. As Phillip Schlechty explains in
, students like to know that what they do has significance to others. Students are motivated when they know what they accomplish is important and special. By selecting tasks for students that can affect others, teachers can bring affirmation to student work and the engagement that comes along with it.
Of course, to receive affirmation, what students do must affect someone or something or reach out to an audience. Technology is an effective tool for this. Here are five examples of how technology has facilitated affirmation of student work:
Fourth graders at Central Elementary School in Valparaiso, Indiana created a podcast episode all about their city. The school invited their local newspaper to write an article about their project. The episode was so well-done that the city even linked to it from its official website. That's a pretty big endorsement of the students' work!
Students in Spanish class at a high school in Dublin Ohio made an educational video that covers most types of Spanish present-tense and irregular verb conjugations. Producing the Cry Me a Verb video certainly helped reinforce the language concepts the students were learning. The video was posted on the free video-sharing site TeacherTube for others to learn from as well. Over 20 positive comments have been made on the site about the video. Some comments were from teachers that loved the video so much that they are showing it to their students: "I am a Spanish teacher and I intend to show this to all my classes!" That's some powerful affirmation for those Spanish students--what they created is being using in classrooms all over the world!
Marta, a high school student in Mr. Voight's English class, kept a blog. Some posts are assigned by the teacher and other are posts she writes simply because she wants to. I suspect that she enjoys writing the blog because her posts almost always generate comments. For instance, her post Pointless Stimulus is about 2008's U.S. economic stimulus tax cuts and has 7 comments. Some of those comments are from her fellow classmates and one comment is from the teacher. It's encouraging to Marta that she can share thoughts, opinions, and questions and have others respond. Her writing isn't trapped in a journal that perhaps only her teachers read; her writing is public and matters enough to others that they add comments to her blog.
Elementary students at Willowdale school in Omaha, Nebraska publish a podcast that is made available through the iTunes Store called Radio WillowWeb. Willowdale students receive affirmation knowing that their podcast is inspiring others. One comment left for the students in the iTunes Store reads, "Your podcast helped me decide to podcast with my students. An excellent example of the excitement that kids display when they are provided the opportunity to share their learning with the world." Knowing their podcast is inspiring others is excellent affirmation of their work!
Learners at Mabry Middle School in Georgia created videos with the purpose of changing the world or making their viewers think. Mabry students have made videos about treating those who are different from you with respect, the high human price paid for chocolate, and difficult medical decisions. The school hosted an awards night, complete with red carpet and tuxedos, to recognize the hard work and tremendous impact these videos had. Making a difference and receiving an award are powerful forms of the affirmation of the students' efforts.
Feedback is oh-so-important to students. When technology is used to make a learner's productions more visible, it opens up the opportunity for fellow students, teachers, parents, and others (who may or may not be significant) to affirm the importance of what the learner has accomplished. Affirmation of a student's performance motivates them to create the best performance or product possible.
Here are some ways to bring affirmation to what we ask students to do:
- Use a blog or wiki to publish student work. Many blogs and wikis allow for comments. This means that people who view the page can leave public messages for the students. (Don't worry, you can moderate comments so you get to screen them before they actually appear on the blog or wiki.) Blogger and PBwiki are two popular places to start free blogs and wikis.
- Upload to a video sharing site. TeacherTube is a place where teachers and students can upload a video to share it with the world. Once uploaded, viewers can leave comments about the video.
- Upload to a slide show sharing site. Students who make PowerPoint slide shows can easily share them on SlideShare and Author Stream. Like blogs and TeacherTube, viewers can leave comments.
- Encourage user reviews in iTunes. If you publish a podcast and have it listed in the iTunes podcast directory, encourage your listeners and viewers to write reviews on the podcast's details page.
- Do something that makes a difference. What needs to be improved or changed in your school or community? Students can make a webpage, podcast, video, or slide show to get the word out. The production could offer solutions to the problem and make a call for action on the part of the viewer. Making a difference in the school or community is great affirmation of the accomplishment.
What are ways students can get affirmation of their work? Please leave a comment!
Another quality that affects student engagement in a task is affirmation. As Phillip Schlechty explains in Working on the Work, students like to know that what they do has significance to others. Students are motivated when they know what they accomplish is important and special. By selecting tasks for students that can affect others, teachers can bring affirmation to student work and the engagement that comes along with it.