How to boost student engagement (even from reluctant classes)

Walking into a classroom and being met with eye rolls, crossed arms, or the sense that not everyone is with you can feel disheartening. Most teachers have been there. It’s rarely personal; more often, it reflects a student’s past experiences where their confidence has taken a hit over time.

When we talk about how to increase student engagement, it can sometimes sound like a call to be more entertaining, more energetic, more “on” all the time. But as a teacher, you’re already managing so much. The idea that you need to be the “fun teacher” every lesson isn’t realistic. And it’s not what meaningful or sustainable learning depends on.

What often makes the biggest difference is early buy-in. When this is built at the start of a lesson, it creates clarity and trust, helping things get moving sooner without adding to your workload. When students understand what they’re doing, why it matters, and what’s expected of them, they’re far more likely to lean in. That shared understanding fosters a sense of ownership, and engagement follows more naturally from there.

Why buy-in is hard to earn at the start (and why it matters)

Early buy-in can be difficult because many students arrive already carrying experiences from previous lessons, teachers, or school years. Some are still testing boundaries. Others come in with a quiet “prove it to me” energy, especially if learning has not felt successful for them in the past. 

In a recent Atomi webinar on classroom engagement, Claire English from The Unteachables Academy and Sarah Zaferis from Atomi shared, 

What happens is you put something in front of a student, and their brain automatically sees that, and it signals threat because maybe that student has experienced a whole educational lifetime of feeling incredibly incapable, feeling like a failure.

This helps explain why resistance can appear so early in a lesson. For some students, disengagement is a protective response rather than a lack of interest or effort.

It also explains why those early moments matter. Engagement and achievement tend to move together. When students feel confident enough to engage, they are more likely to persist, understand more, and keep progressing. 

An Education Insights report 2025–2026 found that 93% of educators see student engagement as a key indicator of achievement, while 92% of students say engaging lessons make school more enjoyable.

And what happens at the start of a lesson often carries forward. Early student engagement strategies shape how they approach learning, not just that day, but for all the teaching that follows.

What reluctant classes actually respond to 

So what actually helps when a class feels hesitant, resistant, or slow to engage?

There is rarely one clear solution. Students bring different energy levels, confidence gaps, and experiences into the room. 

Reluctant classes respond to a few things: 

• Clarity: When learning feels crowded or unclear, students can withdraw simply because they are unsure where to begin.  This is explained through cognitive load theory—when too much new information is introduced at once, engagement becomes harder. Clear learning intentions and a clear starting point can make it easier for students to step in.‍
• Trust: Over time, clarity builds trust. When lessons feel purposeful and achievable, students learn that their effort is worthwhile, and trust begins to compound.‍
• Recognition: Spotlighting small early wins, such as completing a short task, can make participation feel less risky. Creating space for questions, uncertainty, and gradual participation all work to build a student’s confidence. 

Tools like Atomi can help by breaking tasks down and providing individual feedback, supporting student engagement without adding pressure for teachers to do more.

Practical strategies to boost student engagement and buy-in 

Early buy-in can take time, trial, and adjustment, and it doesn’t always click straight away. The strategies below focus on small, practical ways to start a lesson that help learning move forward. They’re not big changes, but they can have a meaningful impact on student engagement.

Make your expectations crystal clear from day one.

Clear expectations from day one can take pressure off everyone in the room. When students know how lessons usually run, how tasks tend to work, and why they are being asked to do something, there is simply less to figure out in the moment. It minimises future confusion or stress, building trust naturally as the lessons go on.  

Richard, School Success Manager at Atomi, describes early clarity, in practice:

• Clarity before approval: Set clear expectations for behaviour and learning first—consistently and fairly.
• Follow through: If students test boundaries (and they will), respond with calm follow-through, not emotive reaction.
• Build trust through consistency: Keep your word—if you say “we’ll do this, then this”, you do exactly that.

