Students Won’t Participate? 5 Quick Fixes

If your students won’t participate in class, give minimal answers, or seem completely disengaged, you’re not alone. Low student engagement is one of the most common challenges in middle and high school classrooms, and it shows up in frustrating ways: blank pages, surface-level responses, off-task behaviour, and silence during discussions.

When students are disengaged, the problem usually isn’t your lesson. They’re stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure how to respond…and pushing forward rarely fixes it.

What you need in those moments are quick, effective classroom strategies that re-engage students without starting over.

Here are 5 quick fixes: simple, in-the-moment moves you can use to get students participating again, improve focus, and bring your lesson back on track fast.

Quick fixes for students who won’t participate:

• Run a quick “Support It” challenge

• Shrink the task

• Use a turn-and-talk

• Add a fast - but focused - energizer

• Build in time for chat and tech breaks 

1. When students give vague, surface-level answers

What it looks like:

You’ve asked a question and all you get is:

• “I’m not sure… it just shows he’s nice.”

• “Because that’s what happened.”

• “I dunno…”

• Crickets…

What to do: Run a quick “Support It!” challenge

Stop the class and say:

“Okay, folks. We’re going to do a challenge right now. I am going to give you a hot take about a character, and you have to support it - or not. You can choose to disagree, as long as you support it with evidence - and not with something vague. Not with ‘because I think so.’ With real evidence. That’s the challenge.”

Give them:

• A simple claim you provide OR

• One based on a response a student already gave

• Two minutes to find one piece of evidence

• The choice to do it on their own or with a partner

Then model or prompt:

• The character is ___

• For example, she ___

• This shows ___ because ___

This strategy works because there’s an expectation to use a structure, the task is clear, and framing it as a “challenge” makes it more interesting.

I would suggest you try this the first time with something relatively easy: an obvious character trait, for example. This will allow students to practice and get in the habit of quickly finding evidence. Then, the next time, make it more interesting by picking something about the character that could be debatable.

• Learn how to teach students to support claims with evidence

• Try this ready-to-use (and free!) lesson plan for teaching textual evidence

2. When students are staring at the page, not working

What it looks like:

You have given your students a task, and some are working. But there are also:

• Heads down or eyes anywhere but on the task

• Blank or unfinished pages 

• Distracted, off-task students

What to do: Shrink the task 

For example, you have given students a writing or thinking task, and you have someone unable to get started. Say:

“Forget the whole paragraph for now. Just do this one thing.”

Then, give them a micro-task. For example:

• “Write ONE sentence about how the character feels.”

• “Circle one word that stands out and explain why.”

• “Add just one more example to support this point.”

This strategy works because it allows the student to focus on one thing at a time. Yes, I know they should be able to do more, but if they are staring at a blank page, you need to get them jump-started. Shrinking the task reduces overwhelm, gets them moving, and can build momentum quickly.

However, you must circle back soon and give them another small task to do once they’ve completed the first!

3. When the discussion is flat, or no one is participating

What it looks like:

• You ask a question… crickets

• The same 2–3 students do all the responding

• Everyone else checked out

What to do: A turn-and-talk

Say:

“I’m going to give you something to think about...”

Give a clear prompt:

• “Do you agree with the character’s choice? Yes or no - and why?”

Set a timer for 1–2 minutes to allow students to consider their answer. Then set it again for another 2-3 minutes and have them share their answer with a partner. Then pull a few responses from volunteers.

This strategy works because it allows students time to think, it lowers the risk, it gets everyone thinking and talking, and it can build confidence quickly.

Learn how to use this strategy!

4. When the energy is low and students are mentally gone

What it looks like:

• Slumped posture

• Slow responses

• That end-of-day (or mid-winter) fatigue

What to do: Reset with a fast, structured energizer or brain break

These give students a quick reset with activities that allow them to refocus.

Use them anytime to:

✅ Provide a fun, energizing “break” after a content-heavy lesson or period of work

✅ To refocus attention after transitions

✅ Wake students up whenever you think you’re losing them

✅ Review skills you’ve already done

✅ Warm-up at the beginning of a class

✅ Fill in the last few minutes of a class that has finished early

✅ Instill some fun that focuses on learning

✅ Show students that learning CAN be fun

This strategy works because it re-energizes students while still keeping them focused on learning.

