3 ways charter schools are beating public schools for student engagement

There is a lot of debate between which is better for your child – a public school or a charter school? While there are many differences, and each one has their own pros and cons, there is one thing that charter schools seem to be consistently better at, and that’s the way they engage their students. As we move into the new year, many teachers are looking for new ways to keep their students focused. From California to New York, to charter high schools in jacksonville, charter school teachers regularly engage their students in these ways.

1. Group Activities – To make children feel more apart of the class, teachers can organize more group activities. Whether this is a class project, a field trip, or something else outside of the classroom, getting the kids together and making them feel apart of the team is one sure way to keep them engaged. Instead of sitting quietly off to the sides with nothing to do, they will need to interact with their fellow students and participate in what is going on. To make the event more special, consider doing something like creating unique t-shirts to make everyone feel like they are on the same team. There are many sites out there that can help you create custom business logos and clothing for the event. However, don’t feel like you need to do these types of things all the time. Each student is different, and many would prefer to work alone. Keep a healthy balance to ensure that all students remain involved.
2. Class Warmups – Before you start your lesson for the day, it is important to warm up the students. No, you don’t have to turn up the heat, just simply get their minds going with some simple, fun exercising. For example, you could have a sentence on the board that the students need to identify the mistakes in. However, instead of a simple question/answer format, make it into a contest or separate the room into teams. Little contests like this will get the students having fun and will prepare them to learn for the rest of the class. They will also look forward to coming into your classroom, knowing that you will be starting off the day with something fun.
3. Movement – Lastly, one of the best ways that students can be kept engaged is to move them around. Just like baseball has a 7^th inning stretch, your class period should have a little break too. Maybe around the halfway point, have the students stand up and stretch for a few minutes. Or do a group activity of marching around the room. There are a ton of things you can do, you just need to be creative. The break will not only help them focus better for the second half of the class, but it will also help with their health. It isn’t healthy to be sitting at a desk all day, so try and avoid it for your students if you can.

These are some of the top ways that charter schools keep their students engaged. While some public school teachers certainly do things like this, it seems to be more prominent at charter schools. If you are concerned that your student is not engaged enough in their daily activities at school, consider talking to the teacher about incorporating some of these ideas. Most teachers will be open to anything that can improve a student’s ability to learn.