Senioritis: Empowering students for the end of the year!

@jasonstamand via Twitter

It all started with a tweet!  My high school students were coming off a 2-week spring break (yes they still exist…thank God!).  I knew that getting their attention at the end of the year was going to be a tough task, especially for my juniors and seniors out there.  But trying to get them enthusiastic was almost impossible in some cases.  Even my own kids were not excited about the final weeks ahead at school.  So I thought about who I could reach out to for help and advice.  Maybe a few “Edu Famous” ( a term I overheard recently at a conference I was presenting at?!) people out there like Eric Sheniger, Vicki Davis or Richard Byrne (certainly their guidance over the years have been immeasurable!), the administration or teachers.  But something was missing.  A voice we often forget or overlook when planning and executing a lesson or project…. students!

“Senioritis” can only occur if your teaching is as lame and boring as you fear their attitudes will be!”

When I was growing up (I promise this will be a short story) my favorite books were the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books.  Each page led to a choice for kids which in turn led to other pages with more choices until finally there was a conclusion, albeit several bad endings for me!  But the point was that I had the choice as the reader.  So naturally when planning the last 6 chapters of the year before the dreaded exam I reached out first to my own kids (Bryce, my 15-year-old freshman son and Gabrielle my 12-year-old daughter in 6^th grade).  I asked them just 2 questions:

1.      Why are you bored at the end of the school year?

2.     What would you like to see teachers do more of this time of year?

They both said they had some pretty amazing teachers while others left something to be desired.  When I asked why they simply said that “…they do the same old thing each day (mostly lecture) and the tests are boring.”  So I said what do you really want (keeping in mind that they still need to cover the material).  They both said one thing…choice! 

 

“The bottom line was that students felt empowered and part of the decision making process.  They were not just getting on a bus with no control.  This was a great motivator for them and added a sense of community to the class.  For me, it was just exciting to see them get excited about something this time of the year.”

So I decided to give my students choices.  Two simple questions for the class to decide before we start each chapter…

1.     How do you want to learn?

2.     How do you want to be assessed for what you have learned?

The topic of differentiated instruction has been circulating for years.  But it was still the teachers who choose the direction and the assessment options.  This was different, more empowering and gave students a sense of purpose, control and more importantly ownership of their learning!  At the beginning of each chapter we had a discussion about different ideas for teaching and assessment options, keeping in mind we still had a time table to consider and grades (a topic for another time).  But they had choices.  Did they want a lecture, group activity, project or did they want to do a presentation, Socrative or Poll Everywhere, teach a class, scan-tron test, Padlet, Kahoot, iMovie or whatever else seemed to come to mind?  One rule I did create was that no matter what they chose, they could not do the same style of teaching and assessment twice in a row.  Their response to this was incredibly positive. 

“This was different, more empowering and gave students a sense of purpose, control and more importantly ownership of their learning!”

The bottom line was that students felt empowered and part of the decision making process.  They were not just getting on a bus with no control.  This was a great motivator for them and added a sense of community to the class.  They had set this direction themselves.  They owned their learning experience!  For me, it was just exciting to see them get excited about something this time of the year.  The experiment is ongoing and working well.  If you would like an update, please just let me know. 

For more information about this feel free to comment here or you can find me on Twitter (@jasonstamand).