What can teachers do to counteract the seasonal dip in engagement as students return to school following the winter holidays?
Queenslanders returned to school last week, followed by NT and WA yesterday, and the rest of the country will return next week.
After the excitement of the winter holidays, students can often struggle to adjust to the routine and demands of school. Compounded by the cold, gloomy and often wet weather, students trying to return to the structured school environment can be lethargic and less motivated to participate.
The mid-year fatigue is cyclical. As teachers, we see it year after year.
Reestablishing student engagement can be a challenge. To counteract the seasonal dip in engagement, teachers can create a positive and engaging classroom environment, introduce new and exciting activities, and utilise EdTech tools to help re-energize and re-engage students during Term 3.
Create a welcoming and exciting learning environment
After a long break, making the classroom feel like a place students want to be is crucial. This involves addressing students' environmental and emotional needs to create a space that feels welcoming and exciting, even during the colder months.
Consider setting up engaging and themed areas in the classroom that spark curiosity. In science, for example, an “Exploration Corner” with hands-on materials or a thematic setup can hook students and make them eager to participate.
Incorporate hands-on activities to make abstract concepts more tangible
Collaboration is a cornerstone of effective learning. This is particularly impactful in science classes, where students can benefit from hands-on group experiments, encouraging interaction and practical application of theoretical knowledge.
Start the term with exciting, hands-on experiments that allow students to dive back into learning actively. Simple yet captivating experiments can capture students' interest, like creating slime to understand non-Newtonian fluids or using everyday items to build simple machines.
These activities make learning fun and reinforce scientific concepts through practical application.
Utilise EdTech tools
EdTech tools, such as Education Perfect, provide interactive and multimedia-rich content. They allow users to adjust the difficulty and type of content based on individual student performance, ensuring that each student receives a personalised learning experience tailored to their needs and pace.
At the same time, interactivity fosters enhanced collaboration and communication through peer review and group projects, where students can work together on projects in real-time, even from home.
These processes leverage diverse student strengths, help foster a community of learning, and can make the transition back to school smoother and more engaging for students.
The above article was written By Kelly Hollis, Australian Curriculum Specialist at Education Perfect and author of 'The Engaging Science Classroom: Practical Strategies for EVERY Teacher'.