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 6) What are some student-centered approaches or techniques for reading? 

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 6) What are some student-centered approaches or techniques for reading? 

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Think, Pair, Share/Jigsaw

Students are first given a topic based off the assigned reading. Once class has started a discussion, teacher can pair students up to start collaborating and thinking of guiding questions. After a few minutes, students will share out loud to the class what they have come up with. This is a very traditional, but simple activity. It helps promote reading comprehension, while also targeting key concepts about the story. This is also know as Jigsaw. You can split groups into chapters or characters. Once each group speaks on their assigned subject, they share aloud in the class so everyone learns a little something about each category.

Response Cards

These are great to help ignite a discussion of certain topics. There are 2 cards given to each student: 1 red and 1 green. Once a teacher asks a specific question, students are then asked to raise a card to decide if they agree (green) or disagree (red). These can be used for true/false questions, multiple choice, and critical thinking. Students will then discuss how they feel about a certain character or main idea. This will spark conversation on what students agree or disagree on.

Quick Draw

This is a twist on the quick write activity given to students at the beginning of class. Have students pair up. While reading the story, have the teacher break after each chapter or main event. Then have 1 student draw and the other make guesses of what the drawing could be. This helps promote creativity and critical thinking skills regarding the story. Visual learners will love this activity and can help students remember key ideas.

Promote Student Choice

Student centered learning should always be student driven. This starts with giving students lots of choices including the books they read. Studies have shown that students learn better when they have interest in it. Try taking a vote to see what book your class wants to read. Promote reading at home of any genre. This can be done by using a genre pizza chart where students are encouraged to read a book from each of the genres listed on pizza chart. In order to prove they have completed reading a genre they submit a short review to the teacher.   The book review can be done on paper or digitally using an online google form. Once the entire class has read a literary piece from each genre they get a pizza party.  Another great way to promote student choices through Peer suggestions or book whisperers. Having a friend or classmate give advice might give student’s a boost of confidence from someone else other than a teacher.

Ruben Knapen (2018). 20 interactive teaching activities for in the interactive the classroom. Retrieved from https://www.bookwidgets.com/blog/2018/06/20-interactive-teaching-activities-for-in-the-interactive-classroom

John McCarthy (2015). Student centered learning: it starts with the teacher. Retrieved https://www.edutopia.org/blog/student-centered-learning-starts-with-teacher-john-mccarthy

Janelle Cox (2012). Teaching strategies to create student-centered learning. Retrieved http://www.teachhub.com/teaching-strategies-create-student-centered-classroom

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5) What student-centered approaches or techniques include physical movementas a central element? 

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5) What student-centered approaches or techniques include physical movementas a central element? 

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Incorporating physical activity into the classroom will nearly always enhance the learning experience.  Kids, and adults, can only sit for so long before becoming uncomfortable and/or losing focus.  Below are some ideas to inject kinesthetic activities into your lessons:

Human Timeline

When teaching (or learning) history, one of the most mundane requirements will nearly always be the memorization of timelines.  One way to diversify and reinforce this requirement is to build a "human timeline" within your classroom.  Once the timeline and content is established, students will assign themselves their respective portions, memorize the dates and relevant content, reword the material in their own, conversational tone, and rehearse their real-time oral presentation of the material.  When students are ready, they will physically assemble in chronological order in the classroom and present their respective sections sequentially.  At the end of each presentation, and the end of the timeline, teachers can give opportunities for more in-depth discussion of the historical context and cause/effect of each event.

https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/teaching-strategies/human-timeline

Go Noodle

Provides short interactive meaningful breaks to students throughout the day.  Available through a mobile app or website are games, interactive activities, kid-friendly entertainment, and "brain breaks" that promote physical activity, active learning, heightened engagement, and enhanced focus.

Gallery Walks

Great for analyzing multiple texts. Teachers post texts on large print and post on the walls of the room. In small groups, students will rotate through the room and respond to texts using sticky notes/post it notes.

Sources:

GoNoodle. (n.d.). Retrieved May 16, 2019, from https://family.gonoodle.com/activities/banana-banana-meatball?utm_content=teacher&utm_medium=8568488&utm_campaign=share_link&utm_term=banana-banana-meatball&utm_source=clipboard

Harton, E., & Ramirez, J. (n.d.). The Teacher Toolkit: Gallery Walk. Retrieved 2019, from http://www.theteachertoolkit.com/index.php/tool/gallery-walk

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4) What student-centered approaches or techniques can you use to address differentiation?

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4) What student-centered approaches or techniques can you use to address differentiation?