Predictability often frees students up to engage. Instead of trying to read the room or guess what is coming next, they can put their energy into the task itself. 

As Claire and Sarah share, 

If we are really explicit with a success criteria with things like scaffold, with timers, it makes it incredibly visible for them. So without you having to say 'not good enough,' the expectations are there for them.

Give them a win in the first lesson

For students who are rarely recognised for their learning, an early win can be powerful. 

Many students arrive already cautious about contributing, and success early on can help them feel confident enough to take part. It shifts learning from something to avoid into something they can succeed at. 

Richard reflects on what those moments are really recognising, 

Celebrate effort as skill: Catch the small wins for effort and thinking, not just correct answers… These moments do more than boost confidence. They give students a reason to keep trying. When effort is noticed, and early success feels possible, engagement builds naturally, especially for students who may not often feel seen in the classroom.

When students feel valued for their effort, not just their accuracy, it creates a sense of progress early on. Small wins, like having their thinking acknowledged, receiving positive feedback, or their idea being recognised for moving a discussion forward (even if it’s not perfect), give students a reason to stay involved. 

Small acknowledgements can change the dynamic of the room, helping lessons move away from resistance, towards genuine involvement.

Reduce cognitive overload 

Disengagement can sometimes be a sign that students are holding too much new information at once. Cognitive overload can occur even when lessons are thoughtfully designed. Reducing it is less about simplifying learning and more about how new information is introduced. 

Chunking content, using worked examples, and removing unnecessary complexity early can make it easier for students to stay focused. 

Richard suggests that instead of one big new topic, I break it into 3 bite-sized chunks, each with:

• A one–sentence explanation
• A concrete example (often real-world or linked to the subject area or student interests)
• A quick task (2–3 mins each)

For example, with a difficult Biology concept (like cellular respiration):

1. What it is — an analogy first (e.g., the cell’s battery factory)
2. Why it matters — link to performance or everyday life
3. How it works — labelled visuals + simplified statements

Many teachers use Atomi to beat cognitive overload. Content is delivered in short, focused sections, supported by clear visual design and purposeful pacing. Interactive checkpoints throughout also act as student engagement activities to reduce cognitive overload. 

Create a "no question is stupid" culture immediately

Teachers already work hard to create classrooms that feel supportive and respectful. Still, some students arrive at school feeling particularly vulnerable—carrying a fear that getting something wrong will draw attention or embarrassment.

As Claire and Sarah share, 

Getting in trouble from us, getting kicked out, getting yelled at, all of those things is actually less scary for some of our students than trying a piece of work that they feel like they might fail at or feel embarrassed with.

Creating an environment that supports psychological safety can look like:

• Valuing all questions: Students learn that thinking out loud is part of learning.
  
  
• Shutting down mockery fast: Reinforces that respect is protected in the room.
  
  
• Building human connection through conversations: Brief check-ins, asking how a student is doing, or acknowledging interests outside the lesson.
  
  
• Calling on individual students only after paired discussion: This gives students time to shape their thinking before sharing. 

The compound effect: Why early buy-in matters

Early buy-in does more than simply settle a lesson.  It gently shapes how learning unfolds across the year. When momentum is built early through clarity, small wins, and reducing cognitive overload, students begin to show up to learning a little differently. Trust grows lesson by lesson, and old habits start to shift.

As you know, reluctant classes are rarely lost causes. More often, they’re looking for consistency, predictability, and reassurance that the effort will be worthwhile. In busy classrooms, where your time and energy are already stretched, steady routines and clear expectations can be a quiet source of stability. They reduce uncertainty for students and create the conditions where confidence can begin to grow. Students know how to begin, what success looks like, and that they’re capable of getting there.

From there, engagement becomes something you can return to more easily. Participation tends to build. Persistence strengthens. And progress feels more achievable when students feel genuinely included in the learning.

Want to reduce cognitive load and give students clarity from day one? Try Atomi with your class—designed to make learning visible and build momentum early.