When assigning students
tasks, it is crucial that teachers ensure that these assignments aren’t merely
given to the class to keep them busy. Quite often, students are given tasks or
assignments that have no benefit on their studies and overall lives. Tasks are sometimes
given to allow time to pass while learners are kept seated working studiously. These
serve no purpose other than ensuring the class is kept quietly seated.
Nevertheless, educators
should utilize assignments that motivate learners, gives them the opportunity
to choose topics, allow them to think critically and enhance students’ academic
performance as a whole. This means that actual thought and creativity are put
into the curation of these assignments on the teachers’ end. Authentic and relevant
tasks should be implemented at all grade levels allowing appropriate skills and
attitudes of students to be formed towards academic studies.
I see this concept being
implemented in my classroom to allow meaningful learning rather than just
passive learning or rote memorization. Here are five real-world examples students
should engage with:
Wall work-
Posted handwritten paragraphs, poems or stories in a particular area of the
class. Invite parents or guardians to look at their children's pieces. Kindergarten
students would create sentences.
Journaling- Journal
about their feelings and state their understanding of a concept or whether they’d
like assistance/ clarification on something.
Book publication-
allowing students to create their own books in multiple classroom sessions. These
books may be posted on blogs or in Google Classroom to be shared with others.
Letters-
writing letters that serve a true purpose such as writing to the principal,
minister, government officials or family members.
Reports-
allowing learners to peer review each other’s work by making short notes at the
side of their work.
By Jaylene Peters
I have an appreciation to this approach: learning should be authentic, and the students' thought process should be heard. The topics should apply to their daily lives in which to write on, and they should be allowed to express their understanding in the most authentic way possible, after all, school is meant to prepare them to become active members of society, so content should apply to this concept. This should involve free and low stakes writing to attempt to solve a real-world issue whether in Social Studies or in Science. My personal favorite application of this approach is journalling where students can express their thought process through writing as they attempt to interpret a concept and express their understanding in their own words thus allowing them to be more in control of their own learning.
ReplyDeleteCreating posters are a personal favorite to me when it comes to authentic writing. Students can be placed into groups and tasked with creating posters to promote healthy practices and even to solve social issues complete with pictures and individual writing pieces. When there is concern or interest, there is motivation.
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