User Generated Education

Too many classes, all grade levels, begin the school year with getting down to academic business – starting to cover content, discussing expectations regarding academic requirements, giving tests, and other academic information provided by the teacher to the students in a mostly one-way communication.  The human or social element is way too often disregarded.

I believe that all classes, regardless of grade level including through graduate school, should begin with focusing on having the students make connections between themselves and the educator; and between one another.  I want students to learn about one another in a personal way.  I want to learn about my individual students so my instructional strategies can be more personalized and tailored to their needs and interests.  Beginning class with a focus on connections rather than content gives learners the following messages:

• You are the focus of the class not me.
• You are important as a learner in this class.
• You will be expected to engage in the learning activities during class time.  You will be an active learner.
• You will be expected to do collaborative learning during the class time.
• I, as the class facilitator, will be just that – a facilitator.  I will introduce the learning activities, but you will be responsible for the actual learning.
• I will get to know you as a learner and try to help you find learning activities that are of interest to you. (From my post: Beginning the School Year: It’s About Connections Not Content)

Two things that I believe needs to occur at the beginning of the schools year:

1. Get to know the learners – as individuals with unique backgrounds, interests, strengths, weaknesses.
2. Establish a learning community where all learners are seen as having value in our classroom

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Getting to Know Learners

One of our primary goals at the beginning of the school year should be to get to know our students. This is important for several reasons. First, the better we know our students, and the more they know we know them, the more invested they become in school. Also, a dynamic and vigorous learning environment is built on relationships. When we create strong connections with our students, we create a learning environment where risk-taking and collaborative learning can take place. Finally, the better we know our students, the better we can help craft learning experiences that match who they are. Knowing our students is fundamental to real differentiation (6 Strategies For Getting To Know Your Students).

To put into practice what I discussed above, I am going to have my gifted 3rd-6th grade students do the following Hyperdoc starting with our first meeting together.

Link to the Google Doc – https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pi54QMZVoE0X6NWW6gKSe2MFsuLEqfbq6wYgkNb4Aec/edit?usp=sharing

Using a Hyperdoc such as this has the additional benefits:

• It leverages the use of technology which consistently is of high interest, high engagement for my learners.
• It is a Choice Board.  Choice Boards:
  • Allows students more freedom with a choice of activities
  • Allows students to work at their own pace
  • Promotes independence and responsibility (Differentiate Learning With Choice Boards)
• It supports several of the ISTE Standards for Students:
  • 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.
  • Digital Citizen: Students recognize the rights, responsibilities and opportunities of living, learning and working in an interconnected digital world, and they act and model in ways that are safe, legal and ethical.
  • Knowledge Constructor: Students critically curate a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others.
  • Creative Communicator: Students communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate to their goals. (https://www.iste.org/standards/standards/for-students)

Building a Learning Community

Along with getting to know my students, having them get to learn more about their classmates, and hopefully, assisting them get to learn more about themselves. community building activities are important in my classroom. It begins the first minute of the first day of the first week of school and continues throughout the entire school year.

From Columbia University:

Community building in the classroom is about creating a space in which students and instructors are committed to a shared learning goal and achieve learning through frequent collaboration and social interaction (Adams & Wilson, 2020; Berry, 2019; McMillan & Chavis, 1986). Research shows that when students feel that they belong to their academic community, that they matter to one another, and that they can find emotional, social, and cognitive support for one another, they are able to engage in dialogue and reflection more actively and take ownership and responsibility of their own learning (Baker, 2010; Berry, 2019; Brown, 2001; Bush et al. 2010; Cowan, 2012; Lohr & Haley, 2018; Sadera et al., 2009).  (Community Building in the Classroom).

. . . and from ASCD:

A growing body of research confirms the benefits of building a sense of community in school. Students in schools with a strong sense of community are more likely to be academically motivated (Solomon, Battistich, Watson, Schaps, & Lewis, 2000); to act ethically and altruistically (Schaps, Battistich, & Solomon, 1997); to develop social and emotional competencies (Solomon et al., 2000); and to avoid a number of problem behaviors, including drug use and violence (Resnick et al., 1997). (Creating a School Community)

I’ve written several blog posts about team building activities I’ve used with my elementary students and often use again with them as (1) they really like the activities, and (2) there is almost always more to learn even in repeat activities. (Note: team building activities or group initiatives are quite different than ice breakers. The group of students are presented with a challenging problem that require cooperation, communication, and creativity. It is the challenge that my students love.)

Team-Building with Elementary Students

Yes, there are mounds of curricula students must master in a wide breadth of subjects, but education does not begin and end with a textbook or test. Other skills must be honed, too, not the least of which is how to get along with their peers and work well with others. This is not something that can be cultivated through rote memorization or with strategically placed posters. Students must be engaged and cooperation must be practiced, and often (10 Team-Building Games That Promote Critical Thinking)

My blog post, Team-Building with Elementary Students, describes ten team building activities I have successfully done with elementary students. Their favorites have been:

• Traveling Tangrams
• The Great Egg Drop
• Pipeline
• Catch the Foxtail (their absolute favorite)

Team Building Activities That Support Maker Education, STEM, and STEAM 

Since my gifted classes have a strong focus on STEM, STEAM, and Maker Education, I often use team building activities that not only build community but also supports STEM concepts:

Team Building Activities

Other team building activities can be found within the following resources:

• Team-Building with Elementary Students 
• Teampedia
• Wilderdom

As a parting shot, I’d like to mention that some teachers believe they do not have the time to do activities such as these. To that, I counter with several arguments for their use:

• Getting to know the students and building a community often act as a form of prevention for behavioral management problems. When learners have trust in their teacher, their peers, and the environment, they become more engaged and less likely to “act up.” This form of prevention actually saves time in that the educator doesn’t have to deal with misbehavior.
• School should be lots more than just the transmittance of content. It should include social emotional life skills that will assist learners in navigating in their worlds outside of school now and in their futures.