George Couros, in his TED talk, “Our Voice”,
discusses the importance of giving our students a voice. What is one way you give students a voice in your class? Describe, in detail, an additional way you could give students a voice in your class? class. Once you’ve implemented it, share your experience.
If you have a Twitter account, please post photos or student work samples. Tag @l_keleher @lindsey.brewer and #transformyourclassroom Again, you don’t have to; but a picture’s worth 1000 words!
If you have a Twitter account, please post photos or student work samples. Tag @l_keleher @lindsey.brewer and #transformyourclassroom Again, you don’t have to; but a picture’s worth 1000 words!
One way I give students a voice in my classroom is through weekly check-ins. During this check-in, students are able to share how they are doing, what is going on in their life, and if there is anything they need help with. This is an open space for students whatever they feel like I need to know.
ReplyDeleteI often have students do self-reflections in my classroom. Through these self-reflections, students rate their confidence with the concepts they are learning. One way I plan to improve these check-ins is by adding a question for feedback. I would hope students would share with me if they felt like to content and practice that was presented in class was beneficial for them.
Another way I would like to incorporate student voice in my classroom is by implementing "student experts". When a student has mastered a concept, I would like to make them an expert to help others in the classroom. This will hopefully create some pride for those experts, make them even more knowledgeable in the content by having to explain in a variety of ways, but also helping some of their classmates in the process.
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ReplyDeleteOne thing that I have implemented in the the last couple of years is choice boards rather than 1 type of objective assessment. One of my favorite choice boards was over the digestive system. Students had the choice to write a children's book (explaining the basic function of digestion) using Story Jumper, create a theme park with rides modeled after parts of the digestive system, or write postcards from different organs of the the digestive system.
ReplyDeleteIt was fun to read through and look at the projects. I received a lot of positive feedback from my students too.
What is one way you give students a voice in your class? Describe, in detail, an additional way you could give students a voice in your class? class. Once you’ve implemented it, share your experience.
ReplyDeleteOne way that I give students a voice in my class is giving them a choice with what activity they want to start on during reading intervention. Use notice that they are more engaged from the start of reading intervention when they get to choose the activity.
George Couros, in his TED talk, “Our Voice”,
ReplyDeletediscusses the importance of giving our students a voice. What is one way you give students a voice in your class? Describe, in detail, an additional way you could give students a voice in your class? class. Once you’ve implemented it, share your experience.
One way I give voice to my students is to let them decide who the "Loser of the Week" is with a partner. They get to decide what was the was worst person, place, thing, rule, idea that we talked about. They then get to explain why. We have had some wildly creative answers. I love it. They get to freely think outside the box and defend their answers.
One thing I could do is an open-forum problem solving assignment. The students could define a problem in the USA. They would define it and explain why it is a problem that they chose. They could then go on and come up with a solution. From there, we could do a peer review session where students challenge their thinking and offer ideas and different solutions to this problem. The student can accept, reject, modify these new ideas. In the end they could email our Congress people and see what comes of it.
I try to give my students a voice by changing who their audience is. Especially in writing, I as the teacher am usually the only one that is guaranteed to look at their work- we tried different methods of publishing that would allow more people to get to see their work. We wrote persuasive pieces about rules they wanted changed, they then shared their writing with our principal or their parents. We would write personal Narratives and hang them in the hall - inviting other classes to come and read. We would create story books and share them with younger grades. These new audiences got students more excited to write and helped bring out their best work.
ReplyDeleteI think another way to give them voice would be letting them have more of a say in how we tackle topics and problems. I know many teachers create project menus for letting students explore a topic- I didn't have a chance to try these, but creating one with students and then letting them pick could be another way to let them use their voice more.
I currently give students a voice by using an AAC device/iPad to help a student communicate and express their needs, thoughts, and preferences. An additional way I could give students a voice is by letting them help make choices throughout the day—such as selecting activities, songs, or storybooks—using picture cards or choice boards. Once implemented, I will observe how students engage with these choices, noting increases in participation, independence, and confidence in expressing themselves.
ReplyDeleteIn his TED talk “Our Voice,” George Couros emphasizes that students should be active participants in their learning. One way I give students a voice in my class is by allowing them to choose topics for certain assignments. For example, when working on projects or presentations, I let students pick subjects that interest them within the unit we are studying. For example, we are currently doing a “How To” Google Slides presentation on something they are good at and enjoy. This allows students to connect their personal interests to the content, making their learning more meaningful.
ReplyDeleteAn additional way I could give students a voice is by incorporating regular student feedback into how the class is structured. For instance, I could use quick surveys or group conversations to ask students what projects help them learn best or what topics they want to explore further. Then, I would intentionally adjust lessons based on their input.
Giving your students choice is very important for them to feel comfortable and ready to learn. I like to let them use their voice by offering choice boards. An example of this is I will give them maybe 4 different ways to respond to a prompt after reading a passage. As the year progresses I often open more choice board ideas. I love the creativity and ownership it sparks!
