Student Voice

Student Voice Box

A Great Strategy To Give All of Your Students a Voice


I saw this in a classroom and was thrilled with how great of strategy it was. Great teachers always share, so please try this and share with colleagues.

Want your classroom to run smooth? Want your students to have better respect? Want to minimize the bullying and conflict? Do something different this year, give your students a voice by creating a voice box.

What you need: A cardboard box with an opening for submissions, placed conveniently near you.

Paper slips: I like to print and cut slips that have a heading at the top. (Some slips need the title Gripe, others need to be called Good Deed) You can determine the names for the slips, I've seen Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down, Cheers and Jeers, 1 Step Forward, 1 Step Back, Hits and Misses.

Now is the time to explain to your class that they have a voice. Each time they see something positive, they print it up on the slip and put it in the box. (For instance, I saw.........picking up litter that somebody else left.) If there is something negative, any student can put in the negative slip and it can be anomynous. (For instance, Thumbs down to a person who was teasing another student about wearing braces.)

Decide when you will have 'Student Voice' time. It should be for a few minutes each day or every other day. This is very important, you need to honor student voice and make it a regular happening. Read the notes and have a mini discussion. This also gives you an excellent strategy to focus on developing great character.

See more strategies for classroom management.

Have a great teaching tip to share? Please do!

13 comments

smahindroo said...

thanks for the great ideas. I am going to implement this voice box idea in my class very soon..

smahindroo said...

thanks for the great ideas. I am going to apply this voice box thing in my class soon..

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