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Give students multiple options for showing progress (Miller, 2016)

Students can show their progress through, Writing, speaking (oral representation), art, or theatrical/musical.

Allow students to "write the test" (Miller 2016)

Give students the freedom to create there own formative assessments---OR THEIR OWN RUBRIC

Students can choose to create there own final exam, project, infographic, video, or any number of different formative assessments that you deem acceptable

Differentiate through teams/groups (Barrett, 2017)

Divide the class into homogeneous groups based on achievement/proficiency. This allows the higher functioning students to learn leadership, collaboration, critical thinking, etc. from a less guided team setting.

In smaller groups the instructor is able to spend more time with students that need more guidance. Teams can be created not only based on achievement, but learning styles as well.

Integration with Other Disciplines
Allow students to display mastery of a concept using the means and methods that are most interesting to them. Allow students to use the variety of approaches and solutions to teach each other.

Allow Students to Teach Each Other
In small groups, clustered by common interest, allow students to create and present information to the rest of the class and teach the material. It increases ownership and engagement.

Sources:

Miller, Andrew. (January 8, 2016). 6 Strategies for Differentiated Instruction in PBL. Retrieved from  https://www.edutopia.org/blog/differentiated-instruction-strategies-pbl-andrew-miller

Barrett, Brad.  (September 22, 2017). Student-Centered Differentiation Strategies [Youtube video].  Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sJW9CiGYSY.

ASCD, (December, 2015) Differentiated Instruction With Multiple Art Forms.  Retrieved from http://inservice.ascd.org/art-is-more-than-just-added-flavor-differentiated-instruction-with-multiple-art-forms/ on May 19th, 2019

Miller A., September, 2015. Using Assessment to Create Student Centered Learning. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/assessment-create-student-centered-learning-andrew-miller on May 19th, 2019

US D.O.E., 2010, Student Centered Learning, Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/assessment-create-student-centered-learning-andrew-miller on May 19th, 2019

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3) How can you implement assessment so that it enhancesstudent-centered learning? 

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3) How can you implement assessment so that it enhancesstudent-centered learning? 

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Student centred learning can use many different techniques to empower our students to achieve the best by allowing them to know what we expect from them and how they can achieve the best results.

Ways to engage students in student centred assessment:

Self-assessment ‘The purpose of self-assessment is to identify areas of strength and weakness in one’s work in order to make improvements and promote learning, achievement, and self-regulation.’ (Pintrich, 2000)

The three processes in order to achieve student self-assessment are:

Setting clear performance targets

The criteria can be arranged in a simple checklist or in a rubric to enable the students to see the standards expected.

Checking progress towards the targets

The students will have their standards or rubric to tick off or check the progress of their work against it. Identifying strengths and areas for improvement.

Revision

‘Using the self-generated feedback from step 2, students revise their draft, trying to close the gaps between their work and the targets. This step is crucial. If students    don’t have the chance to revise and improve their work, and possibly their grades, they are unlikely to take the self-assessment process seriously.’ (Georgia & Andrade, 2013)

Here is a video that clearly illustrates how self-assessment works:
Click here: Watch Video

Project Based Assessment

Project Based Assessment is an alternative to tests that allow students to engage with their learning in more concrete ways. A hands-on project asks students to apply what they have learned to an in-depth exam. In preparing assessments of this type it is helpful to include the opportunity for reflection allowing the process and content to become more meaningful for the students.  If you want to use project based assessments in your classroom. One of which is that you must be clear about the parameters of the project and your grading rubric.

Benefits

-provide real-life experiences

-make them college and career ready

-Voice and choice

-designing clear and detailed rubric

-linked to better retention of information

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2) What are some student-centered approaches or techniquesthat are based on or require collaboration?

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2) What are some student-centered approaches or techniquesthat are based on or require collaboration?

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Communication is the key to success in almost any industry.  However, not all students feel comfortable or confident enough to participate in discussions.  Often in group settings, there are students with higher confidence levels or stronger character traits who tend to dominate the discussion.  It is helpful for teachers to prepare their class with some tools to be active listeners and how to ask questions that will facilitate good discussions.  Students who feel more comfortable with their classmates and within their classroom will typically participate more in class discussions as they feel their voice is actually being heard. This is why it is important to provide a safe space in which the students can share ideas, ask questions and form opinions.  Once the scaffolding is in place teachers can appropriately break their class into smaller groups for projects, discussions, and tasks. Working in smaller groups will enhance student's communication skills, which includes reflection, critical thinking, analyzing, and teamwork.

