Empower: What Happens When Student Own Their Learning

by John Spencer, A.J. Juliani

Kids begin their learning journey as curious problem solvers who ask questions and create solutions. As they go through school, something happens to many of our students, and they begin to play the game of school, eager to be compliant and follow a path instead of making their own. As teachers, leaders, and parents, we have the opportunity to be the guide in our kids’ education and unleash the creative potential of each and every student. In a world that is ever changing, our job is not to prepare students for something; instead, our role is to help students prepare themselves for anything. In Empower, A.J. Juliani and John Spencer provide teachers, coaches, and administrators with a roadmap that will inspire innovation, authentic learning experiences, and practical ways to empower students to pursue their passions while in school. Compliance is expecting students to pay attention. Engagement is getting students excited about our topics, interests, and curriculum. But when we empower students, they crave learning that is both meaningful and relevant to their life, now and in the future. Empower is for you if … • You are a teacher eager to get students making, designing, and creating their own learning path in (and out of) the classroom • You are a superintendent, district administrator, or principal who is leading change and working to help your staff thrive in a twenty-first-century learning environment • You are a coach, staff developer, or teacher leader who is crafting professional learning experiences and wants to encourage colleagues to be the guide on the ride Empower is focused not only on what happens when students own their learning but also on how to reach a place where that is possible in the midst of standards, set curriculum paths, and realities of school that we all have to deal with. Written by real educators who are still working in schools and with teachers, Empower will provide ways to overcome these challenges and turn them into opportunities for our learners to be unabashedly different and remarkable. Join the conversation online using the hashtag #EmpowerBook and learn more at EmpowerBook.co.

Genres: Education, Teaching, Nonfiction, Professional Development, School

255 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 28, 2017

About the author

My goal is simple. I want to make something new everyday. Sometimes I make things. Sometimes I make a difference. On a good day, I get to do both.

I'm currently working as an assistant professor of instructional technology in a small private college just outside of Portland, Oregon. Before that, I spent twelve years as a middle school teacher, where I used design thinking and creative processes for student coding projects, documentaries, and blogging.

I am a frequent keynote and conference speaker and I had the honor of sharing my vision of the future of learning at the White House Future Ready Summit in Washington, D.C. I also delivered a TEDx Talk on the topic of creative constraints.

My research experience includes writing a chapter in The Nature of Technology textbook and winning the NAU Education Technology Graduate Award for my work around transforming professional development.

I am an avid writer whose work has been featured in Kappan Magazine, The Answer Sheet, Slate, and Edutopia. I am the author of Wendell the World's Worst Wizard and co-founder of Write About.

Reviews

[Kara Belden · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 This is a super quick read that has inspired my teaching and given me so much to think about. I strongly feel that every educator should give this book a chance. Unexpectedly, the discussions surrounding this book have been even more powerful than the book itself. The book is pitched as empowering students, but the book also empowers teachers. I will now forever ask myself, "What decisions am I making for students that they could make for themselves?"

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the format of the book and the tone is sincere, passionate, and appealing. In my opinion, the content basically consists of cheerleading for a new way of teaching (think Genius Hour, 20% time, etc...) and arguments for breaking with the old, traditional ways of instructional delivery. And while I'm in complete agreement, I've been in that heart and mind space for years.

The authors admit that this book is not an instruction manual—which is not what I was looking for in the first place—but I desperately wanted to hear some more concrete strategies about how to work in this way within the standards, with larger assessments, and/or within my yearly curriculum map.

[LaTonya · Rating 3 out of 5]

LORD JESUS THERE IS SO MUCH REDUNDANCY IN THIS BOOK!!!! The overall topic is great, the purpose is also great HOWEVER, the first 6 chapters to me, were all literally repeating the SAME THING but with a different title and I found passages that used even the same words!! Lol smh I did however pull out lots of good information, especially in chapters 7,8 and 12, that I plan to implement. Smh great topic but I feel the creativity in the makeup of the book was to hide the redundant points being made. Loved the ‘Wasted Day’ ideas, the consumers to creators process and the different student assessments.

[Nicole Mayberry · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is basically a TEDTalk - a lot of words, enthusiasm, and only a few actual suggestions. It basically was a plug for their website that...well...isn’t available any longer. Cool drawings. Nice sentiments. Not very helpful.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book and the validation that it gave me that I’m doing something right in my classroom. I learned a tremendous amount from the book, but also silently high-fived myself when I read scenarios or ideas that I’m already using in my teaching! A good read for people who really want to focus on what’s important for students in school!

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every time I get suckered into buying these books hoping one of them will actually show me HOW to do the things their titles promise. This is another book that outlines what we would like our classrooms to be like but fails to tell us how to take even small steps to accomplish it. I’ve done Genius Hour, but I need ways to go deeper into empowering students to be self-motivated learners. This doesn’t help at all.

