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I’m impressed with the way my students are taking ownership of their learning
Filed Under Engaging Assignments and Activities for Students
I want to encourage my students to take more and more ownership of their learning. So, when the moment presented itself in my grade 12 Learning Strategies Class, I seized it. We were talking about their plans for the future when some students asked me what they should take at college next year. That question became our next project. You can read about the project here.
My students have been working on their projects for a while now, and I am quite impressed with what they’re doing. They’ve decided to share the results of their research on future careers in a variety of ways- VoiceThread, Powerpoint, Slideshare or even posters. One student who was going to use Animoto because he really likes it, changed his mind because he decided it wouldn’t allow him to do all he wanted. Another student decided he wanted to present his research on bristol board and not use any of the Web 2.0 technology except to do the research. All the students were really pleased with their choices. They were even smiling. Isn’t differentiation great.
The other thing I’m quite impressed with is the thought and effort they put into creating their evaluation tools. All of them chose to create rubrics to use to evaluate their project. It was amazing to watch how intensely they worked on their rubrics. Some of them thought to google to find some rubrics to inspire them, but they knew that they couldn’t just cut and paste. They were committed to writing the rubrics in their own words, their own kid friendly words. They were all pleased with their rubrics. They were even smiling. Isn’t differentiation great.
They’re even learning to trust their own judgment more. When a student comes and asks me if they should do x, y or z, I ask them what do they want to do? Sometimes there’s a bit of panic in their eyes, so I’ll help them by asking them what are some things they could do. We talk about that a bit, and then I ask them what is it that they want to do. That seems to help them because they usually have an answer. If they don’t, I just repeat the process.They’ve had so much experience guessing what the teacher wants and pleasing the teacher that they don’t quite trust themselves. We’ll have to work on that some more.
So far, I’m really pleased with the motivation the students are displaying. No one seems to be slacking off. I don’t have to go and say, “Excuse me, but what is it you’re supposed to be doing”. There’s a really nice positive vibe in the classroom which I’m sure we all appreciate. I’m even smiling. Isn’t differentiation great.
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