Play Games

At the beginning of the school year it is helpful to get to know your students and to help them get to know each other.  Building a sense of community will help students to feel more comfortable and safe. This can be done though a variety of collaborative games.  Check out some examples from Loriana Romano, Lisa Papa, and Elita Saulle in their article "6 Awesome Cooperative Classroom Games" on TeachHub.com.  Another great example of a collaborative based game that is often used during summer and holiday overnight camps is What's the Story. This game similar to another well know game called ZOOM (Mulvahill, 2016).

What's the Story Game/ Zoom:  In this game the group will build a collaborative story based on an object, a word, or an image.  Divide the class into small groups of 4 to 5 students. Hand out an image or object to each student.  First person in each group starts the story based on their object or image and the next person adds to the story including their object, using only as many words sentences as are allowed. Go around the circle a few times until the the group is satisfied with their story, or as time allows. The last person must bring the story to an end.  This activity gets the imagination flowing and it gives each person a chance to speak in a small safe space where there are no wrong answers. This game also involves learning about the parts of a story, how a story is formed, what makes it move along, the importance of character and description, and how to bring the story to a conclusion.

How to participate in Discussions

Provide students with sample questions to ask during discussions.   Before a class or group discussions it helps to point out the importance of active listening so that the speaker knows he or she is being heard.  Here is a great list of 26 Sentences for higher level conversation in the classroom by Teach Thought Staff at Teachthought.com (2018)

Lesson Plan - The Power of Active Listening from StoryCorps.com

In this lesson plan the educator helps the students identify and understand what it means to be an active listener along with the power of being heard and ability to really listen.  This is a good beginning lesson plan for students of all ages.   This plan can be tailored to meet the needs of each age group by altering a few of the activities. It also offers a video for learners who do better with a visual description. This video would work well in a flipped lesson plan on this topic.

Provide a Safe Space or Platform for Discussion Using Technology

Flip Grid:  An easy and safe way for students to share their ideas through personal videos. Teachers have complete control through video moderation, access and even topic selection. Teachers create a grid for their classroom and then students can discuss, reflect and share through an approved mobile device.  This program provides students who are not comfortable speaking to others in person, a way to share their ideas.  The hope is that by using such technology students gain confidence in their communication skills and are enabled to speak to classmates in person.

Sources:

Elizabeth Mulvahill. (2016) 8 Fun Ways To Help Your Students Collaborate in the Classroom. Retrieved from https://www.weareteachers.com/8-fun-ways-to-help-your-students-collaborate-in-the-classroom/

Romano,L., Papa,L.& Saulle,E. (n.d.). 6 Awesome Cooperative Classroom Games. Retrieved from http://www.teachhub.com/6-awesome-cooperative-classroom-games

TechThought Staff. (2018). 26 Sentence Stems For Higher-level Discussion In The Classroom Retrieved from https://www.teachthought.com/critical-thinking/sentence-stems-higher-level-conversation-classroom/

Flipgrid. (2019). Ignite Classroom Discussion. Retrieved from https://flipgrid.com/

StoryCorps. (n.d.) Lesson: The Power Of Active Listening. Retrieved from https://storycorps.org/discover/education/lesson-the-power-of-active-listening/

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Tips for Active Listening: A StoryCorps Education Tool

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1) How could you design the physical environment of the classroom, including technology,to be conducive to student-centered learning?  

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1) How could you design the physical environment of the classroom, including technology,to be conducive to student-centered learning?  

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In a student-centered classroom, it is important to design the space to support collaboration, inquiry, and movement. Technology that encourages cooperation, research, and communication is also a critical component of the student-centric classroom.

Collaboration

In a traditional, teacher-centered classroom, student desks were arranged in rows facing the instructor who stood at the front of the class and lectured. In a student-centered classroom, this is not the case. Student-centered classrooms engender collaboration, which means the seating and stations are arranged for students to work together on assignments. Classrooms designed for collaboration have flexible seating arrangements, comfortable furniture, and can be easily reconfigured.

A flexible seating classroom offers students a choice of various seating styles such as different types and heights of tables, stand-up desks, chairs, cushions, stools, couches, bean bags, etc.  Rather than using a fixed seating chart, flexible seating empowers students to select the type of seating that they feel most comfortable working in given the task at hand. Student-centered classrooms may have comfortable furniture configured much like cafe seating such as couches and armchairs clustered in groups of varying sizes. They may also have nook-style areas where students can work individually or in groups. Desks and chairs with wheels, as well as other lightweight furniture such as the aforementioned bean bag chairs, provide flexibility as seating configurations can be quickly and easily changed to accommodate creating work stations.

