Consider how you are engaging your students both in and out of the classroom. These three recommendations are only a few of the variety of ways you can support your students' ownership of their own learning. Do you have ways that you engage your students that you have found successful? Please share them below in the comments!
 I've been thinking a lot lately about ways we give our students freedom and autonomy in the classroom while also making sure they learn the skills and content we need them to learn to be successful in our classes. Sometimes it takes some classroom Jedi mind tricks to accomplish our goals.
I have a few Jedi mind tricks I use with my students. One of my favorites is assigning mandatory time with me for any incomplete assignments. Not only do I already hold office hours or have planning time set aside (so, in the end, I'm not losing my own time), but this gives students time and space to come get help. It also helps me build relationships with students who may be struggling in my classes. Another example I use is allowing mastery on assignments. I'll allow students to do an assignment as many times as they want until they achieve their desired grade. For some that might be an A, for others a B, and so on. I do give time limits on this process, however, because I do not want students trying to rewrite or redo assignments at the eleventh hour at the end of the semester. That would overwhelm me. But, ultimately, I want my students to master the content, and giving them as many times as they need to show their learning on an assignment benefits them. There are a number of ways for implementing mastery learning, and this is just one example. You can read more about mastery learning and its origins as well as tips for mastery learning. What kind of Jedi mind tricks do you use with your students? I love this Vitae forum thread with a lot of instructors sharing their tips. Feel free to share yours in the comments below! |
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Julie K. Marsh is a long-time educator, an EdD student at Virginia Commonwealth University focusing on educational leadership, and an instructional designer. Her current research interests include Design Thinking, Community of Inquiry, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), creativity in the classroom, open sourced educational resources, and participatory culture.
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