Posted in DemEd in Real LifeStudentsTeaching on Apr 29, 2010 - 10:02 PM
Students began choosing the delivery method for new information at the beginning of the month. I discussed this in "Maybe Kids Should Have a Say in How They Receive Information?"The experiment is going so well that we have increased the control the kids have in the daily lesson planning. Every day there is bell work, but that is the only set event of the class period. I have the day's activities arranged in three or four different orders. The students vote for the arrangement they believe fits their needs. Each option includes the same work, but the order is different.
So how is it going?
From my perspective, pretty good. I am not seeing as many springtime behavioral issues as I have in the past. The kids report being happy. They feel that they are more invested when they set the agenda. There are a few kids that get miffed, when their selection isn't in the majority, but over all things are going well.
Responses from real kids:
"Even though we have to do the same stuff, it makes it better because we get to choose."
"We know what is coming next because we set the schedule."
"It makes us more prone to work because we got to choose..."
"I like it because it is giving us a choice, and you are not lame and just forcing us to do stuff." (she did say "lame")
"It works better 'cause it is like a democracy."
"Instead of just telling us, it makes us more likely to do it, and not rebel, because we are the ones who get to choose what we are doing."
"I like it because it gets us involved, and we get to choose what we do."
There ya go....From the mouths of freshman, and one sophomore.
Tags for this entry:
motivation,
choice,
collaboration,
classroom strategies,
behavior
Comments
May 05, 2010 - 01:02 PM
Sara,
The kids are used to me doing things that are different from the rest of their teachers. They haven’t had teachers that let them decide how the information will be presented, but they tell me that they like having the choice. The best part is that this has encouraged discussions on student rights, and the power of the individual.
May 05, 2010 - 01:37 PM
That’s really cool, Alison. I remember the teachers who were “different” as being my favorites, though I never had any teachers letting me or my classmates have that much choice and decision-making experience. The kids in your class are lucky! That said, I wish that were more the norm.
Sara Schmidt
May 05, 2010 - 01:06 AM
I love these quotes, Alison, and it sounds like you are really shaping up a positive, happy classroom full of critical thinkers! Have any of them said that this experience is just shocking or “weird” or anything like that, or that they’ve experienced this type of freedom from anywhere else?