Two teachers asked their students to describe a time when they felt in charge of their learning in school—when they were working not just for a grade but because they were excited and interested. Here’s what some of the students said:
From Vickie Weiss’s 4th-5th grade class at City School in Grand Blanc, Michigan:
When we were learning about colonies, we had to make a fake place where people would live. I was excited because it was like an art assignment and it would be 3-D, but we had to do research first. Because I knew I would have to make the colony, doing research was fun. I love doing art.
<ATTRIB>—Ruhani Agrawal</ATTRIB>
I felt in charge when I was reading a book called The Dark is Rising. I was really excited about it because I like that type of book. Mrs. Weiss chose the book and made us write about it. If I did it by myself I wouldn’t have written about it and wouldn’t be that into the book.
<ATTRIB>—Donavon Marlinga</ATTRIB>
A time when I felt in charge of my learning in school was during math time. Math has always been my favorite subject ever since I started learning it. My teacher, Mrs. Weiss, made math even more fun for me because we can work at our own pace, and I like doing challenging things like the next level of math. The math program that she uses is Singapore Math. They come up with creative word problems and have challenging problems.
<ATTRIB>—Emma McCoon</ATTRIB>
In 3rd grade, my class and I were learning about the moon and gravity. We were dropping marbles in sand to see how deep the marbles would go if they were dropped from different heights and they were different sizes. When we dropped the marbles into the sand, they made craters that sort of looked like the craters that are on the moon. I loved doing that activity. I didn’t care about my grade because it was so enjoyable and fun!
<ATTRIB>—<EMPH>Amy Puidokas</ATTRIB>
I’m really good at geometry. Every year I get 100 percent on my MEAP score. Part of the reason I’m good at it and I love it is because my teacher makes it fun! Every time my class and I work on Singapore Math and I’m working on geometry, I get really excited. My teacher likes Singapore Math, and I like it too. It has fun math problems so I have fun and learn. Sometimes you color in a shape. Or follow directions to make a rhombus. Or do tessellations. I love learning geometry.
<ATTRIB>—Michaela Kratofil</ATTRIB>
When I made a paper doll from a book my class read, I was so interested because we got to make it however we pleased and I love to express my inner artist.
<ATTRIB>—Sonya Chhabra</ATTRIB>
From Amy Lockhart’s 4th grade class at Price Laboratory School in Cedar Falls, Iowa:
I was really excited this year when my teacher, Mrs. Lockhart, said that we would create our own system. The system had to represent a system from the human body. It was so much fun, and I was really excited to start. When we were done, everyone in the class had to present their system to the class.
<ATTRIB>—Samantha Glaspie</ATTRIB>
My favorite time of learning was our banana split party at school. We had to work toward that reward by mastering our multiplication facts. Each time we mastered a family of facts, we could earn a topping or something else. I like working toward goals or rewards better than just learning and moving on. Mrs. Lockhart made it fun and gave us a banana split party. That was my favorite!
<ATTRIB>—Jack Mauer</ATTRIB>
Mrs. Lockhart made it fun while we were always learning. We could be creative and we could use whatever we wanted, and it provided us with challenges. I liked making a model of a system from the human body. That was fun and I learned a lot.
<ATTRIB>—Nicholas Gasser</ATTRIB>
