Voice and Choice - Dissecting ISTE Standard for Student "Empowered Learner"

ISTE Student Standard #1- Empowered Learner: Students leverage technology to take an active role in choosing, achieving and demonstrating competency in their learning goals, informed by the learning sciences.

The idea of centers is nothing new in education. In fact, if you are an elementary teacher centers/stations are probably a part of your day, every day. They allow you to work with small groups, they allow for embedded movement and centers/stations can be a great way to differentiate. But how often do we let students choose which center/station to learn a concept from? Or even yet, how often do we help students learn which ways they learn best through giving voice and choice of how they learn and feedback to help them think through what works best for them? For most teachers, this isn’t our natural way to teach but with the advent of this thing called the internet, we no longer have to be the imparter of all things known as knowledge in the classroom. Beyond that, we shouldn’t take that role on a regular basis. We should be growing our students into lifelong learners that know how to learn. Is this missing from your classroom?

For more years than less, teachers have spent 7 hours a day teaching all students in their classroom the exact same information knowing that some kids would get it quickly, some kids would eventually get it and some kids would never get it. We learned to teach to the middle. We hope that the quicker learners will help the slower learners as we work the classroom helping the average to slower learners and we have this predictable bell curve every year of what signifies our blood, sweat, and tears in trying to make a difference in this world.

Because of the closeness of information availability, our students no longer have to be completely dependent on the teacher to know the subject matter. The ubiquitousness of technology gives both the educator and the student the ability to consider the educational process differently. Platforms like YouTube and Khan Academy create opportunities for students to learn anytime, anywhere, and pretty much anything. Some students are doing just that. But how do we empower all students to be more involved in their learning path?

This is where giving them voice and choice in their learning process could make a difference. It’s not going to come naturally to them. One would think that when you say “Ok, kiddos you can choose how you want to learn this concept today - here are 3 choices” that they would be like, “finally!” But students are conditioned to learn the way we have taught them all these years. Tell me what I need to know so I can regurgitate it back to you to prove that I was listening in class. I’m not saying teachers don’t try to differentiate the way they instruct but let’s be real, most classes follow a predictable pattern of instruction that would look familiar to anyone walking in the door.

How do we change this? Options. It will take time on your part to create these options but what if students walked into class and there were 3 different stations in the room and they were given a rubric that let them know what they needed to learn that day. Let’s say the lesson was for third graders to learn about Electrical Circuits. You walked into the room and you see:

• Area 1 in the classroom is set up with 9-volt batteries, alligator clips, and a section of Christmas tree lights with one light available. (high tech)
• Area 2 set up with a video cued and ready to go in front of a group of desks. (low tech)
• Area 3 there is a small area in the front of the room where the teacher is waiting to lead a lesson on circuits. (no tech)

In the above case, you are creating voice and choice and have high tech, low tech, and no tech options all in the same lesson. But how can you empower your learners in other ways? 

What are ways you can look at ISTE Student Standard #1 "Students leverage technology to take an active role in choosing, achieving and demonstrating competency in their learning goals, informed by the learning sciences" in your classroom (yes, even a high school classroom) that would allow you to feel like you were introducing or even helping student master the concept of knowing what it means to be an empowered learner? If you are unsure, click on the link in the first line of this post and look at the breakdown of Standard 1, then create an opportunity. 

Other ideas for creating "Empowered Learner" opportunities in the classroom:

When In The Midst of Teaching You Know The Learning is Big

Friday I was working with my elective group- 8 students...7 from fourth grade and 1 from fifth grade all wanting to be on the CCS Lower School Tech Team. These 8 kids are awesome. They are smart, witty, creative, and self-motivated. It's an easy group to be with and enjoy.

Friday brought a smile to my face that hasn't gone away (despite the fact I whacked out my back getting out of the floor when working with 2 of them and haven't recovered yet)! You know that moment as a teacher when you are working with a group but you are also listening in and scanning the room to make sure everything is going as planned? It's an innate teacher sense...that ability to know what is going on even when you are fully immersed in the conversation at hand. I had 4 different things going on in the room at one time. One student was creating an instructional video on how to use Ozobots, two young ladies were creating a maze out of cardboard to look like the Titanic, I was introducing two other gentlemen to the Sphero SPRK+ robot, while I overheard three other gentlemen troubleshooting a Makey Makey to turn it into a piano. It was in that moment that I found the smile that I can't let go of. Each group was gleefully working together to create an Ocean-themed Escape Room experience for their teachers using STEM tools. Students were on task, active learning was happening and leaders were emerging.

As a rule, I tend to be a "finish what you started" type teacher. If a student picks something to learn, do, read, etc I encourage them to give it a complete chance. I don't force it, but I strongly suggest it (and this might even look like guilting them but that isn't my intention and I try not to push it that far).

We meet for 45 minutes on Friday afternoon for one quarter. Friday, we all had our plans we had been working on and all of a sudden some kids wanted to switch what they were doing. I let them. I was even surprised at myself. One student even said, "but what about the Scratch thing? Who is going to do that?" My answer was, "We will get to it if we get to it." (If there had been a mirror I probably would have looked into it to see who that was speaking). But here is what I learned from being flexible on Friday...

