Sage Advice: Students Take Responsibility for Their Learning

My students create PLNs (personal learning networks) using Netvibes for each of their major topics of study. Using a PLN, they are able to quickly glean the latest news from many sources and literally become the experts on their topic. Some have been asked to author chapters of books and others to present virtually. Building a PLN is a skill that helps students shape their education and become experts in whatever they study.

Vicki Davis

Teacher

Westwood Schools

Camilla, Georgia

By showing up to class every day!

Kerri Stern

Middle school English teacher

Calmont School

Topanga, California

By envisioning themselves as young mathematicians or scientists. When they realize that they are doing the work of those professions, their education becomes more than doing well on the test. Students want to know the "why" and start asking questions that spring from their own wonderings.

Marsha Ratzel

Sixth-grade math and science teacher

Leawood Middle School

Leawood, Kansas

Our school district revised the world-cultures curriculum to include China. Soon after, the fifth- and sixth-grade class wrote me a letter. The students were impressed with the emerging superpower and the role China would play in the future, and they questioned why they were learning French instead of Chinese. So I explored avenues to bring this language program to our school. Within months, we had a grant and we found a fantastic teacher. We are now entering the third year of our Mandarin Chinese program, and in addition to learning the basics of the language, our students have learned about Chinese culture, including calligraphy, tea ceremony, and the Chinese New Year.

Suzanne Ward Ivans

Chief school administrator

Stockton Borough School District

Stockton, New Jersey

They take the helm as we explore relevant and meaningful content. Their questions and curiosities navigate. Our journey yields learning that is exciting, unique, and, ultimately, their own.

Kristen Montgomery

English teacher

Capital District Writing Project

Canajoharie, New York

Each year my seniors complete a series of three essays based on the career field they want to explore (or enter), the specific career they hope to attain, and what education and training is needed to attain this goal. That way, not only do they know what they have to do to arrive at their dreams, they also know what to expect when they get there.

Nichole Folkman

English department chair

Hartsburg-Emden High School

Hartsburg, Illinois

Because they're homeschooled, my children are free to stretch their wings and study anything they want! My seven-year-old is fascinated with the Titanic, which has led to many discoveries in different subjects. I think the key to any subject and any child is to capture his or her interest, then step back to watch the results.

Michelle Kulas

Connecticut

I provide inquiry questions, the writing foundation, the passion for the subject. They embrace the structure and the method, then develop their own style and manner of learning and writing. The teacher provides the clay; the student molds.

Richard Murphy

AP English II teacher and director of counseling

I have students develop a learning contract from a list of possibilities. They then choose three to accomplish during the semester. Students can also suggest a learning goal.

Ronald Thompson

Associate professor

Richard J. Daley College

Chicago, Illinois

We use goal setting, formative assessments, and progress monitoring throughout the building. When we teach students how to take ownership for their learning, they begin to understand the importance of making steps towards the end goal. Rubrics must be clear and use student-friendly terminology.

Gloria Hall

Principal

Aspire Academy

Gary, Indiana

By challenging me to inspire their growth and potential to become the future leaders in our world. When their bright eyes are wide with anticipation of what I will share with them, I don't take lightly the opportunity to motivate their dreams and explore how they can make a difference.

Samantha Mulford-Phillips

Teacher, grades 3-4

Mayfield Elementary School

Mayfield, New York

Students who take classes online shape their education by learning the responsibility of completing assignments according to their learning style without a teacher hanging over their shoulder and bells ringing in the background. I help them when they struggle with this learning process. My students often successfully complete our online classes realizing what they are capable of achieving.

Ashley Carbone

U.S. history instructor

Florida Virtual School

Orlando, Florida

My students shape who they are and who they will be through the use of technology. Although the California state test does not demonstrate that they are proficient in the basics, they do show me how advanced they are in skills for the twenty-first century: communication, collaboration, and ingenuity.

Anel Albertão

Graduate student, University of San Francisco

Classroom teacher

Mountain View, California

I set up my classes so that students can personalize their assignments and projects, which enables them to pursue their passions and interests. By appealing to their self-interest, I have created a learning environment that is meaningful, passionate, and student-led. I put students in the driver's seat, and offer navigation when they get lost.

