If You Want More Student Engagement, Stop Doing All the Talking
You know that classroom.
The teacher is working hard. The lesson is planned. The questions are good.
But somehow, the same three students are carrying the entire conversation.
Everybody else? Watching. Listening. Maybe taking notes.
And we call that engagement.
Friend… being quiet in the room does not automatically mean students are learning.
One of the simplest ways to strengthen instruction is to give students more opportunities to actually use their voices.
That is where the 1 2 3 Method comes in.
Student Discourse Does Not Have to Be Complicated
Sometimes we make instructional strategies so complicated that teachers need another training just to figure out the training. 😂
The 1 2 3 Method is intentionally simple.
During a lesson, students should have opportunities to:
- Participate as a whole class
- Share their thinking within a group
- Talk through ideas with a partner
The goal is not noise for the sake of noise.
The goal is to make sure students are doing more than sitting in the classroom while the teacher does all the intellectual heavy lifting.
The method creates multiple ways for students to verbalize their thinking throughout a lesson.
Talking Helps Us See the Learning
Here is what I love about student discourse:
It makes thinking visible.
When students explain an answer, respond to a classmate, or talk through an idea with a partner, teachers get information they cannot always get from a worksheet.
You start hearing:
“I thought this because…”
“I disagree because…”
“Ohhhh, now I get it.”
And sometimes…
“I have absolutely no idea what is happening.” 😂
Which is actually helpful!
Because now we know.
Good discourse gives teachers another window into what students understand before we move on.
Leaders, Listen Differently During Your Walkthroughs
When you walk into classrooms, resist the temptation to only watch the teacher.
Listen to the students.
Ask yourself:
- Who is doing most of the talking?
- Are students discussing the actual content?
- Are multiple students getting opportunities to contribute?
- Are students explaining their thinking or just giving one word answers?
A beautifully quiet classroom may look controlled.
But a classroom where students are thinking, talking, questioning, and making meaning together tells us something very different about learning.
Give Students Their Share of the Lesson
Teachers absolutely need to teach.
But students also need room to process what has been taught.
That is the beauty of the 1 2 3 Method.
It is not another giant initiative.
It is simply a reminder to intentionally create space for student voices throughout the lesson.
Because sometimes the biggest shift in engagement happens when the teacher stops asking:
“How much did I teach today?”
and starts asking:
“How much did my students get to think, talk, and make meaning today?”
That is where the learning gets interesting.
And as always, I’m rooting for you. 💛
Dr. Deonna Smith is an advocate for educational justice, teacher and abolitionist. Born and raised in Spokane, Washington, Deonna grew up navigating a system that was built to suppress and marginalize Black and Brown kids. Deonna’s passion for justice began early, as the only student of color in most places, and a first generation college student, Deonna experienced firsthand the corrosive nature of systemic racism. After completing her undergraduate degree Deonna sought to be the Black teacher she never had. Years in the classroom exposed just how deep the roots of systemic racism ran. Having a Black teacher wasn’t enough if you were working at a school that refused to confront racism, inequity and bias. As a teacher, Deonna saw how systemic racism impacted her students. As an administrator, she saw how it impacted her school and even the community.
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