One of the most important insights I have obtained from my experience thus far in the MAT program is how vital it is for a teacher to assume multiple roles both in and outside of the classroom. A role that I believe encourages student voice is when the teacher becomes the learner and allows the student to be the teacher.
The following link is to a video (I was unable to embed a link that worked) which discusses how teachers can bring science to life and how this is accomplished through working together. It is a little less than 3 minutes.
It is important to consider these roles when setting goals and setting tasks (Practice 0). This might include collaboration, problem-solving, or encouraging students to share in various formats. The students can address Standard #9 (Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information) by presenting to the class either verbally or visually. Like Dennis often mentions, "the student doing the talking is doing the learning."
As part of practice 0, it might be beneficial to consider an opening activity. The activity could be informal with the purpose of prompting the students to reflect and/or share where they are with anything, whether school related (prior lessons, other classes, etc.) or outside of school (current events, family/community activities, etc.). Utilizing this information can promote student voice.
During a lesson, it is important to intentionally interact with all students. I feel this speaks to Practice 2, Monitoring Student Work. By intentionally interacting with all students, I can be mindful of what a student is thinking and listen to what they have to say. This encourages student voice.
Circling back to Practice 0, I think it is important to also garner student feedback at the end of a lesson and then incorporate what the students share into subsequent plans. Certain questions like, what did they think of the lesson? do they feel comfortable they met the session's learning intentions? should we clarify the topic a bit more tomorrow? was this interesting or not? how would they like to revise the lesson?
