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Why Choice Matters to Student Learning | KQED

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Giving students choice in how they learn and show their knowledge gives them greater ownership over the process.

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My kids participate in an amazing hands-on learning experience every summer. It's called home. It's where they write stories, paint pictures, go on expeditions, visit parks, read books, and build things with duct tape and cardboard.

For the entire summer, they own the learning process. There are no tests, no benchmarks, no curriculum maps, and no bell schedules. It is an educational anarchy, where they tear down the walls between ideas and subject areas as they make and tinker and explore and curate the learning on their own terms.

Don't get me wrong. It's not perfect. Just yesterday they were at each other's throats over "creative differences." They have had moments where they complained about boredom, only to discover, minutes later, that boredom actually leads to creative breakthroughs. They have had days where they walked away from a project in frustration and binge-watched Netflix.

And yet . . .

They are developing into life-long learners. They already view themselves as geeks who can figure out anything over time. They pursue creative work with passion. Yes, that passion sometimes leads to arguments. Our home vacillates between looking like Phineas and Ferband VH1 Behind the Music. But most of the time, it leads to a state of flow, where they are lost in their work. Most of the time, it looks more like Phineas and Ferb.

In a little over a month, they will return to school with the bell schedule and the benchmark tests and the prep packets. While I realize that schools cannot operate under the educational anarchy of summer, I can't help but wonder what it would look like to empower students with more choice and agency in their learning.

Student choice is more than simply choosing a topic. It is about empowering students through the entire learning process. This is especially true in classrooms that embrace creativity, design thinking, and project-based learning. Here are a few of the ways we can incorporate student choice:

1. Let students choose the topic. When I first had students blog, I would post a writing prompt on the projector. However, when I had students explore real blogs, they pointed out that outside of school, bloggers write about topics they care about. So, I told them to choose a topic or theme. They could create foodie blogs, sports blogs, gamer blogs, etc.

2. Let students ask the questions. I believe students should question answers as often as they answer questions. This is why inquiry is such a critical component of design thinking. Students need to move from awareness to curiosity in a way that will fuel their creative thinking.

3. Let students decide the content. I love sustained silent reading. I get it. It's old school. It won't make the list of trendy new maker space learning. However, it works. A few years ago, I taught 8th grade self-contained. The school librarian and the upper grade teachers had cultivated this love of silent reading. So, when we went to the library, it was like going to a candy store.

4. Let students pick the materials and resources. In design thinking, students work through an ideation phase and then begin building a prototype. I love the idea that they guide not only the concept of what they will create but they also figure out what materials they will use in order to build their prototype. This goes beyond physical products. In digital content, they can choose what applications they will use and what type of media they will work with. When designing an event or a service project, they can determine the venue, the materials, and the resources.

5. Let students choose the strategies. When I think of the most tedious things kids experience in school, there is a high likelihood that they don't get a chance to choose the strategies. Take close reading. The rigid approach says, "use these symbols and follow this recipe." Students focus on doing things the "right way" and they fail to make sense out of the actual text.

6. Let students choose the scaffolding. I remember requiring students to use a set of scaffolding for the research process. A handful of students loved it because they needed it. The rest of the students viewed the scaffolding like a cage. I should have treated the scaffolding as an optional resource that they could access when they found it necessary.

7. Let students choose the format. When possible, allow students to choose the format for their creative work. It might be a video, a podcast, or a blog post.

8. Let students choose the audience. When students define the audience, they are able to clarify what they are doing and how they are going to do it. This honors student agency.

9. Let students choose the groups. This is the most controversial. People will often point out that in the real world, you don't always get to choose your groups. I get that. But when you work on a cool, voluntary collaboration, you often get to choose your groups. In my experience, our most functional groups were the ones where students worked with their friends. At first, they were too social. But then the challenge and the excitement of the tasks kicked in and they were able to tap into their mutual trust and go deeper in their work. While this might not be necessary for every project, it is something teachers can try out.

