How To Engage Students In The Classroom

Improved Essays
After observing the teacher in the classroom I’ve seen first-hand just a few of the challenges that teachers face in just trying to engage their students in learning or discussions. Not only is there a difference among students so that one approach works for this student and that same approach may not work for another student, but that difference is also seen in classrooms. I saw the teacher use the same approach to get a class discussion started in two classes. The first class responded to the topic and had time after the discussion to start on their next project. Yet, the second class remained relatively silent, they didn’t respond to any of the questions and the teacher could only spend so much time on getting the class to talk before having to move on so they could start on their projects.
Moreover, that observation also lead me to think
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Their first essay was a personal/reflective essay and their second essay was a biographical essay, where they were not limited in who they wanted to write about. They were told to pick someone who they admire or were interested in as long as that person was famous or even infamous. Many of the students took an interest in the assignment and went over the one page minimum requirement. I could tell that they were excited to talk about the person they admired or were interested in, especially if the teacher wasn’t familiar with the person. Unfortunately, I also saw drawbacks to the students picking someone they really admired. A few students were so caught up in their admiration for the individual they selected that they forgot the goal of the assignment and struggled to complete the essay. So while I loved seeing that gearing assignments towards the students got them engaged in the assignment, I think as a teacher I would be more careful and set more guidelines in hopes of helping students understand the point of the

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