Encouraging Student Engagement In CTE
It is enrollment time for everyone around the country. The time for students to choose their elective classes next year. Our chance to capture the hearts and minds not only of existing students, but that incoming freshman class that hasn’t had the plethora of electives we will offer them at the high school level. Every student needs solid engagement.
But, once we’ve got them, then what? We aren’t encouraging a “one and done” style of enrollment—we are looking to start the kids as freshmen, and keep their attention and their interest throughout the four years in high school.
So let’s talk about how to design interesting, engaging and informative lessons in your classes and your CTSOs to keep them coming back…and bringing their friends!
It’s Built-In
We are generally electives
I’ve been a business educator my entire career, so I know all about the stress and anxiety that comes with enrollment for next year. For the vast majority of us, every spring is an adventure in shoring up our courses for next year by encouraging continued enrollment. No matter what their schedule–6 periods or 8 periods—students have to choose electives to fill that time.
Kids are interested in our subject
This is our ace in the hole—kids LOVE our classes! They are interested in the different subjects that we teach, and they are immediately useful as employability skills as well as potential college majors.
Types of Student Engagement
In order to maximize our efficacy in the classroom, it is important for us to define and understand the different types of student engagement that we are working towards. While they are important independently, it is the synergy of the three working together that truly creates a “master class” that all students will rush to sign up for next year. Consider the different focuses for these types of students engagement:
Behavioral
Obviously, this type of engagement is centered on the actions of the students. An engaged student will come to class every day, on time, with all of the necessary tools to be successful in that class. This engagement shows itself in completed homework, participating in class discussions and asking questions of the teacher.
Emotional
At the forefront of educational discussions following the Covid lockdown, putting the emphasis on emotional engagement requires us to connect even more closely with our students. Students demonstrating emotional engagement feel that they are an integral part of the class and the entire school community. Generally happy and upbeat, these students greet you in the hallway or the cafeteria, interact positively with their peers and participate in activities in class.
Cognitive
Demonstrating cognitive engagement includes assertiveness in class, a deep understanding of the topic, and a strong desire to learn and share more about the topic at hand. Students who are cognitively engaged ask challenging questions, and will complete additional research to find more information about a topic.
At The Beginning Of Class Or A Meeting
Supporting student engagement in your class or organization starts long before the first bell of the day. Building your reputation—and the reputation of your program—starts on the little league field or Girl Scouts. Anywhere parents meet, the talk will eventually turn to education, and discussions will be had about the strongest elective programs that include not only interesting topics, but college credit and recognition.
It’s all in the marketing…
This week is “Sneak a Peek” at my school for incoming freshmen to tour the campus and meet teachers. With their parents. It’s important that I am always promoting and marketing my courses—starting as soon as possible—so they become accepted and almost expected for new students. FBLA and DECA will both have tables in my hallway, trying to capture the hearts of these students months before they will set foot on campus as a student.
Get started on time
I’m so obsessively punctual that all three of my kids were born early. In my opinion, it is extremely disrespectful to not value someone else’s time. So get on with it. Whether you are having a brief conversation with a prospective student or starting your FBLA meeting, get started in a timely fashion, and make sure that you are utilizing all of your time in a way that will effectively position your organization for the future.
Use an opener or icebreaker
You need to set the stage for the day as soon as your class or organization meeting begins. While you might be ready to “jump in”, the students need a chance to transition from whatever class they just left. It’s very difficult for students to “change gears” in the four minutes they have to get from one class or activity to the next. Be cognizant of that by introducing the day with an interesting opener or icebreaker—something that gets them not only thinking, but potentially moving, and definitely smiling.
Focusing On The “Meat” Of The Meeting/Class
Once students are firmly ensconced in your classroom, the real work begins. We are not trying to keep them interested for an hour—we are trying to entice them to be lifetime learners of business subjects. Keeping students interested and engaged is a learned and practiced skill, so it will absolutely take you some time to find your rhythm. Here are some suggestions to get you on the right track:
Strong transitions minimize “dead” time
Sweet Husband teaches Early Childhood Special Education. Transitions for him—walking to the Cafeteria for example—are elongated affairs that can take fifteen minutes or more. Planning in advance will help you minimize the time “lost” to transitions. Moving from individual to group work, or from direct instruction to guided practice should be seamless and short periods of time, with students having a good idea of the class expectations. It’s important that you set these rules and expectations in place at the beginning of the year, and carry through with them throughout the year.
Use groups or collaborative activities
Do not minimize the value of using groups, partners or other collaborative pairings to support learning. Some students thrive with the responsibility and accountability that comes from another student, and this is a great opportunity for you to support your learners who have diverse needs. I use groups in all of my classes and organizations, and have found that the engagement level goes up when students can divide and conquer a larger assignment or activity.
Use mixed media to keep attention
We have a wealth of information available to us on the internet, and it will absolutely improve our student engagement to use it! This is the technology generation, so “meeting them where they are” has to include some different technologies and web-based activities. YouTube alone has an incredible array of videos of every length to help you introduce topics.
Get them up and moving
At first difficult for my extremely type-A brain, I strongly encourage you to get kids up and moving during the class period. This change in activity can be just the thing you need to keep student engagement and activity at an optimal level. Don’t underestimate the value of letting them stretch their legs—we walked outside yesterday just because it started to snow. Might not be “field trip” worthy where you are, but this is Vegas, baby!!! Everybody wanted to catch a snowflake on their tongue!
Set reasonable goals
I encourage you to start small with your student engagement strategies, so you can master the different pieces of this important puzzle. Towards that end, make sure that your expectations and goals are at a reasonable level. There is nothing worse than planning what you think is a killer lesson, only to find that it doesn’t capture the hearts and minds of your students.
How Do I Put It All Together?
Now that we’ve learned the elements of student engagement, and the importance of keeping students involved and active in every level of their education, it’s time to get down to brass tacks, and discuss some suggestions and examples for creating engaging plans that your students will not only enjoy, but talk about at lunch with their friends and dinner with their parents.
And that, my friends, is how we will keep our enrollment numbers up.
See you April 10!
THANK YOU FOR READING THIS FAR
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Please leave a COMMENT about any tips you may have!! Or comment what your favorite lesson of mine was! How’s your student organization operating?
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Resources
https://www.prodigygame.com/main-en/blog/student-engagement-strategies/
https://www.edutopia.org/classroom-student-participation-tips