{"id":29592,"date":"2021-05-28T17:05:19","date_gmt":"2021-05-28T21:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/?p=29592"},"modified":"2021-06-02T07:49:57","modified_gmt":"2021-06-02T11:49:57","slug":"voices-heard-learning-from-our-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/voices-heard-learning-from-our-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Voices Heard: learning from our students"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0In the past few months, we\u2019ve been meeting with groups of students from six Vermont schools, asking them about their experience this year. What might next year look like if they had a say? Inspired by the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1NO9oBqlUhuC3h5BOY1jaC1aLu1u5KAggEEiQpKJoxZs\/edit?usp=sharing\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Imagining September Project<\/span><\/i><\/a><i> <\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211;the MIT Teaching Systems Lab\u00a0 &amp; Harvard&#8217;s Graduate School of Education that gathers student input to imagine what school might be like in September&#8211;we set out to conduct our own mini September Project.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We have access to students who are accustomed to talking with their teachers and each other about what\u2019s working and what needs work in their particular setting. As co-facilitators of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uvm.edu\/cess\/tiie\/welcome-learning-lab\">the Learning Lab<\/a>&#8211;a network of educators conducting classroom research in partnership with their students and each other&#8211;we connect educators and students in a community committed to frank conversations that honor, and help improve, teaching and learning <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">now <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and throughout the school year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most recently, we\u2019ve met with students in three contexts:<\/span><\/h6>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Learning Lab Student Summits (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1U3Y_o9QVrpC__FUqUxHzI12J_ljOb9CyoT_Q3K14mgg\/edit?usp=sharing\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Putting the Pieces Back Together&#8230;Better: Student Summit Agenda<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), which conducted three rounds of conversations, each answering one of our three questions:\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Has the pandemic caused you to realize that there are parts of school that you were taking for granted that you now have a new appreciation for? What are the parts of school you\u2019ve grown to appreciate?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Are there silver linings to the pandemic, new ways of living and learning in the world that you would like to see continue and evolve next year? What might those parts be?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Looking back over this last year, what are you most proud of? <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Single teachers who were curious to learn:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What\u2019s working for you as a learner? What can I do to improve your experience?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Middle School Team &amp; Principal who wanted to know:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What are some of the things that you do in school that you enjoy or that are helpful for you when you\u2019re learning?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With Them<\/span><\/h6>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Something unexpected happened with each group we listened to. Toward the end of each conversation, we asked if there was anything else they wanted to share. To our delight, individuals in each group conveyed a deep gratitude for us asking these questions and listening intently to their answers. We\u2019re not talking about a casual end-of-conversation \u201cthanks\u201d, but an effusive outpouring of appreciation. Most importantly, when they learned that we planned on sharing these findings with a wider audience of educators, they were blown away.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We shouldn\u2019t have been so surprised. Throughout the year-long Learning Lab experience, students provide formative feedback to their teachers to help them improve. Some students even join a Site-Based Sounding Board team, who occasionally meet with their teacher to make sense of recent data. We\u2019ve witnessed first-hand the enthusiasm of listened-to learners.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Their enthusiasm, in part, stems from the novelty of the experience. Most students, be they adults or youngsters, are not part of an ongoing conversation with their teacher and their classmates about how things are going and what might make them better. They might be asked to complete an end-of-course evaluation, after the ship has sailed and ended its journey. As John Hattie puts it, \u201cAssessment is something we have done to students rather than with them.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Their Ideas<\/span><\/h6>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thayer, a student at Orleans Elementary School, puts it a little differently. As educators consider how to move forward next year, he advises that they aim for balance. \u201cBalance is key, a mix of what students want to do and teachers need to do in a great structure fixes problems.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our most recent round of conversations with students kept returning to this idea, that there needs to be more give and take for learners to experience the kind of agency that keeps humans engaged. And this affirms one of the most important findings we\u2019ve taken from five years of Learning Lab. Doing assessment to learners, rather than with them, poisons even the most well-designed learning well. But making the shift from doing assessment \u201cto them\u201d to doing assessment \u201cwith them\u201d makes a profound, positive impact on learning. Making assessment an ongoing conversation, it turns out, improves the quality of the learning well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are three patterns identified across all of our recent conversations with students:<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New appreciations for this thing we call school<\/span><\/h6>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One student shared he took for granted \u201chaving the ability to go to different places for different classes.\u201d Another surprised himself with an awareness of how much he appreciated being in school 5 days a week. One student shared her appreciation for her teachers\u2019 ability to create engaged and authentic learning experiences despite the constraints. \u201cOur teachers <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">do 3 different things in humanities that teach us real world problems and work toward changing our school\u2019s environment.\u201d While another saw teachers\u2019 supports in a new light. \u201cI appreciate the mini-lesson and the teacher support we have in person.\u201d And some mentioned the collective efforts to keep each other healthy and safe. \u201cPeople are more considerate and aware about how what they were doing could affect other people.\u201d \u201cBetter hygiene!