• Blog
  • Gifted Education Podcast
  • Visit Prufrock Press
  • Free Newsletter
  • About Us

The Prufrock Press Blog

  • Blog
  • Gifted Education Podcast
  • Visit Prufrock Press
  • Free Newsletter
  • About Us

Keeping Students Engaged

By Erin Grisham

For those of you who look back on your time in grade school fondly, think about which positive experiences stand out. Was it a teacher who—by some stroke of genius—kept you captivated by your least favorite subject, or perhaps a program tailored to your specific interests? 

A recent Education Week article states, “Students who have teachers who make them ‘feel excited about the future’ and who attend schools that they see as committed to building their individual strengths are 30 times more likely than other students to show other signs of engagement in the classroom.”

The 2013 Gallup study found that 54% of students reported having “at least one teacher who makes [them] excited about the future,” and a school “committed to building the strengths of each student.”

How can schools and teachers who aren’t keeping students engaged get back on track? It might be as simple as proving to students that they care about them individually, not just as a group. Gallup Education’s executive director, Brandon H. Busteed, gave a wonderful example of a first-grade teacher doing just that. He noticed that when the teacher asked her students questions, she would address them by name as well as their preferred future occupation. “It was a simple and powerful action,” Busteed said.

April 9, 2014 by Erin Grisham.
  • April 9, 2014
  • Erin Grisham
Newer
Older

The Prufrock Press Blog

news and views from the nation's leading publisher for gifted, advanced, and special needs learners
  • Blog
  • Gifted Education Podcast
  • Visit Prufrock Press
  • Free Newsletter
  • About Us
  • Graphic novels are more than just "picture books"—they tackle elements of text and film to help students visualize… https://t.co/6mJ9kvxSP5
    about 9 hours ago
  • "Wholehearted Teaching of Gifted Young Women" by @KFishmanWeaver explores the role school communities play in suppo… https://t.co/croOTDgdql
    about 5 days ago
  • When the genuine drive to excel becomes the need to be perfect, students can suffer from stress, anxiety, and feeli… https://t.co/rLV8QAKobM
    about a week ago