Changing Student Task (Why and How)
Transforming Task (Why and How) One of the topics of recent discussion on the "Jeffco Generations" Facebook page is shifting student "task". Task is where the student gets the chance to engage, practice something, create, or solve a problem. Task is the experience that is part of the learning process. Without task, what you get essentially is a Sunday sermon with a teacher standing a delivering information to students. The first question that needs to be answered is WHY? Why do we NEED to change the student "task"? We've all heard the doom and gloom condemnation from education "reformers" across the country, so I'll spare regurgitating their rhetoric. Instead, let's look at some not often mentioned data points. The image below is a Gallup Student Poll (2015) of almost one million U.S. students from 3,300 schools across 46 states. There is a consistent decrease in levels of engagement as students get older, ultimate