Students are positively influenced by the power of choice.  When students have the autonomy to make decisions about their learning, they become more motivated, invested, and connected to the material.  It allows students to have more responsibility and ownership of their learning and gives them an opportunity to pursue knowledge outside of the textbook. When given options, it encourages active learning and makes learning more accessible to all abilities and styles.  Choice allows students to connect learning to their own lives, interests, and goals, making education feel more relevant.   Open-ended projects and activities in STREAM and in the classroom  empower students to because autonomous learners, problem-solvers, and independent thinkers.  Using the Engineering Design Process, students take the lead in deciding materials or how to use given materials, formulating ideas, and transforming those ideas into a solution.

Robotics Innovation Project and Robot Design:  As a team, the Robotics students are the drivers in all decisions, from what problem to solve for the innovation project and how to solve it through the Engineering Design Process.  They decide the strategy for the robot game, build the robot and all its attachments to accomplish the missions, and complete all the coding and testing.  Finally, they write the scripts for their presentations and construct all necessary props and models.   

Choice in Content:  Students are allowed to pursue their topic of interest within a subject area.  This includes choice boards, researching and designing science fair experiments, research project and science model topics, science and making suggestions for class discussions or potential project areas.  Students also make decisions as to what crops to grow in the garden and menus for cooking lessons.  We strive to provide many opportunities for students to take charge of their learning, even rewarding students with an occasional "Yes! Day."

Exit Projects:  Self-directed learning culminates in middle school at the end of each school year in the form of Exit Projects.  Students are responsible for researching and presenting a topic that expands upon learning that was accomplished in the school year in the form of a presentation and science model or animation.  This project is the spring semester final exam for social studies, science, and STREAM.   An example of a student's exit project science model of a DNA strand is pictured on the left.

Choice in Medium:  Students are given the option for different materials or mediums in various projects.  For exit projects, students can opt to do a model, animation, or stop motion video for the science portion of the assignment.   For science models, like the Atom Model Project examples on the right, students decide what atom to represent, what materials to use and how to display it.  WIth 5th grade's Natural Disaster project, students have the choice to create slideshows, posters, or models.   3rd graders choose the medium for their magnet cars -- either Lego, K'nex, or cardboard.  In Kindergarten, for the Cat's New Hat, students can pursue any pattern associated with the Cat's iconic hat -- shape, stripes, or colors.

STREAM Goosechases

Goosechase is an online scavenger hunt that allows teachers to create learning experiences for students.  Using the app, students can submit answers, pictures, or videos to demonstrate that they have found an answer or completed an activity.  Goosechases allow for collaboration, strategy, and agency in how to complete an activity.  For example, in 4th grade's Geometry Goosechase, students need to find examples of types of lines, angles, and shapes within their classroom environment and how they wish to present it.   For middle school, we use Goosechase as the medium for our STREAM Day, in which different activities are give point scores based on difficulty.  Students have to choose which activities to do, since all activities can not be accomplished in the time given.  Many of the activities give the students agency as to how to complete it, such as engineering challenges and video entries.  

Art and Self-Expression

In art, students are given the opportunity to apply the Visual Elements of Art (line, shape, color, light, texture, mass, space, pattern, time, and motion) and the Principles of Design (balance, emphasis, subordination, variety, unity,rhythm, proportion, and scale) to create an art piece.  Students are given the freedom to take the art piece in any direction they choose, and in various mediums if it applies.  It also gives them the opportunity to experiment with different techniques and applications.  At the beginning of a lesson, students use an art planning sheet, to help guide their thoughts into a coherent idea.  Students then work to transform their ideas into a completed art piece.  Students also work together to make collaborative art pieces, such as art pieces for our annual art auction, class art projects, and art installations around the school.