Caleb Gattegno, an expert on the teaching/learning paradigm, captured these roles perfectly, "it's the students' job to learn the language; it's the teacher's job to learn the students." Thus, while the learners must do their own learning, the facilitator of that process is the teacher. Effective teachers understand how to facilitate learning through engaging the whole of the learner.
 | One of the key components to successful teaching is actively engaging the learner in the learning process. No matter what the subject of the class may be or who the student body is, Effective learning happens through engagement. Effective teachers understand how to keep students engaged in a variety of ways throughout their lessons. Actively Engaging students is not to say that teachers take on the responsibility of learning for the students; both teacher and learner have their distinctive roles. |
There are many benefits to engaging our students
| Apart from the fact that paying attention is a prerequisite to learning, there are many other benefits to engaging our students:
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How do we actively engage our students in my lessons?
 | Here are 6 easy tips to keep in mind when considering how to engage your students: Energize everyone: If we are physically present, our minds are more apt to be awake as well. There are many ways to energize the class through the use of using manipulatives, music, and movement. When we involve the whole of the learner we energize the body, mind, and spirit. Necessitate participation: As teachers, we should never do for the students what they can do for themselves. This includes everything from students passing out materials to students asking and answering the questions. The more we allow students to do their own work, the more they stay engaged. |
Get them in groups: Cooperative learning is a communal act that fits nicely into any classroom context. When we inject pair work and small group activities, students connect with the content and with one another in a deeper manner. They also develop comfort in sharing their academic knowledge. Having students work cooperatively supports their learning and creates community.
| Assess at every step: The more we get from them, the more attention they pay. Random, verbal and non-verbal assessments recycle key points and encourage participation. Trying to find out what students know helps them build confidence and helps us keep them in the center of the class. Generate connections: Students need to sense a connection between the content of their world and the world of academia. Personalizing content, building background, and explaining the task's purpose are all ways we generate those connections. Connecting students to what they are doing and why encourages engagement. |  TESOL Trainers Actively Engaging Students |
Expect more: When we believe students do know more than they're letting on, we encourage students to reach beyond their comfort zone. That belief however it is expressed is palpable, and students respond to it. When we expect they can, students tend to surprise us, themselves, and their peers.
Student engagement is paramount to learning the content, learning one another, and learning oneself.
For students to develop unconscious competence, they must first act consciously. The more conscious we teachers are in who our students are and how to engage them in their own learning, the more we set our students up for success©.
TESOL Trainers is your scaffold to success!
 John Kongsvik Director of TESOL Trainers | TESOL Trainers offers K12 Staff Development on SIOP, TESOL, Peer Coaching, and much more. In addition to traditional professional development, we also provide remote teacher training workshops that engage and empower participants. Contact John Kongsvik, the director of TESOL Trainers to learn how we can set your teachers up for success. |
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