10. Let students manage the projects. This was the hardest thing for me to let go of. However, I believe that project management is a powerful, transferrable skill. Students need to learn the art of project management. Over time, I have learned to allow students to own the project management and to build their own systems to monitor their progress.

For all the talk of the "guide on the side," the truth is that guides are still guides. Even in a student-centered classroom, the teacher is still the expert. There are times when limiting choices actually increases creative thinking. Students work within the constraints to find solutions that push divergent thinking. Moreover, there are times when students don't have as much prior knowledge in an area and you, as the teacher, will expose them to new ideas, approaches, and content that they might have otherwise ignored.

However, when we incorporate choice, students own the learning process. We honor their agency and empower them to become the life-long learners we want them to be. At some point, they will leave the classroom and they won't have a guide right there by their side. They will have to take charge and make decisions about their own learning. This is why student choice is so critical.

When I embraced the idea of student choice, I had a ton of questions:

What about the standards? What about the curriculum map? What about the test?

Do I have permission to do this? What will my principal think?

What are the dangers in student choice? What about the whole idea of the "paradox of choice?"

If I embrace student choice, won't things get crazy? How do I manage all of this chaos?

How do I assess the learning if students are choosing to do such different things?

Should I try something like a Genius Hour?

Over a decade later, I am still thinking through those ideas. I don't pretend to have all the answers. However, I plan to share what I've learned along the way in a series on student choice.
Here are some resources I've developed that you might find helpful:

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10 Ways to Incorporate Student Choice in Your Classroom

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My kids participate in an amazing hands-on learning experience every summer. It's called home. It's where they write stories, paint pictures, go on expeditions, visit parks, read books, and build...

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Personalized Learning: Empowering Student Choice

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Sneak Peek: 10 Steps to Nurture Student Ownership of Assessment — Trevor MacKenzie

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As part of the release of Inquiry Mindset Assessment Edition , I would like to share with you some of the sketchnotes from the book. This one is titled 10 Steps to Nurture Student Ownership of Assessment. It frames chapter two and is the conceptual framework for creating more of a student agency ri

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Inquiry : Myrose, Upasana, Hetal & Komal

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Inquiry : Myrose, Upasana, Hetal & Komal

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In a few weeks, we will kick off our fifth grade Exhibition unit: The Passion Project. It was our first year doing this last year and over the summer, I put a lot of work into the Passion Project - it was (and is) my passion. In addition to pulling out the 'tried and true' of last year, I have been looking for ways to connect this project with my new class of students. They are different to my kids last year and I am different to how I was last year and the world as we know it is different to last year - so it only makes sense that the Passion Project be different too.

We are keeping our Passion Tour - a day trip around our city in which we meet people who love what they do and love how what they do, connects them to their community. Here are some other resources that we will be taking a look at:
The Future Project: Playbook
This became known to me this week (yesterday!) and I love it. The playbook is designed to be used over a couple of months which is perfect for our project. Every kid will have one and I will encourage them to take one for their family members as well - the more the merrier! What I like about the Playbook is that it is a way to inspire thinking about yourself, your passions, your possibilities. It looks at things from a different perspective and gives you multiple ways of tapping into what makes you uniquely you. Download the 60 page Playbook. Follow The Future Project on Twitter or check out their website for more information.
Inspirational Videos - Inspire My Kids
If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is priceless. If you are looking for really great videos that show awesome kids doing awesome things, you really can't go past the amazing website, Inspire My Kids. I can't say enough about this site. Over the years I have seen it expand its content and the teaching materials/ideas/question starters that they offer are great. It is inspiring, well organized, current and uplifting. I was reminded of this website when a friend sent me the following video which I had first seen through Inspire My Kids. This website is packed with videos like this one that are perfect for showing kids what kids can do.
Short and Powerful
Another great resource is the Zen Habits Short but Powerful Guide to Finding Your Passion. It is great. Last year, I found it about two weeks after we started and I wished I had found it sooner. This guide won't be comprehensive, and it won't find your passion for you. But it will help you in your journey to find it. It does so by asking 10 questions. Read the full post to have these ten points explained:

