Virtual Student Engagement Isn't Impossible

Melissa Childs

The challenges teachers are facing this school year are incalculable. Constant schedule changes. Social distancing regulations. Another virtual platform to learn. It can all feel so overwhelming.

But one frustration sticks out the most, makes us question our belief in our teaching abilities, and makes us feel as if we no longer have an impact: Not knowing how to engage our students anymore.

In the shift to virtual learning, many of the strategies that we had previously used to draw our students' attention have fallen by the wayside.

I've found it helpful to take a step back and remember what we already know about engaging learners. There are three types of student engagement: emotional, behavioral, and cognitive (Fredericks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004). When students are engaged in all three components, they can learn at their highest capability. By examining each of these components in action within my virtual classroom, I developed the Virtual Engagement Framework.

Emotional Engagement

Students are emotionally engaged in the learning process when they hold a set of attitudes that are beneficial to their growth and feel a sense of belonging among their peers and throughout the school. Teachers are able to bolster student emotional engagement in virtual classrooms through establishing strong learning communities where every student feels valued, developing individual relationships, and perpetuating a growth mindset.

Learning Community

Although building a strong learning community can seem significantly tougher when students are not physically in the classroom, there are some strategies that strengthen our students' sense of value and acceptance remotely. 

Ideas to try:

• Establish team-building routines and rituals by having students take on class roles. In our virtual classroom, I've assigned each of my students a specific task to complete each day. For example, one of my students facilitates a check-in discussion, while another student facilitates the closure activity by asking each student what they learned or accomplished within the class period.
• Complete social-emotional check-ins at the beginning of class. These check-ins (for example, having students share two words that describe how they are currently feeling or selecting a picture to demonstrate their emotions) can be completed through digital forms, the chat feature, and daily online journals.
• Provide opportunities for students to share their interests with their peers. By giving students unstructured time to play Show and Tell, Would Your Rather, or Peer Interview activities, we allow them the chance to connect to their classmates and to develop a deeper sense of class community.

Strong Relationships

We may not be able to interact with our students in the same ways as before, but there are many ways that we can virtually dive into our students' interests, strengths, struggles, and passions. Through digital discussions, shared documents, and online activities, we can continue to show our students that we truly believe in their capabilities and that they can always come to us for support.

Ideas to try:

• One-on-one or small-group virtual meetings with students. In our school, we set up two half-hour time slots in which each staff member connects weekly with a small group of at-risk students. This time is used to get to know them as individuals, identify their strengths, and discuss their struggles.
• Give students opportunities to collaborate. By using video discussion platforms, breakout rooms, and shared documents, students can build strong peer relationships and push each other to the next level.
• Write down and incorporate student interests and strengths into class activities. One way to allow students to build upon their passions is through Genius Hour Projects. A.J. Juliani developed a Genius Hour Blueprint for educators to promote inquiry and research, student choice, and autonomy.

Growth Mindset

The pressure of remote learning for students—from unfamiliar digital platforms to balancing their own schedules— may push them to the point of wanting to give up. By incorporating opportunities for students to develop a growth mindset, teachers can help students to embrace the challenges that are thrown their way and to persist in the face of setbacks.

Ideas to try:

• Instruction of growth mindset elements. In Mindset, Carol S. Dweck (2017) outlines five key elements of developing a growth mindset: embracing challenges, persisting in the face of setbacks, seeing effort as a path to mastery, learning from criticism, and finding inspiration in the success of others. In my class, we have class discussions surrounding a chosen "quote of the week" that ties to developing a growth mindset.
• Optimize technology to provide feedback and praise. Through social media posts, virtual discussion boards, digital class shout outs, and emails to parents, educators can share their pride and inspire students to reach even greater heights.
• Give the students opportunities to learn the value of challenges. My students' motivation increased when I invited them to participate in scavenger hunts and class competitions.

Behavioral Engagement

Behavioral engagement refers to our students' participation and efforts in completing class tasks and assignments. To increase student involvement and attentiveness, try the following strategies.

Class Norms

As with any activity, it is important for us to teach our students what is appropriate and what is not acceptable. By implementing student-created norms, posting them in the virtual classroom, and consistently reviewing their importance, teachers create greater routine and consistency, leading to increased engagement.

Ideas to try:

• Collaboratively develop class norms for each portion of the virtual learning environment. Have students reflect and share their answers to the question, "What words describe the kind of classroom you would like to be a part of?" From there, guide students in developing norms for video chat sessions, breakout rooms, and shared documents.
• Have students sign contracts for class norms. By putting a contract in writing and having all members of the class sign it, students develop a stronger sense of community and ownership of their behavior.
• Consistently review the established norms. Create visuals for each class norm to refer to throughout the class. Posting these in your virtual classroom can be a reminder for students of the positive behavior you expect.

Restorative Practices

Restorative practices, which shift away from using rewards and punishments to using an approach that gets to the root cause of the issue and builds on human connection, can play an integral role in promoting positive behavior in our virtual classrooms. When we take the time to strengthen our classroom culture through deep class discussions, our students can identify with other viewpoints and think critically about their own thoughts and actions.

