Entertainment vs. Engagement

An article by Darin Wagner    No Comments

Doug Johnson, the Blue Skunk Blog fame, from TEDxASB last month:

Entertainment tends to be for amusement or diversion, for leisure or for fun – passive. In Doug’s terms, entertainment is ephemeral. However, engagement requires emotional involvement or commitment – it is active.

One way to engage students is through authentic problem-solving. Assignments or projects that simply require information collection or recall is not engaging. What

Some other highlights from the presentation that caused me to reflect more deeply:

• The sign of intelligence should be one who asks questions.
• Ask not if but how is a child creative?
• Do all of our lessons “have a mouse”?

In your classroom, are you entertaining or engaging?