by: John Antonetti and Terri Stice

article by: Darbie Valenti Huff

Working with teachers across the state has afforded me the opportunity to continuously gain insight on what is currently happening in classrooms today. Several commonalities have come to light from these conversations, with a sense of apathy being one of the most prominent. There seems to be a lack of student engagement and motivation that is far different than what may have been experienced pre-pandemic.

Last year, when these interactions first began, I had a conversation with my dear friend John Antonetti. John works with teachers here in Missouri but also spends a great deal of time in South Carolina where he continues to work with one district consistently. I asked him if he also sees the same lack of motivation that I had been hearing about. Always one to cite evidence, John began energetically and joyfully describing the learning that had occurred in classrooms he was in that week.

I initially began wondering why we were seeing this in Missouri, but he wasn’t witnessing it in schools he was working with. (Just one reason John is my favorite education consultant - he is in classrooms learning and teaching frequently to stay abreast of the climate of education!) I realized the schools that have implemented his work are not experiencing this “Disengagement Crisis” because the learning tasks at hand create true cognitive engagement.

I was able to see this firsthand myself. Last spring, I visited a Missouri school where I was able to model some learning tasks inspired by John’s work. Whether with kindergartners or a combined group of three different sixth grade classes, the students were engaged in their learning. I will take into consideration that having a guest teacher does weigh into the equation slightly, but most of the credit goes to the design of the learning task.

John and I present together often and we both pride ourselves on being a “teacher’s teacher.” I always strive to share strategies with teachers that are low burden, yet high impact. That is exactly what John Antonetti and Terri Stice accomplish in “#Powerful Task Design.” Not only is it an easy read but it is chocked full of great strategies that are easy to implement.

In fact, the opening of the book is a strategy that the authors encourage you to actually do. That very strategy is one that I’ve shared with teachers across the state and have provided examples for it to be incorporated into instruction in a variety of classrooms, such as 5th grade math, middle school social studies, 1st grade science, high school ag, art, etc. All of these examples are low burden on the teacher but yield high levels of cognition from the student.

The authors also thoughtfully designed an interactive experience with the use of QR codes. Some of these QR codes provide additional resources or examples of the strategies, but my favorites include actual videos of student learning. While many authors have started to incorporate the use of QR codes, this was the first book I read that used them in such an innovative way to enhance the reader’s experience.

“#Powerful Task Design” will help teachers of all grade levels and content areas to design learning tasks that boost engagement while increasing rigor - all of which will enhance student achievement. If your school or district would like more support with student engagement, that is an area in which my role as MSTA Professional Developer could help with. I would love to come and present on a professional development day or work with teachers during early outs.

You could also have the opportunity to learn from John Antonetti himself by enrolling in Teacher Academy, a program offered through DESE to support mid-career teachers. Reading this book could serve as a springboard to future learning opportunities that will enhance your instruction, increase student engagement and rekindle your love of teaching.