Christopher Greenslate

Social justice and journalism teacher

La Costa Canyon High School

Carlsbad, California

My students volunteer to help their peers. I set up a tutoring day every Wednesday after school from 3-4 pm. But I don't get to tutor; instead, those who volunteer get to do it. It is working well for both sides because there are so many values the students share. There is humility, kindness of words and action, perseverance, diligence, truthfulness, and even laughter once in awhile. I am there to coordinate, clarify, and learn -- even though I am their teacher. I have five student volunteers and I also have students who come in for peer tutoring. The tutors are seventh graders and those who come in for help are in grades 5-8

Everly Rose Camarillo Platon

Seventh-grade homeroom teacher

St. Joseph School Monroe

New York, New York

The students in grades 9-12 design independent projects to meet many of their graduation standards. They have opportunities to work in small groups to pursue some topics, but the majority of their coursework is undertaken through projects. During their senior year the students complete a 300-plus senior capstone project that is presented to the public. This year, topics for the senior projects ranged from video game design, to GLBT youth activism, to the history of open-heart surgery. Students at my school are engaged in and excited about their education.

Gretchen Sage-Martinson

Program coordinator

Avalon School

St. Paul, Minnesota

I make sure they are acutely aware of their strengths and interests and that they understand that education is a lifelong endeavor. It is important for teachers to discuss the connections between the skills their students must acquire and what they love to do. Providing motivating and interesting learning experiences in and outside of the classroom supports pupils in working beyond preparing for tests to get good grades to gain approval or to compete with peers. Discussion, reflection, research, and real-life activities and encounters with others who are living their dream, help students discover that they are multitalented and empowers them to take ownership of their educational experiences in meaningful and exciting ways. As a twenty-nine-year veteran, it has been quite rewarding to see so many of my students over the years evolve into great human beings who have used their education to not only make life better for themselves, but for others as well.

Sandra Jewett

Middle years special education teacher

School District of Philadelphia

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

For my seniors, shaping their education was the capstone of their time in the public school system. With kids from my AP English class, as well as those who signed up for a special last-semester class, our senior projects gave them a chance to pursue their own personal passion. Whether that was tracing family geneology, learning Italian cooking, designing a dream house and building a detailed model, creating a fashion line of clothing for the college girl, proposing a new high school building with a complete set of architectural plans and materials, grappling with the ethical issues involved in a career in neonatology -- students made their own decisions about subject matter, and then had to learn how to manage their time for the entire process, including the final in-depth presentation to a panel of judges. This one project offered kids the opportunity not only to shape their own education, but also to prepare themselves for the independence and responsibility of college or work. And of the more than 450 students who experienced senior project, 92 percent said it was the most memorable learning in their high school careers.

Laura Sparrow

English, humanities, and philosophy teacher

Harrison High School

Farmington Hills, Michigan

First of all, they take responsibility for their learning. They set goals in academics, behavior, and social skills at the beginning, middle, and end of the year. I encourage them to ask questions and they do! My students connect what they are learning in school to the world outside of school. They are focused on relevant learning.

Todd Feltman

Literacy coach

Public School 192

Hamilton Heights, New York

Student understanding molds each day's activities. Their outside, independent study can supplement class work if they take the time to give thought to nightly assignments. If there is a procedure or a concept they are struggling to grasp, the lesson for that day has to be flexible enough to allow the teacher to respond to students' needs. So, each individual in each class can either help accelerate or decelerate the pace of instruction. It helps to show students how their contributions can determine how much they are exposed to in class.

Beverley Mowatt-Plaskett

Math coordinator

Windward School

White Plains, New York

The Leadership and Management in Business curriculum is a two-year course. At each new semester (and sometimes every several weeks), the students get the opportunity to choose what they will learn from this curriculum, and how they will learn it. The "how" is improving read, write, speak, listen, teaming, etc. (all SCAN Skills); the "what" is the five major areas of human resources including staffing, compensation and benefits, employment laws, training and development, and union pros and cons. By allowing students choices (within the framework I am required to teach) they continue to experience additional facets of our school-of-choice vision.

