As our communities and schools grapple with the mitigation of learning loss due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of learner engagement has become a critical topic of discussion. Findings of research in social neuroscience of social emotional engagement foster our ability to create supportive learning environments where social emotional engagement is a “fuel” for a child’s learning and emotional well-being. While standards-based instruction is our focus in the classroom, our learners are more likely to access the curriculum when they are “invested,” “independent” and “initiating” with their peers and teachers. When school communities gain knowledge of how to measure and enhance student engagement within classroom lessons, we create a positive school climate that is focused on the success of every student. The Social Emotional Engagement – Knowledge and Skills (SEE-KS) is a professional learning framework and approach that will be shared so that we can follow a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework when enhancing our instruction. Participants will learn about the Social Engagement Ladder, a freely accessible tool for measuring learning engagement and identifying opportunities for enhancing engagement.
Participants will:
- Define three critical elements of active engagement that are predictive of our learner’s academic achievement and emotional well-being,
- Identify a rubric for measuring learner engagement in standards-based instruction and natural activities.
