By: Allysen Lovstuen In the Iowa Core five Characteristics of Effective Instruction are identified.
According to documents on the Keystone AEA website some attributes of a Student-Centered Classroom are:
Some examples of things that are done in my classroom that I think reflect these attributes are: Learning Target Self-Assessments: Students have a list of the learning targets for the unit along with a scale so that they can rate their understanding of each. Notes on resources that we have used that students could look back at to improve their understanding if needed are included as well. Learning Together: Feel free to stop by my classroom anytime to see this in action. I love the sound of students discussing and debating mathematics as they build understanding. Test Journals: One part of the test journal I have my students complete is a reflection on the past unit (before they get the test back so it is their feedback and not mine). Students are asked to identify what was hardest for them, what they did to try to learn it, and if that worked or not. They then make basic action plans for the next chapter. What do you do in your classroom to build a Student-Centered Classroom? Please share!
10 Comments
Holly
2/1/2018 06:17:01 am
I love the idea of having the students provide their own feedback before getting the test back. Feedback is so powerful whether it's peer:peer, student:teacher, or teacher:student. We all can learn from each other!
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Allysen
2/1/2018 11:50:57 am
Sometimes I can get sucked into the rush of things and forget to have students take time to do this. But I can't. It is important. And the more feedback I get that it is important the more likely I am not to forget. I think students appreciate the chance to process and share as well, as the time I forgot this year they reminded me.
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Kathryn
2/1/2018 06:21:36 am
I have my students collaborate with me in the first few days of class to set our classroom expectations for the school year. This gives them the sense of shared partnership in the environment of their learning experience.
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Allysen
2/1/2018 11:45:14 am
Kathryn, I do that as well. I think it would be interesting to compare how we each do that, to find similarities and differences.
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Liz
2/1/2018 06:34:06 am
Take up Allysen on her offer to watch the students discuss math; it's really amazing to listen to the students help each other (and thereby themselves) process the complex math concepts. Like Kathryn, my students create and agree on the norms for the classroom at the beginning of the semester. A safe, positive climate leads to rich discussions, many that connect with real world issues.
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Allysen
2/1/2018 11:47:12 am
Liz, like I said above to Kathryn, I think it would be interesting to see the ways in which we each do this- I wonder if our different "color"s mean that we each do it a bit differently? I tend to have students build from specific to general when we make norms.
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Nicole
2/1/2018 06:53:34 am
This is a REALLY long comment (forgive me!), but here goes: Below is an outcome and strategies/assessments from our current unit in Music Theory. I think this part of this unit displays some of the ways I use learning together, metacognition, real world assessments and making connections for new learning in my classroom.
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Sarah Zbornik
2/1/2018 09:50:15 am
Nicole, the strategies/assessments you use bring meaning and authenticity to this work -- not an easy thing to do in a Music Theory class.
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Andrew Ellingsen
2/1/2018 12:33:58 pm
It's fascinating to read the diverse ways people make their classrooms student-centered! In 2nd grade music right now, students are transferring their iconic knowledge of do, re, and mi to the staff. As we're making the switch from iconic notation to staff notation, we're doing a lot of "turn and talks," where students either share their prior knowledge with their peers or brainstorm how that knowledge might affect what is about to happen. The level of engagement when students can be involved in the progression from known to unknown goes way up!
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Heath
2/1/2018 03:23:06 pm
Great post! One way I try to do this is through reciprocal teaching. I like to have students create slideshows and present what they have learned to others in the class. I also try to encourage our classroom discussion to be led by the students.
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