Instigator of Thought activities offer teachers powerful ways to build their practice and hone their craft. By trying these activities, you are receiving ideas that are immediately useful and can spark professional learning – at your own pace and in a way that you control.
Teachers ask their students what they have learned all the time throughout the year. Have you ever asked them what they want others to learn from them? In this challenge, you will ask your students to reflect on what they want to teach their classmates throughout the year.
What You Will Need:
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Three 15 minute blocks of time, with optional additional time
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Materials
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Paper and pen if you’re meeting in person / Google docs or email can work for submitting the response if you’re teaching online. You can use this Google slide deck to share student responses.
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Directions
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Ask your class to answer the following prompt: “What would you like the other students in the class to have learned from you by the end of this year?”
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Collect and review their responses. Reflect – what did you learn about each student from what they’ve written? How can you use this information to build a stronger relationship with your students?
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Choose some of the students’ responses to share with the class. You can use this Google slide deck to share student responses. Make sure to keep them anonymous. Ask the class what they notice about their classmates’ responses.
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optional: Have students do some goal setting. What do they need to do so that they can achieve what they’ve written?
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Later in the year (half way, at the end, when you need some class relationship building, etc), ask students to respond to one of the following prompts.
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“Choose any THREE students in this class. What have you learned from them this year?”
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“Look back on what you wanted classmates to learn from you. Has that happened? What can you do to make it happen before the end of the year?”
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