5 Resources for Meaningful and Engaged Learning

Great classrooms all have one thing in common: they involve students in meaningful and engaged learning. You probably recognize meaningful and engaged learning when you see it: students are motivated, challenged, and truly invested in school. At XQ, we believe this kind of learning is crucial to transforming high school to work for students. In this week’s newsletter, we’ll explore different approaches you can use to cultivate meaningful, engaged learning in your classroom. Ready? Give me five!

Use project-based learning to engage students in real-world problem solving.

Why It Matters: In project-based learning, students gain knowledge and skills
through solving authentic problems. This approach engages students by connecting classroom learning to real-world issues and approaches. To facilitate project-based learning, consider how you might:

Present problems that students find relevant
Engage outside-of-school partners to plan projects in the community
Allow time for student reflection and revision of their projects

Extra Credit: Would There Be More “Math Kids” with a Project-Based Approach?

Real life doesn’t fall into neat, separate school subjects—so why should classroom learning?

Why It Matters: Interdisciplinary learning asks students to combine knowledge from multiple subjects to solve problems and come up with new perspectives. It fosters independent thinking, and engages students on a deep level. Take an interdisciplinary approach:

Reach out to other teachers to plan collaborative projects
Connect students with out-of-school opportunities for interdisciplinary projects
Create a rubric that emphasizes making connections

Extra Credit: What is STEAM Education?

To craft learning experiences that your students will find meaningful and engaging, highlight student voice and choice from the beginning.

Why It Matters: Giving students choice over when and how they learn sets them up to pursue learning they find personally meaningful. That’s the philosophy behind student-centered learning. To incorporate student-centered learning in your classroom:

Get input from students about how they learn best
Create a class layout (in-person or virtual) that fosters collaboration
Complement traditional assessment with student self-evaluation

Extra Credit: Students Are Suffering From Low Academic Self-Esteem. Democratizing the Classroom Can Save Them.

Students learn best when they feel connected and in community.

Why It Matters: Building community to support meaningful and engaged learning is especially important now, given the disruptions of the pandemic. SEL can help students reconnect not only with each other, but with school in general. You can build SEL into your current classroom routine:

Share SEL goals with students alongside academic ones
Build your own SEL practice
Start with small SEL routines, then evaluate them with students

Extra Credit: Middle and High School Students Need Social-Emotional Learning, Too. Are They Getting It?

Make sure your curriculum engages all students at a deep level.

Why It Matters: Culturally responsive teaching invites students to bring their full identities into the classroom and to be challenged by learning that’s meaningful for them. Expert Zaretta Hammond offers these strategies for staying cultural-relavant, even when learning remotely: