Roberto Germán [00:00:01]:
Welcome to Our Classroom. In this space, we talk about education, which is inclusive of, but not limited to, what happens in schools. Education is taking place whenever and wherever we are willing to learn. I am your host, Roberto Germán, and Our Classroom is officially in session. Welcome back to our classroom. We're a few weeks into the school year in many places, and this is usually around the time when we start figuring each other out. The newness is wearing off. Teachers are beginning to recognize patterns.
Roberto Germán [00:00:46]:
You know which students always have their hands up. You know who loves group work and who needs a reminder every day to bring a pencil. You may also have started identifying enough The students who seem disengaged. Maybe they're putting their heads down, they're not completing work, staring out the window, they out in space, they're talking while you're teaching, which is very aggravating, I'm not gonna hold you. Maybe you ask a question and get crickets, and eventually We start developing explanations. He doesn't care. She's not motivated. They just don't want to learn.
Roberto Germán [00:01:36]:
Take a deep breath. Been there, done that. All right, let's own it. And yet I want to challenge us today to slow down before we get there, because disengagement is something we observe. This student doesn't care is a conclusion. Those aren't the same thing. And if we're gonna teach students well, we have to learn to distinguish between what we're seeing and the story we're telling ourselves about what we're seeing. So today I want to give you 4 things to investigate before you call a student disengaged.
Roberto Germán [00:02:16]:
First, connection. Does this student believe I know them? Not do I know their name. Hopefully we cleared that bar a while ago. Do they believe that I know something about who they are, what they're interested in, what they're good at, what makes them laugh, what they care about, who matters To them. Because relationships aren't just something nice we add to instruction, relationships affect instruction. Don't let them tell you otherwise. Think about your own life. You probably work differently for people you trust.
Roberto Germán [00:03:02]:
I know I do. You're probably more willing to take risks around people who make you feel safe. I know I do. Our students aren't that different. And here's a simple strategy you could try this week. Identify 3 students you feel least connected to. Not your 3 most difficult students, your 3 least known students. Then make it your goal this week to have one conversation with each of them That has absolutely nothing to do with correcting their behavior or completing an assignment.
Roberto Germán [00:03:44]:
Just lead with curiosity. What are you into outside of school? What have you been listening to lately? What do you wish we did more of in this class? You may be surprised by what you learn. Here's the second thing I want you to consider is access. Can this student actually access what I am asking them to do? This one matters because sometimes what looks like disengagement is actually protection. Imagine being handed something you don't understand in front of, I don't know, 28 other people, or 25 if you have a smaller class. And knowing that everybody might discover that you don't understand it. That's a potentially embarrassing moment. So what do you do? Some students disappear.
Roberto Germán [00:04:43]:
Some crack a joke, try to deflect. Some become disruptive. Some refuse. Some will say, this is stupid. And sometimes saying this is stupid Really means, I don't know how to do this, and I don't want you to know. That's why, before we lower expectations, we need to examine access. Does the student understand the directions? Do they have the background knowledge? Is language creating a barrier? Can they read the text independently? Have I modeled what success looks like? Do you have an entry point for them? Right? They might not have an entry point. So notice what I'm saying.
Roberto Germán [00:05:40]:
I'm not saying make the work easier. Access and rigor aren't opposites. The goal is to build a bridge to rigorous learning, not remove The destination. The third thing I want us to consider is relevance. Does this work give students a reason to care? I don't mean every lesson needs to involve TikTok, not at all, or basketball, which would be dope because, as many of you know, I love basketball, or whatever it is we think young people like. Relevance is deeper than entertainment. Students want to know, why are we doing this? Why does this matter? What does this have to do with anything beyond the grade? Sometimes we complain that students only care about grades, right? We create that type of culture sometimes. And while designing learning experience where the grade is the only reason We're giving them to care, so if that's what we're doing, let's think about that, right? If we say, write this because it's worth 20 points, I've made the points the purpose.
