This past October, I went to the iNACOL conference inOrlando, and spent three days in the humid periphery of Disneyworld learning
about blended classes, disruptive innovations, project based learning, place
based learning, student agency, personal pathways, individual assessment and of
course plenty of ways to leverage technology in personalized learning. I even checked out the virtual reality booth
at the exhibit hall and a coding booth that involved programming robots. I took pages of notes and felt like I was
bursting with ideas for how I could bring some of this back to my classes.
It is easy to get overwhelmed at conferences, but if I were
to synthesize what I got out of the iNACOL conference, it would be a renewed
faith in the concept of student agency. Over the years I have attempted to give
students choice in my classes by letting them select their own outside reading
books, giving them options for projects, or giving three essay prompts to
choose from instead of one, but I have come to realize that true student agency
is much more comprehensive than offering options.
to synthesize what I got out of the iNACOL conference, it would be a renewed
faith in the concept of student agency. Over the years I have attempted to give
students choice in my classes by letting them select their own outside reading
books, giving them options for projects, or giving three essay prompts to
choose from instead of one, but I have come to realize that true student agency
is much more comprehensive than offering options.
When students are given a high degree of agency, the
traditional teacher-centered classroom model is blown up. Metacognitive awareness is central to the experience. Students are given the opportunity to
determine how they are going to learn the material best and how they are going
to demonstrate mastery. The teacher is
no longer instructing towards the middle of the class, creating content that
reaches the most students possible, but is collaborating with every single
student.
traditional teacher-centered classroom model is blown up. Metacognitive awareness is central to the experience. Students are given the opportunity to
determine how they are going to learn the material best and how they are going
to demonstrate mastery. The teacher is
no longer instructing towards the middle of the class, creating content that
reaches the most students possible, but is collaborating with every single
student.
With three weeks left in the semester, I decided to tryteaching the book Old School in my
English 4 class by giving my students complete autonomy. Before assigning the novel I took a class
period to brainstorm with my students (seniors, who have years of experience
with ways that novels are taught in high school) to get feedback on what has
worked most effectively for them when they have read books for English
classes.
The typical approach, in my classes and many English
classes, is to assign reading deadlines to get through the novel. With each deadline there might be some type
of reading quiz or assessment. While
everyone is reading the novel at the same pace, I always create activities or
projects that build context and promote deeper understanding of the different
sections of the book. At the end, there
is almost always an essay.
classes, is to assign reading deadlines to get through the novel. With each deadline there might be some type
of reading quiz or assessment. While
everyone is reading the novel at the same pace, I always create activities or
projects that build context and promote deeper understanding of the different
sections of the book. At the end, there
is almost always an essay.
After talking to my students, I wondered what would happen
if I put it in their hands, and gave them everything ahead of time. So I wrote a very basic explanation of what
we would be doing with this book and gave it to them before we started
reading. I told them that they were
responsible for doing the following three things: having an authentic reading experience,
making connections between the novel and something outside the scope of the
novel, and producing a piece of writing that demonstrated their understanding of
the novel and made relevant connections to the world as they know it. There would be no reading quizzes, no
lectures, no context-activities, and no prompts for the essay. This would be their final exam for the
semester.
if I put it in their hands, and gave them everything ahead of time. So I wrote a very basic explanation of what
we would be doing with this book and gave it to them before we started
reading. I told them that they were
responsible for doing the following three things: having an authentic reading experience,
making connections between the novel and something outside the scope of the
novel, and producing a piece of writing that demonstrated their understanding of
the novel and made relevant connections to the world as they know it. There would be no reading quizzes, no
lectures, no context-activities, and no prompts for the essay. This would be their final exam for the
semester.
I also told them that the goal was to demonstrate mastery of
reading the novel and in their piece of writing, and that they would be
assessed on how close they came to mastery for the work that they produced. Our classes would no longer be structured
with activities that I created, but every day that we would meet, they would be
responsible for determining the best use of their time. I also told them that since it is a blended
class, only half the class would report on any given day, and that I would be
meeting with every student individually and taking notes on their progress.
reading the novel and in their piece of writing, and that they would be
assessed on how close they came to mastery for the work that they produced. Our classes would no longer be structured
with activities that I created, but every day that we would meet, they would be
responsible for determining the best use of their time. I also told them that since it is a blended
class, only half the class would report on any given day, and that I would be
meeting with every student individually and taking notes on their progress.
This made me extremely nervous, letting go of the reignslike this. The book is only about 200
pages, but I suspected it would not exactly be a high level interest book for
many of my students. I assigned this
Monday of Thanksgiving week and required that my students post a response on
Schoology by Sunday night describing their progress with the book so far. When I checked Sunday afternoon, only one
student had posted. I had a brief moment
of panic and scrambled to come up with a back-up plan which mostly included the
types of lessons and activities that I have always given when I teach
books. I started to doubt this
idealistic notion of agency, and wondered whether my students could actually handle
such academic freedom. I checked Schoology
again Sunday night, and when I saw that only about eight of my 50 students had
responded, went to bed feeling defeated.
