Student Voice and Choice
Created by: Curriculum Committee
Student Generated Ideas
What is the teacher's role in promoting student identification and exploration of interest?
Student Generated Ideas
Examples: voting, brainstorming, webbing.
ABA
- Giving choices with visuals in small field
- Frequent preference assessments
- Voting with limited choices
Self-Contained
- We embed activities (games, toys) on a shelf for self directed explorations
- Choice boards are used to facilitate individual choices
- We vote on books, on music
Small Preschool
Small
Preschool
- Voting on themes or toys to have out
- Lots of kid voting using pictures
- Listening to their conversations
- Helping/Guiding them to make choices
Half-Day Gen Ed
- Vote- smart board, stickers, pieces of paper, cubes, manipulatives, graphing
- Vote with bodies between two teachers, stand by the teacher with your choice
- Help their organize their thoughts during class discussions
- Observe their play, present to group and pose discussions
- Teacher presents ideas possible from student interest and have students generate ideas for specific details within an area
- Present items or ideas from provocation to spark interest
Half-Day Gen Ed
Team Taught
- Facilitator: setting up the environment to allow them explore
Team Taught
Full-Day Gen Ed
Full Day Gen Ed
- Voting: tally mark, check, x, body in different location, name writing, hand position, stickers, tokens
- Whole group brainstorming
- Smart board or chart paper webbing
- Listening and observing student interest
- Putting teasers out to gauge interest level
Choices
What opportunities do students have to make choices? How and when are choices offered to students?
Choices
ABA
- Choice which center they go to and when
ABA
Self-Contained
Self-Contained
Small Preschool
Small Preschool
- What kind of art materials to use
- Choose partners for walking in the hall/at centers
- Offered throughout the day
- Behaviors/theraputic choices
Half-Day Gen Ed
Half-Day Gen Ed
- Decisions about daily activites (going outside, when to have centers)
- Choices within open-ended activities
Team Taught
Team Taught
- Given multiple materials and variety so they can choose their interest
- Ample time for exploration
- Choices are offered constantly throughout the day
Full-Day Gen Ed
Full-Day Gen Ed
- Choice of materials to interact with during center and free choice time
- Choice of peer to play with
- Choice of duration of play in center
- Choice of place to sit at group time and eating
- Choices given as a redirection or for problem solving
Teacher/Student Goal Setting
What are ways that teachers can help students set goals/choosing a class goal? How does a class team, including students identify a skill that they want to shape?
Teacher/Student Goal Setting
ABA
- Use of token economy board to try and reach a goal
ABA
Self-Contained
Self-Contained
- Choosing a goal based on character education
- Complete preference assessments with wide variety of choices
- Give students pictures to choose from that are associated with what they want to learn
Small Preschool
- Asking students about what they want to learn this year- using visuals
Small Preschool
Half-Day Gen Ed
Half-Day Gen Ed
Team Taught
- Plant something in the room and see what students navigate to it
Team Taught
Full-Day Gen Ed
- Using class meeting to recognize a problem in the classrom, brainstorm ways to solve problem and identify goal
- Sit one on one with students and use visuals to create goal
- Pre-K- look at strenghts and weaknesses to create academic goal
Full-Day Gen Ed
Student/Teacher Created Activities
Student/Teacher Created Activities
What information do you use when designing center time activities? How is student voice and choice demonstrated during center time- based on the needs of our students? How are teachers encouraging problem solving and critical thinking? How can teachers support and facilitate student learning during center time?
ABA
ABA
- Common assessment and interests
- Encourage problem solving skills by creating tasks that would be a struggle to complete independently so that the students have to ask for help
- Giving them pieces of what we are supposed to do and then having them ask for the additional piece to complete the activity
Self-Contained
Self-Contained
Small Preschool
Small Preschool
- Based off student interest
- They decide on where they start in center
- Asking to go to a center with a certain friend
- If they ask for something that's not out
- Building on student play themes
Half-Day Gen Ed.
Half-Day Gen Ed
Team Taught
Team Taught
- Data to see where students needs are
- Independent use of timers for turn taking
- Using literacy to teach problem solving
- Encouraging them to talk to each other to turn take/problem solve
- Teaching Parker's Promise to take care of each other and what that means
Full-Day Gen Ed
Full-Day Gen Ed
Other Ways to Encourage Voice and Choice
Other Ways to Encourage Voice and Choice
Environment: How is the environment adapted for the needs of your students? How do your classroom management procedures incorporate voice and choice?
ABA
- Having access to multiple items in calming corner
- Having choices in motor room
ABA
Self-Contained
Self-Contained
Small Preschool
Small Preschool
Half-Day Gen Ed
Half-Day Gen Ed
Team Taught
- Some students need more adult direction than others to make their choices
Team Taught
Full-Day Gen Ed
Full-Day Gen Ed
Relationships
Relationships
How are the relationships between peers supported? How do you foster kids working together collaboratively? How do we help students appreciate and listen to their peers voice and choice?
ABA
- Encourage peer relationships-run programs that focus on students looking/interacting with their peers to earn reinforcement
- Foster collaborative learning by finding common interests and creating activities that revolve around that common interest
ABA
Self-Contained
Self-Contained
Small Preschool
Small Preschool
Half-Day Gen Ed
Half-Day Gen Ed
Full-Day Gen Ed
Full-Day Gen Ed