11 Easy Ways to Support Student Autonomy in the Classroom
Have you ever sat in a classroom or professional development, and all you could think about was the annoying noises you heard, the restrictive nature of the assignments or group activities, or even your physical position within the space?
When students feel like they have no choices to make in their learning environment or in the way they show mastery of learning, many of them will struggle to get motivated.
This post is all about why autonomy matters in a classroom, and also how to build autonomy in the classroom through the learning environment, lesson plans and activities.
As a teacher, you’re sure to run into lots of learned helplessness in your student population. Here’s how to combat it, one kiddo at a time.
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Why Autonomy in the Classroom is Important
The National Education Association states that having autonomy in schools “provides students with opportunities to take risks, make choices, and be creative thinkers.” When teachers provide choices to students whenever possible, they create a culture of autonomy. In this type of classroom, everyone takes responsibility for his or her own learning, and many students may show lots of growth.
Build an environment that supports student autonomy in the classroom.
Students shouldn’t feel like victims of their surroundings. Ownership of learning environment means greater productivity, more enthusiasm for learning, and a feeling of connection to their teacher.
Consider flexible seating.
First, consider breaking out of the traditional desk or table arrangements that are present in so many classrooms. No matter what subject or grade level you teach, you can build some elements of student choice in the way you seat students, and it can be done on any budget. Read more about how I set up an affordable flexible seating environment in my classroom.
Offer music choices when appropriate.
Kids love music! There are tons of music options that can create a coffee-shop vibe in your classroom that’s conducive to hard work and deep thinking. One way to preserve your preferred atmosphere while allowing students to take some control is by having a number of allowable playlists that can play from your speakers.
PS – My favorite educational toy is the Yoto Mini player. While it’s an expensive tool for the classroom, the payoff is huge. Add it to your wishlist today – it’s a great way to foster student autonomy.
Let students experiment with lighting.
Can you set up your room with some lighting options? If so, consider having students experiment with different table lamps at different heights and locations to see what feels best for their current task.
That may sound like a nightmare for managing student behavior, but once the newness wears off, they will often just immediately adjust a nearby lamp according to their preferences and leave it alone.
Fluorescent lights that are so common in classrooms are not great for a healthy mindset. They are harsh. If you don’t like them in your home, why should they be in use in our classrooms? I am lucky enough to have huge windows in my class, so natural sunlight and a combination of lamps is usually enough.
Other teachers in my building who are less fortunate in terms of their building location and natural light can’t forego their overhead lighting completely. Instead, many of them will just turn on half the lights in the room.
Showcase student work everywhere.
There are probably multiple spots around your room and in your hallway where you can create a “Refrigerator” or a place to showcase student work. Showing off student work builds kids’ self esteem, fosters autonomy in the classroom, and makes them feel brave enough to take desired academic risks.
It also allows students to take some control over the space. After all, when a space if perfectly curated with pristine classroom decor and perfect handwriting, it’s beautiful, but it’s also filled with the teacher’s choices. When students’ work is posted in as many places as possible, they get to dictate the nature of their own environment to a greater extent.
My favorite way to build student autonomy with a “Refrigerator” is to have a designated place for each student to put their favorite work. It is labeled with each child’s name and a clip where they can attach their favorite work product. Some students may change it out frequently, and others may leave up their favorite piece for months at a time. It’s all great, because it’s their choice.
Collaborate on creating a list of classroom norms.
Instead of presenting your classroom rules to the class, why not let them have a lively discussion about how they’ll treat you, each other, and your space?
With my third graders, I loved to give students these three areas of discussion, and then brainstorm some norms that would be good for the group and for student learning. I was surprised by how insightful and fair they could be when removed from specific situations.
Because they were part of this process, and felt like they had autonomy in the classroom rules, they were far more likely to self-correct when I’d point out times their behaviors didn’t align with their preferred norms.
Also, bathroom policies can create a lot of issues around student autonomy. Check out my post here for some thoughtful ideas.
Let students choose their classroom jobs.
Classroom jobs are a great way to build student buy-in and give students some autonomy over their contributions to class. They are also a way to manage behavior in the classroom without policing students constantly.
Make sure that you don’t fall into the trap of assigning jobs at the start of the year and then never letting students choose new ones as time goes on. Getting to try out new jobs and explore new ways to be part of the team is very confidence boosting for kids.
Build autonomy into your lesson plans and activities.
It seems scary to build autonomy into lesson plans and activities. After all, we are held to standards of rigor and students need to learn. Perhaps letting students have more choice over their assignments seems both intimidating and hard to manage. Here are some concrete ways to build autonomy into your lesson plans and activities.
Give students choices about how they spend free time in class.
Many teachers have “early finisher” activities for students who tend to complete work faster than their classmates. Why not have a permanent list of 3-5 learning options for your early finishers, ranging from reading books on Epic to reading library books, or even quietly creating FlipGrid videos that answer prompts that you’ve created?
If your early finisher activities are highly desirable, make sure to quickly scan your students’ work quality before allowing them to move on.
Consider using Seesaw – even in the upper grades.
Some teachers assume that Seesaw is only appropriate for younger kids, but I actually like it best for upper elementary and middle school.
The best way to use Seesaw is not the way most people start out – by selecting pre-made materials from other teachers.
What works far better is to create your own simple assignment – it could be a single math problem or a higher-order thinking question about a text you’re reading. Then, give students multiple options for how to respond using the features available in Seesaw: take a photo and caption it, record a video of yourself explaining an answer or solving a problem, typing out a response, or even using the drawing feature.
Try choice boards.
Choice boards look a bit like a Tic-Tac-Toe board, and they offer students a selection of activities to do during their centers or independent work time.
Choice boards became more popular in our district during March-May 2020, when we did virtual learning. It was especially great for parents because occasionally they were unclear on directions or couldn’t access a particular website. Choice boards provided a way for students to continue working by choosing something else.
Have flexibility with materials.
There are many times when students can select from a wide variety of materials and still show mastery of the objective. Here are some ideas:
- Why restrict students to using crayons when they could easily choose from markers, crayons, or colored pencils?
- In math, what about letting students practice with either a pencil and notebook paper, show work on a blank Seesaw document, or even write on their desks with an Expo marker? Ours wipe right off!
- If kids need to give a speech to demonstrate mastery, they could do so on FlipGrid, Seesaw, or by embedding a video in a Google Drive to share with the class.
When planning for group activities, teach the value of being a great follower.
Autonomy and ownership of the classroom is improved when kids feel that everyone has a valuable role to play. Unfortunately, in most American public schools, there is a strong emphasis on leadership. Quieter kids aren’t valued for showing effective followership. Are we allowing kids to choose their role within groups according to their own preferences?
When preparing for group activities, talk about the roles of leaders and followers in an equally strong light. What does it mean to be a good leader for a group project? What does it mean to be a good follower?
While most of us are familiar with being a good leader, we know less about being a strong follower. A good follower in a group project often has at least one of these skills:
- encouraging members of the group
- asking the leader smart questions
- helping to clarify how the final product should look
- participating in discussion