Inquiry

The layout of a traditional, teacher-centred classroom discourages the natural process of inquiry-based learning. The objective therein was more to train students to listen, memorize, and regurgitate but not apply or retain. In a student-centric classroom, learners are encouraged to explore the topic in an inquiry-based way with the expectation of an ongoing dialogue between teacher and student where questions and answers come from both sides. This facilitates open-ended questioning, problem posing, the Socratic seminar, and guided inquiry. Thus, learning spaces in a student-centered classroom do not have a clear "teacher" area that is separate from the "student" area. In fact, teachers and students intermingle freely in clustered seating areas where teachers are just as likely as students to have a seat, further aligning the two groups as a cohesive learning unit.

Student-centric classrooms may also have a "makerspace" area where students can use tools, materials, and equipment to create, invent, tinker, explore, and discover. Makerspace areas have become very popular in recent years because they are well-suited for project-based learning and STEM programs. They provide hands-on, creative ways to encourage students to design, experiment, engineer, and invent as they deeply engage. While some makerspace areas do offer high-tech equipment, sophisticated materials are not a necessity. Particularly for younger children, a makerspace area with a variety of recycled materials and simple tools can go a long way.

Movement

In a student-centered classroom, it is recognized that movement facilitates better learning. This is true especially because the average attention span of students has dropped dramatically as technology becomes more pervasive. Studies have also found that physical movement requires engagement from both sides of the brain. Most young students in particular need to move for better cognitive process and memory retention. Instead of sitting behind desks for long periods of time, students are encouraged to select the type of seating in which they are most comfortable, and the seating itself can be designed with non-distractor movement in mind. A variety of seating may be offered in a student-centered classroom including (but definitely not limited to) yoga balls, floor seating, balance boards, cushions, gaming chairs, couch seating, armchairs, stand-up bicycle desks, and, of course, more traditional-style chairs. Seating clusters are separated by open space and wide walkways to give the students space to move around. Classroom furniture can have wheels so seating configurations can be changed quickly and efficiently. When coupled with effective pedagogy, the physical classroom design can facilitate important opportunities for movement and improved student cognition.

Technology

When wielded primarily by the learners, technology is an essential tool for teachers and is inherently student-centered. If used effectively, technology in the classroom can aid teachers in helping students to acquire proficiency, enhance productivity, progress learning, or create a product. Key pieces of technology in a student-centered classroom may include:

SmartBoard or student-interactive large screen display(s)

iPads, Tablets, iPhones, or ChromeBooks

Google Keep, Google Drive, or Google Classroom

Wikis, Kahoot, Recap, Eclipse, and student blogs, vlogs, and commentaries

Desktop and Laptop computers

Wi-fi

Charging stations

Effective use of technology in the classroom is supported by a desk or seating configuration that allows the teacher to see all screens easily and furniture allowing students to swivel and look at the SmartBoard or display screen.

Sources:

Alber, Rebecca.  (2015, January 29).  How Student Centered Is Your Classroom?  Edutopia.  Retrieved May 20, 2019 from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/how-student-centered-your-classroom-rebecca-alber.

Bronke, Christopher.  (2018, April 6). Four Student-Centered Tips for Teaching with Technology. Retrieved from

https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2018/04/06/student-centered-tips-technology on May 18, 2019.

Mace, Nicole, MEd. (2018, August 7). 8 Strategies to Manage the 21st Century Classroom. Retrieved from

https://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/classroom-resources/using-classroom-technology/ on May 17, 2019.

Makerspaces.com (n.d.). What is Makerspace? Retrieved from https://www.makerspaces.com/what-is-a-makerspace/ on May 17, 2019.

Meyer, Jason (n.d.). Designing the Classroom for Student-Centered Learning. Retrieved from

https://www.edcircuit.com/designing-classroom-student-centered-learning/ on May 16, 2019.

Murray, Tom (2017, March 3). 3 Keys to Designing Learner-Centered Spaces. Retrieved from

https://www.thomascmurray.com/spaces/ on May 16, 2019.

Powell, Marcia (2013, December 24). 5 Ways to Make Your Classroom Student-Centered. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2013/12/24/ctq_powell_strengths.html on May 17, 2019.

Student-Centered World (2018, September 21). Movement in the Classroom. Retrieved from

https://studentcenteredworld.com/movement-in-the-classroom/ on May 17, 2019.

