Engagement by Design

Teachers and leaders are always searching for “what works.”  We want to know what we can do to engage students and ensure that they learn more and better.  In this session, we focus on a few things that have high impact, specifically student-teacher relationships, teacher clarity, and challenging tasks.  We will explore the ways in which teachers can build and maintain healthy, growth-producing relationships with students.  In addition, we will explore teacher clarity, specifically that teachers know what students need to learn, communicate learning expectations to students, and reach agreements on what learning success looks like.  Finally, we will explore the role of challenging learning tasks, understanding the role that difficulty and complexity play in students learning.  We will consider a range of tasks that build students’ academic fluency, stamina, strategic thinking, and expertise.