Preventing "I Don't Want To!"
Have you ever encountered this scenario before?
You plan an exciting, engaging, hands-on lesson and spend hours getting all of your materials prepped. The day of the big lesson comes. You are so excited to introduce the activity. You just know all of your students are going to be excited to get to work. That is until...
"But, I don't want to do that!"
Yep. There's always one that you can't please. So what do you do? Have a chat with the student telling them that they have to do the work? Tell them they don't have to do the work, and give them something else to do? You know that is going to open up a can of worms. The next thing you know, you have a handful of students saying, "But how come they don't have to do it?" If you cave, then everyone will be doing whatever they want.
I have been wondering if there is a way to prevent these situations to occur. If every student was always doing something that they wanted to do, then it would be impossible for them to say, "I don't want to do that." How could they not want to do an activity that they chose to do? A truly student-centered classroom would provide opportunities for students to be fully autonomous. They choose the content that they want to learn. They choose the product that they want to make. The teacher simply provides those opportunities to occur in the classroom. They point students towards the resources and materials they need to accomplish their self-determined task. It's way easier said than done, but I think this is a truly organic way of leaning. It's how I like to learn. I am interested in a subject, I research and read about it, and I typically create something from there.
Yeah, but what about teaching math, reading, and writing? I am not advocating for a total free-for-all. There definitely needs to be structure, and students need to learn the basics. However, I feel like the more autonomy that can be given to students, the better. If lessons can be cleverly designed to blend learning and play, I feel like "I don't want to" can be prevented.
I'm just shooting spitballs, here. Hopefully something will stick.
You plan an exciting, engaging, hands-on lesson and spend hours getting all of your materials prepped. The day of the big lesson comes. You are so excited to introduce the activity. You just know all of your students are going to be excited to get to work. That is until...
"But, I don't want to do that!"
Yep. There's always one that you can't please. So what do you do? Have a chat with the student telling them that they have to do the work? Tell them they don't have to do the work, and give them something else to do? You know that is going to open up a can of worms. The next thing you know, you have a handful of students saying, "But how come they don't have to do it?" If you cave, then everyone will be doing whatever they want.
I have been wondering if there is a way to prevent these situations to occur. If every student was always doing something that they wanted to do, then it would be impossible for them to say, "I don't want to do that." How could they not want to do an activity that they chose to do? A truly student-centered classroom would provide opportunities for students to be fully autonomous. They choose the content that they want to learn. They choose the product that they want to make. The teacher simply provides those opportunities to occur in the classroom. They point students towards the resources and materials they need to accomplish their self-determined task. It's way easier said than done, but I think this is a truly organic way of leaning. It's how I like to learn. I am interested in a subject, I research and read about it, and I typically create something from there.
Yeah, but what about teaching math, reading, and writing? I am not advocating for a total free-for-all. There definitely needs to be structure, and students need to learn the basics. However, I feel like the more autonomy that can be given to students, the better. If lessons can be cleverly designed to blend learning and play, I feel like "I don't want to" can be prevented.
I'm just shooting spitballs, here. Hopefully something will stick.
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