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pride in their growth in terms of time management and self direction skills<\/span><\/h6>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI feel like I\u2019ve gotten to figure out what learning environments work best for me, and I\u2019ve gotten better at time management\u201d For some following this thread they pointed to teachers&#8217; efforts to publish work in advance. That made it \u201ceasier to catch up on missing school work because everything is available online.\u201d While many of us are zoomed out, some students found technology to be useful. \u201cI like using more technology to do more things. It feels more efficient. Sharing our work visually on the computer has been cool.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Breaks, breaks, and more breaks<\/span><\/h6>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One group all agreed that Brain Breaks were a key to their ability to engage and stay focused. \u201cBrain breaks are very helpful when you want to chill. Or to have some time to breathe without a mask.\u201d \u201cWe need more breaks. School limits them now to snack, lunch, and a brain break at end of day.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to strike the right balance between on-task time and breaks? One student offered his perception that \u201cschool can only do so much in the way you want it to go. It\u2019s a place for learning even though we want breaks some time.\u201d But teachers might consider \u201ca break day every third Friday: with no work. I\u2019m not sure if we are allowed to have no work.\u201d Imagine the informal learning that takes place during these breaks! Time for consolidating learning and engaging in relationship building. We think they&#8217;re onto something here.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h6><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Courageous Conversations<\/span><\/h6>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It can be scary to invite students into an ongoing conversation about how their learning is going and what adjustments we and they can make to make things better. It takes courage to listen and really hear feedback that challenges us to change.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But when we walk this walk with our learners, the journey improves. We are relieved of the crushing load of doing all of the planning, teaching, assessing, and reporting. And students are more engaged and doing more, achieving the kind of balance that Thayer and so many of his peers described.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Learn more about how to make assessment an ongoing conversation. Check out the resources we\u2019ve included below. And if you\u2019re interested in joining a network of educators committed to this approach to teaching and learning, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uvm.edu\/cess\/tiie\/welcome-learning-lab\">learn more here.\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Bill Rich &amp; Susan Hennessey<\/p>\n<h6><\/h6>\n<h6><\/h6>\n<h6>Some Resources<\/h6>\n<p>Results of a state-wide effort to gather student voice from <a href=\"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/up-for-changes-to-learning\/#.YLEG8WZKjOQ\">Up for Learning&#8217;s Youth Advisory Council<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bjfr\/status\/1393211189421920259\">Some student responses from the Imagining September Project<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/billrichblog.blogspot.com\/2019\/02\/teachable-moment-why-should-we-how-can.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why Should We (&amp; How Can We) Involve Students in the Assessment Process<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This seven minute mini-lesson\/screencast describes the assessment rut we can easily fall into. It offers a few ideas and resources for heading for higher ground.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Assidere\/Adsidere<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Share with your students the latin derivation for assessment (to sit beside \/ to sit with in counsel or office). Propose to your learners a plan for moving away from grading \/ scoring everything. Rather, aim towards an ongoing conversation about what\u2019s working and what needs work&#8211;in their work and ours.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/43990523\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Students Own Their Progress<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; watch 6th grade students track their strengths and challenges as they analyze their own data.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/rechargelearning.blogspot.com\/2017\/12\/capturing-student-reflections-in-google.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3 ways to capture student reflection\/feedback in google slides<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ascd.org\/publications\/educational-leadership\/dec09\/vol67\/num04\/When-Students-Track-Their-Progress.aspx\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When Students Track Their Progress<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cultofpedagogy.com\/learning-strategies\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Six Powerful Learning Strategies You Must Share with Your Students<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A fantastic resource brought to you by the remarkable Cult of Pedagogy, Jennifer Gonzales\u2019 website. She curates resources that support \u201ccrazy good teaching.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/brain-based-learning\/#.X_NPiulKi3U\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Trust the Science: Using brain-based learning to upgrade our educational OS<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ascd.org\/Publications\/Books\/Overview\/Giving-Students-a-Say.aspx\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Giving Students a Say: Smarter Assessment Practices to Empower and Engage<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Myron Dueck\u2019s wonderful book about how to partner with students throughout the assessment process.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.danpink.com\/books\/drive\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Daniel Pink\u2019s compelling exploration of what motivates humans. The counterintuitive findings explain why a compensation approach to assessment leads to low-level compliance rather than deep engagement. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0In the past few months, we\u2019ve been meeting with groups of students from six Vermont schools, asking them about their experience this year. What might next year look like if they had a say? Inspired by the Imagining September Project &#8211;the MIT Teaching Systems Lab\u00a0 &amp; Harvard&#8217;s Graduate School of Education that gathers student input &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/voices-heard-learning-from-our-students\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Voices Heard: learning from our students&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":29705,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145],"tags":[78],"class_list":["post-29592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-learning-lab-vt","tag-student-voice"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29592"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29592\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29713,"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29592\/revisions\/29713"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}