We all know the story.
Mermaid princess sees a man she loves, but can’t be with him because, well, he’s a man, and she’s a mermaid.
So mermaid princess does the unthinkable. She strikes a deal with an octopus witch to give up her voice in order for a chance to be with said man.
And for years we had no problem with this.
She took a risk.
She sacrificed for what she wanted.
And she sang some really killer songs.
Until we realized that, maybe, having a voice is really important after all.
OK, maybe we’ve been a bit harsh on Ariel. After all, she did save his life. And what is sacrifice if not a willingness to give up the best part of yourself for the potential of something better? Nobody said sacrifice should be convenient, right?
No matter how you view The Little Mermaid, one thing we can all agree on is that voice matters.
Specifically, our students’ voices, in and out of the classroom.
Here at Kings, we just finished a week of remote learning. As nearly 75 percent of students do some form of remote learning in the United States, there’s a distinct problem emerging.
And, no, it’s not the exorbitant number of students failing classes.
Instead, it’s the distinct lack of voice that students have while attending classes remotely.
I see this firsthand.
Even in my own virtual classroom.
The opportunity (and willingness) for students to speak just simply isn’t there.
And to be fair to the teachers, getting students to talk can be a painful experience. On the first day our school went remote, I thought I’d encourage participation by putting students in small breakout rooms. As I hopped from room to room, though, some went great, while others involved students sitting in awkward silence.
I expected these breakout rooms to encourage whole-class participation as well, as students would have already thought out and discussed their responses.
When I called on volunteers… crickets.
Discouraged, I resorted to lecture and guided notes the rest of class.
It was humbling and difficult. But I wanted to do better.
When teaching remote, it’s tempting to just lecture for 10-30 minutes and call it quits. It’s certainly easier. Then students can work on their own. And if they have questions, they can always email / pop onto “office hours.”
There’s your engagement.
Only, that isn’t really promoting Student Voice. Students have no autonomy in a setting like that. Instead, they’re very much consumers.
I spent the last week doing my best to encourage participation, and though it’s still a work in progress, here are seven things I learned:
- Focus on student engagement first, then content after
A lot of teachers do this already in the regular classroom. More and more, I notice teachers eschewing the Day-1 Syllabus and Textbook Handout I was so accustomed to in my youth. Building a culture of safe sharing can go a long way in fostering participation.
In the same way, virtual classroom time can be improved by student engagement. And establishing the norm early on can pay big dividends later on.
2) Taking time today to build rapport / connection will allow for more success later on
Most teachers, myself included, feel pressured to get through content. Tests are coming, some that can even affect pay or job security. I get it. Even if this is a terrible way to measure teacher effectiveness, we have to be sensitive to this.
But if teachers take the time to connect with students first, buy-in and trust will be higher, which will encourage students to take more responsibility and work more independently within that class.
3) Don’t be afraid to share your own stories
I had a professor once who, when starting a discussion, would ask, “Who wants to set the tone for this entire class by volunteering first?” I thought that was an interesting – and empowering – thought. If I wanted to control the direction of the conversation in my classes, I could do that by speaking first.
Indeed, all teachers know how one or two students can really transform a class culture. If your leaders in the class are positive, diligent and vocal, you’re probably going to have a pretty good year. If the leaders are negative, critical and belligerent, you’ve got your work cut out for you.
When it comes to online learning, you can always set the tone you want. Share about your weekend with something funny that happened. Talk about your school experience growing up. Create that sense of safety that students want. It may take a few tries, but once they see you sharing, they’ll feel more comfortable with their stories.
4) Use Breakout Rooms, but pre-assign the groups
Breakout Rooms are a great way to initiate student voice. But doing so takes a bit of care. Pre-assigning the groups will allow students who you know will be comfortable with each other, or pairing students who will lead a conversation with those who are more inclined to disengage. A lot of teachers are purposeful in forming groups in school. We should do the same online.
5) Create collaborative assignments that allow students to discover
This is probably my favorite. Oftentimes, I’ll begin class by having students complete a task or research in their break-out groups (preassigned) on a shared document. This can be a bit scary, I know, because students may go to Wikipedia (the horror!), Quora or some random blog to find information that may not be the most accurate.
But this also provides the opportunity to educate students on best research practices. When (If) students come back with false information, as a class, we can discuss why. But this allows students to not only interact, but also practice inquiry and autonomous learning before the information is presented.
6) Provide content that is meaningful to students
OK, again, this should be a no-brainer whether you’re virtual or not. But in a classroom setting, teachers can get away with lazier preparation by using proximity and eye contact to force student engagement. If you want to know if your content is truly engaging, teach it online. Virtual learning acts like a crucible, revealing just how meaningful the content is.
7) Promote student inquiry by empowering students to ask the questions
I love this quote from teacher Daniel Willever, featured in an article on Student Voice:
“My experience has taught me that if students aren’t interested in ‘the question,’ they won’t be interested in sharing their answers, beliefs, ideas, or solutions. Empowering students to ask their own questions about the world, and seek out answers to the problems that interest them, is an essential component of promoting student voice.”
As teachers, we often think it’s our job to give students information, which can bleed into giving students perspectives and applications of our content. Instead, students need to discover this for themselves. Encourage students to take responsibility for the content, guiding them toward how it’s important in their personal lives.
And if the content isn’t applicable, why do we teach it?