Experimenting with Student Freedom

I had a mini epiphany over the summer while I was brainstorming for some fun projects to do in my German 3 class this year.  While I was wondering to myself if a certain project would be better done as a video or a live presentation, I thought to myself: Why not both?  Or why not something else entirely?  What if there's a better way to do it that I haven't even thought of yet?

I really started thinking about what knowledge I wanted my students to have at the end of a unit and how I wanted them to demonstrate that knowledge.  That's backward planning - which seems like such an easy concept, but I still find myself struggling to remember to use it, as well as pleasantly surprise at how smoothly everything goes when I do use it.  Anyway, it got me thinking.  If every student is unique in their strengths and the way they learn, why don't I allow my assessments to be as unique as my students?  Why ask every student to make a video when some of them would prefer to do a live presentation?  Or make an infographic?  Or create a website?  Or do something that I haven't thought of yet?

I know it's not realistic for me right now to abandon every single assessment I have and allow the students to choose their own thing for every assessment, and I do think there is merit to having each student use a variety of methods to show their learning.  However, sometimes - a lot of the time, I think I should be allowing my students to have more of a say in how they show me what they've learned.  Our students can be so creative when they're motivated and excited by what they're doing in school.  Why not let them use their strengths and be creative in the ways they are assessed?

So, I'm officially experimenting on my German 3 class this week.  I've assigned them a project on the states of Germany, and I told them that they can present the information in any way they choose to do so (as long as they run it by me first).  Some students are making posters on Glogster, some are making websites with Weebly, some are making videos with WeVideo, some are making a Powerpoint presentation, and one was even thinking about incorporating interpretive dance (that last one may have been jokingly suggested, but still - you never know what they'll come up with!).  Their projects are due next week - we'll see how it goes!