If you’d like some energizers that are ready to go when you need to pivot, you’ll love my ready-to-use ELA Energizers & Brain Breaks -  read more about how to use them in your classroom.

5. When Phone Use and/or Chatter is Constant

What it looks like:

• You are battling for students’ attention

• Student phone use is preventing them from working

• Chatter and misbehavior is disrupting learning

What to do:  start by trying breaks and, if that doesn’t work, create a code of conduct.

Sometimes students just need a break; it’s hard to sit and listen all day - you know that from PD days, right? 

I found that giving my students a 2-3 minute break in the middle of class (or when it makes sense) made all the difference in the world. They could chat, check their phones, or just check out. Then knew they had to earn the break, and that really helped too. 

• Read more about that here.

But what if the break doesn’t work? What if you can’t get them off their phones or to stop talking? 

My greatest successes came when I had a heart-to-heart talk with students, and we worked together to create solutions. These solutions became agreed-upon codes of conduct that I could use as a reference and that allowed students to feel they had a voice in the climate of the classroom. Read more about them in the links below:

• How to control a chatty class
• Creating a cell phone code of conduct

This strategy works because you are showing students that you care about the fact that it can be hard to focus and that you will work with them to come up with solutions.

If you feel like your students have checked out

The instinct is to push through, but when students are checked out, pushing harder usually doesn’t work.

Pivoting to a re-engagement strategy can be just the thing you need to keep things on track. These quick fixes aren’t extra, though; they’re the moves that help you get your lesson back without starting over.

These are 5 quick fixes you can use when students won’t participate or seem completely disengaged.

Want Some Quick Fixes Ready to Go?

If you want these kinds of quick pivots already built for you—with prompts, structure, and student-friendly formats—you might love my ELA Energizers & Brain Breaks.

They’re designed for exactly these moments:
✔ When students are stuck
✔ When energy is low
✔ When you need something that works right away

Thanks for reading!

Jackie, Room 213

Check out these Brain Breaks from Presto Plans

Teaching Writing in the Age of AI: Focused Revision Strategies for the Classroom

By The Daring English Teacher

If you’ve ever felt like you were two steps behind your students when it came to technology, please know that you are not alone. In today’s ever-changing world, teachers are finding that they must adapt and adjust to technological advances, particularly when it comes to AI in the classroom, especially when it comes to teaching and assigning writing and essays.

I’ve changed how I teach, assign, and practice classroom writing more since the end of 2022 (when ChatGPT was released) than I had in my 15 years of teaching before that. ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence models have forced educators to rethink how we do almost everything in the classroom.

A couple of school years ago, I switched from writing essays in Google Docs to only having in-class writing assignments in a lockdown browser. I start with paragraphs at the beginning of the year, and slowly, we work our way up to teaching and assigning complete essays. And while that works and helps me stay a half a step ahead of students on the technology front, it isn’t entirely conducive to the natural writing process, particularly with essay revisions.

One of the best ways for students to grow as writers is by revisiting their older work and revising it. Revision helps students see that writing is a process and that there is always room for improvement. Additionally, students develop as writers when they learn to revise their work in meaningful ways. So, this school year, I tried something new for writing revisions, and I am thrilled with the results.

Focused Writing Revisions 

One mistake I am definitely guilty of making is assigning too big of a writing task for my students before they are ready for it. And oftentimes, assigning essay or paragraph revisions falls in the same category—it is just too much for students to handle. When we tell our students to revise their essays, that task can be quite overwhelming. So many students will wonder where to even start.

Instead, providing students with a focused revision assignment is more beneficial because, rather than focusing on the entire essay, students concentrate their efforts on small, select revisions that truly make a difference. Additionally, these types of revision activities also stick with students for future writing!

Before assigning a revision activity, I teach my students focused writing lessons. One of my favorite ways to help students improve as writers is to learn how to write stronger commentary sentences. My Writing Spotlight: Commentary Writing lesson is a great starting point to help students graduate from “This quote shows…” to more advanced writing styles.