ReplyDeleteSomething I have wanted to start in my classroom is a class meeting that allows students to share ideas, opinions and experiences. This would allow everyone the opportunity to have their voice heard. If I could expand this idea it would be not just sitting in a circle talking face to face but also bringing in different things students have created, like blog posts, videos, etc.
I feel that I do a good job with giving my students a voice. I allow them to share their thoughts and ideas. I allow them the opportunity to share and defend themselves. I give them the opportunity to make the seating charts and if I question them sitting by their friend they need to justify why they get to sit there.
ReplyDeleteI would also like to implement way that my student could use a blog post where they are free to voice their ideas or opinions in a kind and respectful way.
One way I already give students a voice in my history class is through student‑led discussions and debates. For example, when we study controversial historical events, I assign roles and ask students to research their position. They then lead the discussion, ask each other questions, and challenge assumptions. This places them in the driver’s seat of the conversation and encourages them to think critically and speak confidently about complex topics.
ReplyDeleteAn additional way I could give students a voice is by having them create and manage a class history blog via google classroom. In this blog, students would post weekly reflections, analyses of primary sources, or personal connections to what we’re learning. Rather than only turning in work to me as the teacher, their writing would be visible to classmates and class as a whole. Students would choose topics that interest them within our unit, whether it’s examining how a particular event influenced modern society, reviewing a historical film for accuracy, or sharing how a historical figure inspires them.
Although not entirely to full scale, I introduced this earlier this semester but as noted above can definitely expand on it given the ideas/methods above. Earlier this semester I only did this for a small group within a class via google classroom, but once I implemented it, I noticed students who rarely spoke up in class became much more expressive and thoughtful in writing. They took pride in their work knowing a real audience might read it, and classroom discussions improved because students came in prepared with ideas they’d already shared or seen online. Tis didn’t replace traditional assessments, but it gave students a platform where their voices mattered, and it transformed the way they interacted with history and with each other. I'm looking forward to implementing this on a wider scale throughout all my classes/classrooms.
George Couros, in his TED talk, “Our Voice”,
ReplyDeletediscusses the importance of giving our students a voice. What is one way you give students a voice in your class? Describe, in detail, an additional way you could give students a voice in your class?
One way that I give students a voice in my class is letting students choose topics for presentations. For example, at the end of my Careers class, students are allowed to select a topic (career) for their final career presentation. Allowing students to select their topic verses assigning students careers allows students to explore a career that interests them which has increased student engagement and quality of presentations.
An additional way that I could give student voice in my classroom after watching the TED talk is having students create digital content of their selected careers, such as podcasts, short videos, or blogs verses the traditional slide presentation, pamphlet, etc. Letting students select the digital content option gives students voice in my classroom and also allows them to use their creativity to share career information that matters to them.
Allowing time for students to share their presentations would also give students voice in my classroom. Providing students share time would let student know their interests and voices matter. Knowing that they are going to share their presentation would also increase engagement and pride with their work.
Couros made some very good points in his TED talk; at the 2:15 mark, he asserted that “We have to get better” and continued to talk about communication.
ReplyDeleteI have begun to implement online discussion posts and conversations within my classroom. My students have the opportunity to thoughtfully put their ideas out to their peers, and then can respond to each other. These are not long contributions, but give an opportunity to share thoughts with classmates throughout our 30 student group in ways that a classroom discussion wouldn't allow time. The posts stay live within the classroom, so students can refer, reread and commend after a time to think about what their classmates have said, material shared, or books recommended.
At about the 16:00 mark, there were two quotes that caught my attention: “Kids do well when given an audience,” “have to find safe ways to share”. Creating this additional form of discussion among a class does offer an opportunity for both of these assertion
That was so moving!! Ok, so I thought I was doing ok giving students in my classes voice by simply having the whole class develop expectations at the beginning of the year. Doing that seems to help students take ownership of their own learning more so than than if I just tell them the expectations, and they follow. When a bad choice occurs, it makes it much easier and quicker for students to do better after referring back to the expectations we created together. However, after watching the TED talk with George Couros, I am thinking way too small! I did try to guide the expectations my students were tasked to come up with, so that doesnt seem like true voice is created😬I also use choice boards as a way for students to choose how to show me what they have learned and to evaluate success.
ReplyDeleteI do believe giving students voice is one of the most important things I can do for them. I tried using a blog to allow students the opportunity to discuss our readings as reading is part of what I teach. In addition to our whole class and small group discussions of the books and passages we read, students, during small group time had to respond to, and ask questions of at least 2 of the blog questions posted. It took a few days to work out the technological kinks, but it ended up being a hit! I would sit with my small groups working on specific skills and be able to see students quietly typing on screens, making faces of happiness, surprise and even frustration! It really helped students get into discussing what they were reading...True student discussions of actual content from books they were reading...it is such an awesome way to get students to think about and discuss thoughts and opinions about what they were reading! We ended up partnering with a few other 6th grade classrooms in the district, which just expanded our blog and therefore our audience. I would like to try Twitter as students have to try to say what they need to in only so many characters so they have to summarize!