[Rita Shaffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the discussions of the district-wide book study around this book and am excited to see the projects people are working on!

There were several great reminders about what is best for student learning and I enjoyed the authors' writing styles.

Fellow educators, I think the topics in the book are things we should be thinking hard about!

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good read. It was general enough to apply to any subject and also practical enough to show that sometimes students (and teachers) are limited by standards and tests, but they can still be empowered anyway.

[Jack Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fantastic.
I have been questioning a lot of things to do with teaching recently. This book has inspired me to try a lot of new, exciting things to try help motivate the learners in my classroom.

Hoping to push forward and implement things soon!

[Amie Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A super easy read that reinvigorates the reason to teach. I do love that as a counselor I now get to assist in “the system fitting the student instead of the student fitting the system.” Also a great book to use to help anyone LAUNCH a new learning venture.

[Christina Emberton · Rating 2 out of 5]

12 years as an educator, had to read it for a class. It’s a great cheerleading, feel good book…but nothing groundbreaking. I have a similar mindset as the author, I just want more examples as to HOW this is implemented and what it looks like in various classrooms.

[Niki · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Empower: What happens when students own their learning" is a great resource for educators. With a great layout and style, authors John Spencer and AJ Juliani share helpful and relevant information to guide educators in their quest for student ownership and leadership.

I did enjoy "Launch", their previous text, more than "Empower", but still a highly-motivating educational read that I would recommend to all educators.

[Caroline Sweeter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inspiring, didn’t have many tangible tips but definitely reminded me why I love teaching!

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick read, lots of graphics, repetition, challenging.

[Beth Honeycutt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I struggled to choose between 3 and 4 stars. There were some great ideas in the book. I love the idea of empowering students, and I’m interested in rethinking some parts of my work with students.

[Madison Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve always loved project based and empowered learning and got a lot of ideas and mindset shifts reading this book! Definitely recommend

[Kris Patrick]

To borrow from a metaphor from the text, Empower isn’t my flavor of Baskin Robbins 31 ice cream ... but I can appreciate the power that books like this one can have as nudges for change.

[Melissa Riggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great follow-up to Launch. Teachers who are eager to meet students' diverse needs should read this book!

"Empower is for you if …
• You are a teacher eager to get students making, designing, and creating their own learning path in (and out of) the classroom
• You are a superintendent, district administrator, or principal who is leading change and working to help your staff thrive in a twenty-first-century learning environment
• You are a coach, staff developer, or teacher leader who is crafting professional learning experiences and wants to encourage colleagues to be the guide on the ride
Empower is focused not only on what happens when students own their learning but also on how to reach a place where that is possible in the midst of standards, set curriculum paths, and realities of school that we all have to deal with. Written by real educators who are still working in schools and with teachers, Empower will provide ways to overcome these challenges and turn them into opportunities for our learners to be unabashedly different and remarkable."

[Megannuggets · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some interesting concepts and ideas here, and they're explained in about 80 different ways, but there are almost no examples of the applications of these concepts in areas other than Language Arts and Social Studies. I think some of these ideas can be applied to Science, but there is very small indications of how CTE can be included, or Math. Or music. Maybe the schooling I experienced knocked all of the creativity out of me (completely possible) or maybe I didn't have much creativity to begin with (also possible). I 100% believe that student choice and empowerment is necessary in education, especially in secondary schools where there is much less room for creativity by design, but I am having a seriously difficult time thinking of ways to add choice and innovation to so many content areas, including my own.

[Kriti | Armed with A Book · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book helped me imagine my future classroom and ways in which I could empower my students. With practical examples, it showed the power of ownership among students.

Read more here: https://www.armedwithabook.com/though...

[Karma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Inspiring message, but otherwise it's a bunch of fluff.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can come off a bit too... motivational at times (a touch cheesy and more abstract than substance) but I walked away overall feeling inspired and ready to push myself in some areas.

[Angela Thomson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reminds me of George Couros’ “Innovator’s Mindset”... which is a good thing!

[Rachel Godfrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book feels better suited for parents than teachers.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

"We are guides on the ride. Think of each school year as a journey. What will our journey be this year? We're all a part of this epic journey. We all learn from each other."

The Why
Truth #1: Every child deserves to own their learning.
Truth #2: Empowering students transforms social/human connections.
Truth #3: Stories will always have us. Empower students to create and share their learning stories.
Truth #4: The only thing you can prepare students for is an unpredictable world.
Truth #5: Literacy is about learning, and learning is about unlearning and relearning.
Truth #6: Teachers have a huge impact on students' lives. Empowering our students amplifies that impact.

Shifts in thinking:
Making subject interesting ... tapping into student interests
Require ... Desire
Providing choices ... Inspiring possibilities
Compliance ... to self directed
Consuming ... Creating
Taking assessments ... Assessing your own learning
Failure .... Failing

Questions & Quotes:
What decisions am I making for students that they could make for themselves?
How could this be more "adjustable?"
What can students do to modify this to meet their own needs?

