How Can Teachers Create An Engaging Classroom Environment?

In contemporary times, classrooms have transformed to a great extent. Gone are the days when a teacher used to deliver a lecture to students who had no other option but to nod their heads in return. There was less or no student participation in the classroom as only the teacher used to speak without considering the student’s thoughts. Due to this, disengagement among the students was quite evident as they were not given a chance to voice their opinions.

Now with the ever-evolving education system, the students have a lot on their plate to fulfill. Because of this, every student has been kept on their toes to complete their work. Also, they are supposed to take an active part in other extracurricular activities which are essential for their overall skill development.

As a result, students are now getting more involved in these activities. This has led to a shift in their focus from the classroom to the outside world, This has further become more of a challenge for teachers to keep the learners engaged in the classroom.

As a teacher, you might be facing the same challenge to keep the students indulged in the classroom. So what can be the solution to this problem? To assist you in this, we have presented some proven ways that would keep you in a better position in terms of engaging your students.

5 ways for teachers to enhance student engagement in classroom

1- Personalize the learning process

You would also agree that each student is different and so are their educational needs. Every student would learn new things at their own pace and for that, they should be given enough time. If a teacher continues to teach the students without identifying their individual learning needs, the learning gaps would be left uncovered. If the students are not learning something new in the classroom, this can lead to disengagement among the learners.

This is where teachers need to personalize the learning process to cater the individual learning needs of students. Having said that, they would need to alter their teaching styles and be more flexible in terms of teaching a new concept. For instance, If your students learn better through visual representation, then you can make use of them in the classroom. Apart from that, you can relate the topic to the student’s interest which would keep your students fully indulged in the classroom. Therefore, personalizing the learning process for your students can greatly help you to keep your students engaged in the classroom.

2- Break the communication gap

As discussed, delivering a lecture with zero participation from the students will not serve the right purpose in contemporary times. So what can you do to encourage students to participate actively in the classroom? For that, you would need to break the communication gap.

In simple words, interact with the students on a daily basis so that you can get to know more about them. This way, your students would open up more with you and would like to voice their opinions in the classroom without being hesitant. If the students feel that their views and thoughts are acknowledged, this can encourage them to express their thoughts in the future as well. Also, you would need to make sure that you are following the 7Cs of communication. This could help you to effectively communicate with your students.

As a result, you would find your students to be more engaged in the classroom than before.

3 – Celebrate the student’s progress

As you know, some of your students may take some additional time to grasp a new concept. Also, when performing a certain task or completing an assignment, they might find it hard to get it done on time. This can make them feel discouraged and may tend to lose focus which can further lead to disengagement among students.

This situation can very well be handled if you are constantly motivating your students to stay consistent with their efforts. Instead of praising the student for getting things right, praise the efforts that they have put into a certain task.

For instance, one of your students was struggling to learn about a particular topic. After some time, you find that the same student was able to get a better understanding of that topic through consistent efforts. Here, you can praise the efforts put in by the student in getting on top of that concept. This would tend to enhance their morale to a much higher level and they would feel a sense of accomplishment. This can positively impact your student engagement in the classroom.

Therefore, celebrating the progress made by your students is the best way to keep your students fully engaged in the classroom.

4 – Make use of classroom technology

With technological advancement leaving a great impact in every field, its various applications are present in today’s classroom. This has transformed the conventional classroom into a smart classroom which includes projectors, smart boards, teaching tools for teachers, equipment for the students, etc. These technological advancements play a major role in providing a great learning experience for students. Moreover, they also tend to keep the learners engaged in the classroom. This is because students tend to enjoy learning new concepts through video clips or visual infographics. As a result, their knowledge base would also increase and they would remain focused in the class for a longer duration. Therefore, it can be clearly stated that implementing technology within the classroom would positively impact student engagement.

5 – Promote student collaboration

You would also agree that students must learn how to work in a group. This skill is a must-have for young minds as it can further help them to learn from others and take up responsibilities. Apart from this, working in a group would also keep the students engaged in the ongoing tasks. Now, an important thing to note here is that you should be good at classroom management in order to carry out activities.

Let us say, in the last 10 minutes of your class, you can organize a small group activity in which students need to work together. Once the task is completed, they would tend to enjoy their accomplishment and would eagerly wait for the next group activity. As a result, there would be higher student engagement in the classroom.

To encapsulate, keeping the learners fully engaged in the classroom can be a tough ask for a teacher. Disengagement among the students would also hamper their learning process. To counter this situation, the above-mentioned ways of enhancing student engagement can provide much-needed assistance to you. After their successful implementation, you would definitely see a positive impact in the classroom through enhanced student engagement.

Guest Post By Jessica Robinson

About the author:

Jessica Robinson loves to write interesting and knowledgeable blogs regarding business management, education and life to satiate the curiosity of her lovely readers. Currently, she is serving as a content manager at the ‘Speaking Polymath’. Every piece of content that she writes demonstrates her immense love and passion for her profession.

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