Engaging My Class

Something I really learned last semester (and then was reinforced throughout our text Engaged Learning) is the importance of reflective work of students that isn't graded. For example in reading or writing journals: allowing part of the notebook only to be for the students' individual ideas and then another part where they fully know will be graded and read by me, the teacher. Also something I hope to implement in my classroom is great discussion which focus on the three separate questions: elicit information, shape understanding, press for reflection. I want a classroom to thrive off of quality classroom relationships so building a strong community where students can share and express ideas openly is very important to me. I know the engaged learning I hope for is dependent on my students, but my job as the teacher is to put the cognitive burden on my students.