Hacking Engagement: 50 Tips & Tools To Engage Teachers and Learners Daily

by James Alan Sturtevant

Some students hate school. Others are just bored. Many are too nice, or too afraid, to say anything about it. Don’t let it bother you; it happens to the best educators. But now, it’s time to engage!

In the seventh book in the Hack Learning Series, veteran high school teacher, author, and popular podcaster James Sturtevant provides 50–that’s right Five-oh–tips and tools that will engage even the most reluctant learners daily, and some will make you a better professional.

Check out Sturtevant’s amazing engagement hacks:

Celebrity Couple Nicknames
Class Procedures Night at the Improv
Artifact Sharing
The Grand Inquisitor
The Virtual Bulletin Board
Solve a Mystery
Engage Archie Jr.
Scavenge for Learning
Let Them Draw
Break the Ice
Film a Movie Trailer
Embrace Yoga Pants
Create Service Learning Projects
and 37 more. . .

Genres: Education, Teaching, Professional Development

240 pages, Paperback

Published October 7, 2016

Reviews

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

My top five favorite instructional strategies he mentioned are as follows:
1) QR codes
2) Solve a Mystery
3) Virtual bulletin board (Padlet)
4) Survey
5) using Google

Some of the strategies are things I already use, so it wasn't always new information to me. Also, since I teach lower level students in middle school, some of the ideas were more developmentally appropriate for high school, which is the level the author teaches. Finally, not all ideas could be easily adapted to math, but I can also be creative and try to figure them out for my students. As with any professional development related to education, you've always got to adapt it to what best meets your kids' needs.

[Stella Pollard · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who listens to the Hacking Engagement Podcast, I was super excited to read this book. James is a high school teacher, but I found I could implement many of these hacks with my middle school students. I did find a couple of hacks to be a little repetitive but overall I enjoyed this book.

I would highly recommend this for HS and MS teachers, but not for elementary teachers.

[Simon Winquist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book to read. Quick and applicable strategies for engaging your students. Sure some seem a bit silly, but he sounds like a fun teacher. Some good ideas and names of the different methods.

Also reinforced methods I already use such as google, survey monkey, Cornell notes and ways to improve them.

High school oriented but applicable to any teacher.

[Carrie G · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was fine. It was our mandatory staff read this year, so not something that I picked for myself. Some tips were helpful, some were not. Nothing revelatory for me, but there were a few good reminders.

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved practical “What to Do Tomorrow” sections!

[Trish O'donnell-bruwelheid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Swift solutions for everyday problems. Well done.

I am inspired to try a few of these ideas.
If nothing else, it gets the creative juices flowing! Worth the time to read.

[Jeanine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great gem of a book full of engagement hacks for the classroom!

[Cindy Wise · Rating 4 out of 5]

lots of great ideas to get kids engaged in the learning process...many of the hacks have to do with developing relationships with students. The rest are good instructional ideas to keep kids interested. Some are for the teachers...to keep us interested. Try one...then try another. Like potato chips...you might not be able to stop

[Jen Andrews · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a middle school teacher I found many of these ideas to be less applicable to my classroom, and many of them are already common practice. However there were a few new ideas I hope to implement, and the easy to follow, concise format was fabulous.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic!

Great resource for teachers at any stage of their career! It's never too late to try something new and apply fun and engaging ideas in the classroom!

[Deanne Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a teacher, you need this book! It is full of engaging, relevant, practical ideas to make your classroom a place students love to be!