Control vs Choice

Recently I have been thinking about teaching in general. It has changed completely from what I remember happening in my primary classroom. It has even changed in the time that I have been working (that's only 7 years). I have always been a strong believer of moving with the times. If something didn't work I tried a different way. I have always been the type of person who jumped in the deep end and learned as I went. I tried, I experimented, I failed but most importantly I learned. Not everything was easy. Giving away some of the control in my classroom to my children was difficult at first. I have always been taught that I should be in control! Unfortunately I found that this approach was not sustainable for me. I think this also stopped me from giving the best opportunities to my children.
I think Modern Learning requires teachers to let go of some control. Giving ownership to the children teaches them to make choices that are right for their learning, it also teaches them that all choices have consequences (whether they be good or bad consequences depends on the choice made). Letting go of control I found had to be a gradual process. You can not give control over to the children without first teaching them to make good learning choices. Some children will be able to do this instinctively others need to be taught.
Moving year levels has taught me that giving children choice can be done at every year level (obviously with more or less support). My Year 5 student's weren't necessarily better at making good choices than my current Year 2 students. In both cases I had to introduce choices slowly. Giving two options for a particular curriculum area at first. Teaching the children which to use when. With time I was able to give a few more choices. I didn't have seating with my Year 5 students and I still don't with my Year 2s. They have to think about the best place for them to work for a particular task. My little Year 2s can now think about what they are doing and how they need to do it, whether they work on their own or in a group. They seek out experts to help them with tasks. Our philosophy is if someone asks a question then you show instead of just tell. These kids are able to pick the best app for the task. They know how to publish their work on Pages or on the blog depending on how they want to share it. I'm absolutely blown away by them! I didn't think this was possible with Year 2 students at the beginning of the year. Here are some spaces my children like to use for different tasks:

Our quiet working table. Favourite with the kids who don't want to be bothered for a particular task

Where the children like to get together to read books as a group

 

This has become the favourite quiet space for those who need to concentrate on something

Group space when children need some expert advice

The biggest lesson for me was to let my students make the bad choices as well as the good. How do we really learn? As toddlers we didn't learn when mum told us not to touch the hot jug but boy was that lesson painful when we chose not to listen. Same goes for the children in my class. If you chose to stop others from learning because of the choices that you made then there are consequences. You have to catch up on late work in your own time or you lose privileges.
Letting go of control doesn't have to be as scary as it seems to begin with. I think by making small steps at the beginning of the year we can educate our students to be responsible leaders of their own learning.
How do you get your students to take control?