In addition to teaching the lessons in my Writing Spotlight lesson series, I also like to teach my students about parallel structure and sentence structure.

After spending a couple of days teaching my students a focused writing lesson, I had my students go back and revise a paragraph they had written earlier in the year. And honestly, the older the writing assignment is, the better, because your students have grown so much since their older writing assignments. I created this revision activity and printed it double-sided for students. You can grab a PDF version of this revision activity for free right here! You can also receive an editable Google Doc version that you can customize to your assignments here!

Sign up here to receive an editable version of this activity!

Avoid the Entire Piece

Another reason this revision activity was so beneficial is that I didn’t require students to revise everything. They only revised three sentences: the thesis statement, an evidence sentence, and a commentary sentence. Additionally, I also wanted my students to write an additional commentary sentence to help them see how additional analysis can strengthen their writing.

On the paper, students wrote their original sentences, and then right next to them, I had them write their revised sentences. This helped the students see the improvement side by side!

Add in Reflection

For this revision activity, I wanted to get them thinking about the how and why behind their revisions to encourage them to actively think about their writing. I also had them explain why they made the revisions they did, how the revisions improved their writing, and what they will focus on in the future.

Self-revision isn't the only way to conduct revisions in class, though. Another great way to help students grow as writers is to complete peer revisions in class. When I facilitate peer editing in my classroom, I like to alternate between using a peer editing checklist and peer editing stations.

Overall, this revision assignment was a huge success in my class. Not only did I see significant improvement, but I also observed my students pausing to take a moment and really think about and reflect on their writing. After all, isn't that what we are aiming for as teachers?

Additional Resources:

The Future of ChatGPT and AI in the ELA Classroom by Tracee Orman

Teaching Thinking and Writing in the Age of AI by Room 213

5 AI-Resistant Assignments

 

This post is not about the pros and cons of using AI in an English classroom. It's a post for teachers who want their students to do their own work and their own thinking. As frustrating as this process has become, assigning something hard to plagiarize is still possible. The best part? You can do so and build the skills and confidence your students need to do the writing themselves. Read on and I'll share some ideas for 5 AI-resistant assignments:

Will any assignment ever be completely AI-proof? Sadly, probably not. But if you want to make it more likely your students don't turn to ChatGPT, to do their assignments, the ones that follow will help. That's because they require students to create something of their own while they build important ELA skills.

So let's dive in, and explore 5 AI-resistant assignments that students find engaging - which is the first step in getting them to bypass tools like ChatGPT.

AI-RESISTANT ASSIGNMENT #1: ONE-SLIDERS

My first AI-resistant assignment is the one-slider. You have probably heard of the one-pager; the one-slider is the same concept, but it's done digitally, on a slide. Students capture an essential idea - characterization, theme, etc. - using a combination of images and text. They illustrate their learning visually in a way that requires critical thinking and creativity.

Use One-Sliders when you want students to demonstrate their ability to:

• Be focused and organized

• Do literary analysis or research

• Support their ideas

• Carefully select quotations

• Understand how images can be used to represent ideas

• Think critically

The final product looks very different than a written analysis, but the skills students need to use are the same. These one-sliders are also a great way to add in some visual literacy to your course - while also circumventing AI use by your students.

The best part? Students LOVE doing these assignments, and they are easier to assess, especially if you have a rubric ready to use.

Students can create these on a platform like Canva, or you can grab one of my resources. Each one guides students through the brainstorming process and helps them get focused and organized. You can check out my ready-made one-sliders for any text here and the ones for research here. You'll get instructions, templates, samples, assessment checklists, and more!

AI-RESISTANT ASSIGNMENT #2: RESEARCH MAGAZINE

The research paper is an assignment that has traditionally been most prone to plagiarism. Now, artificial intelligence tools have made it even easier for students to pass in a paper they haven't written themselves.

I first used a research magazine as an alternative to the essay when I saw the success of my one-sliders. My students still had lessons and practice with research skills like finding credible sources, selecting evidence, embedding quotes, etc., but they presented their ideas in a digital magazine rather than a research paper.

