The Secret to Student Engagement lies in the #1st5days

After careful study, lesson planning, professional development, and review, you have decided to take an inquiry based and student centered approach in your classroom this year. You have done your homework, You are prepared. So, things will go smoothly, right? Not so fast. Did you consider the students? Are they ready to take control of their learning? If not, instead of being intrinsically motivated by the autonomy you are presenting, they will be skeptical, anxious, and rebellious.

I learned this the hard way. Regardless of our pedagogy, all teachers seek engaged students, and will go through numerous hoops in an effort to motivate our charges. After reading Daniel Pink's Drive and watching his TED talk, I was convinced that the reward and punishment approach that was successful early in my career, would no longer be optimal for my millennial students. So, in the Fall of 2011 I plunged into problem based learning along with a flipped classroom. This transition made even more sense given that my department was developing a curriculum based upon essential questions. In addition, the Common Core Standards were being "unpacked" in preparation for implementation. It seemed like the perfect time to implement a major pedagogical shift.

I should have known that all would not go as planned when only a handful of students watched my first video homework assignment and those who did were not particularly excited by my efforts. Students also did not know how to behave in the new learning environment. They did a lot of talking and not nearly enough listening. Classmates would get frustrated with each other when their ideas were ignored by peers. Students pushed back when asked to read and research their own answers. They begged for me to "take control," but then bristled at my interventions. There were moments of success, typically when students got to make their own flipped class videos, but many more failed plans.

That first student-centered classroom resulted in a stressful year. I was criticized by administrators for not lecturing, for letting students use cell phones in class, and for attempting to give "those students" autonomy. Basically, that year was like the beginning of every inspirational teacher movie: teacher's heart is in the right place, students don't trust her methods, and the administration isn't supportive. So, how to follow up the next year to ensure the movie trope continues toward a happy ending? The answer to student-centered, inquiry based success lies in taking the #1st5days approach to the first five days of school.

The #1st5days concept was articulated by Alan November on his November Learning website, and at his Building Learning Communities conferences. The summer of 2012, as I was preparing for a second attempt at inquiry pedagogy, I started to see the hashtag #1st5days appear with #BLC12 on twitter. Cue the movie theme music. This was the missing piece to all of my planning and efforts of the year before. It became obvious to me what I needed to do, as well as what my students needed to do, before we began to study the curriculum. In the process of developing my own #1st5days routine, I established a framework that I believe can be replicated in any classroom that wishes to take a pedagogical approach using the trifecta of motivation according to Dan Pink's research: autonomy, mastery, and purpose.

Autonomy

One of the first things I tell my new students is "I am not a source." I let them know that I will help them find sources, and understand the meaning of sources, but that I will not provide any answers...ever. To illustrate this I give them an assignment to figure out who I am. Students are seated in groups and each is given a large envelope with my personal documents: photos, letters, newspaper clippings, event programs, invitations, ticket stubs, certificates, and postcards. From these documents, students must construct a timeline of significant events from my life. Some information is misleading as I am referenced by maiden name, or it relates to a family member and not myself personally. College acceptance letters from schools I chose not to attend also throw the students off a bit. When all is said and done, and the "truth" about Ms. Buell is revealed, students learn not to rely on any single source, in addition to not depending on the teacher. 

Mastery

Toward the end of that first disastrous year my school began testing students for reading comprehension. When I got the results back in May I was astounded to learn that my most reluctant learners were several grades below the norm. Here I was asking my students to read and take evidence from multiple primary and secondary sources, but because the texts were at grade level they were much too difficult for them. No wonder they rebelled! In hindsight it seems obvious, but in the days of copying notes off the PowerPoint presentation, or memorizing names, dates, and events from a study guide, poor reading comprehension wasn't a problem. It never even occurred to me that there were students in my high school who tested at or below 4th grade as readers! It made a huge difference at the end of the year when I rearranged learning groups and gave each student a reading partner.

Now that I have access to reading comprehension and other standardized test scores at the beginning of the year, I review this information before I begin teaching the curriculum. By the second five days of school, I have a pretty good idea of my students' strengths and weaknesses, and I am able to group them and provide them with reading materials appropriately. 

Another piece on the road to curriculum mastery is helping students understand the expectations of each content skill they will be assessed on during the year. In my subject, history, The Stanford History Education Group has excellent introductory lessons that teach the historical thinking skills they will be expected to master. We also take some time to practice lesson routines, like learning stations or carousel reading, and to introduce terms, like primary vs. secondary sources, by using familiar content before we hit up the challenging historical content.

Purpose

As we get closer to our first "real" lesson, toward the end of the first week, we address the purpose of taking the class. Typically, I connect the course content to a contemporary issue: Trayvon Martin, Obamacare, Boston Marathon bombing, Ferguson, Donald Trump's presidential campaign. I choose issues that students are familiar with, but also have questions about, so we can tie the topic not just to its historical relevance, but also the purpose of inquiry itself. 

Regardless of the subject content, the end of the week should introduce the curriculum content with an application relevant to the students' world. At this point my history students complete an autobiography lesson, where they use the skill set they've been introduced to as a means of explaining an historical event. When I teach psychology, a more science-like subject, students research the work of a contemporary scholar and a problem, like distracted driving, that is currently being researched. 

Setting the Tone

In between these primary lesson drivers, are opportunities for activities that will set the stage for a happy and productive year. If you "teach like a PIRATE" now is the time to try an outrageous hook. Complete some "ice breaker" activities to get to know your students. See if the data you have on them is accurate by giving some low pressure reading and writing tasks. Do things that are fun and memorable, but also work on classroom routines, like what to do if  your pen explodes, that have the potential to derail a content lesson. Practice the technology programs and apps that you plan on using in order to work out as many bugs as you can before they impact learning. 

It may be tempting given the curriculum demands to cut the #1st5days short by a day or two, but don't. If you take this approach, you will be saving time in the long run. I have found I need this many days to observe the students and how they react to and behave in different learning situations. Then, I can prepare the best classroom management strategies, for each of my classes. Also, by the time the week has passed your students will be ready to meet your curriculum demands. They will understand the expectations, they will have overcome any hesitations, and they will be feeling comfortable with both you and their classmates. Students will have internalized the value of your pedagogy, and if you have really done it well, they will be excited to come to your class each day.

 The #1st5days approach has been my secret to a successful and productive school year. I can't guarantee that 100% of the students will be engaged 100% of the time, but even on their "bad" days students will trust you and they will trust your methods. The odds of success will be greatly in your favor.