3 Easy Ways To Create A More Engaged Classroom

Attending class is important, but real learning happens when students collaborate and share ideas. You’d be surprised at how much learning takes place outside of a physical lecture hall.

If you’re a teacher, you already know how much time is spent preparing for a new semester. But how much time do you set aside to get to know your students? There’s a significant correlation between student engagement and how much information they retain. What can you do to improve the classroom experience of your students and get them participating more?

Let’s look at three simple changes you can make to see substantial results.

1. Go the extra mile to create a personal connection.

Having a personal connection creates a sense of trust. When trust exists, students brainstorm and openly express their concerns and challenges. By showing genuine interest in each student, you can make each pupil feel comfortable about opening up.

Go the extra mile. Stay after class and offer to help those who need more time to learn. Make an effort to connect with students who aren’t vocal in class. By offering this kind of support, you will see your classroom’s dynamic change as students become more engaged. Also, encourage students to form personal connections with each other. It could be as simple as students meeting up for a study group before an exam, but it’ll make your class that much more engaging.

2. Set an end goal, but let students choose how to reach it.

Having a syllabus, due dates and assignment requirements helps with organization and adds structure to courses. But in reality, everyone learns in a different way, so having a very structured classroom schedule can hinder creativity, classroom engagement and the student’s learning process.

Learn to be open as a teacher. When assigning projects, specify an end goal but let students reach the finish line however they please. It is important to set assignment requirements, but give students the freedom to choose how to solve problems. This will transform your students into decision makers and creative thinkers while creating a learning-centered classroom environment.

3. Create communication channels outside of the classroom.

What happens if a student needs to talk to you outside of work hours? Some instructors limit communication outside of the classroom because they don’t want to be disturbed. Work-life balance is important, but sharing your personal phone number and e-mail with students isn’t as scary as it may seem.

As I said earlier, it’s naive to think learning only happens in a lecture hall. With so much learning happening outside of the classroom, it’s necessary to have open lines of communication for students to contact you and fellow classmates when they need help.

Technology makes it easy for you to encourage collaboration outside of the physical classroom. Tools like Classuite can help improve students’ classroom experience by creating an atmosphere that doesn’t depend on you doing all the work. Instead, it encourages them to become more engaged, share ideas and help each other out.