Ideas to try:

• Implement virtual community circles. These virtual circles are an opportunity for students to openly discuss their thoughts and concerns, leading to deeper, meaningful relationships in the class.
• Use virtual resources to teach mindfulness, self-awareness, and self-regulation. Virtual mindfulness videos, digital gratitude activities, online coloring pages, and personal reflections are excellent resources that can be used to build student social-emotional skills. We have a district resource site that includes mindfulness videos and activities.
• Meet with students in a one-on-one meeting to discuss behavior issues. In Hacking School Discipline, the authors outline five restorative steps to take when working with a student: Initiate, Empathize, Analyze, Execute, and Reflect (Maynard & Weinstein, 2019). By using this blueprint, students can grow from their mistakes. We can meet with them virtually one-on-one or in small groups to help them take responsibility for their actions and to devise a plan of action to repair the harm.

Collaborate with Other Supporters

In the shift to virtual learning environments, many public schools reported that an average of 22 percent of students were missing class each day. It is imperative that we try to work with all of our students' supporters, including parents, to get them the help they need.

Ideas to try:

• Maximize family connection through technology. Sending digital parent tips, classroom news, shoutouts, and Snapshots of the Week are excellent examples of how some teachers are reaching out to their students' families during this time. One resource that many parents loved was a Google Guidebook for Families and Students.
• Create a shared parent contact log. In my school, teachers, counselors, home-school coordinators, and teaching assistants provide extra support for students who are struggling. Each staff member serves as a mentor to four or five students and meets with a small group weekly to build connections.

Cognitive Engagement

Helping students actively connect to the material they are learning requires three components: authentic learning experiences, higher-order questioning, and teachable learning strategies.

Authentic Experiences

Students have access to endless information at the touch of a button. By making purposeful decisions about how to use technology in our classrooms, students can make deeper connections with the content that they are learning.

Idea to try:

• Use virtual resources to build a more relevant learning experience. Incorporate virtual field trips, social media, video clips, and gamified learning into classroom activities for active participation. BreakoutEDU provides digital escape rooms with simulated applications of the content.

Higher-Order Questioning

In a virtual classroom, we need to continue to move students from a place of simply regurgitating key information to a level of higher-order thinking. Teachers can deliberately plan higher-order questions using question starters and incorporate project-based learning, passion projects, and collaborative documents.

Ideas to try:

• Use Bloom's Taxonomy to plan higher-order activities prior to the lesson, which outlines six levels of student learning: Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, and Create (Anderson and Krathwohl, 2001). The Bloom's Digital Taxonomy Pyramid provides ideas for using online tools.
• Provide multiple means of demonstrating knowledge. The Universal Design for Learning Guidelines developed by CAST outline three principles to consider when designing differentiated learning experiences, including multiple means of engagement, representation, action and expression.
• Allow students to track progress in developing personalized focus skills. The Partnership for 21st Century Learning developed a framework that outlines 12 skills for student success: critical thinking, creative thinking, collaborating, communicating, information literacy, media literacy, technology literacy, flexibility, initiative, social skills, productivity, and leadership (Battelle for Kids, 2019). I have students document their daily action plan at the beginning of class and record the action steps that they took at the end.

Learning Strategies

Through a virtual learning model, many students are taking on a larger responsibility in their own learning. By showing students the neuroscience behind their learning and demonstrating the use of specific learning strategies, such as rehearsing, persistence, and connecting to prior knowledge, we give them a jumpstart in taking ownership.

Ideas to try:

• Teach students virtual communication skills through establishing talking norms. By clearly outlining discussion expectations in virtual platforms, students are aware of how they should interact with their teachers and peers. We set norms to use the chat feature responsibly.
• Show students how their brain works and processes new information. Embed metacognitive strategies, such as rehearsing, self-questioning, and summarizing, into your classroom to allow students to become self-aware of learning approaches that work for them. After they complete tougher assignments, my students write learning reflections, where they choose a learning strategy that they used.

Regardless of the challenges that we face, we can still focus on employing strategies that will allow us to engage our students on emotional, behavioral, and cognitive levels.

References

Anderson, L. W., and Krathwohl, D.R. (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives. London, England: Longman.

Battelle for Kids. (2019). Framework for 21st century learning. Hilliard, Ohio: Author. Retrieved from http://static.battelleforkids.org/documents/p21/P21_Framework_Brief.pdf

Dweck, C. (2017). Mindset: Changing the way you think to fulfill your potential. London: Robinson.

Fredericks, J., Blumenfeld, P., & Paris, A. (2004, Spring). School Engagement: Potential of the Concept, State of the Evidence. Review of Educational Research, 74(1), 59–109. Retrieved from http://www.inquirylearningcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Fredricks2004-engagemt.pdf

Juliani, A. J. (n.d.). Genius hour blueprint. Retrieved from http://ajjuliani.com/genius-hour-blueprint-step-step-guide-running-project-class/

Maynard, N., & Weinstein, B. (2019). Hacking school discipline: 9 ways to create a culture of empathy & responsibility using restorative justice. Highland Heights, OH: Times 10 Publications.

Melissa Childs is an instructional coach and a special education teacher at Salmon River Middle School in Fort Covington, N.Y.

 More on This Topic: Formative Assessment for Remote Teaching: Students Take the Lead

ASCD Express, Vol. 16, No. 13. Copyright 2021 by ASCD. All rights reserved. Visit www.ascd.org/ascdexpress.