Allowing student teams to make decisions about lessons, activities, or events is a great way for them to experience power and freedom: two the five basic student needs identified by William Glasser in his book, The Quality School Teacher. (The other three are safety, fun, and love.)

The big downside to the teams-as-decision-makers policy is how much time it takes.

Mr. Morris

Wanting his students to make a decision:

Okay. We have two things to do before this lesson is over. We have a game to play and a quiz to take.

A bit of buzzing from the students.

Mr. Morris

Pausing to allow the buzzing to cease:

We can play the game first if you want. It was designed to help you with the quiz. Or, if you wish, we can take the quiz first so that you can then relax and enjoy the game. It’s up to you. Talk to your team. You have one minute.

A minute later…

Mr. Morris

Waiting for their attention:

Let’s see what you decided.

Looking around at the teams:

Yellow team. What’s your choice?

Yellow team member

We want to take the quiz the first.

Another yellow team member

Immediately and indignantly:

No we don’t! We want to play the game first!

A third yellow team member

Angrily:

Quiz first!

And that was just one team. Five more teams to survey and we can actually move forward with the lesson.

Ultimate decision: Don’t allow the teams to make choices. It wastes too much time

The problem, I finally realized, was that the teams weren’t required to finalize their choice and commit to a decision. It was just 60 seconds of debating followed by a team member sharing what they thought was the team’s decision. What was needed was some way for the teams to come to a final decision and record it somehow. And if we could eliminate the need for the follow-up survey of teams, it would be even better.

The Solution

I gave each team a little 3 x 5 note pad. Using a crayon or felt-tip marker, a team member slashed the team’s color across the top of each page of the pad. The pad will then be used to record and then submit the team’s decision.

Let’s replay that same decision-making event but add Team Cards to the process.

Mr. Morris

Wanting his students to make a decision:

Okay. We have two things to do before this lesson is over. We have a game to play and a quiz to take.

A bit of buzzing from the students.

Mr. Morris

Pausing to allow the buzzing to cease:

We can play the game first if you want. It was designed to help you with the quiz. Or, if you wish, we can take the quiz first so that you can then relax and enjoy the game. It’s up to you. Talk to your team. You have one minute.

During this time, each team is debating, deciding, and then recording its decision on the team’s note pad. When finished, the page is removed from the pad and placed on my desk. Within a minute, I’ll have a vote from each team.

Note: The colors at the top of each page help me to determine which team has already submitted a vote. As you can see below, we were still waiting for the blue team to hand in its vote on whether we should take the quiz first or play the game first. If necessary, I could head over to the blue team to see what was causing the delay.

After all cards have been received, the decision—game first, test second—would be announced.

Mr. Morris

Checking over the six team cards:

Hey, what a surprise. You want to play the game first.

Mr. Morris

Let me show you how to play.

Win/Win

By basing our actual choice upon the decisions written on the team cards, the students begin to realize that they are powerful decision-makers. This eventually creates a climate in which students give serious thought to the choices they’re being asked to make.

The beauty for me is that we no longer waste time reaching a decision. A quick look at the Team Cards gives me all the info I need. And because the whole process only takes a minute, I become more inclined to provide them with opportunities to make decisions.

Final thought: Research indicates that it’s the choices students make that help to build their character. Consequently, the more chances they have to make choices, the more opportunities they have to build their character. And in my book, you win because of your character, not your talent. Talent, after all, is gift. Character is a choice.

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