Give Choices
Give Choices
Why should I do it:
- Way of empowering the student
- Prevents power struggle
- Makes students feel engaged and a part of the decision making process
- Increase compliance
- Students respond better to choices
- Improved coping when having to do an undesired task
- Decreases conflicts, refusals, defiance, and opposition
- Builds rapport
When should I do it:
- Offering students choices should be a regular part of classroom management and strategy
- When telling any student to do something or giving a directive
- When a student is reluctant to do something
- When a student is stuck on making a decision
- When a student engages in a power struggle or is argumentative
- When students become oppositional and defiant
- When students make excuses
- When students are reluctant
- When giving consequences
- When giving rewards
How do I do it:
- Speak in calm, neutral tone
- Provide the student with two or more choices that you will fully accept, for example, “you can either do your work sitting at your desk or sitting at the table”
- Have the student decide in ten seconds, or you will choose for them, for example, “I gave you several choices. If a choice isn’t made within 10 seconds, I will choose for you” (this prevents the choosing process from going on all day)
- Present the entire class or group with choices when assigning work, for example, “Students, you can either do the odds or evens, you choose”
- Give choices when rewarding, for example, “Johnny, do you want computer time or a fancy pencil?”
Resources & Support for technique:
(Items with footnotes link to external websites)
- Offering Students Choices From Day One 1
- Give At-Risk Students Choices 2
- Offering Your Children Choices 3
- Parenting Tips, Kids Learn By Making Choices 4
Footnotes:
- Adapted from Partners in Learning: From Conflict to Collaboration by Lieber, C. Offering Students Choices from Day One. [http://www.teachervision.fen.com/teaching-methods/classroom-management/6710.html].
- Teaching Today. Give At-Risk Students Choices. [http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/weeklytips.phtml/147].
- Wolf, J. Offering Your Children Choices: Using Choices to Gain Your Kids’ Cooperation. [http://singleparents.about.com/od/discipline/tp/Choices.htm].
- Paulson, M. (2009). Parenting Tips, Kids Learn by Making Choices: Parenting Advice to Help Children Gain Independence & Responsibility. [http://marcypaulson.suite101.com/kids-learn-by-making-choices-a119197].