Engagement Defined

I'm impressed with what I've read so far of Engaging Students: The Next Level of Working on the Work by Phillip C. Schlechty. Below is a portion that especially stood out. I wish I could Tweet the highlights from my Kindle Cloud Reader, though if I shared everything I like, I would undoubtedly severely violate copyright restrictions.

If you are interested in student engagement, check out this book.

The warning that follows this passage is to all educators: Take care not to confuse "on-task behaviors" with student engagement. You can tell the difference by asking yourself, if the reward or punishments were removed, would the good behavior continue? If students would still work on the project even if it weren't graded, they are engaged. If not, they may just be "on-task."

Learn more about Schlechty's work on Google Books here.