Choiceboards

One of the staples of the ASPIRE 5 class is a choiceboard of tasks or activities.  According to gifted specialist Bertie Kingore, taskboards "provide multiple options to stimulate student interest and choice through learning products with a high likelihood of eliciting content depth and complexity."  The first advantage of choiceboards is how they empower students.  When gifted students feel in control of their learning, they are more likely to produce a product they are interested in, and complete it at a high level.  Second, I believe that the variety of choices allows students to use their talents and strengths when demonstrating their learning.  Students in our class have a variety of interests and abilities.  Some are talented writers, while others like to draw, act, or use technology.  When our choices take advantage of their skills, the students show a higher level of excitement and enthusiasm for the assignment.  In addition, choices are very effective when the students present their work.  The variety of presentations allows the students to learn from multiple perspectives, and about details they may not have considered before.  It is always an enjoyable experience watching the students put their personal touch on a topic for all of us to see.

Typically, I like to offer five to seven tasks each time I create a choiceboard.  Sometimes I offer tiered assignments for differentiated levels of difficulty, but most of the time, the tasks are similar in rigor and complexity.  I believe it is important not to offer the same kind of choices every time so that students will use different strategies to demonstrate learning.  It is obvious at this point in the year that most students have a favorite set of tasks, so I am careful not to repeat them too many times.  Finally, it is important to use rubrics to assess most of the work from a choiceboard.  While the students have not helped design as many rubrics as I had hoped in the beginning of the year, I believe that when students read the criteria before they start a task, they produce more high quality products that truly demonstrate the depth and complexity of their knowledge.

Overall, I believe that choiceboards have been an effective tool in the ASPIRE 5 classroom.  The students enjoy the power to choose, there is usually a wide variety of work samples, and the quality of the products is high.  We will continue to use them on a regular basis across the disciplines, and I am looking forward to watching the students use their unique talents to demonstrate what they are learning throughout the year.