Engage and connect with your students every day

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“An engaged student is an inspired one.”

Students of all backgrounds and personalities sometimes have difficulty staying focused at school. The world within the classroom might not feel as interesting, relatable and exciting as the world outside the window. Or the universe within their smartphones.

We all become more engaged if we feel involved and inspired. Once we are activated, we absorb information more effectively. Students are known to engage and perform during interactive lessons. They particularly enjoy learning with the aid of devices such as laptops, tablets or their own smartphones. The ideal scenario for active and engaged learning is therefore a balanced combination of in-person and digital interactivity.

Here are four strategies for using LessonUp that help schools engage and connect with their students.

1. Get to know your students

• Spinner: Write some personal (but not too sensitive) questions on the sections of the spinner in LessonUp and spin it for your students, asking them to answer the surprise question. Questions are chosen randomly by the spinner, creating an unpredictable but fair classroom dynamic. 

• Short video: Create a 5 minute introduction of yourself for your students. Make it an informal video that stimulates connection and curiosity. If you want, you can embed the video in a LessonUp lesson. Ask your students to create a similar video to introduce themselves.

2. Encourage participation in class

• No downside for wrong answers: When asking questions during lessons, you might want to emphasise that there is no downside for wrong answers. In general, we learn more from getting answers wrong than getting them right straight away. 

• Alternate asking questions in person and digitally: Often the same students raise their hands when teachers ask a question out loud.To avoid this classic classroom dynamic, deliver open-ended questions through a safe digital environment (see above). Quieter students will join in, often surprising you with insightful answers. 

3. Activate your students’ prior knowledge

• Map what your students know: A mind map (as above) is the perfect interactive tool to “map” and retrieve students’ prior knowledge.  Our cognitive load is limited, so if we don’t review previously anchored memories, it can be difficult for us to acquire new information.

• Introduce new topics that get your students to talk: Start by introducing a new topic in your class and involving your students directly. Are they acquainted with it? Do they have examples? By asking around, and simply steering the conversation, you can create a safe environment for an open-minded discussion.

4. Make your lessons active and varied

• Quizzes & polls: Every so often, poll the class to get responses to a particular question or topic. Students enjoy sharing their opinion. Alternatively, create quiz questions during a lesson. You can use them as playful elements to quickly assess your students’ understanding of a topic.

• Group work & sharing: Engage your students by activating teamwork sessions. Have them complete a task in teams, and then share their outputs with the rest of the class. This can be done online or in person.