If you have read Daniel Pink’s popular book, Drive, you know about companies that encourage employees to spend a portion of their time engaging in projects of their choice. In some places, Pink reports, workers are encouraged to spend 20% of their time on these projects.
Recently, Josh Stumpenhorst at Stump the Teacher blogged about using this sort of idea in schools. For one day, sixth graders were allowed to basically choose any activity they deemed worthy, interesting, or meaningful. This is differentiation and then some! Not only do learners have choices in what to do but they can work collaboratively and focus on areas of personal interest or skill. Check out the post to learn more about some of the cool projects students chose.
I hope some of you will have a chance to try this in your schools!
About Paula Kluth
