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       Figure 1.3: Engagement and complexity rubric.

      Lessons can feel like chores, games, burdens, or missions. I developed this model using a simple construct of engagement on the left y-axis, beginning low and moving up to high, and the x-axis beginning with low complexity on the left. This rubric should help you frame classroom work as you move through the next chapters. I’ll use these terms to help explain student perceptions of classroom experiences. The aim is to develop high-complexity, high-engagement experiences, but it is important to recognize and be able to describe the experience when we are not reaching that goal.

       Chore: Low Complexity, Low Engagement

      Does your child—the one at home—like to take out the garbage? When he or she does take it out, does he or she align the cans neatly at the street, with all rubbish ready for an efficient pick up? When my son takes out the garbage, his engagement is minimal at best. There is always something else attracting his attention, and his disengagement with the chore reveals itself as needing to be reminded several times to get it done.

      Chores are low-complexity, low-engagement tasks—something students feel they must get through. What do your students consider a chore? Are there small tasks they must do, such as doing traditional bell work or copying their agenda into a planner? Chances are, your students treat them the way they treat their chores at home, and you may use rewards to get them to complete these tasks. They may complete them to avoid punishment.

       Game: Low Complexity, High Engagement

      Does anyone have to force you to play your favorite game or app? Of course not! Most games and game-like apps like Candy Crush Saga and Angry Birds are low complexity, high-engagement tasks, and they employ specific tactics to draw you in. They are usually sleek and visually appealing. You determine when and for how long you play it. It’s social, creating different, positive connections between you and your friends. It provides different levels of challenge, each of which players must master before moving to the next. Those elements, wrapped up in a simple, routine task, release hormones in the brain that make us feel good (Dockterman, 2013; Migala, 2015).

      Teachers try to replicate some of these elements—for instance, presenting a small task and providing extrinsic motivation (rewards) to raise student interest or compulsion. Think of the holiday-themed spelling list or acrostic poem. Recall the scene from Dead Poets Society (Haft, Henderson, Witt, Thomas, & Weir, 1989) where the teacher has students repeat short lines from canonized literature while kicking a ball. The boys enjoy kicking the ball and repeating the lines loudly, but there is no analysis. They are not asked to consider the literature or their relationship to the students, curriculum, or critical thinking, but they come to understand being able to repeat information has little consequence. These low-complexity tasks are an attempt to engage students. Authentic minor tasks—those that connect with student interests—can be an important scaffolding technique to build a specific skill, but a classroom cannot provide only games. Otherwise, students will never learn at the deepest levels.

       Burden: High Complexity, Low Engagement

      A burden is the antithesis of a game—very complex or difficult, and not engaging. This work requires carefully applying knowledge but occurs on a topic that doesn’t interest the student. If the student isn’t interested, he or she will not even attempt complex tasks such as research papers, multicomponent projects, complex mathematics problems, or high-level literature.

       Mission: High Complexity, High Engagement

      A mission is where high complexity and high engagement meet. A mission’s engagement is personal. A real-life example is my mother, who spent seventeen years caring for my grandmother who was sick with dementia. In the end, my mother was there every day, showing her love for her mother. The emotions and difficulties of that condition made this one of the most complex things anyone will ever do, and my mother was highly engaged. At one point, my mother’s friend said, “That must be such a burden.” It may be for some people, but my mother never saw it as a burden; it was her mission.

      In the classroom, a mission can take many forms. Teachers know they’ve achieved this level when they create these experiences, and students know when they are on one. Missions allow students to hit flow—a sort of optimal state of mind (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, 2008). Flow is discussed in chapter 6 (page 71). During missions, students feel a high level of autonomy, competence, and relatedness; this is where a student is intensely engaged with a complex task.

Engagement Initiation

      How can you juggle all these engagement elements? How can you create instruction and activities that land students on the mission point? The mindset-specific strategies in each chapter can help, but to start, break down your classroom approach into hook and context. A class example follows for analysis. This is launching learning for your students.

      The following sections explain a hook and context, then take you through classroom examples from hypothetical educators teacher A and teacher B. Then, I’ll provide a classroom examples analysis so you can see how the hook and context look in two different scenarios.

       Hook

      What is the opening scene in your favorite movie or book? Did the writer begin by painting you a dramatic picture to immerse you in the story? I think of the beginning of J.K. Rowling’s (2009) Harry Potter series, one of my daughter’s favorites. Three pivotal characters, with all of their special magical abilities, dramatically appear in the night and speak about the events that left Harry Potter an orphan. In this scene, Rowling gives the reader just enough information and clues to pique interest, raise concern, ask questions, and, most important, feel emotionally connected to the character who becomes the series’ focus. That’s a good hook.

      As a teacher, you open the scene for learners when you launch learning. This is the opening of a story you want students to love. Dave Burgess (2012), author of Teach Like a Pirate, suggests blending one part content, one

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