Student Voice and Choice
Voice and Choice supports the PoG directly by building Skillful Communication and Self Direction ~ if the goal is for students to share ideas effectively and demonstrate initiative, they need opportunities to communicate and make decisions!
Specifically, PoG criteria in these areas include: “articulates thoughts and ideas through a variety of modalities; demonstrates skills in time management and prioritizing; develops intrinsic initiative and responsibility for learning; and pursues interests and talents.”
Consider starting with VOICE …
Increasing student voice is a great place to begin. But how?
- The 3 Step System for Getting Students to do the Talking, by AJ Juliani. A discussion of the trials of getting started, the importance of scaffolding, and meeting students where they are. (Handouts to go with this article by AJ Juliani)
- One way to ensure everyone gets a word in edgewise is a routine wonderfully described here: graffiti discussions
- Explicitly teach questioning with this fabulous resource of videos and articles and guides: The Right Question Institute
… then moving on to CHOICE
Yes — even small choices can make a difference!
A 2010 study demonstrated that when students received a choice of homework they reported:
- Higher intrinsic motivation
- Felt more competent about the work
- Performed better on the unit test
- Increase in task completion rates (Patell, Cooper, & Wynn)
Offer students options — but not endless options!
How about starting with just a few choices?
One example from Olin College was built into a history course:
“Students learned about five microbes that changed the world, and were then tasked with researching and proposing a sixth. The group who made the most compelling case had their germ added to the syllabus the following year.”
Students help decide how their work will be made public
Could students decide who their audience will be, or where and how their work will be shared?
Elicit student input through activities such as a google survey, black board splash and voting, or making pitches to the class.
Have a combination of required and flexible components
Can students design some parts of an assignment?
For example, instead of a teacher-specified google slide presentation as a culminating activity, have students propose the most effective and powerful way for them to demonstrate their own learning.
Providing them with models of what success might look like, engaging in critique and revise routines along the way, and having their work be public beyond the confines of the classroom can help ensure their work meets expectations.
“What am I doing for students that they could be doing for themselves?”
How many facets of their learning can students decide for themselves?
John Spencer suggests each educator do an audit of their own teaching. His site has great videos to review voice and choice.
From his website: “Make a list of every decision that you are making for students and then ask yourself, ‘Where can I provide more choice and flexibility?’” He describes a simple way to get started in a post entitled, “Taking Choice Menus to the Next Level for Student Ownership.”
This might be a great opportunity to partner with another teacher …or with your students!
Involve students in planning assessments
Could students help set success criteria at the outset?
Provide students with a model of what success looks like for your unit at the very beginning.
Students engage in a critique session with your model, and their responses can help inform criteria for assessment.
Think: rubrics, self assessments, formatives, summatives.
Like lists? Areas to start with student voice and choice
- Who to team with
- Resources to use
- Driving Questions
- How to show learning
- Choice of prompts
- Seating arrangements
- Which rubrics for grading
- Areas to improve
- Time management
- Which scaffolds to use
- Which text structure to use
- Deadlines
