Students are truly involved in a constructivist classroom. They have choices, both academically and socially. I would like to start giving my kids more choices that lead to a feeling of ownership. Students will feel proud of what they are learning through lessons and activities that include choice with student direction. Tomorrow, I am hosting spring conferences in my classroom. The conferences will be student led. My students will show their parents what they have been learning in each academic and social area. If you would like to see what the students are doing at each center, please go to an earlier post titled, Student Led Conferences.
We practiced for our conferences today! I matched up the kids so that they could pretend that they were leading their parents around the classroom. They enjoyed being on their own! I set the perimeter for the lesson, but I did not tell them what to do each step of the way. They completed their conference form with their partner at their own speed, with an individual touch.
Other Constructivist activities/lessons this week…… (Focus Area – Choice)
· Ruth Law Newspaper
o They needed to include an article on Ruth Law…I opened up the rest of the newspaper to be student choice. They included sports news, advertisements, For Sale items, and comics. They got very creative!
· Seating Arrangement
o I don’t think I would do this any other time of year, but for the last two weeks, they made their own seating arrangements.
· Inch Scavenger Hunt
o Using Ipads, the kids found items around the room to measure. They had to take a picture of each item. They needed to find one item that measured one inch another that measured two inches all the way up to twelve inches. They had a lot of freedom with this activity.
· Voting
o Stories
o Games
o Rewards
How is student choice seating going for you?
ReplyDeleteI am thinking of trying a "flexible seating" model for my classroom next year.
Other 2nd grade teachers in my district have tried it and they said students don't argue because they know they are making a choice of where they can learn the best.
Would you ever consider doing this more often?
hmmmmmm.......the kids did an ok job with their seat choice, but I think that I will just save this fun priviledge for once a year! I switch my kid's seating arrangement every three weeks. I have found that at the second grade level, they become very friendly with the kids around them. I see them develop relationships with the kids that they are surrounded by and during a choice time, they sometimes play with those kids too. I felt that my room got very "cliquey" when they picked their own seating arrangement. I like them to have a chance to sit by everyone in the classroom at leasy once!
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