TeachMi
When students teach teachers
Effective teaching is characterized by the personalization of learning for students (Dabbagh & Kitsantas, 2012). At its most basic level, it entails tailoring education, evaluations, and learning environments to meet the requirements and preferences of students. Students exhibit enhanced motivation, performance, and ownership in course structure and content when they are included in the design process (Blinne, 2013; Haynes, 2001; Hudd, 2003). Reflective practitioners are always inquisitive about their own teaching techniques, reflecting on them and seeking to improve them.
TeachMi is a technique that will ensure students have a voice in the classroom. Demonstrating that students’ opinions and contributions are valued, TeachMi results in a student-centred learning environment. When students speak their opinions, they exercise self-advocacy and agency skills, which leads to healthy school culture.
Learning objectives (from the student standing point)
- Students discuss their study experiences and move on to classify them.
- Students compare their experiences to each other
- Students select the best study experiences and argue about the characteristics that make them positive.
- Students design approaches implementing the positive characteristics they previously identified
Expected products (deliverables at the end of the activity).
-A whiteboard completed with the student's study experiences and the positive characteristics
-A miro board containing the design process of the student's proposals
-A final document containing change proposals aimed at their teachers
A classroom of 25 splits into 5 groups, consisting of 5 students.
Brainstorm
Each group is given 10 minutes to reflect on their previous positive learning experiences and choose five of them to write on sticky notes. Following that, the pupils are encouraged to share sticky notes with one another and have 20 minutes to exchange their thoughts.
Selection
After sharing their positive learning experiences, students need to identify what made these experiences positive for them.
Ideation
How can they create more positive learning experiences? Students are asked to consider ways/solutions that would result in improving the positive aspects of the learning experience.
Benchmarking
Maintaining the same groups of 5, students are encouraged to use the internet and search for inspiration on positive learning experience practices. At this point, the students need to combine their experiences and the new information received and come up with a strategic plan.
Create a prototype
In a miro board, each group needs to create a plan of action (3D Model), targeting their teachers. This plan will consist of at least 10 practices the teachers should use, in order to make learning more fun, interactive and impactful for their students. This plan can include the proposal of activities, topics, working style (in groups, online and onsite, blended learning), as well as learning tools.
Moreover, the students should connect their proposal to their positive learning experiences, presenting the expected outcome of their action plan.
Pitch
Having created their prototype, each group will now present their action plan in front of the classroom.
Peer to Peer Evaluation
After each pitch, there will be a peer-to-peer evaluation of each group, in which students will have the opportunity to provide feedback.
Finalize the Prototype
In this round, students will compile the finest ideas/solutions mentioned during all of the pitches and construct a final document, which will include the action plan proposed by the entire class.
Teacher evaluation
The action plan developed by the entire class is presented to the school’s teaching staff. Students can share their ideas with the instructors in this final phase, while the ladder can educate the students on which ideas from the suggested action plan they are willing to embrace and why.
Peer to Peer evaluation Rubric:
Select the option that best expresses how you feel about the ideas presented.
Teacher evaluation Rubric:
Select the option that best expresses how you feel about the ideas presented.
The Flowchart
References
Blinne, K. C. (2013). Start with the syllabus: Helping learners learn through class content collaboration. College Teaching, 61(2), 41–43.
Dabbagh, N., & Kitsantas, A. (2012). Personal learning environments, social media, and self-regulated learning: A natural formula for connecting formal and informal learning. The Internet and higher education, 15(1), 3–8.