Roberto Germán [00:07:02]:
But what happens when students write for an audience, investigate something happening in their community, solve an actual problem, create something another person will actually use, connect literature to questions they're already wrestling with, Now the work has a life beyond the teacher. So here's another question worth asking: if there were no grade attached to this assignment, what reason would my student have to do it? Now, you don't have to eliminate grades. Just pay attention to your own answer. The 4th thing I want to bring toward our attention is agency. What does the student Where does the student get to make a decision? What do they read? What do they write about? Who do they work with? How do they demonstrate learning? What questions do they investigate? What perspective do they bring? Sometimes. We say we want students to take ownership of their learning, But we've already made every meaningful decision for them. Here's the objective, here's the text, here's the question, here's the format, here's how long it should be, here's what it should look like. Now, take ownership.
Roberto Germán [00:08:27]:
Yet ownership requires something to own. Hello. It doesn't mean students control everything. Structure matters. I'm big on structure. Standards matter, we wanna maintain high standards, of course, of course. Teacher expertise matters, there's a reason we're the teachers. And yet, within that structure, there should be opportunities for students to make meaningful choices.
Roberto Germán [00:08:53]:
Let's start small. Maybe everybody is learning the same standard, but students choose between 3 texts. Maybe everyone writes an argument, but they choose the issue. Maybe everyone demonstrates the same understanding, but they have options for how they demonstrate it. Agency communicates you're not merely a recipient of this education, you're a participant in it. So the next time you're tempted to say the student is disengaged, I want you to pause. Stop in the name— No, I'll stop. Ask 4 questions.
Roberto Germán [00:09:40]:
Just ask yourself these 4 questions the next time you're tempted to say the student is disengaged. Think about connection. Does this student feel known? Think about access. Can this student enter the learning with Without me lowering the expectation. We want to keep the bar high. Think about relevance. Have I given them a meaningful reason to care? And think about agency. Where do they have genuine ownership? Now, here's something important.
Roberto Germán [00:10:19]:
You can do all 4 of those things well, and a student may still disengage. We're educators, we're not magicians. I wanna acknowledge that students are human beings, so they do human things sometimes, the things we don't necessarily like, and there are things happening outside of our classrooms that we don't control. That is the reality, and students ultimately make their choices too. This framework isn't about blaming teachers for every student behavior. It's about making sure We've investigated the conditions we can influence before deciding the problem lives entirely inside the child. This happens. I've been there.
Roberto Germán [00:11:03]:
All right, so no guilt, no shame, but let's contend with this. All right, that's a very different posture, right? So instead of what's wrong with the student, we begin asking, What might this student be communicating, and what can I change? I want to leave you with something practical this week. All right, you don't have to overhaul your curriculum, so chill. I'm not asking you to redesign the entire classroom. Just choose one student, one student you've noticed beginning to disconnect. Write their name down. Then underneath it, write 4 words: connection, access, relevance, agency. And lead with curiosity.
Roberto Germán [00:11:56]:
Which one might be missing? Then change one thing. Have the conversation, add the scaffold, explain the purpose, offer the choice, and see what happens. Sometimes the student we've labeled unmotivated isn't telling us, I don't want to learn. They may be asking, do you know me? Can I do this? Does this matter? Do I have voice here? And those are very different questions, and they deserve our attention before we settle on any answer. So let's process this and let's respond accordingly. Thanks for joining me on another episode. It's been real. And if you know an educator who's beginning to wrestle with student engagement this year, send this to them.
Roberto Germán [00:12:49]:
It might be helpful. And maybe the two of y'all can choose one student and try this together. Until next time, teach in truth, lead with courage, belong to a community that gets it. As always, your engagement in our classroom is greatly appreciated. Be sure to subscribe, rate the show, and write a review. Finally, for resources to help you understand the intersection of race, bias, education, and society, go to multiculturalclassroom.com. Peace and love from your host, Roberto Germano. Peace.
