As a teacher, you may be inclined to make the choices in your classroom. But, student choice can be a key ingredient to successful learning!
Think about the perfect pancake. The batter is mixed with perfectly-measured ingredients and a delicate hand until it is whipped and fluffy. The griddle is heated to perfection, a slight sizzle emanating from the hot surface. Your best pancake spatula is thoughtfully placed at your right, and your fanciest plates are lined up to the left. The radio plays your favorite song in the background, and a smile spreads across your face. You can almost taste the pancakes as you flip them, perfect circles turning golden brown, your mouth watering.
Then, you serve your family, a plethora of delicious, fresh toppings lining the sidebar. Syrup drizzles down full stacks of pancakes, butter melting against the warm tops. Fresh fruit and chocolate chips sprinkle over plates of bliss. Next, you turn your finest fork on its side and it sinks into the fluffy pancake, cutting through the perfect circle like warm butter. When you bring the delicate bite to your mouth, anticipation builds as the warm pancake touches your tongue. Finally, you close your eyes in satisfaction and the delectable breakfast melts in your mouth.
Now, you may be wondering how pancakes relate to your classroom. As you read, a lot of planning and different ingredients went into that perfect pancake breakfast. Of course, the cook didn’t wake up late, throw some random ingredients into a bowl, and then dump them on the unheated griddle. Without planning and the right ingredients, those pancakes would have been an epic fail. You can create the circumstances for the perfect pancake breakfast in your classroom, too.
The Perfect Ingredients for a Successful Lesson
Your perfect pancake breakfast in mind, you may be dreaming of a lesson to bring similar satisfaction. There are many components, or ingredients, that go into planning the perfect lesson. Planning is the basic ingredient.
- Preparation is key! The perfect lesson starts with the perfect plan. If you start planning early, you are more likely to produce an executable lesson without hiccups or stress.
- Flexibility is important. Even with the perfect plan, something may come up. Having flexibility, and a back-up plan, will ensure that your lesson goes off without a hitch.
- Choices increase satisfaction. With the topping bar above, every family member was able to prepare their perfect pancake! Little Susie doesn’t like chocolate chips, but she had a variety of fresh fruit to choose from. Joe likes a ton of syrup so he piled it on his high stack! Mom prefers whipped cream, and she spiraled it atop her warm, fluffy pancakes.
Allowing Student Choice to Increase Engagement
Just like the different pancakes above, our students learn differently. Some students have different learning styles, and some may connect with a different type of activity. Allowing students different options and the opportunity to choose ensures that they are able to connect and engage with the lesson. It encourages students to find a learning opportunity to support their learning style while still ensuring that they pick up on the content. Student choice increases student satisfaction and engagement just like allowing the personalization of the perfect pancake!
You can plan the perfect lesson from the ground up, or you can use ready-to-go lesson plans that have solid building blocks. Now, finding these lesson plans may be a little overwhelming as there are so many lesson plans online, but you can easily find a series of lesson plans that are thoroughly-planned, easy-to-execute, and will set your students up for success.
These Google Drive activities encourage Student Choice by providing alternative activities that allow for mastery train of thought, time-lining, analyzing, comparison, and creativity. With such diverse activities, students have the choice to find the learning opportunity that suits their preferences best. This will not only increase student engagement, but it will encourage retention and deeper understanding.
Try these Google Drive Student Choice activities in your digital classroom and let me know how they go!
Roaring 20s 1920s America Digital Choice Google -Ready Task Activity Assignment
American Progressive Era Digital Choice Google – Ready Task Activity Assignment
American Immigration Digital Choice Google – Ready Task Activity Assignment
World War I WWI in America Digital Choice Google -Ready Task Activity Assignment
American Industry Industrial Revolution Digital Choice Task Activity Assignment
American Imperialism Digital Choice Task Activity Assignment
Happy Choices!
