As this is an Appendix, it is an optional part of this course and is not a requirement for Accreditation. However, we do think it is well worth your consideration.

Mark COMPLETE at the end of this to show you have at least READ this information so that we can monitor its impact. We welcome you comments on its usefulness. (Comments not available in PREVIEW mode)..

SETTING THE SCENE

Student Engagement is one of the most important aspects of effective teaching and learning. This information used to be UNIT 8 at the end of this course because we didn't want to overload you with student management issues while you were coming to terms with the WHAT and HOW of SharpReading. We have now placed it in the Resource Library for easier access.

Why is Student Engagement so important?

One of the big issues in the classroom today is a lack of student engagement. Our research tells us that even some of our best students may be actively engaged in the learning for as little as 12 minutes during a 30-minute lesson (40% of the time.) We suspect this is not just a classroom issue but more of a societal one as we all are apparently afflicted by a diminishing attention span. Some research says it is down to a mere 8 seconds before the mind starts wandering off. 

Fortunately, one of the by-products of having a structured routine such as the ones we present here is that the student is forced to focus because they are being asked to do the work; the teacher talk is greatly reduced, and the teacher is NOT doing the work for them.  A FLUENT SharpReading teacher can get student engagement up to 90% in a 30-minute lesson.

We have identified four areas that the teacher can work on to improve the engagement of the learner during these small group instructional reading lessons.  See if you can focus on these components, one at a time, to develop your ability to ‘manage the learning’.

WHAT TO DO

Download and print off the following engagement Checklist

TASK 1: Class and Group Expectations 

In UNITS 3 & 4 we recommend that you spend considerable time establishing expectations and train your students to comply to maximise the learning in your group lesson.

Class Expectations – reducing the possibility of external factors

1. Class (independent workers) noise levels need to be low.
(For more about this, see Appendix 1: Setting up a Reading Rotation)
High or rising noise levels from your independent workers will impinge on your students’ engagement in the group learning (and your engagement also). It also means that your students are not benefiting from the independent work you have assigned.

2. No one approaches the group while a lesson is in progress
It is an easy statement to make, but can sometimes be a challenge to establish as a rule. Interruptions to your group lesson kill engagement for you and your students. Make it clear that they must comply and have systems in place to deal with problems that might arise.

3. Visual distractions are minimised
Set up your group reading space to minimise visual distractions for your students while the lesson is taking place eg. students face the wall not the rest of the class.  With your back to the wall, you have a full view of everyone – the group and the class.

Group Expectations – evidence of group ‘rules’ being followed
This will make more sense once you get to Units 3 &4.
The Explicit Teaching lessons (Unit 3) involve more interaction as students learn what unpacking sentences is all about. This is where you need to employ pace and energy to get their attention and engagement.
Once you start on the Independent Practice (Unit 4), the very structured routine doesn’t allow for disruptive or distracting behaviour. Make sure these expectations have been clearly stated.

1. The cover card stays on the page and is used to keep the reader in the right place.
There should be no picking up, spinning, or fiddling with it.

2. Eyes should be on the text while someone else is doing their ITTM.
The exception is when the head comes up to observe gestures.

3. No interruptions during ITTM (the independent practice in Step 2)
This means no comments, corrections or putdowns – when a student is practising ITTM they need the space to experiment and problem-solve without being corrected.

4. Be clear about distracting and disruptive behaviour (when necessary)
Your explanation of the learning that is occurring in these lessons (training our brains to think while reading) should emphasise that this is a REALLY important skill, requires focus and concentration, and once you get into it, is LOTS OF FUN. If students can’t participate appropriately, they should be temporarily stood down from the group and lose this learning opportunity. Most students want to be back in with the group.

YOUR TURN

Reflect on your own teaching
After two separate lessons where you have been focusing on class and group expectations,  use our Managing Engagement Checklist to review this.  Can you tick all the boxes for CLASS and GROUP EXPECTATIONS?

TASK 2: Deliberate Acts of Behaviour Management 

Off-task and negative behaviour in the group is counterproductive to learning. If unchecked, it escalates and others disengage because of it.

Using DELIBERATE ACTS OF BEHAVIOUR MANAGEMENT to ‘Manage’ the Learning
Here is a list of deliberate acts of behaviour management that you should be using

1. Scan for engagement/disengagement
You can’t address it if you don’t see it! Develop the habit of scanning from left to right (or right to left). It is remarkable how many teachers do NOT do this. Don't forget the peripheries - the students on the edges. Don’t assume that students are engaged. Constantly look for evidence of it!

2. Use Positives
Making quiet positive statements about students doing the right thing rewards the behaviour that you are after and makes it more likely to continue.