This is an elective. There is no grade and no sense of WE HAVE TO COMPLETE THIS IN ORDER TO GET THROUGH THE PACING GUIDE. These students chose to be with me. I don't take that lightly. I want them to enjoy this process. In fact, the lone fifth grader really didn't want to be in there after he realized he was the only fifth grader but since he had an injured foot, none of the other electives were really a good fit for him. He stuck with it, and I chose to empower him because of that.  In fact, I just sent an email to him and cc'd his mom because of what happened Friday. I'm even going to leave his name in here for you because I'm just so stinking proud of him:

Noah,

I want to thank you for sticking it out on the tech team elective. I know you were a bit disappointed because you were the only fifth grader that got that elective but I want you to see what I see because of you...

You are a leader. Friday when you were working with those other fourth grade boys they were listening to you intently and you were teaching them about the Makey Makey. It was an amazing moment for me. I love seeing students teaching other students! Because those fourth grade boys look up to you, they were 100% into learning more about the Makey Makey. I couldn't be everywhere in the room at one time but I tend to listen in to everyone's conversation. At one point I heard you troubleshooting and saying "Oh wait, she said we could use the metal on a pencil." Your hands-on approach to figuring the issue out without a teacher's help is just what I like education to be like. You have an inquisitive nature that will serve you well in life...especially since you have such a teachable spirit. 

Thank you Noah for being you. You have risen to become my "right hand man" in this group and I appreciate that about you. I've sent this to your mom as well because mommas always like to know that other people see how amazing their kids are too!

Mrs. Davis 

So I guess I am sharing this for 3 reasons:

1. To suggest that you get out of your own way at times. Who I am as a person and teacher often thinks that one of the most important things to teach is perseverance. Friday, I let that part of me take second place and what I saw caused smiles. You are never too old to learn. Here I am at age 49 and I decided because this was an elective I would be more flexible in the plan. 
2. When students get to choose their learning, they are engaged. I had a plan and we will still get there but the truth is, allowing my students to adjust and switch made for one of the biggest edu-smiles I've had in a long time. 
3. Know your students. I have some really strong-willed guys in this group but instead of forcing them into a box to finish this process, I've let them each flourish in a way that they both enjoy and are successful at doing. For one kid, it's allowing him to do his thing by himself. For another, it's letting him become a leader, for two girls it's allowing them to be together, for other students it's pairing them based on their skills. That can't happen if you don't know your students gifts and talents. It often takes a while to see what they are. Once you do, don't stick to your grouping guns just because that's where you started, be willing to help each student shine!

Educators as Learning Catalyst Facilitators

Facilitator- Educators facilitate learning with technology to support student achievement of the ISTE Standards for Students. Educators:

• Foster a culture where students take ownership of their learning goals and outcomes in both independent and group settings.
• Manage the use of technology and student learning strategies in digital platforms, virtual learning environments, hands-on makerspaces or in the field.
• Create learning opportunities that challenge students to use a design process and/or computational thinking to innovate and solve problems.
• Model and nurture creativity and creative expression to communicate ideas, knowledge or connections. (ISTE Standards for Educators, 2016)

The idea of educators being seen as facilitators of learning is both freeing and frightening. This concept worries some people into thinking that technology will replace teachers. Some individuals feel that the role of a facilitator diminishes the value of the teacher but I strongly disagree. The role of the educator as a facilitator empowers the teacher in ways that are bigger than any individual classroom:

1. If teachers create learning environments that allows for creativity and voice/choice then students start realizing that education isn't about test taking and being fed but it's about curiosity and constant improvement of ones knowledge base. Mindsets can be changed.
2. Becoming a facilitator of learning puts the onus of education on the student. The long held notion of education has been that it is the teacher's responsibility for the learning (or lack of learning) taking place in the classroom. By facilitating learning through various forms of instructional delivery both personally and technologically, it becomes more apparent when a student isn't doing their part in the learning process. It also allows the teachers the ability to have "evidence" to support what they see as a lack of effort from students through the use of software that shows the amount of time students are actually putting into their learning. Being a facilitator in this regard actually teaches students how to study and learn based on feedback teachers are getting from well chosen technology platforms.
3. Becoming a facilitator of learning allows for more relational opportunities in the student's educational career. Research shows us that investing in children personally increases test scores. Becoming a facilitator by embracing tech tools that streamlines some processes and allows educators more time to work with small group and one-on-one experiences with their students. Many fear being seen as facilitators because of being afraid artificial intelligence robots or well written algorithms will replace the role of the teacher. But humanity needs humanity. I am a firm believer that teachers that truly care, have goals for their students, and seek to both empower and mentor will make such a big difference as facilitators of learning. 

When I ask myself and others why I became an educator it mostly boils down wanting to make a difference in the lives of others and having a passion for learning. The role of educators as learning catalyst facilitators will empower me to become more than I have been able to be in lives of individual students. The question is, will we adjust to this remarkable opportunity and look for ways to leverage our educational landscape to create this type of role for our teachers or will we digitize what we know and not take advantage of more opportunities for relational connections with our students?