Agendas
The term Agendas refers to a strategy designed to support self-directed learning and effective classroom management. This strategy is also a way in which teachers can differentiate for ability. Agendas should not be confused with meeting agendas or class agendas, whose purpose is to track and schedule a series of activities within a single meeting or class day. Rather, in this context, agendas are an organizational framework that teachers use to orchestrate assigned student tasks.
Agendas are targeted to specific students rather than to an entire class. Agenda items are specific practice activities that individual students need to complete as a means of increasing their proficiency in understanding the subject matter or skills being taught. While several students in a class might have several agenda items in common, they will also have different items that are targeted specifically to their own proficiency level.
Furthermore, Agenda items are assignments. Students are free to complete their agenda activities in any order they choose, but all activities must be completed. Typically, an agenda includes practice activities for an entire week. As students complete their items, they also make some type of record of what they have done and/or what they have learned. In other words, they are held accountable and it is their responsibility to document completed work in a manner agreed upon. Many teachers use folders for this purpose. Instructional maps are another resource you can use to supplement agendas and build on prior knowledge.
Often, teachers use the agenda items as a basis for collaborative discussion between student and teacher. Together, they discuss not only what work has been completed, but how well the assignments helped the student to learn, what still needs to be practiced, or any other questions the student may still have. Conferences built around agendas, especially if done on an ongoing, regular basis, are an excellent way for students to take charge of their own learning and for teachers to assess how best to structure the next set of agenda items for them. These individual meetings are an excellent time to solicit individual student ideas on how best to structure the learning.
The examples below include agendas for two different students in the same classroom:
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