Sherryl Gunnels

Instructor Leadership and Management in Business (LMB)

Puget Sound Skills Center and King County School of Choice for Career Preparation and Technical Education

Burien, Washington

I facilitate student-based writing assignments in which students explore their social and political stances, explore their environments, and compare and contrast their positions with those of other individuals, groups, and cultures. I learn as much from my students as they do from me; that is the power of a cooperative and communal pedagogy. We are all citizens of this community/society/world. Here is some specialized knowledge I know about. What do you care about? Let me show you how you can learn more about that subject! All of us go out to research and we return to the group to present our findings. We debate meanings, then revisit and revise.

Michael Dean Benton

English co-coordinator, humanities department

Bluegrass Community and Technical College

Lexington, Kentucky

I am a retired teacher-educator and currently volunteering as a homework tutor (in what's called the Homework Club) at a nearby middle school. Each time I visit my group, guided by a certified teacher, I am fascinated with the interest in special projects, required literacy, and math assignments. These adolescents are creative in designing interpretations of homework. Freedom to explore ramifications of a given topic and their responses to directives are accepted by their teachers. Teachers accept original presentations and encourage their learners to refine drafts for eventual outcomes. Students come to the homework club voluntarily and the club teacher's greeting, "You are thinking about your own education when you come to the club!" reinforces their interests, enthusiasm, and discipline necessary for shaping their education.

Helene Napolitano

Emeritus Professor of Education

Marymount Manhattan College

New York, New York

The Chiles Academy is a small charter school for pregnant and parenting teens and their children. Our comprehensive, holistic program is built on high academic expectations along with a personalized instructional environment that offers students full access to community health service agencies. The introduction of MicroSociety, Inc. (MSI, a program that involves students in long-term, authentic project-based learning) into our school culture a few years ago has transformed our traditional environment into a comprehensive school reform model in which students learn academic, social, and emotional skills as citizens in a society of their own design. In this microcosm students run city hall, become bankers, government officials, business owners, and advocates for early childhood education.

Through MSI, students develop a sense of community by making decisions and acting responsibly among their peers. Every day the students are active as citizens who vote, work, bank, solve problems, pay taxes, tuition, and childcare. This is when the critical connection with the real world is made because everything the students do simulates real society. This instructional framework has helped encourage our students, as our mission states, to become productive and contributing members of society.

Anne K. Ferguson, MPA

Executive Director

The Chiles Academy

Port Orange, Florida

The students in McNairy County help shape their education by becoming proactive learners. Through project based learning, the teachers create enthusiasm and curiosity for knowledge. The excitement within the students extends beyond the classroom. Through a natural reflex in the learning process, students continue their desire for knowledge by becoming involved in community activities, and volunteer initiatives. They see challenges as educational opportunities.

This extension beyond the classroom allows students to become involved in the teaching and sharing of new ideas. With this burning desire to learn and grow the students in McNairy County are beginning their journey to success.

Terry Burns

Technology coordinator

McNairy County Board of Education

Selmer, Tennessee

Today's students are pulled a thousand different ways by as many different diversions. For students to really succeed in academics and translate that into success in life, focus is the primary component. My most successful students have been focused on all things learning, even when distractions (be they electronic, social, or silly) are all around them. Focus means focusing on why they are in school -- to learn how to learn as much as to learn stuff. Focus means putting their education at the top of the list and doing their job as students with great conscientious effort. Focus means having already thought about future goals, dreams, and aspirations, knowing what subjects, skills, study habits, etc. will propel them closer to their success. Focus means knowing on whom you can depend to help you work your way through the maze of academia, while still enjoying the process; teachers, parents, friends, choices all play into this equation. Focus is the essential guiding force to academic success, as well as personal and professional success. Good students know this and play it early!

D.R. Stiller

Math department chair

Stacey Junior/Senior High School

San Antonio, Texas

Students with whom we work are asked to complete a strength-based profile that provides information about their academic strengths, interests, learning styles, and preferred modes of expression. They then access a database with online and offline resources matched to their individual profiles. An electronic portfolio provides students with an ongoing record of all learning activities and can be used by teachers to maximize differentiation services. The program is sponsored by the University of Connecticut Research and Development Corporation.

Joseph Renzulli

Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor

University of Connecticut