Turning Students into Teachers

Flip the script for short segments to increase class participation and allow you to delegate responsibility.

By Elijah Ammen

student raising her hand

Giving up control of your classroom is difficult. It often feels like high-stakes testing seems to be the only thing on the minds of administrators, which motivates a "drill and kill" mentality. It's scary to give up control of your classroom—especially to the least-qualified group of people in the room: your students.

For instance, a week ago I did a small group project and presentation where groups of learners put together a comparison poster project of the animals from Animal Farm and the historical figures they represented. I blocked out twenty minutes and admired my "hands-on" and "learner-led" approach.

Forty-five minutes and three confiscated pairs of scissors later, my project was a disaster. That's it—no silver lining. No, "my kids came back the next day having learned more than I thought they did." It bombed.

When I was a newer teacher, this would have scared me off from any projects where I was not explicitly in charge. I would have gone into lecture and note-taking mode for the rest of the semester. But the truth is that as disheartening as many of these projects are, you need to re-evaluate, buck up, and try it again. 

Learning only truly takes place when one takes ownership of one's own education. You can regurgitate endless standardized information on a multiple-choice test, but that's not true education. True education is when you can take that knowledge and communicate it to others.

Despite the credibility-destroying anecdote above, here are several ways you can flip the script in your classroom:

Use Physical Objects or Areas 

As someone who was never very extrinsically motivated, it amazes me how even high school students love the seemingly insignificant rewards—stickers, badges, or stamps. Even little acknowledgements are important to them.

You can leverage this when designating student teachers. Younger learners work well with a physical object—a crown, armband, scepter, or whatnot. Older ages seem to enjoy significant locations in the classroom. Use a comfortable desk chair or a fancier desk with an "Assistant Teacher" title on it. Since I am rarely sitting at my desk during class time, I use my desk as a designated area, which for some reason seems to be a huge deal for my class. 

Rotate your teachers regularly and have the honor connected to specific achievements or behaviors so everyone in your class feels the ability to achieve the rank of teacher. Give this assistant teacher regular jobs that take some of the workload off of you, rather than creating new work. For example, the assistant teacher can be in charge of the distribution of materials so you don't lose instruction time passing out papers.

Other easy tasks are facilitating quiz reviews. If you have an answer key with the correct answers and an explanation, it's a simple task for your assistant to review the answers while you are free to roam the classroom and help specific people. 

Delegate Modeling  

Modeling is a great practice, but after the first time it rarely needs to come from you. Modeling how to do work is actually more effective from someone the same age as the rest of the class. Instead of writing your notes on the board, teach from a different place in the room and have someone else take your notes on the board. 
 
Specifically, if you are doing any form of guided notes, it's a great time to use an ELMO camera and for your assistant teacher to show how to fill out the notes. This keeps you from being locked into one physical area, which is crucial for effective classroom management. It also allows you to work one-on-one with people who are struggling. Finally, it allows you to see sample notes and make clarifications in the moment, rather than after the fact.
 
Don't have an ELMO camera? Use any webcam on a computer, a phone or tablet, or if you really want to think outside the box, hook up a camcorder to your projector and use the video to show live note-taking.

Reduce Stress by Not Singling Out an Individual

Ultimately, the previous strategies are only going to reach a specific type of young person. The majority of your class does not have the temperament to stand in front of a class; however, you need to provide the opportunity for everyone to present. Have group-taught mini-lessons where each member is able to contribute a part. The jigsaw reading strategy is one way to do this while making sure each presenter is responsible.
 
For instance--to connect back to my disastrous Animal Farm project, there was no specific responsibility for each group member, so each person waited for someone else to step up and take initiative. This wasted time and allowed most of the class to slack off because there was no accountability. If you don't want to have a similar failure, check out the articles about grouping below and most likely, you will have more success. 
 

Lesson Planet Resources: 

Articles about grouping, Note-Taking Skills, Jigsaw Reading Strategy