We need to move beyond focusing on engagement and into empowerment. Here, students own every part of the learning journey so that they grow into self-directed, lifelong learners. My goal is to provide a roadmap that will inspire innovation, authentic learning experiences, and practical ways to empower students to pursue their passions while in school. Workshops can be done in-person or virtually.
THREE LEVELS OF WORKSHOPS
Although I work full-time as a university professor, I often conduct workshops on what it means to empower students with voice and choice. My style is hands-on, engaging, practical, and fun. I infuse each workshop with storytelling, humor, and movement. While I tailor each the learning to the needs of your staff, here is a sampling of what type of workshops I lead.
The Blueprint for Empowering Students
Teacher Expertise: Novice
Description: Student choice is about more than just a menu option. It’s about student ownership. This includes ownership of the processes, the assessment, the strategies, and the metacognition. But how do we make this happen? How do we fit this into our standards and our curriculum map? What does it look like? How do you even get started? In this workshop, we begin with the “why” and move into the “how.” In this hands-on workshop, we will practice specific strategies that ultimately lead to student ownership. In the end, you will do a student ownership inventory and leave with action items you can implement in your classroom. All participants will have access to the Empower Blueprint as well as the Wonder Day and Genius Hour resources.
Leveraging Student Voice and Choice
Teacher Expertise: Emerging
Description: So, you’ve started on the empowerment journey. But you still have questions about how to make the most out of student-centered assessments, what to do about scaffolding, and how to make sure every student is learning the standards. In this workshop, we build on the idea of student voice and choice as we co-design structures that will build student ownership. There’s also an emphasis here on metacognition and self-reflection. In the end, you will do a unit redesign that focuses on boosting student ownership. All participants will have access to the Empower Blueprint as well as the Wonder Day and Genius Hour resources.
Taking Voice and Choice to the Next Level
Teacher Expertise: Expert
Description: In this workshop, we focus on how to maximize student ownership through voice and choice. We explore specific structures to build interdependency and metacognition. We also explore advanced ideas such as compacting and personalization so that students can tailor their learning to their own needs, passions, and interests. Our goal is to tap into the collective expertise of each teacher in the room.