Waynflete Elementary

The Waynflete lesson plan asked students to closely observe leaves that had been collected using magnifying glasses and close looking. One of these students often struggled with staying on task and was keen on distracting one of his peers. Instead of removing him from the activity, we redirected him to his making by asking provoking questions about his process which motivated him to keep working on his piece. When he had decided he was finished with his leaf, we gave him the job of starting clean up for his classmates, this kept him busy and safe while his peers finished working. 

We had two students - 1 on the first and 1 on the second - who communicated through body language and words that they were uninterested in using leaves for the close looking lesson that was provided to them. Instead of allowing them to remove themselves from the activity or force them to push through, we pivoted their subject of observation. We still wanted them to fulfill the goal - which was being able to observe a subject closely and draw from it - but instead of leaves one student observed a stuffed animal and the other chose to use a drawing from the graphic novel they were reading. This still got them to hit those learning goals while keeping them motivated.