Student Voice and Choice
STUDENT VOICE
Student voice is when students have input on the learning that occurs in their classroom. It is less about the tool that is used and more about how that tool is used to foster student voice. Below are some examples of how just a few tools can be used to create an environment that allows for students to have voice in their education.
Google Forms
Google Forms is a great tool to use as an entrance ticket, or a way to "check in" with students each morning. The privacy and anonymity of Forms allows for honest feedback from students and great insight into learning preferences, personality types and social emotional learning. Forms can be used as:
A beginning of the day check-in
An end of the day check-in
A way to gain feedback about learning preferences
A way to gain insight into interests and passions that drive topics of instruction
Wonderopolis
Wonderopolis is an excellent website that gets students thinking about questions they have about the world around them. Teachers can use these "wonders" to gain insight about topics that students are most interested in learning about. Consider using Wonderopolis to:
Create a "Wonder Board" in your classroom
Spark questions that generate topics of learning
Start the day with a Wonder of the Day
Foster creative and deep thinking- students can add their own wonders!
Pair with Flipgrid where they can respond to the Wonder of the Day
Flipgrid
Flipgrid is another tool that can be used to amplify student voice. Gaining student insight can be done easily through the use of Flipgrid. Various topics exist within the Flipgrid Discovery Library that are easy for teachers to replicate and use for their own classrooms.
STUDENT CHOICE
Student choice in the classroom does not have to be a chaotic circus that some imagine. By incorporating choice in how students access learning material or how students show what they have learned, choice does not have to be a daunting task. Below are a few examples of how you can easily incorporate choice into your classroom.
Book Creator
Book Creator is an excellent tool that has so many choices built right into one tool. Students can share their learning in ways that meet their needs best. Students can access various tools such as drawing, photo, image search, text, audio recording and video.
Seesaw
By creating an open ended activity, students can utilize any of the built in tools within Seesaw to engage in the learning process. Rather than assigning them the tool to use, allowing them to choose a tool gives studnets more ownership in their learning.
Choice Boards
Choice Boards are a great way for students to interact with learning content in a way that is controlled yet still offers students the ability to feel the freedom to be in charge of their learning.