1. What are you good at?

2. What excites you?

3. What do you read about?

4. What have you secretly dreamed of?

5. Learn, Ask, Take Notes.

6. Experiment, Try.

7. Narrow things down.

8. Banish your fears.

9. Find the time.

10. How to make a living doing it.

Oflow - App
Oflow is a combination Playbook and Zen Guide - it offers over 120 tips for having more ideas and being more creative. From creating a mind map and drawing in the dark, to re-organizing your thinking and utilizing help from strangers, Oflow has enough creative methods to make sure you'll be thinking like a creative genius. When you first open the app you're presented with a random idea - a new random idea every time you open the app. From there you can browse the other creative methods, bookmark your favorites to use again later, email any of the creative methods to yourself or anyone in your address book, and create a note to store ideas or random thoughts. The app is created by Tanner Christensen, a creativity expert, entrepreneur, and author. He currently writes for the creative inspiration blog, Creative Something, and founded the creative ebook publishing house Aspindle. You can follow him on Twitter @tannerc or learn more about him and his work by visiting TannerChristensen.com

A quick browse of Creative Something, led me to this gem, "What Makes A Genius?"

There is a lot more buzzing inside my head with regard to what is arguably my favorite part of the year. I will endeavor to keep posting as we move forward! Until then, one final gem:

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In a few weeks, we will kick off our fifth grade Exhibition unit: The Passion Project. It was our first year doing this last year and over the summer, I put a lot of work into the Passion Project - it was (and is) my passion.

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Success Criteria:
I can explore new ideas and express myself confidently and creatively.
I will engage with issues and ideas that have local and global significance.

Take aways....
Work on tools/ resources to help students come up with open-ended questions which can spark personal inquiries.
Have live walls in the class.
Moving on from controlled to guided inquiry.

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Success Criteria - Be an open minded thinker to engage and reflect upon local and global contexts.

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To be open minded and facilitated students to develop Learner profile attributes and in connection with ATL's.

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I can explore new ideas and express myself confidently and creatively

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I can explore new ideas and express myself confidently and creatively

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Analyse curriculum and skills to create success criteria
Process over product
Free inquiry can be within the scope of the central idea
Live walls to show student personal inquiries(creativity)- Reflections and VTRs as evidences.
Anupama

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Visual Presentation- Inquiry ( Nikita and Esme)

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Visual Presentation- Inquiry ( Nikita and Esme)

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Visual Sketch

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Divya and Anupama

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Divya and Anupama

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COMPASS POINT                                     Need to know:
Use age appropriate and authentic resources

Worries:
We actively plan for experiences that offer possibilities for children to learn beyond the classroom, particularly in nature.

We discovered there were several threads of shared interest, as well as some misconceptions, about the process products go through that could be explored in more depth.

Strategy:
* listening, proposing, reflecting and re-proposing in collaboration with the teaching team and children.
*How do we know their learning?
Documenting transcribed narration, student's dialogue in the form of a video, photographs.
*Expert group open mornings
Excitement:
How we can carefully plan learning spaces in our classroom in developing a                        pedagogy of listening

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Headline for Learner Agency and Learner Efficacy

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Headline for Learner Agency and Learner Efficacy

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Key take away Day 1:
DAY 1
Ladder of learning
Inquiry Icons
CORI
Success criteria
Wheel of Life
Climate change/Read the room
What makes you say that?
Visual sketch- What is Inquiry
Mind mapping on UOI
What will you do with that knowledge
Ice breaker -Beach ball activity

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Which ingredient is Inquiry and why?

Butter- smooth and soft process of learning ( assessment)