Discussion Forum #7: Joining Forces in Purposeful Work: The Legacy of Student Contribution

 

In the case of doing the wiki, jobs that can be created are researchers, scribes, global communicator/collaborators, and tutorial designers.  Researchers would conduct research on the topic of the wiki.  Global communicators can interview others across the country or around the world and incorporate an interview into the wiki.  The scribe can take notes during a lesson on the topic or take notes during the interview.  The tutorial designer can create tutorials for the topic or create a tutorial on how to use apps or equipment that may be needed to create pages on a wiki or even a blog post.  And each of the jobs entails others, such as editors, sharers, greeters, photographers, videographers, and web posters. 

In just a daily lesson, student jobs that can be incorporated into a classroom include scribes and researchers, which incorporates editors.  You can also have jobs that use sharers, greeters, photographers and videographers when there is a classroom visitor/speaker.      

When I look back at my time in school, the things that I remember most are the times when I shined in class.  When I was proud of something I did or something I made on my own. Or even when I had a sense of purpose and helped others.

I can help my students create an educational legacy by giving them the means to build their confidence, offering them opportunities to collaborate, and create work that they are proud of, work that they will share with or create for their class.  It has been proven that because students care more about what their peers think, they will put in the extra effort to get it right. Even giving students a sense of empowerment by providing them with projects that will live on with others or within themselves will create an educational legacy for students. Confidence, purpose and empowerment creates motivation.  Motivation inspires students to take ownership of their work and creates a sense of pride.

Having students work together on a classroom project, create a fundraiser for those less fortunate, or create a class blog where everyone participates and contributes are just a few ways that will assist students in creating an educational legacy that would outlast their own student experiences, experiences that will remain with them and last a lifetime.