I have had an amazing two months of sharing, connecting, and learning in various places in Canada and the US. One of the things at which I have marvelled is that no matter where I went, there was a familiar face (or two) in the audience or organizing. Having a PLN with whom to learn is such a joy, but I truly value when the connections transcend social media and I get to connect in person. I even got to stay with Christy Cate in Texas and Mandy Froelich in Wisconsin. Seems crazy that being connected online has meant true friendships with so many awesome and inspiring people!
Although each experience was memorable, I really want to share about the student panel discussion I moderated in Plano, Texas at the R10 Conference for which I was honoured to be the keynote speaker. It is this experience which prompted this post, thinking about the many ways we can bring student voices into teaching and learning.
The theme of the conference was, Amplify Student Voice so it was fitting that Craig Gray, one of the organizers reached out to me with the idea of moderating a panel asking kids questions about their learning.
These are the questions I asked:
- Briefly introduce yourself and what you are passionate about
- What is an example of a time you felt like your voice was really valued in school?
- How has technology helped to amplify your voice? (or not)
- What is one thing you would change about your school if you had the opportunity?
- What is one piece of advice you would give to teachers or administrators to help amplify student voice?
We then opened the questions to the audience. One teacher asked whether students enjoyed learning from a computer program (most didn’t) and what role social media played (can’t believe I didn’t ask that one). I wish we had live streamed it because the conversation was so powerful and the kids were so awesome. I did capture a few of the responses in the Wakelet below.
Immediately following the panel, I interviewed Jillian and Julie, along with their teacher Tisha Poncio, for the Social LEADia podcast. Talk about exemplifying digital leadership! You can check it out here.
When I was in Burlington Vermont at the Dynamic Landscapes conference in May, there were so many examples of students learning and leading and presenting. I spent an entire day going to those sessions and was so impressed by all of them!
My “world tour” (as my friends jokingly call it) culminated in Philly when I gave an Ignite at ISTE. In the ignite, I shared about how Leigh Cassell, Brock Baker, and I are empowering student voice through the ONedSschat. It is an amazing way to get your kids talking about topics which are meaningful to them using social media to connect with other students in the world.
Because of the topic, I was honoured to speak alongside student speakers who also blew me away! In particular, was a student named Ethan Duncan. Check out his #ISTE19 reflection:
The fact is, including student voice via a panel, presentations, or ignites is so easy to do.
In your classroom, you can have an idea of the WHAT (content) and WHY (curriculum expectations) and give kids ownership of the HOW to get there via Choice Boards, project based or inquiry based learning opportunities. And at the end of the unit, asking your kids:
Keep it! Ditch it! How about ______??
are open ended provocations that will give you feedback on how things went and may give you good ideas on how to proceed next time.
If you are an administrator, considering have a student focus group (not just made up of typical leaders) to whom you could simply ask:
What are we doing well? and
What can we do better?
What are some examples of how you actively involve students in their learning?