Five Easy Ways to Keep Students Engaged in Learning

Keeping a balance of learning, working, skills practice, rigor, and ALL. THE. THINGS. while also keeping students engaged for the entire day can seem overwhelming.  The good news is...

It DOESN'T HAVE TO BE!!  That's right!!

Do you ever ask yourself any of the following questions?

• How do I ensure that my students are engaged and learning?
• What are some easy, fun, and effective ways in which I can engage my students?
• How can I motivate my students to be engaged in their learning?

If you have ever asked yourself any of these questions and all of the other worries that keep you awake at night, keep reading!

During my many years of teaching, I found a few sure-fire ways to keep my students interested with these five easy and fun ideas.  You can spread them throughout your day to keep students engaged in learning for the entire day!

Games

Honestly, I can't say enough about the importance of using games in the classroom.  Pause for just half a second, and think back to your own childhood.

Maybe those games were board games, card games, digital games, or outdoor games.

(Be honest; I bet you just thought of a happy memory or two, didn't you?)

Games can be a powerful way to motivate students.

That sentence bears repeating.

Click to read how using games can be a creative way to engage students.  

In my classroom, we used games every chance we had.  

Try it.

You will see your engagement skyrocket! 

Centers

Click to read:  Do you utilize center time to its fullest potential?

Centers can be used throughout the day.  Not only is this a meaningful way to engage students, but it's

also a way for you to focus on time management to cover more material in a small amount of time.

Centers are commonly used during ELA and math, but you can also cover a lot of material by having a

dedicated time for centers during social studies and science.

Hands-On Activities

Adding hands-on activities into your classroom is one of the most fun and simple ways to increase

engagement in your classroom.  These morning tub activities will incorporate fun ways to engage 

 students in academic learning.

Movement

Scoot games are a favorite in many classrooms and are a great way to involve your students with some

movement in their learning.  Other ways to give students active learning opportunities are to use task 

cards for classroom scavenger hunts and ask questions that have students move to a corner of the

room or stand up and sit down.  Brain breaks in which students pretend to climb trees or move like 

animals, complete a few exercises, or have a 30-second dance-off are quick activities to keep your 

students engaged, as well.

Digital

Students are proficient with technology.  They use it all the time.  Keeping students engaged using

technology is one of the easiest things you can do...especially if it involves games AND academics

(win-win!).  Assigning students digital task cards, writing prompts, interactive games, etc. will keep

even your most reluctant learner in the classroom engaged.

Here's a great freebie for you to use to add to your own center time.

Click on this picture to pin to your favorite board about adding student engagement so that you can 

visit this blog post again and share it with others.

Which of these ideas can help you keep your students engaged?  Comment below.

I hope you found some inspiration and encouragement from this post.  Sharing my many years of 

experience is just...

My Kind of Teaching