Entrepreneurial thinking:
Self starter + Self Manager = Self Directed

How do you encourage students as self starters?
1. Inspire them. What matters to them? What are they passionate about?
2. Create opportunities. Carve out time in the week/month: 20% time, genius hour, geeky blog out, Wonder Day
3. Provide tools
4. Encourage creative risk taking
5. Model the thinking problem - use examples from your own life
6. Affirm it. Celebrate their moments of self starting
7. Help find them a community

Students will need to be able to invent and reinvent their jobs to stay relevant. That could be said of teachers, as well.

LAUNCH cycle
L - Look, listen and Learn - wonder, awareness of a problem,
A - Ask tons of questions
U - Understand the process or problem - conduct needs assessment, interviews, research articles, analyze data - using strategies they find useful
N - Navigate ideas - apply newly acquired research/knowledge to solutions, generate a concept by brainstorming, analyzing and combining; develop a plan of action
C - Create a prototype - could be an action/event - not just tangible product
H - Highlight what works and fix what's failing
LAUNCH to an audience

[Ryk Stanton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as part of my Professional Development as an educator, and our Reading Coach who led this training provided questions, challenges and tasks as we went along. Her doing so really helped me think more deeply about the book, but ultimately i just can't buy into what they're selling.

Here's the Big Idea: Give students free reign over what they want to learn and how they want to document that learning. Give them 20% of your time together to work on these projects, and students will amaze you with what they come up with.

For people like me, that would be incredible. Time to read, to write, to research, to create - yes, please! And of my 150 students this year, perhaps ... hmm ... perhaps 5 of them would use their time appropriately. I'll even say 10%, just ro be generous and optimistic. So 15. I'm sure of 2 of them, probably 3. So 3 yes, a dozen maybe, and 135 non-particioants.

No can do.

Still, I'm interested to find out what students would do if they could do this. Maybe I'll send out a survey ro find out.

As for the book, I'm not disappointed that i read it. It opened head a bit, and that's always good. But i also don't know that I'd recommend it to others.

[Edit: I meant to add that some of the things espoused in this book are things I do as a matter of course as an English teacher. Fur example, i use Alternate Book Reports, and students get free say in what poetry they create for National Poetry Month ]

[Naryn Searcy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and found it both inspirational and practical. As a teacher it made me reflect on the amount of choice I provide in my classes (not enough at the moment) and reminded me of the responsibility we have as educators to provide students with the opportunities to develop skills such as self-starting, self-managing, risk-taking, creating, and reflecting that will prepare them for an undefined and constantly changing future. As an administrator I appreciated the short bursts of text and accessible lay-out of the book (teachers are busy and this was fun and easy to read). I also appreciated the fact that the book didn't preach that it had "the answer," instead highlighting the benefits of design thinking while honouring the complexity of challenges teachers face, the value of other instructional approaches, and some general restrictions of the education system. Empower inspires the reader as well as describes a useful framework, and also provides educators with a way to start small while allowing themselves and their students to dream big.

[Noel Raggio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had to read this for my new job. It is an easy read with lots of pictures and enough repetition that you remember the main points. I can totally see how it would make kids more excited about learning, but is totally against the grain of the memorization style that we used in my education. I can totally see how a combination of this method along with some having to trudge through and do something you aren't excited about would be a good complete education. The hope is that the kids will pursue something that they are interested in, which might role over into their career, which they would hopefully also be excited about it. But, there aren't too many jobs where there isn't something that you have to trudge through just because that is part of the job. Sometimes we have to do things that are hard and that we don't like. But, I am excited about the thought that my kids teachers could get my kids actually excited about learning!! And, I totally see how they get super-excited about topics they choose vs. what is handed to them.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 stars. I wish I would’ve read it years ago rather than now. I highlighted some things and definitely took some ideas away from this book. With that said, you kind of get the feelings that the authors said “hey, between the two of us, we have dozens of blog posts around the concept of empowering learners. What if we copy and paste them into a book?” So, while that makes for a slightly awkward book, it does show you how many awesome blog posts they’ve read.

The audience for this book is tricky. Closed-minded, traditional educators will see it as fluff, a fad, and out of touch with reality. Many open-minded educators are likely innovators who do similar things already, but will pick up ideas here, as I did. This book is for those open-minded, non-educators who see a need to shift away from traditional classrooms.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a quick perfect educational read over a school vacation week. As a school librarian, it made me reflect on how much I encourage students to research what they are passionate about. What do they want to learn about and how can they find the information they need to learn it? This book strongly encourages educators to allow time for students to find something that they want to learn about within your curriculum framework and to have them pursue it and to provide students with more choices in their learning. As a busy mom, I appreciated the short bursts of text and images/infographics. Empower inspires educators as well as describes a design framework, and also provides them with a way to start small while allowing themselves and their students to dream big.