The involvement standard asks that we give students meaningful choices in connection with content, instructional methods, assessment, and evaluation. Engage students in creating the rubrics for guiding, assessing, or evaluating their work because the process of developing a good rubric is more important than the rubric itself. Give students options for demonstrating what they have learned or even for what color ink they use. In many classrooms, teachers ask students to devise the daily writing journal topics, which provides involvement and increases the value of the topics to the students. In other classrooms, students help ascertain their own rights and responsibilities as well as those of the teacher.
Students respond positively to being liked and to being accepted and respected members of the class.
They want to feel valued and cared about. They want to be part of the group rather than outsiders. Teachers tell students that they care when they listen sincerely and value every response, even when it is not what they expected or desired. Teachers tell students that they care when they show that they want everyone to succeed by making a commitment to enabling students to do so. In a caring classroom, relationships based on shared respect, trust, and high expectations are nurtured among every person in the classroom.