The two suggestions for giving students ownership of their learning that I found to be really helpful were "offer choices to engage students" and "choose activities that prepare students to learn".
First, I always appreciated when teachers or professors gave me, as a student, choices as to which projects or activities I could do. I think that this undoubtedly gives the student a chance to take ownership of their learning because they are able to do what interests them the most (which can be quite difficult). Also, as a teacher, this gives us a great insight as to what our students can strive the most at.
Second, choosing activities that can prepare students to learn is absolutely vital when educating students. They must be able to relate the lessons to real life and its importance in real life before they will take much interest to it. As they realize that the information we're trying to teach them can better prepare them for life after high school, they will most likely try to learn more about this topic.
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3 comments:
I agree with everything you said. Having choices on what to do for projects always made them more fun and interesting. And, like you said, it gives the teacher a chance to get to know their students better. I also think that giving students choices allows them to take responsibility for what they are learning and how much they want to learn on different topics.
I must also agree with your post. In school I can remember the areas that I excelled in, and also that which I had trouble with. When a teacher gave me a choice as to how I could complete an assignment I think I got more out of it. I would pick something I enjoyed doing and would try a little harder, as opposed to being given only one option and just trying to get it done quickly because I did not like the topic or the assessment.
Giving students appropriate choices is key. Freedom within structure works for parenting and for teaching, the profession. As a professional teacher, you will have the knowledge base to design developmentally appropriate options for students and appropriate rubrics which assess the same content but in a different way.
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