Providing Children With Choices

    Throughout my fieldwork last Spring. I have learned how important it is to provide children with choices in school. Children are in the same classroom for 6 or 7 hours a day with only a few breaks for lunch or a special. Children need to be provided with choices for two reasons: 1) So the students feel they have control over their own learning and 2) so that the children enjoy the activities they are taking part in throughout the school day. Having choices makes learning more fun for the students.

         

            In my fieldwork, which was in a second grade classroom, during writing time, my cooperating teacher used to have all the children grab a clipboard out of a bin and a piece a paper. Then she had them find a special spot in the room where they would sit and write. When I viewed this activity, the children were at the stage where they were composing their own spring or winter poems. The children were so excited that they could go and sit anywhere in the room that they wanted. Some children sat on the floor by the area where they hung up their coats and backpacks, other children sat in corners, one child sat in the library area, and some children stayed at their desks. By allowing the children to choose where they wanted to write, the children were able to find a space in the room where they felt comfortable; this helped them to relax, to focus more on the assignment, and to enjoy writing. This activity also allowed the children to get up out of their seats, to move around the room, and provided a break in the structured school day.
          
          When I was in school, being able to pick the topic I wanted to write about, or choosing which books I wanted to read for my reading log or for a project made assignments more fun and interesting. Even now in college, when I have a choice on an assignment, I am more fascinated and engaged in the assignment, and therefore I remember more information about the topic I chose.
          
         When I become an elementary school teacher, I will provide my students with many choices because I want them to enjoy going to school everyday and to have fun with the assignments I create.
  
*** Providing choices for the students: 
= increases a child's willingness to learn
= increases a child's motivation
= helps children to remember more information
= allows children to enjoy, to relax, and to have
   fun with assignments
= provides a break in the structured school day
= allows children to feel comfortable
= makes children feel like they have control
   over their learning