Let Students Make Decisions in your Classroom

NOTE: This strategy is part of the self-paced Amplify Learner Voice Course

In addition to making choices about their individual learning, students should be invited to engage in decisions that happen in their classrooms that affect them, their peers, and their educators. These decisions can range from something simple and small such as what music to listen to all the way to larger decisions such as what the arrangement of the furniture should be or what the class pet might be and how to take care of it. This is more than just listening to students’ opinions and taking that into consideration when making a decision as the adult in the classroom but instead is bringing students to the decision-making table in your classroom.

Bright Spots

Gain inspiration from authentic examples of this strategy shared by teachers who have used them with their learners.

Creating your own Bright Spots? Let’s get them out into the world! Share yours here.

Shared Classroom Ownership

Students in a class at VIDA in Vista Unified write the songs they want on a shared playlist on the board. Giving students ownership over what songs play in the classroom gives them shared ownership of the classroom environment. They also all list the materials that they want for their scrapbook project.

Student-Designed Spaces

This teacher gave the decisions about how to organize the furniture over to her students at the beginning of the year.

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