But when I woke up the next morning, I checked Schoology
again to find that the majority of my students had submitted reflections. I tampered my joy a bit though and wondered
what the content of these responses might be.
After all, this is not a novel I chose for this class, and would not be
one that I would expect high levels of enthusiasm for. But as I read through the responses, I was
surprised by the authenticity of the responses, and by the fact that students
were largely enjoying this book. One
girl, who has never struck me as being a motivated reader, said that she had
gotten completely caught up in the book and was taking a break to write her
response, and anticipated that she would continue reading after she submitted
her reflection.
again to find that the majority of my students had submitted reflections. I tampered my joy a bit though and wondered
what the content of these responses might be.
After all, this is not a novel I chose for this class, and would not be
one that I would expect high levels of enthusiasm for. But as I read through the responses, I was
surprised by the authenticity of the responses, and by the fact that students
were largely enjoying this book. One
girl, who has never struck me as being a motivated reader, said that she had
gotten completely caught up in the book and was taking a break to write her
response, and anticipated that she would continue reading after she submitted
her reflection.
In the next few weeks, I met with every student individually
several times, discussing the book, their progress and their ideas for the
final written piece. This is the beauty
of having a blended class where I can have small groups of students come every
day. For the final reading assessment, I
met with each student individually and discussed the novel. I looked at their annotations, and mixed up a
variety of questions from the book, trying to probe and ensure that they were
not simply reciting a second-hand plot summary.
By the end, I was surprised to find that most everyone had read the
book, and that many attributed that to the fact that they were given the
freedom to read it independently, at their own pace. One of my senior boys told me that this was
the first book he had actually read in high school, and that up to this point,
he had managed to get through all of his English classes by using internet
resources.
several times, discussing the book, their progress and their ideas for the
final written piece. This is the beauty
of having a blended class where I can have small groups of students come every
day. For the final reading assessment, I
met with each student individually and discussed the novel. I looked at their annotations, and mixed up a
variety of questions from the book, trying to probe and ensure that they were
not simply reciting a second-hand plot summary.
By the end, I was surprised to find that most everyone had read the
book, and that many attributed that to the fact that they were given the
freedom to read it independently, at their own pace. One of my senior boys told me that this was
the first book he had actually read in high school, and that up to this point,
he had managed to get through all of his English classes by using internet
resources.
When we came back to school last week, I wanted to probe
deeper into this, so I gave my unit evaluations for the two novels my class
read last semester, The Bean Trees
and Old School. While we spent months on The Bean Trees completing a variety of assignments along with the
reading, only 23% of my students read the entire book. Almost 37% stated that they read internet
resources instead of authentically reading.
My Old School evaluation, on
the other hand, indicated that 92% of my students had read the book in its
entirety.
deeper into this, so I gave my unit evaluations for the two novels my class
read last semester, The Bean Trees
and Old School. While we spent months on The Bean Trees completing a variety of assignments along with the
reading, only 23% of my students read the entire book. Almost 37% stated that they read internet
resources instead of authentically reading.
My Old School evaluation, on
the other hand, indicated that 92% of my students had read the book in its
entirety.
I have been thinking about this for a few days now, and the
skeptical side of me remembers that this is a small sample size (two classes),
and that these are two very different books.
Students might have been more inclined to like Old School more than The Bean
Trees. Also, there are scant
internet resources on Old School, so
this probably had some influence on the data.
But I think it is fair to be optimistic when there were such drastic
results with the same group of students in the same semester with the same
teacher, but two extremely different approaches. Many of the comments that my students gave in
the Old School evaluation stated that
they appreciated being able to complete the work at their own pace. Also, these are seniors who will need to be
able to complete their college work independently next fall.
skeptical side of me remembers that this is a small sample size (two classes),
and that these are two very different books.
Students might have been more inclined to like Old School more than The Bean
Trees. Also, there are scant
internet resources on Old School, so
this probably had some influence on the data.
But I think it is fair to be optimistic when there were such drastic
results with the same group of students in the same semester with the same
teacher, but two extremely different approaches. Many of the comments that my students gave in
the Old School evaluation stated that
they appreciated being able to complete the work at their own pace. Also, these are seniors who will need to be
able to complete their college work independently next fall.
I know that some classes and novels need more scaffolding
than others, but there also seems to be great power in student agency and
autonomy. For most of my teaching
career, I have been an effective teacher-centered instructor, but I am
beginning to believe that I can be more effective when I create more
student-centered learning environments.
than others, but there also seems to be great power in student agency and
autonomy. For most of my teaching
career, I have been an effective teacher-centered instructor, but I am
beginning to believe that I can be more effective when I create more
student-centered learning environments.