3. Use Soft Management Actions quickly
If you catch disengagement within the first 3 seconds of it occurring, your intervention can be ‘soft’ and the disengagement won’t spread to others. Soft Management actions include a mid-sentence pause, a look, a name, a finger tap on the table.

4. Address a recurring issue as a Learning Outcome in the next lesson
If students are not responding to ‘soft’ management responses (eg repeated cover card fiddling, tuning out during others' ITTM statements), then make it a behavioural LO for the next lesson. Collect data on the breakouts (the specific negative behaviour that you are targeting in your Learning Outcome) and share this information during your lesson wrap-up.
"In our last lesson, we had 17 breakouts. Today it was down to 7. That is MUCH better! Let's get it to 0"

5. Withdrawal of Privileges
Do not have a never-ending tolerance of disruptive behaviour. Where students are NOT focusing and their erratic behaviour is distracting others (and you), deploy an alternative activity for them away from the group. Make this a clear group expectation and consequence. Be prepared for it.
This allows you to move the lesson along with those who want to learn. They will get more out of it and become more engaged. Excluded students often see this and don’t want to miss out once they realise there is something good happening.
The student who has been excluded can be invited to rejoin the lesson after a break or rejoin the group for the next session but they must be made aware of the conditions of re-entry. 

YOUR TURN

Reflect on your own teaching.
After two separate lessons where you have been focusing on DELIBERATE ACTS OF BEHAVIOUR MANAGEMENT, use the Managing Engagement Checklist (the link is at the beginning of this appendix) to review this.  Can you tick all the boxes for Deliberate Acts of Behaviour Management?

TASK 3: The PACE of the lesson

Many teachers do not recognise that their PACE (slowness of delivery) is having a profound impact on student engagement.  This can be quickly dealt with by eliminating all the extra words you are using AND developing some urgency in the lesson, which will help to keep young minds engaged. The test is … Can you get through a paragraph using all of the 5 Steps in under 7 minutes? (Unit 4)

Using PACE to ‘Manage’ the Learning
Apart from upping the general speed of delivery, the teacher can use a change of pace for effect.

*  SLOW DOWN (momentarily) if students are distracted (their attention or focus is flitting here and there) and repeat the part of the routine until everyone is engaged. Try using 'mid-sentence pause'!

*  SPEED UP if the students are now in the zone, know the requirements, and don’t need your teacher talk, then try really hard to eliminate it! When you give unnecessary instructions (like "Johnny, would you like to have a go at the next sentence") you are using up their cognitive energy. Shutting down a student who is deviating from the routine may be another strategy.

* LET SOMETHING GO – This is where you make a decision to move on even though the best possible result has not been achieved. For example, with less confident students in Convince Me, it may be counterproductive time-wise or confidence-wise to push harder on the exact meaning of a phrase and so you ‘let it go’.

YOUR TURN

Reflect on your own teaching.
After two separate lessons where you have been focusing on PACE,  use the Managing Engagement Checklist (the link is at the beginning of this appendix) to review this.
Can you tick all the boxes for PACE? Is your general delivery up to speed?  Can you use PACE as a teaching tool to improve and maintain student engagement?

Make a video recording
If you really want to work on this, set up an iPad or your phone to record a lesson.
View yourself and tick off the PACE criteria in the Managing Engagement Checklist as you see them happening.

TASK 4: Passion - The final tool in the engagement toolbox

This is the energy, the urgency, the excitement that you bring to the lesson through your use of gestures and voice variation (intonation and volume). If done well, this will draw the readers into the text they are reading. This has to be genuine. If you truly understand the implications of a SharpReading lesson, you won’t be able to help yourself from getting EXCITED. If you don’t get it, you will just be going through the motions … and so will your students.

Using PASSION to ‘Manage’ the Learning
As with the use of pace, passion should be an integral part of your lesson delivery. However, real fluency occurs when you can deliberately turn this on in response to the needs of a specific student to deepen their engagement and thereby ‘manage’ their learning.

Here is a list of deliberate strategies that you can use as you see a need to engage or re-engage a learner.
1. Show your own personal enjoyment of the story
2. Show your own personal enjoyment of the routine
3. Use voice variation – speak softer, louder, faster, slower for effect
4. Use facial expressions and gestures 

YOUR TURN

Reflect on your own teaching.
After two separate lessons where you have been focusing on PASSION, use the Managing Engagement Checklist to review this. Can you tick all the boxes for PASSION?

Mark COMPLETE if you have at least READ this information so that we can monitor its impact. We welcome your comments on its usefulness.