student ownership Archives - Spencer Education

Feb 02 2026

The Five Biggest Fears that Kept Me from Empowering Students

By John Spencer Empowering Students, Podcast, Student Choice 4 Comments

Student engagement is harder than it used to be, but the answer is not more control or better entertainment. It is helping students move from compliance to true ownership, where they have voice, choice, and responsibility for their learning. This post explores what happens when…

Aug 20 2019

10 Things That Happen When Students Engage in Project-Based Learning

By John Spencer Creativity, Project-Based Learning 12 Comments

We often hear about the need for students to learn how to program in order to be ready for STEM fields and the Information Economy. It’s what we’ve been hearing for over a decade. However, there’s a fascinating piece from the Washington Post that explores…

Mar 18 2019

Making The Shift from Student Engagement to Student Empowerment

By John Spencer Empowering Students, Student Choice 15 Comments

We often focus on student engagement, but student empowerment is a step further. Here, we focus on the seven shifts toward student empowerment. Two years ago, I was a chaperone for my son's fourth-grade field trip to a hands-on pioneer museum. Students learned how to…

Aug 26 2017

6 Student-Centered Projects for the First Week of School

By John Spencer Creativity, Empowering Students, Podcast 10 Comments

Don't Wait to Innovate! Teachers often begin the school year with team-building activities or a review of the rules and procedures. But what if we began with student-centered projects? The following is an exploration of six student-centered projects you can launch in your first month…

Jun 22 2017

Teachers Need a Roadmap, Not an Instruction Manual

By John Spencer Empowering Students, Innovation 2 Comments

Last October, A.J. Juliani shared an idea for a book we should write together. After we had talked about student choice, voice, and ownership, he said, “I want to do a follow-up to Launch called Empower. Let’s make it a why book. Let’s make it a book about a…

Jun 14 2017

Why Science Says the Average Student Doesn’t Exist (And What This Means for Student Ownership)

By John Spencer Empowering Students, Student Choice 2 Comments

For years, we have set up a tiered system of differentiation to go beyond the one-size-fits-all model. But what if there's another way? How can we redesign the systems so that student ownership becomes a reality? The Problem with Average The notion of average is…

May 27 2017

Fidget Spinners Aren’t the Issue (The Real Issue Is Student Ownership)

By John Spencer Empowering Students, Podcast, Student Choice 3 Comments

The debate about fidget spinners often misses the bigger issue of student ownership. When we focus on student distractions and student engagement, we miss out on student empowerment and student ownership. Listen to the Podcast Just click on the audio below to listen to this…