Student Voice,
Student Choice
In a Middle School World Language Class
Beth A. Merrill
Main Street Middle School
Montpelier, Vermont
Does offering student voice and student choice in projects and class activities affect their attitudes toward learning in a language class?
My Motivation: I am a new World Language teacher at Main Street Middle School in Montpelier. The objective and action research question I came up with during my summer MGI course was “Can I engage or keep middle- grades learners engaged by allowing them to choose projects that appealed to them as well as offering them the chance to work in groups?”
Action Plan: Survey students, offer projects, survey students.
Coordinate with my World Language (WL) collaborative team to gauge students’ sense of their voices in WL classes.
8.1
Oct.
Nov
Jan
Teacher encourages and values student ideas 8.2
Examples
of when
you had
a voice
Helping lead Flash Mob
Being respected in class
Choosing Special Project
Great question
Give ideas without criticism
Special Project X3
No- We asked to go outside and didn’t get to
Long Block activities X2
None/IDK/Don’t remember (X6)
Special Projects gave us freedom and are educational
Ask if want to go outside
Oct.
Nov
Jan
What I thought this project was about.
Making students happy learners by allowing them to make choices about who to work with and what type of project they prefer.
Challenge #1: Not all learners are ready for independent projects without a high level of scaffolding. Some, however, are more than ready.
Challenge #2: For some classes, working together proved to be difficult almost to a standstill.
Challenge #3: Student and I both may have confused “student voice” with students being able to decide what they do each day.
Challenge #4: The Outliers: “I don't like talking to people I would rather stay quiet”
“I don’t have a say. People aren’t worth arguing with.”
Surveys: What I learned & A Cautionary Tale 😦
Students equate “having a say” with getting to do whatever they want to during class and they form expectations based on this. This isn’t necessarily what we meant.
Students tire of doing the same survey each month and they realize the questions are the same. For my 3rd survey I added short answer questions.
They DO give you a chance to check in with students who express their disappointment on paper and not to your face.
They DO give me a record of student voices to share with admin/decision-makers around class group dynamics and how they negatively impact the whole class.
Allow quieter students to have a voice when dynamics and personalities of the class can make it heard to be heard during class
Sometimes hard to swallow, esp.when you think a student is all in and their survey results show that they wish they were in another class.
Surveys are a wonderful tool, but their purpose was different from what I expected.
Sometimes they might make you laugh!
How “LocoTubre,” The World Cup, The Daily Attendance Question and The Solidarity Craft Fair gave students a chance to use and hear their voices in compelling, educational, real-world contexts.
What “student voice” was actually about
LocoTubre and
The World Cup Polls
Our school was represented in the Locotubre song of the decades, among many others across the nation. Our 100 language students’ votes were counted among the 30,000-60,000 students who chose between 2 songs, every day for 2.5 weeks until a winner was decided.
And the Winner IS… Voices over the PA System
Our schools overall winner coincided with the National winner, Bamboleo, by the Gypsy Kings. Students who were excited about the project announced the winner to the school at the end of the day. My 5th and 6th grade classes used “Bamboleo” as their call and response for settling down in class.
¿Quiénes participaron en la encuesta?
¿Cuántos estudiantes/lagartos participaron?
Seeing Their Voices in a Survey Format
¿Quién quieres que gane la Copa Mundial el domingo? Resumen de todos los 105 participantes.
“The Attendance Question”
¿Tienes sueño, frío, miedo o hambre?
Are you tired, cold, scared or hungry?
Tengo _______.
I am _________.
Attendance Question, Language and Community Building. Voices reflected back.
Organizing a Fund-Raiser:
Using your voice outside of school.
Organizing a Fund-Raiser:
Finding a voice
we didn’t know we had.
“While I was on the phone I was really nervous and worried because I didn't have that much experience and wasn't that confident on what I had to say or do and really didn't want to mess up and embarrass myself. Afterwards, when we hung up, I felt really proud of myself for putting my fears and worries aside and making the phone call.”
Grace D. MSMS 8th Grader
Organizing a Fund-Raiser:
Hearing our voices in a
new context.
“I loved going around to the different businesses and telling them about the fair and what we were doing, especially when they donated to us :) This taught me a lot about ways to connect with people.”
Anna W. MSMS 8th Grader
Real-World Follow-Up Activities
Summary
Take-Aways: Surveys give us information that we didn’t know we were looking for.
Exciting that student voice is simultaneously bigger than a “special project” and something that we have the ability to hear every day if we’re asking the right questions.
Thank you for listening to my voice and student experiences!
¡Gracias!