In reflecting on last
week's discussion around student choice in the classroom as well as
the differences between
elementary and middle school curriculum and student experiences,
I wanted to read more about
others' thinking around this topic. I looked to Pernille Ripp,
whom I regularly read. She
is a middle school teacher, author, speaker, and creator of the
Global Read Aloud. While she is a literacy teacher, her blog often speaks to content
areas
outside of hers, as well as
philosophies of hers and others. With that said, I came across one of her recent
blog posts entitled, Creating
Foundational Rights for Students Within
Personalized Instruction. In this post, she speaks to curriculum and student experiences.
She begins the post by
asking:
"How do we get everyone on
the same page? How do we ensure that what we do is
actually happening in
different classrooms with different teachers? How do we ensure
that the very kids we are
entrusted with have somewhat similar experiences within our
classrooms all while
protecting the art of teaching?"
She goes on
to suggest that curricula should consider student experiences. In fact, she
goes
as far as
to say that teachers should create student rights together in order to ensure
that
student
experiences are occurring in every classroom. She claims that these students'
rights
should be a living breathing document that shows which experiences every child
should have
in every room, no matter the teacher. Teachers should live by it, work by it,
discuss
it and change as needed. One example that she gives about student rights
in the
classroom is empowerment. She states:
"If
students need…Empowerment – then we will commit to giving them choice
throughout
their time with us.
How: Choice in their independent reading book, choice in their topic of writing when
possible, choice in who they work with, choice in who they share with, choice in how
they work through learning. Space to reflect on their experience, speak up about it, and
shape the teaching that happens."
their time with us.
How: Choice in their independent reading book, choice in their topic of writing when
possible, choice in who they work with, choice in who they share with, choice in how
they work through learning. Space to reflect on their experience, speak up about it, and
shape the teaching that happens."
My question to the class
is: Should student experiences be considered and written into
the curriculum and how
important is choice when considering student experiences?
Link to Ripp's
blog: Pernille Ripp.com - Creating Foundational Rights for
Students within Personalized Instruction/
I believe that experiences should definitely be considered when creating the curriculum in schools. I think that there are certain experiences that are beneficial for different age groups to have and they are the things that students will remember and will shape them as people. Looking back to my schooling, the strongest memories are the ones in which I was doing things such as going on field trips or doing school wide activities. I think that it is important for students to have experiences in which they are learning about the outside world. Many students are very sheltered and it would benefit them to have experiences in which they see other parts of the world, even if it is just through the use of pen pals from another country. It would also be beneficial to give students experiences where they are helping others in the community.
ReplyDeleteIt is also important for students to have choice, even if it is a minor choice. It is definitely difficult to give students choice all of the time, because there are moments that need to be teacher led. I often try to give my students choice when picking partners for different activities. Also, this year for seventh grade field trips, we are looking to give students a choice of where they would like to go. This is a great way to incorporate choice while providing students with an experience.
Christine Joannidis
I believe that students' experiences shape the way they learn and, in turn, make it possible to transfer that learning. I feel that students' experiences supplement their learning; therefore, there needs to be some sort of experiences embedded in the curriculum for teachers to facilitate learning. When you teach a lesson, the classwork or activity is where the "experience" should be facilitated so that students can connect to the material being taught.
ReplyDeleteI also think this involves student choice. Students are able to choose their independent reading books, topics to write about, and what materials they need for other subjects such as math. By giving students a choice, they can choose how to navigate and utilize the learning that is happening in the classroom.
By giving students choice and allowing them to have experiences in the classroom, they are leading their learning, which is now the push in schools: student-led classrooms.
I believe student experience should be considered when writing curriculum. I think there are certain experience that happen at milestone development that can shape a person or student in how they become learners. Curriculum can incorporate student choice that allows for certain experiences that students need. But how to make sure students receive the appropriate experience at the correct time? I am not sure that a standard curriculum can be written for student experiences, since experiences are unique.
ReplyDeleteStudent choice allows students to pick how they wan to learn. The ability to choose, allows students to become more invested in what they are learning. Choice in the classroom is important, but like my question posted last week, I am just concerned that with so much choice available, can students still learn without choice?
Molly Allister
With this opportunity to further delve into student choice and experience in middle school, I consulted the only middle-schooler I live with - my son, Harry. When I asked him if he has any degree of choice in his classes, he looked at me as if I had asked him if he had ever been to Guam. Clearly, no student choice is involved in his classes. He did think having a degree of choice would make a difference in his ability to learn. In his least favorite subject, math, he would like to see more creativity used in the daily worksheets they complete in class. "Maybe it could be like a maze where you could only go down a path if you got the right answer to a problem," he said. This could be a way to cater to Harry's vast experience of playing video games. But would he learn more? "If you enjoy it, you would," he said. So what about his classmates who aren't as enthusiastic about video games, puzzles, etc.? "The teacher would have to make something else for them," he said.
ReplyDeleteTo me, this is the challenge in a nutshell. Providing students more choice means more demands on the teacher to be creative. It seems the idea is no longer to create a lesson plan, but multiple lesson plans to accommodate multiple learning preferences.
Can this be done? Absolutely, if teachers have the time (and compensation) to plan lessons as teams, putting the teachers' multiple intelligences to work in planning to teacher the multiple intelligences of their students.
Paul Brubaker
Paul, I love your son's idea! As quick response, and possible solution (or mini solution) what about if the students created the maze, or whatever it is that they want to create to show their learning. When looking at choice, experiences and creativity, I believe that classrooms must be student-led. It is unfair for teachers to have to create different choices for all of our students, as it is unfair for students to never have choice because we're creating the choices.
ReplyDelete