LESSON ONE What is a student led activity?
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...regardless of what else is going on, the more ‘quality’ time students spend engaged in content, the more of that content they learn. "
Bill Pelz
LESSON ONE
-What is a student led activity-
By the end of this unit you will be familiar with some of the major characteristics of a student led activity in the classroom. Knowing these major characteristics will enable you to discriminate a student led classroom activity from all other classroom activities, which will give you the tools you need to create your own student led activity.
Learning Outcomes
- You will be able to explain what a student lead classroom is.
- You will learn the major concepts and characteristics that discriminate a student lead classroom from a teacher lead classroom.
What are your assumptions?
In this unit we are going to begin learning about student led classroom activities. It would be easy for me to tell you what student led classroom activities are but in this mini course you will be constructing your own knowledge. Before we begin I would like to know what your assumptions are about student led classroom activities.
Assignment 1
-Assumptions-
Write some of your assumptions about what you think a student led classroom activity would look like. Use the following questions to help guide your writing;
- Do you think it makes sense to hand over the reigns and allow your students to lead classroom activities?
- Why or why not?
- What could go wrong?
- What could go right?
- Do you have any experience using this or experiencing this as a student?
- If so share your experiences?
- Have you taken charge of learning something in your personal life that you could relate to the idea of student led activity? (learning a new sport, a video game, a language, how to use technology?)
Assignment 2
-Share Assumptions-
Now that you have written about your own assumptions I would like you to read a few of your classmates assumptions papers. When you are done I would like you to write a summary of some of the common themes that came up in your readings.
What do the experts have to say?
Now that you have thought about your own assumptions, and you have come into contact with some of your peers assumptions, lets take a look at some of the teachers in the field who use the method of student led activities, and see what they have to say.
Please read the following article and watch the following video.
- For this first reading just read the intro and the first principle (page 33-37)
- Please watch the following video
- Once you have completed the article and video please find and read two additional resources related to student led activities.(one must be an article, the second can be a video)
Assignment 3
-Group Activity-
Once you have read and or watched 4 sources of information you will get into groups. Each group will select a leader. Whoever has the next birthday will be leader. The leader will facilitate a discussion to find out and record the common principles and characteristics found in the resources that distinguish a student led activity from a teacher led one.
At the end of the activity the group should have a list they will share with the class, of at least 6 characteristics they think are vital in making up a student led activity.
Assignment 4
-Group Sharing-
The group leader will select a presenter to share the group findings with the class. During the sharing each group will be taking notes on the other groups list of important characteristics that make up a student led activity.
Assignment 5
-Group Reflection-
Back in your group the presenter will select a new group leader to facilitate a discussion about the classes findings. The goal of this discussion is to talk about differences and shared characteristics that your group had with the rest of the class.
At the end of this activity your group should compile a new list of the 8 most important characteristics that your group believes discriminates a student led activity from all other classroom activities.
Assignment 6
-Individual Reflection-
In the last activity of lesson one you will write a reflective blog on your learning experience during the entire lesson. The reflective process is a great way to write down your thoughts about what you just leanred, kind of like a review. An optional reading on the power of reflective writing in the classroom can be found at this Link
Use the following questions to guide your blog post;
- What did you find in your research?
- What surprised you?
- What did not?
- How have your assumptions changed?
- If your assumptions have not changed, please explain?
- What were some of the most vital student led characteristics you found in your group work and your classmates groups work?
- Please discuss any thoughts you had during this lesson.
Click here to move on to lesson two.
Resources
1.Pelz, Bill. "Three Principles of Online Pedegogy." JALN Volume 8 Issue 3 (June 2004) Web
2.Classroom Observation: Student Autonomy. You Tube. Web. June 2012