Actively Engaging Students in the Classroom

Mrs. Paynter has a variety of ways of engaging her students in the classroom. One thing I noticed on the first day of observation was whenever a row (students sharing a row of desks) followed directions quickly and directly, they were told to "circle a smile" on their desks. After asking Mrs. Paynter what this was for, she told me that every time a row received 4 smiles on their desks, they were able to put a tally mark on the board under their row. After that row had 5 tally marks, they were able to make one guess in an ongoing game of battleship. Mrs. Paynter said she made it really hard for them to get there, and sometimes the prizes were not very big, but once a row had sunk a ship, they would get a classroom privilege. Just to keep it interesting, she also changed the ships positions regularly to keep the game engaging and challenging.

Mrs. Paynter also lets her students work in groups or pairs when doing different assignments. This gives them the opportunity to work with a partner and bounce ideas off of each other. It also keeps them from continually going to the teacher with questions. Mrs. Paynter also uses working with a partner as a reward. She lets the students work in partnerships only if everyone is doing what they should be and is actively engaged in the learning experience.

One thing I recently noticed in Mrs. Paynters classroom was her classroom chore list. Each student has a classroom chore they are to perform every day. The list rotates through the students so everyone gets a chance to perform the different tasks. When students behave well and are doing what they should be, they get more desirable tasks then those that don't. It is a subtle thing, but really helps keep students on track.

Today in class I saw her handing out candy to the class after the performed their wax museum skits. It was a small behavior reinforcement, but they students responded very highly to it. I believe it is the subtle things that help keep students engaged but also do no distract from the task at hand that are the most efficient and beneficial in the classroom.