Freedom to Choose

by Anthea Manderson,
Teacher of Science

When we do group activities, they are often very structured with a clear framework of expectations from students. Sometimes this is exactly what is needed, and other times actually it can stifle creativity and limit students' understanding.

 

Often when I do group work, students get a choice over which way they present their information. There are some non-negotiables of course, usually time scale and what must be included. But the method of how they will present back their work to the class is left up to them. I have a range of resources available to them from the usual A3 paper and pens, to a laptop and an i-Pad.

 

One such time was with my Year 10 class. They were given two information sheets on two different types of contraception. They had one lesson to produce a presentation to teach the rest of the class that information. I poured out my craft boxes and gave them free reign on what they produced. This was one of the group's work.