Students love being involved in the decision making when it comes to learning. Just like teachers who want to have a say in how they run their classroom, students also want a say in how they showcase what they are learning. Click on the image to hear Coach Rondone give a few ideas on providing student voice & choice.
Does this all sound like a field of daisies from a whole new way of thinking? I was right there with you when I transitioned from a single grade classroom to a multi-aged class. I had my background of being educated in a multi-age classroom but that was far from running a classroom with such a large range of abilities. I walked into my first year of teaching in a multi-age classroom thinking, “I can handle this, I went through this as a kid and I have a few years under my belt”. Well, let me tell you! I was a little ego bruised from that thinking. I needed a lot of trial and error when it came to teaching multiple grade levels and managing all of the standards.
It took years to truly understand what it meant to engage the students in their choice and how to intentionally incorporate the standards, curriculum, and choice. Let’s dive a little deeper into this. What does it mean to give students choice and voice? That’s a popular question that educators are starting to ask. This concept is very new in the traditional classroom and gaining momentum. Let’s start small and build upon a common skill – Spelling.
When you have taught your phonics lesson and need students to practice and develop the understand of the skill you could have a rote memorization activity or you could provide choice. The choice board doesn’t have to be anything fancy or something that is printed daily/weekly. You can post it in the word work area or print individual copies. Students will use this choice board to practice the skill but they have been empowered by that choice. Which in return lessens the struggle of “I don’t want to do it” or “This is boring”. The end result is that students learn the spelling patterns and skills. However, the student chooses to showcase the skills learned in their own unique way. Allowing this choice fosters independence, develops critical thinking skills, and ultimately allows for student to develop life skills of time management and problem solving.
