How can I establish a community of autonomous 8th grade learners in my middle school who use assessment and data gathering to make instructional decisions and engage in the learning process?

Seminar Title

How can I establish a community of autonomous 8th grade learners in my middle school who use assessment and data gathering to make instructional decisions and engage in the learning process?

Engagement, Data Collection, Student Reflection, Student Choice, Inquiry

8th Grade

Middle School

Language Arts

All Disciplines

It’s happening again. You’re looking out at your class and the students’ eyes are glazed over. Some are picking at their cuticles. Some are staring at the clock. Some are nodding off in the back. A few are scratching in their notebooks trying to pay attention. And you stop and wonder, what am I even doing? Look. It’s normal to have times where students are checked out. It’s normal to be checked out yourself. But what would it be like to have passionate students who come to class eagerly and lose track of time? What would it be like if your role became more partner in learning and coach than authoritarian rule maker? In this session, I explore learning through inquiry and how data collection BY students helps facilitate their own learning. I am just at the beginning stages right now; my students gather data on one activity. The results have been incredible, and I am so excited to do and explore more. This session would be great for middle and high school teachers in particular. It would be appropriate for teachers who use or want to use inquiry in their rooms (workshops). Additionally, we will be discussing strategies to create a positive classroom community, grading strategies, the use of reflections, and effective feedback. These things have made student-led learning possible in my classroom, and these subconcepts energize me, my students, and the learning done in my room. Come and let’s discuss how these things can work for you, too!

The questions that I prompted my research are: How do I move away from a teacher led student environment to create a student-directed one? How can I establish a community of autonomous learners who use assessment and data gathering to make instructional decisions and engage in the learning process? I reviewed articles, journals, blogs, and books to find the answers. And, they didn’t come easily. I ended up focusing on several subconcepts and their appropriate strategies. First, there is a clear need for autonomy for our world. Second, in order to create student autonomy, there has to be effective feedback and modeling. Through my review of literature, I discuss (1) assessments and grading, (2) effective feedback, (3) data collection, (4) and reflections. Second, another way to create student autonomy is through the classroom community. I discuss the effects of positive community on student autonomy and offer a few strategies to help foster a positive and safe community. Finally, in order to create student autonomy, student’s have to choose their learning which includes what they are learning.