Presentation given on September 14, 2019, at IH Montevideo Spring Conference, Motevideo, Uruguay

1. Giving learners a voice
through meaningful projects
Vicky Saumell

2. Contents
1 Student agency
2 Choice theory
3 Projects: how do they fit?
4 Ideas and examples
5 Take aways
2Giving learners a voice through meaningful projects
Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
https://pixabay.com/vectors/choir-joy-praise-sing-voice-music-306766/y

3. Handout
3Giving learners a voice through meaningful projects

4. Student Agency

5. Student Agency
In social science, agency is the
capacity of individuals to act
independently and to make their
own free choices.
Student agency refers to learning
through activities that are
meaningful and relevant to
learners, driven by their interests,
and often self-initiated with
appropriate guidance from teachers.
5
Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay
https://pixabay.com/vectors/cranium-head-human-male-man-3432702/
It gives students voice and often, choice, in how they learn.
Giving learners a voice through meaningful projects

6. Choice Theory

7. Choice Theory
Dr William Glasser
Behavior is not separate from
choice; we all choose how to behave
at any time.
We cannot control anyone's behavior
but our own.
7Giving learners a voice through meaningful projects

8. Choice Theory
Fundamental premises of the school:
• all people are curious by nature;
• the most efficient, long-lasting, and
profound learning takes place when
started and pursued by the learner;
• all people are creative if they are
allowed to develop their unique talents;
• age-mixing among students promotes
growth in all members of the group;
• freedom is essential to the development
of personal responsibility.
8Giving learners a voice through meaningful projects

9. Projects

10. Projects: how do they fit?
• meaningful and relevant,
• driven by their interests,
• arouse curiosity,
• promote creativity,
• cater for different talents,
• embedded choice to exercise
freedom and develop
responsibility.
10Giving learners a voice through meaningful projects
Image by Lucy Vigrass

11. Ideas and
examples

12. Once upon a time
Answer and choose:
• What time in history are you most interested in? Why?
• Find out what century that is.
• What country/civilization is involved?
Investigate the following aspects related to the time you chose:
• lifestyle,
• traditions,
• housing,
• clothing,
• other aspects of life.
Write a journal entry (in first person) pretending to be a person living at
that time and place. Make sure you write about a typical day in your life,
where you live, who you live with, what you eat, what you do, your
customs. Organize your investigation in a booklet, poster or interactive
presentation. You choose!
12Giving learners a voice through meaningful projects

13. Once upon a time
13Giving learners a voice through meaningful projects

14. The school of the future
Group discussion
Discuss these questions. Write down the answers here.
What should school prepare you for?
What should school teach? (both subjects and skills)
How should school teach?
How should school evaluate?
What minimum equipment and facilities should every school have? And
any extras?
Presentation
Prepare an interactive presentation about your idea of the School of the
Future using your ideas from the previous discussion. You can choose
any tool to do it.
14Giving learners a voice through meaningful projects

15. 15Giving learners a voice through meaningful projects
The school of the future

16. 16Giving learners a voice through meaningful projects
The school of the future

17. Literature responses
17Giving learners a voice through meaningful projects
Provide choice
through a list
or a choice board

18. A Midsummer Night’s Dream
18Giving learners a voice through meaningful projects

19. A Midsummer Night’s Dream
19Giving learners a voice through meaningful projects

20. The Enormous Crocodile
20Giving learners a voice through meaningful projects

21. The Enormous Crocodile
21Giving learners a voice through meaningful projects

22. Poetry projects
Hidden poetry
Choose any text as the starting point. It can be a song or a
news article.
Find a new message in the text by combining words in a new
way. Black out the unnecessary words or highlight the
chosen words to show the path.
Visual haikus and cinquains
Show students the structure of these poems and have
students write their own. Then turn them into visual poems.
22Giving learners a voice through meaningful projects

23. Hidden poetry
23Giving learners a voice through meaningful projects

24. Hidden poetry
24Giving learners a voice through meaningful projects

25. Poetry projects
Hidden poetry
Choose any text as the starting point. It can be a song or a
news article.
Find a new message in the text by combining words in a new
way. Black out the unnecessary words or highlight the
chosen words to show the path.
Visual haikus and cinquains
Show students the structure of these poems and have
students write their own. Then turn them into visual poems.
25Giving learners a voice through meaningful projects

26. Haikus and cinquains
26Giving learners a voice through meaningful projects

27. Medieval times
After learning about medieval
times, learners were asked to
write scripts about those times
to create videos.
The learners chose which
characters they wanted to play
and wrote their own lines.
The videos were filmed with a
green screen and then relevant
backgrounds were added to
create the final videos.
27Giving learners a voice through meaningful projects

28. Medieval times
28Giving learners a voice through meaningful projects

29. Bonus: Tech tools
Postermywall.com
29Giving learners a voice through meaningful projects
Adobe Spark Video
WeVideo
iMovie
DoInk Green Screen
KineMaster
My Talking Avatar
Buddy Poke

30. Take aways
• Students as stakeholders in
their own learning
• Sharing power
• Showing flexibility
• Integrating students’ ideas
into planning activities
• Catering for different talents
and interests through
choice
Image by Tumisu from Pixabay
https://pixabay.com/photos/podcast-microphone-wave-audio-4209769/

31. Handout
31Giving learners a voice through meaningful projects

32. Thanks!
saumell.vicky@gmail.com
http://www.vickysaumell.com
@vickysaumell