It's Time to AMPLIFY Students' Talents!

Amplifying students' talents, listening to their ideas, interests and dreams is really one of the most profound and impactful ways to unlocking students’ potential and inspiring them on to greatness.??Diana Laufenberg ?has stated that,

"It's time to TRULY invest educational time in the idea that student's ideas, interests & dreams can have an integral & powerful place in their formal educational journey."

When I was a principal, we worked to foster students excitement in learning and as a collective, unified staff, we invested time to listen to students, provide ample opportunities for them to creatively pursue their interests and passions in meaningful ways.?In so doing, students not only developed the academic content knowledge students need, they also developed the life and career skills that lead to future success!

??The Love of Learning??

What’s so powerful and exciting about learning environments that provide these types of opportunities is that students authentically love school, love learning, develop a positive self-concept, feel that they have talents and gifts to contribute to their class and beyond, and they feel empowered to shape the world around them and within them.?

One of my favorite ways that we fostered this type of learning environment where I was principal, was in having an all-school, K-6, dedicated time for students to explore their individual passions.?When we kicked this off at school, there was a lot of excitement amongst students and some nervous trepidation amongst staff.?Students were eager and excited, although some had challenges with this new-found freedom, and some teachers were nervous about letting students “drive” their own learning as they took on a facilitator role to students. It wasn’t always smooth and we all learned a lot in the process.?

In the end, this experience was rewarding and memorable to both students and staff alike. It was exhilarating to see students compose original music, choreograph a dance, write and perform a play, instruct students how to play a sport, create a cookbook, started their own book company, compose music on the piano, and countless other examples of real-world learning.?They were so proud of what they learned and what they created that this experience was shared as a highlight to their years in school at their 6th grade promotion multiple years later.

??The Rewards Are Great??

When educators take the time to truly understand students’ ideas, interests, and dreams, and give them opportunities to discover these areas; students find a love of learning, they make the most growth, and become empowered in knowing that they have a significant place in the world.

??Amplify Students' Talents??

So how do we do invest and provide opportunities to listen to students’ ideas, allow them to amplify their talents and pursue their interests and dreams??The following are a few of the many ways that teachers can make small shifts in their teaching to provide these empowering opportunities:

• Provide choice on assignments for students to demonstrate learning. Students will be more intrinsically motivated when they can take ownership of their learning.
• Give students interest inventories , personality type indicators and vocational surveys so that students can learn about themselves, develop career aspirations and appreciate the abilities and uniqueness of their classmates.
• When grouping students for collaborative learning assignments, consider grouping students based on their strengths, so that all students can contribute in helpful and positive ways. Watch students' confidence soar when they feel valued by their classmates for their individual talents.
• Give students authentic opportunities to lead in their classroom and school.?I’ve always said, that “If students can lead it, let them.” When students take ownership of their classroom and their school, they will develop a true pride in their school and have a great sense of satisfaction in their environment.
• Point out students’ strengths! Most of us can remember a special teacher that impacted our lives, or remember specific compliments that we can still repeat decades after hearing them. Words matter, and when educators believe in a students, great things will transpire.
• Allow students to share about themselves in ways that highlight their interests and passions; e.g. have students create autobiographical?mini-movies or trailers ?about their lives and?produce podcasts ?or write articles for?digital school newspapers ?on issues they care about.
• Make time to do one-on-one conferences to learn about students; e.g. Hopes and Dreams Conferences . The more that you know about students individually, the easier it is to foster inclusion, to personalize academics and the greater your connection will be with students.
• Provide students with Genius Hour or Passion Project Time; where each week students get to devote learning time to something that they are passionate about.
• Provide students with an audience, either from their classmates, other classrooms, guests, parents or utilize technology, e.g. YouTube, Blogging, etc. so that students can amplify their voice. Nothing is more motivating than knowing that what you worked on will be seen and heard by others.
• Offer students various book options so that students can choose books and topics that they are interested.
• Student-led conferences so that students take ownership of their learning, learn to set goals and develop self-efficacy. I always loved watching students come to their conference, dressed professionally, with their parents in tow, as students shared their accomplishments and their goals for the coming reporting period.

??Empowering Kids to Shape the World Around Them & Within Them??

BrainPOP offers a number of learner-driven projects that inspire creativity, collaboration and give students voice throughout the learning process. Students have the opportunity to build knowledge by choosing from over 1200 standard-aligned curricular topics, apply their knowledge and deepen and extend their knowledge through engaging and meaningful ways; e.g.?Make-a-Map ,?Make-a-Movie ,?Creative Coding ,?Challenge ,?Games .

All students have genius, and one of the roles of the educator is to help students discover and amplify their unique genius. As BrainPOP CEO has said, "Educators, parents, and caregivers, you play the most essential role in inspiring kids to carve out positive paths forward."?When we work collectively to provide opportunities for students to express and share their ideas, interests & dreams in ways that make learning engaging, meaningful and support the mastering of the critical skills; we are helping them to succeed in life!

Let’s help to?empower kids to shape the world around them and within them?by amplifying their talents.