Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Reflection #5: Student as Leader

Article on Leadership Written by a Student

What:
I went on the New Horizons for Learning website and followed a few links until I found this article. It was cool to see that New Horizons advocates for student voice in regards to technology. There was an entire section dedicated to student voice. The article I read was written by a Sophomore in high school from the Seattle area. The author speaks of leadership and what exactly it means to be a leader. He wrote about knowing what you believe and, as a teen, deciding what you really think about different issues and really following through with your own choices and opinions.

So What:
I think that it is very valuable for students to have a voice online. For one thing, it makes students feel significant to be published on the web because anyone can read it and it makes them feel proud of their work. I also think that it is a great idea to have students who are leaders in school to talk about issues such as leadership for the sake of their fellow students. This allows students to see what their peers are saying. This would obviously need to be monitored and certain restrictions would need to be put in place. However, I think that the idea of student voice could be a great one for student confidence and growth.

Now What:
Well, if I taught on a secondary level, I would look into having a forum for topics that we discuss in class. I would also have students work on essays of opinion for a few weeks. When their essays are perfected and well edited I would have the class put them on the class website or a blog that they create on their own. Then, I would have students tell friends and family about their blog and have a groups of followers. Also, I would have them comment on the blogs of a few classmates. This is similar to what we are already doing in technology in education class. Overall, I think that the web is a great place for student voice and inspiration, and teachers should tap into this resources especially on the secondary level.

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