Engaging Students in Virtual Instruction Through Opportunities to Respond

Enrollment in virtual and blended schools is on the rise—introducing new challenges with student engagement, social–emotional wellness, and behavior management. Help is here with this laminated quick–guide, one of four concise Teacher Survival Guides on Engagement of Students in Virtual Instruction.

Brimming with practical, research–based tips and strategies, this guide unlocks one of the keys to success in online learning environments: active engagement of all students. Teachers will discover how to engage students in virtual instruction by offering a wider variety of Opportunities to Respond (OTRs), a strategy that’s been associated with improved academic achievement, student empowerment, and less undesired behavior. Tim Knoster and Danielle Empson introduce the benefits of providing multiple OTRs, the different types and modes for student responses, and how to monitor student engagement virtually.

GET THE COMPLETE SERIES: The four Teacher Survival Guides on Engagement of Students in Virtual Instruction are filled with the ready–to–use guidance K–12 teachers need to boost engagement, student wellbeing, and positive behavior in virtual settings. Packed with bite–sized nuggets of insight—including keys to engagement, teaching tips, proven strategies, and FAQs—these laminated, six–panel guides will help any teacher take immediate action to support their students’ academic, social–emotional, and behavioral success. Learn more about the other quick-guides in the series:

• Building Relationships With Students and Caregivers to Enhance Learning Through Virtual Instruction
  
  
• Enhancing Student Engagement by Virtually Establishing, Teaching, and Reinforcing Desired Behavior
  
  
• Addressing Undesired Student Behavior During Virtual Instruction

Tim Knoster, Ed.D., is a professor at the McDowell Institute for Teacher Excellence in Positive Behavior Support in the College of Education at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. The McDowell Institute emphasizes the translation of research on multi-tiered systems of support—most specifically, positive behavior intervention and support—into practice in schools. Dr. Knoster has also served as Executive Director of the International Association for Positive Behavior Support since its inception in 2003. Dr. Knoster (or Tim, as he prefers) has been involved with preservice and in-service teacher training for more than 30 years. He has worn many hats throughout his career, including the role of an instructor of undergraduate and graduate courses, a classroom teacher in the public schools, Director of Student Support Services and Special Education, and Principal Investigator as well as Program Evaluator on federal projects focused on classroom and student-centered behavior intervention and support. Specifically relevant to this book, Dr. Knoster has extensive experience in providing professional development for classroom teachers and has been the recipient of numerous awards for his endeavors in this regard. He has extensively published and provided training for educators and staff from various child-serving systems in the application of positive behavior support in schools and community-based settings. Dr. Knoster has an uncanny ability to help teachers interpret the research literature on behavioral matters in a way that enables them to translate that same research into practical strategies and approaches in their classrooms.