15 Ways to Engage Reluctant Learners

I came across a nice post by John Spencer with the title above (here), and I thought I’d reprint his list of 15 ways to engage reluctant learners below:

1. Be intentional.
2. Know where we are going.
3. Connect it to a real context.
4. Or better yet . . . connect it to a really imaginary, creative context.
5. Let them talk. Often.
6. Allow for mistakes.
7. Embed intervention and enrichment.
8. Give more choices.
9. Give more freedom.
10. Let them move.
11. Get rid of Try and avoid punishments and rewards.
12. Make it meaningful.
13. Push critical thinking.
14. Create quiet spaces.
15. Build trust.

This list was designed for sixth graders and it is remarkable how well it connects to and overlaps with the 31 points in the 51 posters of Big Beacon manifesto (in the viewer below).

[slideshare id=13127563&doc=beaconfinal-120529220334-phpapp02]

Print out the post (here) and the manifesto (here) and compare them side by side.