SCP Testimonials 2/5
On Technology, Writing, and Reading
On Technology | Students reflect on how they use technology (e.g., smartphones, Chromebooks) in the makerspace to individualize and organize their learning.
On Writing | Students reflect on our nontraditional approach to writing, especially the focus on process over product and the use of radial and proxy feedback to empower and encourage student work.
On Reading | Students reflect on our nontraditional approach to reading, including our approach to literature and our use of silent, sustained reading periods.
More on Technology
Technology lets us run a makerspace, and these forms are an example of how powerful that is: Without the right tech, I couldn’t possibly share this feedback with other stakeholders. Just reading it myself would be more difficult. But this is also an example of how important a feedback loop is. When students write here about distraction, they reveal the flexibility of the space — that they can opt out of technology at any point and use traditional, offline resources — and the openness the space has to feedback. I can always push less technology, or reframe technology as the means to an end. Self-awareness and amenability matter for the teacher, not just for the students.
More on Writing
Writing is the key to any Humanities work, and it’s the central component to this makerspace. That’s why it’s great to see this sort of feedback:
I don't think there has been a time in my life where I've been more proud of my writing. Last year was really the gateway for me feeling like a confident writer, but this year I've taken more risks than I could've imagined, and it doesn't even scare me anymore.
There are references to “radial feedback,” or feedback given to groups, and “proxy feedback,” or feedback given by a student acting as an expert, and there are examples of the feedback loop that helps me reiterate this part of the course. These comments come from students at all levels, and that stratification is one reason the process is heavily emphasized over the product; however, when a student writes that “I feel that the final product should also be focused on, since in the end that is what people will be looking at,” I take it to heart. It’s a balance between process and product.
More on Reading
Writing is the key, I think, but reading is, of course, part of that. The goal is to eliminate the stigma around reading. Changing the assessment model does most of the heavy lifting, but the weight is shared by the makerspace mentality itself — the collaborative, choice-driven framework, as this student describes it:
Our nontraditional approach to reading has created a positive environment and idea that surrounds reading. We don´t read because we really ¨have¨ to, we never ¨have" to do anything, everything comes with choice. We do it because it enriches our perspective.
You’ll also see students talking about a reignited desire to read the way they did as kids. That’s more important than an arbitrary checklist of canonical books — and this shows that it’s possible to invite students to read that arbitrary checklist, which isn’t actually arbitrary at all, if they’re encouraged by the right kind of space.
Below is a post from this year about reading in a makerspace, for those who are interested.
