Leader's Guide to Excellence in Every Classroom by Wink John R.;

Author:Wink, John R.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Solution Tree
Published: 2017-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Source: Adapted from Fisher & Frey, 2008.

Figure 5.3: Gradual release of responsibility.

Beyond guiding students to assume responsibility for their own learning processes, teachers can also build student engagement by demonstrating their own interest and engagement as they deliver learning content and guide learning experiences. As Heather Wolpert-Gawron’s (2015) students note:

Instead of talking like a robot, teachers should speak to us like they’re really passionate about teaching. . . . If a teacher acts like this is the last thing they want to be doing, the kids will respond with the same negative energy. If you act like you want to be there, then we will too.

In essence, teachers build student engagement by delivering lesson content in a way that actively and enthusiastically involves students in the learning process. By gradually transitioning responsibility for those processes to the students, teachers not only help promote their learners’ cognitive investment in learning the content but also can boost students’ perceptions of that content’s relevance to their own interests. Further, they demonstrate trust in the students’ competence and control in the learning process. By structuring class time within a framework of introductions to content and its associated models of thinking, guided interactive activities, collaborative group work, and independent study, teachers can be certain that they are filling the majority of class time with productive learning activities.

The lesson-planning template in figure 5.4 (pages 100–101) is a collaborative tool to help teachers plan and deliver content by keeping the focus on relevance, responsibility, and optimized time. By using Google Sheets, teachers and leaders can view, edit, and use the comment feature to have asynchronous dialogue about a teacher’s plans for student engagement. Leaders can use the lesson-planning template as a walkthrough instrument to give teachers targeted feedback on how well their plans align with their instructional delivery and identify where they successfully promote engagement, miss opportunities for engagement, or actually add to disengagement in the classroom.

When teachers leverage student interests, cultural affinities, and existing competencies, they can creatively design engaging lessons that intentionally advance learning targets through various components of engagement: student-directed learning, productive group collaboration, active independent study, and other classroom activities. When the preparation for engagement is detailed and aligned to the nature and needs of students, teachers can expect to see an increase in the ownership of and pride in the learning process. By planning lessons designed to accomplish learning goals and align with student abilities and interests, teachers are well positioned to connect students with their learning and to inspire them to want to know more about the content.

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