There are many benefits to offering students choices in their learning. According to the book "A Joyful Classroom" choices give students a sense of control over their daily life at school, which helps them engage more deeply with academic work. Offering options gives students autonomy and deepens their engagement. Another benefit to academic choice is that it allows teachers to individualize learning so that content is taught at a "just right" level for each student.
How can you help integrate Academic Choice into your routines at home?
1. Offer students a choice of where they should complete their homework.
2. When practicing math facts or spelling, give choices for how to practice rather that doing it the same way every day or every week.
3. Review student learning with a grab-bag of questions rather than always asking "What did you learn at school today?" or have students act out an event using "charades" or draw a picture of something they learned about. Make the discussion more interactive and varied.
1. Offer students a choice of where they should complete their homework.
2. When practicing math facts or spelling, give choices for how to practice rather that doing it the same way every day or every week.
3. Review student learning with a grab-bag of questions rather than always asking "What did you learn at school today?" or have students act out an event using "charades" or draw a picture of something they learned about. Make the discussion more interactive and varied.