This research magazine is focused on a thesis and is logically organized. It still has the required sources, quotes, and works cited page - but it's in a format that the students love working with. Like the one-sliders, they find this assignment so much more engaging than the traditional essay. It requires them to use the same skills as a paper, but they also have to think critically about how they present the ideas and the images and links they choose - a process that makes it far harder to turn to AI.

Use a research magazine when you want students to demonstrate their ability to:

• Focus on a thesis

• Develop a logical argument

• Support ideas with research

• Find credible sources

• Carefully select, embed, and cite quotations

• Use paraphrased information effectively

• Illustrate effective language choices

• Demonstrate an understanding of how visuals support points

• Think critically

Once again, students could use Canva to create these magazines. But, if you want a ready-to-go process with lesson plans for you, and tips and templates for your students, I've got you covered!

AI-RESISTANT ASSIGNMENT #3: HEXAGONAL THINKING ANALYSIS

If you follow my blog or Instagram, you know I am a huge fan of hexagonal thinking activities (or "fun-agon" as a student once exclaimed). Hexagonal thinking is an activity that requires students to collaborate and think critically about a topic or text. And while it's a wonderfully engaging in-class activity, it's also one that can be used as an AI-resisitant assignment.

How? Well, first, you would do the hexagonal activity, where students make connections between the topics they have been given. However, you build in another layer and ask them to record points made by their group mates. These could be points they agree with or want to refute.

Then students take one of the connections that they discussed in their group and write an analysis of it. They need to explain the connection, support it with evidence from the text AND with evidence from their discussion. This puts the focus on what was learned during the discussion which is much harder to get with the assistance of AI.

Use hexagonal thinking assignments when you want students to demonstrate their ability to:

• Make connections between ideas or within texts

• Do literary analysis

• Support their analysis with quotations and textual evidence

• Collaborate with classmates

• Explain their analysis is a focused, organized piece of writing

Grab a free template for this here.

AI-RESISTANT ASSIGNMENT #4: SHORT PROCESS-BASED ASSIGNMENTS

One reason why students turn to AI to do their work is that they don't have confidence in their abilities. That is why this is my favorite of the 5 AI-resistant assignments.

It's actually more of an approach, as one of the best ways to avoid plagiarism is with a focus on the process. I used such an approach with every major assignment, breaking down the thinking process that is required. For example, when we were doing persuasion, I started by getting my students to discuss some "hot" topics and to work through their responses in class. They would:

• Do an initial reflection on how they feel about the topic
• View videos that give them more information
• Read & annotate other texts that explore both sides of the issue
• Identify fact and opinion in the mentor texts
• Discuss the mentor texts and clarify their ideas with peers
• Select quotations to support their ideas
• Engage in an informal debate with classmates
• Write a formal response

We did this skill-building exercise several times before I even broached the idea of an essay. Then, when it was time for students to write one, we spent almost two weeks working through the process in class. They had to submit a good copy, but also all of the steps of the process. This did not eliminate the possibility of plagiarism, but cut it down considerably. 

Check the activities for persuasion out here and read more about my process here and here.

AI-RESISTANT ASSIGNMENT #5: IN-CLASS ESSAYS

Ultimately, the best way to AI-proof your students' work is to have them do it all in class, using pen and paper. If the first AI-resistant assignments aren't enough to assess your students' skills, then an in-class essay is the way to go.

This is not ideal. I'm aware. Something is lost when students don't get the time to work on improving a draft. However, I believe you can still give them some of that time with in-class assignments. By focusing on the process - and completing each step in class - you can slow down that in-class essay and make it more likely that students will do their own work.

I've written about this - and shared strategies and a free planning guide - here.

I know that the struggle to get authentic student work is real. We want them to think and build their skills, and the only way to do that is with strategies that boost their confidence, so they do the writing themselves.

I hope that one of my 5 AI-resistant assignments is something you can use with your students. If you'd also like to discuss the pros and cons of AI use in society and school, check out this resource.

Reach out anytime you have any questions!

Jackie, ROOM 213

Check out these resources too:

AI and Academic Integrity - The Daring English Teacher

Snowball Writing- Presto Plans