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Identify one or two ways you can, as Dr. Black says, “build a structure [in your classroom] that also has a level of flexibility.”
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I believe that children definitely need to have the freedom to make some choices within the classroom setting. I often offer different assessments or project choices, especially within a novel study. I also allow students flexible seating within certain independent activities.
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I can allow some of our group discussion times to be student selected topics so they have input and flexibility on what we discuss.
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We do an end of the year project where the child has 12 choices as to what they would like to do. They can write a children’s book, write a song, make a comic. They have many choices to choose from which gives them some level of flexibility on how they would like to be assessed.
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Student assessment choices is one obvious way to provide flexibility within structure. I also sometimes have several different approaches to a lesson sketched out and let students select which one they prefer. Particularly, with more advanced students, this can work well to give them input into the teaching strategy that meets their learning needs best — and to give me a measure of their energy level. Some days students are ready to tackle a challenging skill development activity; other days, they are wiped out and benefit more from an approach that allows us to work on the same skill but take some of the pressure off.
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I certainly believe and have has positive experiences where for example in a history lesson, you may have multiple ways with a rubric to assess a student’s learning about the Civil War or any important event in history. Someone may prefer to write a paper, another student, a presentation and another a diorama or poster. All these ways allow for choice within the structure provided yielding the same end result: demonstration of understanding. By the same token, students that may have a behavior plan may need a choice of rewards for accomplishing certain things that their IEP may require. Deciding as a course how earned privileges in the classroom can work teaches cooperation but allows flexibility as well.