Student Choice in Classroom Organization
Being in the thick of transitioning to a workshop model can be overwhelming and tiring. My students have been working hard (often quietly and independently) and I have been working to conference with at least two students a day (who was I kidding to think I could reach upwards of five in one block?). We were settling into a routine and that terrible Specter of Perceived Rigor started looming again. So I decided to change things up. Twitter has been a great forum to gain ideas from other educators, and so many have been championing and sharing their stories of student voice and choice (such as @CRCarter313 at the elementary level). I acknowledge that I have been hanging onto control for a while (including desks in rows and silent workshop time), which is why I began the move to workshop to begin with: it’s about my students, not me. THE SHAKE-UP Last Friday, I tasked each of my classes to rearrange the room in a way that worked best for them. I have two section...