Teaching is a very hard profession; educators are always giving so much of themselves to students and burning out. Therefore, instructors are always looking for ways to work smarter, not harder! One of my favorite ways to do this is power sharing - allowing students to take the lead in teaching you and their peers.
Shifting the authority role from teacher to student has multiple benefits; not only does it help teachers, but it also supports the students. Students are able to use their own autonomy and agency in being the knowledge holder. Young people have so much valuable and interesting information to share with the world. Through these approaches, they are able to build their confidence while teaching peers and solidify their own knowledge and understanding of topics by synthesizing information and communicating their thoughts.
Here are a few of my favorite ways to help students learn by sharing the role of teacher with them. By no means is this list exhaustive.
Strategies:
- Create the opportunity for students to take over explanations: When starting a game that they have already engaged in, give them the first chance to go over the rules and expectations. Scaffolding their ability to share something they remember - to test their own understanding of the rules and memory, while also allowing them to be in a power role. Another way to easily have students share prior knowledge is when revisiting a schedule. They can even hold the clipboard/visual schedule for you! (Remember work smarter, not harder)
- Each One, Teach One (E1T1): In this activity, students are given cards with an image and explanation of something like a plant, geological formation, or animal, etc. There are a variety of ways the cards can be distributed. These information cards can be handed out to students on a walk, where the teacher can provide the card and the student waits for the next student to share information from their card. Or they can be used as part of a scavenger hunt. The cards can be given, and the item looked for, or if the item is stationary, can be placed with it and found together. Then, after they have had time to read and understand the information on their card, their peers will get a chance to learn from them. This part is also very flexible! They can do one-to-one peer sharing or group sharing, but everyone will get a chance to explain what they learned from their card. (If you have time, let students create their own E1T1 card - just provide them a simple template to complete.)
- Finally, my personal favorite, just being curious! Modeling curiosity and not knowing all the answers allows students to easily step into the teaching role. They can share their own prior knowledge or lived experiences relevant to a topic to help you and their peers learn. ("This reminds me of..." or "What does this remind you of?" are great ways to tap into their experiences.) This can also look like investigating and exploring the answers through experimentation or guidebooks/research - either together or on their own - and they can bring their findings to you. This allows the student to really become the teacher and bring new information to you and not just their peers.
There are many ways to disrupt the idea that adults or teachers are the only knowledge holders and recognize that young people have much knowledge to share with the world. Allowing students to share expectations or game rules after playing, activities structured to make them the teacher, such as E1T1, and utilizing their curiosity to learn something new and teach you. These strategies can be summarized as working smarter, not harder! Try one out today!
Briana and students discovering a salamander together.
Teaching is a very hard profession; educators are always giving so much of themselves to students and burning out. Therefore, instructors are always looking for ways to work smarter, not harder! One of my favorite ways to do this is power sharing - allowing students to take the lead in teaching you and their peers.
Shifting the authority role from teacher to student has multiple benefits; not only does it help teachers, but it also supports the students. Students are able to use their own autonomy and agency in being the knowledge holder. Young people have so much valuable and interesting information to share with the world. Through these approaches, they are able to build their confidence while teaching peers and solidify their own knowledge and understanding of topics by synthesizing information and communicating their thoughts.
Here are a few of my favorite ways to help students learn by sharing the role of teacher with them. By no means is this list exhaustive.
Strategies:
- Create the opportunity for students to take over explanations: When starting a game that they have already engaged in, give them the first chance to go over the rules and expectations. Scaffolding their ability to share something they remember - to test their own understanding of the rules and memory, while also allowing them to be in a power role. Another way to easily have students share prior knowledge is when revisiting a schedule. They can even hold the clipboard/visual schedule for you! (Remember work smarter, not harder)
- Each One, Teach One (E1T1): In this activity, students are given cards with an image and explanation of something like a plant, geological formation, or animal, etc. There are a variety of ways the cards can be distributed. These information cards can be handed out to students on a walk, where the teacher can provide the card and the student waits for the next student to share information from their card. Or they can be used as part of a scavenger hunt. The cards can be given, and the item looked for, or if the item is stationary, can be placed with it and found together. Then, after they have had time to read and understand the information on their card, their peers will get a chance to learn from them. This part is also very flexible! They can do one-to-one peer sharing or group sharing, but everyone will get a chance to explain what they learned from their card. (If you have time, let students create their own E1T1 card - just provide them a simple template to complete.)
- Finally, my personal favorite, just being curious! Modeling curiosity and not knowing all the answers allows students to easily step into the teaching role. They can share their own prior knowledge or lived experiences relevant to a topic to help you and their peers learn. ("This reminds me of..." or "What does this remind you of?" are great ways to tap into their experiences.) This can also look like investigating and exploring the answers through experimentation or guidebooks/research - either together or on their own - and they can bring their findings to you. This allows the student to really become the teacher and bring new information to you and not just their peers.
There are many ways to disrupt the idea that adults or teachers are the only knowledge holders and recognize that young people have much knowledge to share with the world. Allowing students to share expectations or game rules after playing, activities structured to make them the teacher, such as E1T1, and utilizing their curiosity to learn something new and teach you. These strategies can be summarized as working smarter, not harder! Try one out today!
Briana and students discovering a salamander together.
