & Associates.

Medina, J. (2014). Brain rules: 12 principles for surviving and thriving at work, home, and school. Pear Press. 

Pianta, R. C., Hamre, B. K., & Allen, J. P. (2012). Teacher-student relationships and engagement: Conceptualizing, measuring, and improving the capacity of classroom interactions. In S. L. Christenson, A. L. Reschly, & C. Wylie (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Student Engagement (pp. 365-386). Springer.
Whitaker, T. (2020). What great teachers do differently: Nineteen things that matter most. CRC Press.