Student Self-Direction 12-3

What drives a student to remain engaged in a self-directed activity?
    My first response to what drives a student to remain engaged in an activity is when student have choices.  Also when students have a personal connection and have a chance to share their thinking with others they are more motivated.  Take for instance the 6th grade social studies wiki we created.  Students were highly engaged during the time given to post comments. In just one day and an evening we saw students getting on to the wiki, starting to research and back up what they believe and responding to others.  Students love talking with on another and middle schoolers are social- evidence of that is clearly seen as students are responding to each others questions and expressing agreement.  Even if some comments are superficial- the foundations are being built.  Now, that this is kicked off, how do we keep the excitement?  How do we make sure all kids have a voice?

What are some elements that you think need to be in place?
    Teachers need to be very clear on what they want the students to learn and at what level.  Students must have a certain level of knowledge and schema and be clear on the end product expectations.  Students need to be reflective and know what they know and what they don’t know and look at that in a positive way.  Teachers become the coach and learner right along with the student.  Teachers need to be aware of letting students do the thinking and not doing it for them.

One Wonderful Wiki Moment

So, after introducing our students to our wiki today and allowing them to experiment I had some students ask me, can we get on to this and add onto it at home?  The cost of the wiki? Free.  The engagement of students? Priceless!

Groundwork (Chapter 6)

Groundwork is such a great keyword for chapter 6 and essential when designing any product.  I can’t agree more that the careful planning that goes into instruction has a direct impact on student achievement.  I like the focus on accessing prior knowledge and assessing where students are at a given time and place.  This chapter fits perfectly in with the district’s focus on the formative assessment process.  In particular I liked the section of the chapter that ask the reader, “What tools are best for the job? Imagine these tools in students’ hands.  What do students already know how to do?  What will they need to know?”  As I experience introducing new tools and techniques to my students I have spent the time to lay groundwork…but like trying something new there are glitches and unforeseen issues.  There have been times that I wanted to give up even when I thought I had scaffolded the lesson- only to not anticipate student’s questions and struggles to do things as an independent learner.  Take for instance, setting kids up with an e-mail account.  While the steps were spelled out and we had students fill a hard paper copy out of what needed to be done before every entering anything in a computer- it ended up being one of my nightmare days.  All I dreamed about that night was the little crazy, insanely hard to read verification codes…!!!