Self-Direction: Putting Students in the Driver’s Seat

See the original YouTube video on The Summit Model page (length: 56 seconds)

[scene of teacher in front of class]

 

Kathleen Bourret, 8th Grade Teacher, Lee Elementary:
Content’s important, but it’s more about getting the kids to understand who they are and how they learn. Our kids can articulate too now what kind of learner they are — am I kinesthetic? How do I learn best? Taking notes? Am I an auditory learner?

They can all tell you. They couldn’t in the beginning of the year, and I think that’s one of the biggest things that kids learned along the way, is how do I learn?

Jacqueline Castro, 8th Grade Student, Lee Elementary School:
So it’s changed. I felt like I’ve learned more now. So if I ever struggled with something before, it was like, you struggled, you struggled, that’s the end of it. Teacher is done teaching it. That’s it. Now, it’s like if I’m struggling with something, I get to keep learning it and learning it and I actually learn it.

[students smiling]

 

Kathleen:
Just to see that process change, to see the kids learn where the resources are, learn how to go outside the resources and find things themselves. They’ve changed a lot.