Student Engagement Workbook
Summary: 
Student engagement is the degree of attention, interest, curiosity, and positive emotional connections students experience while learning. It is what we build from to understand instruction. Acknowledging the ways that your students engage in your classrooms and focusing on how to access student attention, interest, and curiosity sets you up with a strong base to build out your instructional practices. This workbook offers a collection of texts and activities to deepen your understanding of student engagement, as well as tools you can bring into your classroom. You will reflect on your own experiences, interact with texts on student engagement, practice recognizing student engagement, and develop a personalized plan to increase student engagement.
Student Learning Goals & Objectives: 

We hope you, as an educator, will come away from this workbook with:

  • A foundational understanding of the pillars and questions that drive notions of student engagement.
  • An analysis of your own experiences with student engagement during your time as a student and today as a kitchen and garden educator.
  • A clear sense of what area of student engagement you would like to become more skillful in your specific context.
  • A personalized plan for how you would like to increase student engagement in your kitchen or garden classroom.
  • Tools to work within your organization to collectively reflect on student engagement.
Teaching Notes: 

How to get started: To complete this workbook, you will need: Something to write with, internet access, and a notebook to complete reflective prompts. Review our introduction to the workbook and get acquainted with the sections. The workbook consists of eight sections meant to be completed in sequential order. Each section builds on the last, culminating in creating a student engagement toolbox that you can use in your learning environment.

Completing this Workbook with Colleagues: Sometimes we see professional development as only existing outside our organizations in conferences and workshops. However, at the Edible Schoolyard Project, we believe in building a learning community internally where we share best practices and learn from and with each other. We hope you will use this workbook with your colleagues to build a culture that supports student engagement. On Page V see a scope and sequence for the workbook, which has a section for suggestions on how to use the workbook with colleagues.

Workbook Materials: The workbook uses QR codes for various podcasts and readings, which you can access using your mobile device. Open the camera application on your phone and hold the camera over the QR code to access the sites. A link will appear that directs you to the website for the reading or podcast.

Curriculum Citation: This workbook is free and available to you at no cost. Feel free to download materials and use them with your programs. We ask that you do not use any part of this curriculum if you intend to replicate it for purchase. If you do plan to replicate or adapt any portion of the curriculum Online or in print, please use the following citation: Vigil, R; Mewes, R. (2022). Student Engagement in Edible Education: A Workbook for EducatorsThe Edible Schoolyard Project. Retrieved from https://edibleschoolyard.org/resource/student- engagement-workbook