Ten Tools to Make Your Classroom More Engaging
As a teacher, making your classroom fun and engaging should be at the top of your list of priorities!
The secret to engagement in the classroom is…teaching content in your classroom that you truly enjoy. When you are passionate about teaching that is when the magic happens. You may be wondering how you can make your classroom more engaging. As a mom and a classroom teacher I have a few tips to share!
Mrs Merrill, I loved your class because I never knew what we were going to be learning that day!
TEACHER GOALS
GOAL 1: Make everyday a new adventure in the classroom and full of new learning experiences! I remember a student commenting on how they really loved science class because they “never knew what to expect”. Everyday was a mystery and they were learning something new.
Aim to keep your students engaged in the learning content by making it fun and interesting. If you can’t think of an idea yourself, check out TPT for help with resources for your students.
GOAL 2: Share your passion for teaching with your students! Show your students that you value their input and opinions by encouraging them. This will help your students feel welcome in your classroom and support classroom engagement. When students feel comfortable and supported they will be more engaged in what you are teaching.
GOAL 3: The key to engagement in the classroom is to keep your students always learning!
TEN LEARNING TOOLS
1. Create a ‘social fun day’ in the classroom as a reward for good achievements! Collect puff balls in a jar and when the jar is full because of good classroom behavior, reward your class with a party. This is great to reward reading minutes or classroom behavior. A few ideas include a “going camping book day” or a “GLOW day“! Set up a camping tent in your classroom or if you homeschool set up a tent in your living room, why not? This will be a special memory for the kids to remember for years to come!
2. Bring the magic of science, music and art into your classroom to make it engaging for students based on their interests.
3. Take a poll to see what students are passionate about and create lessons based on these interests.
4. Pack a suitcase and visit another continent. Bring a suitcase to school and set it on the counter. Pretend to go to Australia! Have each student bring one item to “take” on the trip, learn about Australia each day by reading and learning!
5. Give students time each day to explore outside! Even playing simple games can help students learn to work together and collaborate as a team! Fresh air is an added bonus!
6. Reading time should be a time the students look forward to each day! Give students time to pick a book of their choosing, sit around the classroom and just read! Either independently or quietly with a classmate.
7. Give students different opportunities to show what they know in different ways!
8. Have students create a game based on their interests. If you are studying rock formations in Earth Science, have students create a review game to play before the test to ‘test’ their knowledge! It’s amazing how creative kids can be given paper, tape and markers!
9. Having students work together is part of creating an engaging atmosphere for student learning. Modeling the roles students are responsible for and encouraging positive student interactions is great for the overall classroom atmosphere.
10. Give students time each day to use flexible seating! Bean Bag chairs, bouncy balls, and cushions are a few creative ideas!
11. With my own children, I visited a butterfly sanctuary where all types of butterflies fly around in beautiful warm ‘greenhouse like’ environment. The butterflies would fly around and occasionally land on our shoulders! Through this little adventure, my kids would be inspired to go to the library to research the type of butterflies we found.
Being a teacher by profession, I created a butterfly activity for my students to learn about the butterfly life cycle. We then ordered a Butterfly Garden with live caterpillars to watch transform into butterflies!
I brought the butterflies in for my students to see the progress on the cocoons. This can be an activity for all ages elementary through high school to get students out of their seats and learning!
12. Another idea is to create a scavenger hunt for your class. Students can go to each outdoor location, answer a review question and then move to the next location until they have completed the review question game. To give you an idea, I have created a few here , this one is for Saint Patrick’s Day . Getting students out of their seats is key to classroom engagement!
13. Have students build a STEM project out of the materials given. Let them be creative and give them a challenge to accomplish.
14. Incorporate art in the classroom. After learning about a topic have students express their learning with art.
15. Make your activities MEMORABLE! One day while teaching middle school life science I took my middle school students outside and had them draw pictures of the parts of a cell. As their assessment, they created a cell pizza project at home! They loved these activities and it was very memorable!
Study a topic by creating a graphic organizer. Label each section with
In my classroom, everyday was a mystery and students were learning something new! I had the best compliment at the end of the year from a student.
"Mrs. Merrill, I loved your class because I never knew what we were going to be learning in class that day!"
Aim to keep your students engaged in the learning content by making it exciting and engaging. If you can’t think of an idea yourself, check out teacher author’s websites on Teacher Pay Teacher, TPT for help with new fun resources for your students.
What is your next classroom adventure?
Meet Amanda
Hi there!
Welcome to my "teach it" and "beach it" blog! I create engaging resources for teachers and families to guide their children through the 'sea' of education. I specialize in marine biology topics and gifted education! I'm glad you are here!
Put your feet in the sand and stay awhile!
-Amanda
Amanda Merrill
SCIENTIST. TEACHER. MOM.
