Strategies that Promote Student Engagement

"A captivating topic for teachers, as we all have students who are capable and yet choose not to learn."
―Melissa Miller, Sixth-Grade Teacher
Lynch Middle School, Farmington, AR

"The authors are clearly passionate about the need to uncover and build upon students′ desire and motivation to learn."
―Paul Parkison, Assistant Professor of Teacher Education
University of Southern Indiana

Discover how to release the will to learn in all students!

Students who have a strong sense of self-worth and know what they can achieve are more likely to be fully engaged in the learning process and capable of significant academic achievements. This updated edition of Connecting With Students′ Will to Succeed offers practical lessons to help all students channel their emotions and energy into becoming positive, self-motivated, and self-directed learners.

Focusing on the concept of conation―"the internal drive that pushes one beyond ordinary expectations and accomplishments"―the authors offer research-based strategies that enable teachers to nurture self-esteem in students and inspire learners with low expectations to strive for excellence. This revised resource offers:

• Updated research that informs teaching methods
• Chapter-opening quotes from teachers and students
• Additional grade-specific individual and group activities that include instructional objectives for specific content areas
• Suggestions for both formal and informal assessments in each chapter

Strategies That Promote Student Engagement is a road map for connecting the heart, mind, and will of teachers and students to the lifelong pursuit of learning.

Ernestine G. Riggs is an associate professor at Loyola University Chicago. She has been involved in the field of education for more than 40 years and has a diverse background in teaching and administration. Riggs was selected as one of the Outstanding Elementary Teachers of America by the United States Department of Defense Overseas Schools in 1974. She is the coauthor of Beyond Rhetoric and Rainbows: A Journey to the Place Where Learning Lives, Helping Middle and High School Readers: Teaching and Learning Strategies Across the Curriculum, and several journal articles. She is also co-featured in the video Ensuring Success for “Low Yield” Students: Building Lives and Molding Futures. In the summer of 2007, Riggs was invited to present a précis of the research on conation at the prestigious Oxford Round Table in Oxford, England. Riggs is a frequent presenter at local, district, national, and international conferences.

Cheryl R. Gholar has been a teacher, counselor, and administrator in public schools and worked in postsecondary education for more than thirty years. She is associate director of the Professional Development Consortium. Gholar is coauthor of Beyond Rhetoric and Rainbows: A Journey to the Place Where Learning Lives. She is also co-featured in the video Ensuring Success for “Low Yield” Students: Building Lives and Molding Futures. She is published in Vitae Scholasticae, Black Issues in Higher Education, The Journal of Staff Development, Careers With Character, and more. Gholar’s awards include Educator of the Year, Phi Delta Kappa, Those Who Excel, Oppenheimer Family Foundation, Outstanding Teacher, Chicago Region PTA, and Outstanding Contributions to The Department of Character Education, Chicago Public Schools. She is listed in Who’s Who Among Women, Who’s Who in The Midwest, and International Who’s Who of Professionals.