Teaching Strategies & Student Engagement for At Risk Students

By Jamal Hutchinson

Teaching Strategies & Student Engagement

LEARNING Objectives: To discuss research based and effective

strategies for at risk students To review strategies for student

engagement To be able to apply instructional

strategies and student engagement for any subject matter

Quick Overview of Teaching Strategies:

Based on field research conducted by Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) a private nonprofit corporation located in Denver, Colorado there are 6 classroom strategies for helping at-risk students. Whole Class Instruction Cognitively Oriented Instruction Small Groups Tutoring Peer Tutoring Computer Assisted Instruction

Quick Overview of Teaching Strategies:

Whole Class InstructionDescription: The group of studies synthesized under this heading represents a set of whole-class interventions that support either a behaviorist or constructivist instructional approach.1

Have you tried the strategy? If so, what was your experience with it? If not, would you want to now?

What are the most important factors in making the strategy effective? Would these factors make the use of the strategy difficult to facilitate in your classroom?

Quick Overview of Teaching Strategies:

Small Groups:Description: The different strategies for dividing a classroom into smaller groups of students. The available research revealed heterogeneous and homogenous grouping efforts including multiple subject area instruction, differentiation, and cooperative learning interventions.1

Have you tried the strategy? If so, what was your experience with it? If not, would you want to now?

What are the most important factors in making the strategy effective? Would these factors make the use of the strategy difficult to facilitate in your classroom?

Quick Overview of Teaching Strategies:

Computer Assisted InstructionDescription: Computer-assisted instruction is generally defined as an instructional process that uses a computer to present concepts or topics, monitor student growth, and adjust to needed advancements accordingly. The available research describes interventions that pair one or two students with each computer during sessions that involve relatively little teacher interaction.1

Quick Overview of Teaching Strategies:

Computer Assisted Instruction Have you tried the strategy? If so, what was

your experience with it? If not, would you want to now?

What are the most important factors in making the strategy effective? Would these factors make the use of the strategy difficult to facilitate in your classroom?

Quick Overview of Student Engagement Strategies

Coding VIP- students read text and at the end of each paragraph or students view a problem and then they respond to the text by rescoring one of the following- I already knew this, this is new to more or I have a question.2

Quick Overview of Student Engagement Strategies

Example: Use the quadratic equation to find the

solutions to the problem 2x2 + 8x + 16 Add the following: (x2 + 3x + 5) + (-5x3

– 4x2 +9)

Quick Overview of Student Engagement Strategies

Send a Problem- Each student on a team makes up a question or reviews a problem and writes it down on a flashcard. The author of each problem/question asks the question to his/her team. If they do not have a consensus of the answer, the group works on the problem or rewords it until everyone can explain/agree. Next the team passes their stack of questions or problems on to another team. 2

Quick Overview of Student Engagement Strategies

Example: Use problems from the unit on solving

equations. Divide class into two small teams.

Use problems on graphing lines. Divide class into two small teams.

Quick Overview of Student Engagement Strategies

5-2-1 As the teacher lectures for 5 minutes, the students take notes after five minutes the teacher poses a question based on the lecture for students to discuss in pairs or in a small group for two minutes. Then the whole class debriefs for one minute.2

Quick Overview of Student Engagement Strategies

Example: Lesson is on adding and subtracting

integers. Teacher teaches for 5 minutes with students just paying attention and taking notes. Pair in small groups and use “effective questioning” to pose questions to groups. Then bring the class back to debrief questions.

Resources

1. Noteworthy Perspectives: Classroom Strategies for Helping At-Risk Students Discussion Guide. http://www.mcrel.org/PDF/Noteworthy/5032TG_NW_ClassroomStrategiesinsert.pdf retrieved 11/9/2009

2. Student Engagement Apollo developed by Apollo Middle School Literacy Coach Woods-Jackson, Tabitha 2009.