James Sturtevant Hacking Engagement

Socrates understood formative assessment 2500 years ago. His student would make an assertion and then the Great One would start probing. Much like an annoying 3-year-old, he’d keep asking questions and then follow ups. Socrates’ good natured interrogations would cause students to bob and weave…refine and alter. Eventually, the young Athenian would strike bedrock. In the process of finding that firm foundation, this ancient adolescent would demonstrate a solid and evolving understanding of the concept. They still may disagree with classmates and Socrates for that matter, but those disagreements would be based on reason.

Unfortunately, when it comes to complex ideas in modern classrooms, many students keep a low profile, totally disengaged, profoundly intimidated. In order to bring such students out of the weeds and into the intellectual light of day, copy the Great One and conduct a Socratic Circle.

I have to confess, I love it when I’m supplied a template. My editor imposed a template on me for Hacking Engagement. I'd have been lost without it. K-12 education seems a lot like a huge rigid template. In fact, schools are darned similar to standardized mass production facilities. And therein lies the problem. While templates provide direction and form, they’re incredibly restrictive.

Brian Sztabnik believes that creativity, student discovery, and self-directed learning can be stifled by over-reliance on templates. He urges teachers to take a courageous step and remove the training wheels.

50 minutes is a long time. When's the last time you were engaged for 50 solid minutes? Interestingly enough...we expect our kids to be engaged for a solid 50 minutes every day. We need to plan for student engagement just like we plan for covering the learning target. To help us in this noble quest is educator, author, podcaster, wife, and mother Gretchen Schultek Bridgers.

I was a history major in college. I was thoroughly invested in my discipline. But even me, a history geek, struggled during marathon lectures. And you should’ve seen my classmates. It was often a massacre. I remember thinking, This is a darned passive way to learn. I could read what he’s saying in a book. I felt like a prisoner with no control. And remember, I was a guy who loved history.

This is relevant because I teach dual enrollment history to high school juniors and seniors. Dual enrollment is a college course brought to the high school campus. A few years ago, my principal asked me to teach such a course. The sponsoring college made clear their expectation that lecture would be a big part of the class. I was initially reluctant because I remembered my comatose classmates back in college. I didn’t want to do that to my kids.

Regardless of my hesitancy, I signed on. My challenge was to make lectures engaging. I certainly wasn’t going to stand in front of them and drone on. I decided to try something new.

Kylie Stickrath is one of those awesome student voices (primary sources) that's going to urge you to give flipped presentations a try! Kylie was skeptical about flipped presentations. Once she experienced a good one...she became a full-fledged convert! Listen and see if she can convert you!

A few years ago, our administration got all exercised over the yoga pants epidemic. I watched the battle unfold instead of participating in the combat. It was fascinating. The conservative forces of the status quo lost big-time! They got buried under an avalanche of spandex.

If you listen to this episode and think, "Well, if we put those kids in uniforms that problem will be solved"...you're missing the larger point. Whether or not girls wear yoga pants to school is merely a manifestation of a larger phenomenon. When teachers battle against powerful social trends, they risk becoming irrelevant

When I was in 3rd grade, the last thing in the world I wanted to do was read a book. Debbie Olsen, an inclusion teacher from Long Island, New York, certainly recognizes this attitude. So, she decided to use Voxer, the 21st Century Walkie Talkie, to get 9-year-old boys excited about reading! Listen to this episode and you'll be hooked on Voxer's potential to engage your reluctant readers!

For the past 30 years, Penny Sturtevant has been a science teacher, a guidance counselor, an assistant principal, a principal, and next year, she’ll work at the district level. Oh...she’s also my wife. Penny has observed her share of lessons. When I asked her about student engagement, she responded immediately, “QUESTIONS.” Quite simply, Penny believes that questioning students is an essential art that can be mastered with practice. In 500 BCE, asking students strategic questions was the foundation of Socrates' instruction. His pedagogy has been celebrated for 2500 years. Penny will help you harness this timeless and powerful educational tactic, not only to engage, but also to foster deep understanding!

I've always been intimidated by student-directed learning. I hate to admit it, but I'm a bit of a control freak and I worry about classroom anarchy! That's my gut's hesitancy. My head knows that it's a wonderful way for kids to learn and it's highly engaging.

If you, like me, are hesitant about student-led learning...I've got a guest that'll help us get over the hump! Tracy Enos is a middle school teacher from Rhode Island. She's ALL about putting students in the driver’s seat! Listen to her impassioned message and then climb in the backseat and fasten your seatbelt.

Mark Barnes is familiar to a lot of listeners. He's the founder of the and guiding force behind the increasingly popular and influential Hack Learning brand. But what you might not realize, is that Mark's academic formative years were purely Dickensian. Mark attended the Cleveland Public Schools at a time when the district had a reputation as one of the nation's worst! Mark jokes that he first learned to "Hack Learning" when he ditched school some 50 times his senior year. He often traveled to school with an intense feeling of trepidation.

From this unlikely, but highly relevant background, Mark has emerged as an international voice for rethinking everything about how kids are taught. Listen to this episode where he talks about his formative years, he elaborates on his successes and failures as a teacher, his launching of the wildly successful Hack Learning platform, and his decision to approach little ole me about writing Hacking Engagement: 50 Tips & Tools To Engage Teachers and Learners Daily, which will be available Septemberish!

It’s wonderful to have a sense of belonging. When you ask students about their group allegiances, they’ll typically say things like:

I’m a follower of a certain religion
I’m a member of this family
I’m an American
I’m an Ohioan
I’m a member of a political party
I’m a Cleveland Cavs fan
I’m a member of the softball team
I’m a certain gender
I’m a fan of a certain type of music
I have a certain sexual identity
I’m a fan of the television show Parks and Rec
I’m a member of Generation Z
Wouldn’t it be cool if students also proclaimed, “I’m a proud member of Mr. Sturtevant’s class!”

Dr. Todd Finley of East Carolina has thoroughly researched class identity. In this episode, we’ll discuss why such identity is important and what can be done to foster belonging.