We know that some students may struggle to engage in learning. How can teachers foster student engagement? Try setting classroom goals around Knowre Math participation and providing specific, constructive feedback. In this article we will explore 4 different strategies for boosting student engagement. While we will discuss these strategies as they relate to Knowre Math, they can also be used more broadly in the classroom to support overall student engagement in learning activities.
Strategy 1: Class Challenges
While students work individually on Knowre Math, many teachers have found that incorporating class challenges and goals helps with motivation. Set coin and star milestones for the class and then tie those milestones to incentives that align with your classroom culture. Be sure to regularly update students on their collective progress.
Information about total coins and stars for each class can be found towards the top of the screen on the right-hand side when you select a class in your Teacher Dashboard (see below).
Strategy 2: Celebrate Milestones/Growth
Students of all ages appreciate being acknowledged. In the remote learning environment this is especially important because it reassures students that you see them. Knowre Math can be easily incorporated into the ways you already celebrate student milestones and growth.
Here are a few examples of Knowre Math Milestones:
- Earning 3 stars on all lessons in a chapter
- Achieving 80%+ on each lesson
- Answering a predetermined number of questions each week
Remind students of these milestones regularly to help them stay on track.
Strategy 3: Collaborative Goal Setting
Set individual goals in consultation with your students and check in periodically to see how things are going. Goals on Knowre Math can easily be set based on the following: total coins, total stars, and % of lessons with 2+ stars.
When choosing goals remember that coins are earned based off of correct answers and stars are earned based off of correct answers achieved without support. You should be explicit about this with your students. For example, explain that you are choosing star goals because stars reflect each student’s independent problem solving ability. Since it is important that students reach a point where they can be successful on these skills on their own, there is a focus on stars to make sure they are reaching that point.
Strategy 4: Provide Specific, Data-Driven Feedback
Both you and your students have access to specific feedback and data at the lesson and skill level. It can be helpful to review this lesson summary information with students in order to co-create next step plans for additional practice and review.
When students complete a Knowre Math lesson they see their lesson summary report. Anytime they click back into a lesson that they’ve finished they are able to revisit that summary. As a teacher you have access to the same skill level information on your Teacher Dashboard. To access it, click on the student’s name from the Students tab and then click on the lesson of focus. The color coding that you see for each skill is the same as what the student sees on their lesson summary report.
During a check in it would be helpful for both you and your students to pull up the reports so that you can have a specific, data-driven conversation.
Color coding:
- Solid green: Correct without support
- Green outline: Correct with support
- Solid orange: Incorrect
Encourage students to retry all skills that have a green outline or are solid orange. If the student is in need of more direct support you can also share your screen and click on the skill(s) of focus to bring up a sample problem that you can work through together.
What strategies are you using to foster student engagement? Email us at contact@knowre.com and we will share your strategies with other teachers so that they can try them out with their students.
