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As a teacher, there is nothing worse than looking out at your class and realizing only two students are still paying attention. Student engagement is crucial in learning any topic and it is often a controllable variable. A teacher has a great amount of say in how students engage with their peers and the material that they are presented with. In order to combat the prior situation, it is important to consider different modes of teaching. These options for teachers will lead to an increase in student engagement. When consistent student engagement occurs, students learn and retain information successfully. In addition, student engagement makes teachers even more excited to teach! Although consistency and structure in a classroom are what students excel in because they know exactly what is expected of them, it is crucial to change the modes in which learning material is presented. Different teaching techniques can still be effective and should not affect a teacher’s consistency and structure. For instance, material should be presented in different ways. Some assignments should include discussions and debates while others should include worksheets and games. Whether the student is performing more hands-on task (having students cut and paste vocabulary words to matching pictures), filling out a crossword puzzle, or playing a game of charades, these contrasting assignments can meet the same learning goal: to introduce new specific vocabulary. By providing these options as teachers, students are more likely to engage and be willing to learn. In addition to mixing up the type of assignment, it is important for teachers to be cognizant of how often students are practicing their verbal, listening, reading, and writing skills, especially as a ESL teacher. This is closely related to varying assignments. Some assignments should require students talking aloud and practicing their new language; however other assignments should involve reading and writing skills while others should assess a student’s ability to listen and understand the language. This will highlight students’ strengths, which can be used to aid other students and is another way to promote student engagement and a stronger classroom culture. With a multitude of assignments that allow students to show their strengths and areas of improvement, teachers also need to provide options of settings in which students must complete these tasks in. This could range from whole group, partner or small group work, to individual work. Whole group is necessary because it exposes every student to the lesson in the most equitable way. If most students do not understand the lesson in whole group, the teacher should know that he or she needs to adjust something. When a good amount of students do understand the lesson during whole group teaching, it is helpful to breakout into small group or partner work. This allows students to discuss and help each other out. Intentional pairing of partners is also beneficial as stronger students may assist those students who do not understand yet. After small group work, individual assignments are worth giving in order to assess a student’s own mastery on the lesson’s learning target. A variety of tasks given by the teacher and how students should solve these tasks (whole group, small group or partner, and individual) will naturally increase student engagement. Knowing these options for teachers will also lead to more student-centered work, which will in turn bring greater student success.
