Choice is Voice!

For students, having a choice in their day-to-day learning is huge. Choice gives them a voice of their own to express what they are learning and to showcase it. By combining technology with students choices, you can empower students and allow them to increase their learning and ownership of the classroom. Student choice is most effective when teachers provide clear, simple options and if appropriate, leave room for kids to change their minds so that they can explore and learn.

Mrs. Famigletti's 7th Grade Pre-AP Science classroom at Medlin Middle School is an example where both technology use and student choice is evident on a regular basis. While assignments and projects often have clear guidelines for a final product, the method of creating that product is generally theirs to choose. For example, this past week the class had a two day assignment where the goal was to create an energy diagram of consumers and producers in the natural ecosystem around the school. For the first day of the assignment, students took pictures using their tablets or their phones, properly identified their place in the energy pyramid, and then uploaded these on a Padlet wall.

Created with Padlet

On the second day, students formed groups and created an energy diagram with three energy pyramids from the pictures on the Padlet wall. Students got to choose which platform they would use to create their diagram.  They could create their diagram digitally using a new program or one of the programs they've used in the past, or draw it on poster paper. The group of Miles, Daniel and Edward said they "appreciate that we have a choice to use programs that are more user-friendly, or that we are more comfortable with. We like having the option of how we are going to work."  Their group began using Microsoft Publisher 2016 but then opted to use a poster instead, showcasing not only their power to choose but also the ability to change their mind about how they were creating their own project. Another student opted to use Microsoft Word to create his energy pyramids and then uploaded them to Smore to present them. Another group decided to use Google Docs and Google Drawings to collaborate and draw their diagram together. Even groups who opted to use posters had their tablets or phones open to access the pictures via Padlet and class notes via Moodle while creating their diagrams. Morgan, a student in a group making a poster, explained to me that "we use digital stuff all the time in our class, but sometimes it's easier to just draw or make something with our hands."  The option to choose is not lost on these students and they are appreciative of it.

Check out the pictures and links below to see their work in action! The choice is yours and that is what's important!