Thought Leadership
Engagement and Retention: How BrainPOP Boosts Student Motivation
Ask educators about their top-of-mind classroom concerns, and you might hear a common answer: student engagement. In the wake of huge learning disruptions, we are all navigating a new “normal” where student motivation is more critical than ever. In your classrooms, there’s an opportunity to make a lasting impact by focusing on fostering student engagement and inclusive learning environments.
This is a critical moment for educators: what can be done to keep inspiring student motivation and ensure all learners have opportunities for success?
Where educators can make lifelong impact is by incorporating the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework in lessons. By embracing UDL principles, teachers can design lessons that cater to the diverse needs and interests of all learners, empowering students to take ownership of their education. Read on to learn simple and specific UDL-inspired strategies you can implement with BrainPOP, and break down common barriers to engagement and motivation in any classroom.
Be the Best Part of Your Learners’ Day
Kids thrive on joy, curiosity, and a sense of belonging, and you can use BrainPOP to create that environment in your classroom. This can be accomplished in many different ways:
Use humor and relatable storytelling: Pull your kids in and prime them to engage with your material and enjoy what they’re about to learn. BrainPOP movies approach every topic with humor, relatability, and friendly characters like Tim, Moby, and Annie to put learners at ease and inspire their natural curiosity.
Make space for choice: Giving students voice and choice provides points of entry for all learners, and inspires them to show up for themselves. Try finding small ways for a student to practice choice, whether it’s providing the option to work in small groups or independently, or having different options for demonstrating understanding with BrainPOP’s creative tools–Make-a-Map, Creative Coding, and Make-a-Movie.
Show students their presence matters: Get to know your students and show them you notice. Take time to acknowledge and learn about the different holidays students celebrate, check in on details of their life when it’s appropriate, or build a culture of respect through social and emotional learning. BrainPOP offers an expansive collection of culturally diverse and age-appropriate topics, and a complete SEL unit, to help students of all backgrounds feel seen and included.
Level the Playing Field
Every student comes to class with a unique set of experiences and knowledge. There are simple ways to help build confidence in their own knowledge and skills and inspire a boost in motivation:
Empower by building background knowledge: Research shows just how much power background knowledge has in building comprehension, giving students an advantage in understanding concepts and making them more eager to take on more challenging ideas. Whether they’re extracting the key point of a movie via a Pause Point or interpreting a vocabulary word in a Quiz, students on BrainPOP are building background knowledge and comprehension
Meet your students where they are each day: It’s hard to predict how your classroom mood might feel on any given day. Give yourself the space to pivot if the day calls for more quiet, or needs a burst of energy. BrainPOP’s design allows flexibility in how you use any activity to make an impact. A concept mapping activity can ignite lively discussion with the whole class, or assigning it as individual work can help inspire more focus time.
Make Learning More Personal
Students may find it hard to understand why the things they’re learning in class actually matter–especially when there are other things outside of school that feel more immediate and real. As an educator, creating real-world connections and a strong sense of “why” can ignite more motivation:
Create cross-curricular connections: Try getting creative with how you create tangible connections between your curriculum and the real world. Reading “To Kill a Mockingbird” in your English class? Watch a BrainPOP movie on Jim Crow to create more relatable context to the story. How do the math topics you’re teaching relate to ELA or even history? Try incorporating fun and engaging connections to make learning more three-dimensional and captivating.
Ask phenomenal questions: Sometimes, a good question can really trigger student interest, curiosity, and investment. The art of question-asking can put students in the driver’s seat of seeking knowledge, making connections, and igniting even more curiosities.
Educators, Your Presence Makes a Difference
When it comes to student engagement, the impact you make as an educator can be one that changes your students’ lives. Incorporating the three pillars of UDL in your classroom (representation, action and expression, and engagement), and creating a welcoming and inclusive environment where every learner’s success is championed can be a defining part of a student’s lifelong journey. Keep being advocates for your students–and we’ll be here along the way to help.
Jinn Liu is the Creative Manager of Copy and Content at BrainPOP. She has a Bachelor’s in Communications and currently lives in New York City. She is a creator, writer, and lifelong learner.
