Book Study:
Engaging Students with Poverty in
Mind, Practical Strategies for Raising
Achievement
By: Eric Jensen
Part 2 of Book Study
Pages 71-130
Chapter 5
Engage for Motivation and Effort
There is no such thing as an unmotivated
student; there are only students in unmotivated
states, sitting in demotivated classrooms.
Quality of Instruction is a much stronger
influence than students’ purported character.
Understand the human behind the behaviors.
Five Actions to Increase
Motivation and Effort
Make it their idea.
Manage risk.
Build the learner’s mind-set
Provide feedback.
Get a trail-size effort.
Activity
Engage for Motivation and Effort
1.Divide teachers into seven groups of 4 or 5.
2.Assign each group one of the Five Actions to
Increase Motivation and Effort.
3.Each group will work together and pinpoint key
information from the text and record it on the
chart paper.
4. Each group will present their discussion.
Questions
When you were a student, did you ever work
harder for one teacher than for another? If so,
why?
What have you learned about the mind-set of
students who simply engage less? What
strategies can you use to build learner’s mind-set
for all students?
Chapter 6
Engage for Deep Understanding
“Highly effective teachers demonstrate
repeatedly that low-SES students not
only can engage in complex learning but
also prefer it.”
Building deep representations in the
brain is a strong factor in student
achievement (Hattie, 2003.)
Five Actions to Build Deep
Understanding
Understand labels.
Discover properties.
Develop context and meaning.
Get it right.
Learn to transfer.
Activity
Build Deep Understanding
1.Divide teachers into seven groups of 4 or 5.
2.Assign each group one of the Five Actions to
Increase Motivation and Effort.
3.Each group will work together and pinpoint key
information from the text and record it on the
chart paper.
4. Each group will present their discussion.
Questions
The toughest part of building deep
understanding is often ensuring that all
students are able to transfer the content to
their own lives. How do you currently
develop learning transfer in your students?
What might you try to improve your result?
Chapter 7
Engage for Energy and Focus
“Energetic students are motivated, awake, and
primed for learning. Focused students are able to
concentrate on and complete tasks and regulate
their work habits and behavior. “
All students, no matter what socio-economic status,
have trouble managing their own mind-body states;
they need your help to have a productive day.”
Four Actions to
Elevate Energy and Focus
Get students moving.
Energize students in their seats.
Lower energy to increase focus.
Influence energy levels with music.
Activity
Elevate Energy and Focus
1.Divide teachers into seven groups of 4 or 5.
2.Assign each group one of the Four Actions to
Increase Motivation and Effort.
3.Each group will work together and pinpoint key
information from the text and record it on the
chart paper.
4. Each group will present their discussion.
Questions
What are the biggest challenges you
face when it comes eliciting
appropriate levels of energy and
focus from your students?
Do you use music in your teaching? If
so, how well does it work?