#totallyrossome is Ready to Engage!

I planned. I worked. I researched. I had resources.

They were going to love it.

It was time travel and free will. It was technology based. It was Clueless meets Nietzsche. It was scholarly texts and Groundhog Day. It was pop culture and 1984.  Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt, and Bill Murray. It was the best lesson I ever came up with.

Wait - was that a yawn?

What the - ?

How on earth is anyone bored by this? It's amazing!

But I needed this. I needed the snap back to reality. It's important to look at the evidence. Teachers don't ever think that they're the weak link. We are good at what we do. Even reflective teachers who look for ways to connect, collaborate, and develop themselves professionally think that they're doing a good job.

So how do we find those clues that our students give us? Are we getting it?

#totallyrossome is all about getting our students engaged, and I'm eager to hear what you think.

Some thoughts:

Assessing what students thought of the lesson via the Teaching Channel

High School Reading 2011 (A look at getting HS students to read)

Student Engagement Instrument (Through University of Minnesota)

How Do We Know When Students are Engaged? (by Ben Johnson via Edutopia)