Topic: Engaged Classrooms

Our Engaged Classrooms approach for secondary schools offers three key pedagogical frameworks that support increases in equity and the academic success and achievement of every student. They are: Equity-Centered Classrooms, which emphasize culturally responsive and developmentally informed practices that affirm students’ multiple identities, their cultural experiences, and the range of their developmental needs and interests….

One of the essential questions at the heart of our Engaged Classrooms approach is “How do I foster and sustain strong and supportive personal relationships?” For adolescents, an emotional connection with adults is perhaps the single most important factor for fostering positive development, including higher levels of engagement, motivation, and academic performance. In addition, the…

Facilitation Tips for Discussing Tough Topics with Students (Adapted from Engaging Schools’ The Advisory Guide, https://bit.ly/2CR4FiW) Tough topics arise. They may concern cliques, a drinking-and-driving incident, or national events like mass shootings. Students know what is happening and their concerns can easily show in their behavior or mood. Here are some facilitation tips for hard…

Thanks to the Massachusetts Teachers Association and others for collecting these resources to help adults in schools as they respond to hate and bigotry with their students and peers. “Seven ways that teachers can respond to the evil of Charlottesville, starting now” https://www.alternet.org/teachers-respond-charlottesville “The first thing teachers should do when school starts is talk about…

Engaging Schools has gathered the following resources that we hope will be helpful to you in supporting civil discourse, respect, and a positive environment for all students as you respond with them to the aftermath of the election, and as you facilitate discussions related to events as they unfold. We will provide additional resources as…

Engaging Schools’ Carol Miller Lieber and Michele Tissiere published “Recalibrating Climate, Culture, and Discipline“ in Principal Leadership, a publication of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. And Larry Dieringer participated in a roundtable discussion covered in a special section on school discipline and expulsion in the same issue.

Engaged Classrooms, one of our core professional services, offers an approach to instruction, classroom management, and discipline that fosters academic, social, and emotional learning and development in each and every student. In order to expand access to our work, we’re pleased to offer the Engaged Classrooms: Learning and Teaching for Rigor, Creativity, and Ownership workshop….

Anning S. Prall Intermediate School, Magnet School with Applied Learning with Technology Integration–located in Staten Island, New York and better known as IS27–is a diverse middle school serving more than 1,100 students. In 2013, IS27’s leaders started partnering with Engaging Schools to increase student engagement in classrooms to improve student behavior and raise achievement. Engaging Schools consultant M.J….

From time to time, we share a snapshot the ways schools and districts are working with Engaging Schools. Today, let’s visit Anchorage, Alaska, where for more than 25 years, Engaging Schools has been supporting teachers and leaders in the Anchorage School District to integrate academics with social and emotional learning (SEL) for almost 48,000 students in more than 100 schools and…

Since its release in the fall of 2013, Activators: Classroom Strategies for Engaging Students in Middle and High School has been one of our best-sellers. As you gear up to go back into the classroom after what we hope was a restful winter break, we’re sharing Chapter Four of Activators as a free download. This chapter, Foundational…

In conjunction with October’s status as National Bullying Prevention Month, we’re sharing a look inside our related publication, Countering Bullying and Harassment: Skill-Based Lessons to Move from Bystander to Ally. Engaging Schools published this curriculum, focused on grades 6-10, in 2013. Author Jane Harrison, who is also an Engaging Schools professional services consultant, brought her…