I try to explain the relevance for each and every skill I share so that students will take their learning seriously. I try to provide choice as often as I possibly can. I spend hours planning activities that I hope will engage the students so that they can't help but pour themselves into their learning. Unfortunately, after all of that, I cannot the students' level of commitment to learning.
It's not like cleaning my house, in which I have total control over the quality of cleaning that takes place. I can re-clean if I am not happy with the results. You may say that I can re-teach if I'm not happy with the learning results, but the same learning, or lack thereof, can occur time and again if the students do not decide to engage in the process.
Given a curriculum that must be taught and standards that must be met, how do I raise the level of learning, the commitment to learning within each student?