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 What student-centered approaches or techniques can you use to address differentiation?                                      Kay Moon

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 What student-centered approaches or techniques can you use to address differentiation?                                      Kay Moon

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https://www.capss.org/educational-transformation/what-are-student-centered-approaches

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404 - Page Not Found - Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS)

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404 - Page Not Found - Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS)

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How to design a physical environment of the classroom_Li

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How to design a physical environment of the classroom_Li

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Since I teaching PYP art,  my classroom is more like a museum/themepark, students are generally love this environment since they found it creative. I think this is a good start, so then the classroom was divided into four zones which are teacher’s desk, equipment zone, students zone and exhibition zone, in the equipment zone students will get access to camera, tripod, projector and so on.
And here are some examples of how other teachers design their classrooms:

Designing Classroom Space

The sky's the limit when it comes to designing classroom space. Beverly Kirk, from Carson City Nevada, had her husband make a special desk with a recessed top to keep math manipulatives in one place. Marilyn Aldrich, from Westhampton Beach, New York, uses flat pizza boxes, stacked for storage, to house math manipulatives and other materials. And Jack George, who teaches fourth grades in Rome, New York, built an eight-foot high loft (it can hold six children) in his classroom that functions as a puppet theatre, quiet reading/writing space, teaching platform, private conference center, test make-up area, and place to stage skits, science experiments, and more.

Reference:https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/classroom-organization-physical-environment/

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Every teacher knows that an incredible amount of material accumulates during the school year, and classrooms can quickly become unmanageable.

So how can you feel confident and in control of your space from the first day of school to the last? By organizing your classroom in a way that keeps clutter to a minimum and helps your students function independently. Below, veteran teacher Sharon Taylor shares her best tips on classroom organization.

Don't let crayons, glue, and pencils take over your classroom! Instead of requiring each student to bring individual supplies, ask parents to contribute to the community collection if it's possible for them. You can also raise funds for your classroom with a ClassroomsCount™ campaign.

By doing this, you eliminate the need to track which items belong to which students. Store frequently used items in shower caddies at each table for students to share. This will help them learn to take turns and collaborate!

At the beginning of the school year, invest in Scholastic tubs, bins, baskets, and small storage boxes-or get creative and use empty coffee cans, jugs, and baby wipe containers. These will work great for storing manipulatives. Make sure frequently used items are easy to access and clearly labeled with words and pictures. Rarely used materials can be stored out of the way and only pulled out when necessary.

Instead of file folders, try using binders to store lessons and activities. You can organize binders for various monthly themes and topics and can even store small craft samples. Shoebox-sized plastic boxes are ideal for storing larger craft samples. It will take extra work to organize your binders the first year you use them, but by the next school year, you'll be ready to go with minimal effort.

This is a big timesaver for teachers! Before the week begins, set aside all the materials you will need for each day of the week. In your work area, keep a set of baskets labeled by day and store the materials you need in the appropriate bin. At the end of the week, clear out and re-file any remaining materials, and you'll be ready for next Monday by end-of-day Friday.

To have a successful reading program, you need a successful classroom library. The books should be easily accessible and organized so that students spend less time digging around and more time reading.

First, you need to decide how you want to organize your books. Many teachers keep their libraries in book bins that are organized by genre, topic, and level. However you decide to organize your books, make sure the book bins are clearly labeled.

Finally, Taylor has the ultimate tool to keep your classroom library organized: clothespins! Put each child's name on a clothespin and keep them in a basket near the books. When a student picks out a book to read, they should leave their clothespin on the book bin. When they are done reading, if they forgot where the book belongs, they simply look for where they left their clothespin to return the book to the proper bin.

Shop classroom tools for organization below! You can find all supplies, books, and activities at The Teacher Store, where educators get at least 25% off the list price.

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Tips for Organizing Your Classroom at the Beginning of the School Year | Scholastic

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Maximize your classroom in the new school year with first-rate classroom organization.

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General approaches for student-centered reading_Li 

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General approaches for student-centered reading_Li 

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We use RazKids app a lot in our school to help kids improve their English reading, this is a great app has some characteristics as below:

Make reflection an important part of the process.  This phase allows the student to review the lesson objectives and reflect on things that worked as well as what did not work.

Reading should be taught both individually and in small groups.

Students should be encouraged to browse the books and make choices on which books to read

Use the “saturation” approach to reading by encouraging students to read for pleasure as well as for information, but also to read a variety of formats such as; paperback books, textbooks, magazines, catalogues, comic books, literary novels, plays, poems, etc. (Acquavita, 2016).

Keep records of the student’s progress

Allow time for independent reading

Plan units that are product-driven in nature and have an essential question which instruction seeks to answer.

Use an effective pre-reading strategy to build schema.  One good strategy is “What I know, what I want to know, and what I learned (KWL).  This is useful for tapping into students’ prior knowledge while helping them make connections in learning (Mansaray, 2013).

Provide instruction in basic reading strategies by using reciprocal teaching practice which includes; predicting, visualizing, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing (Mansaray, 2013).

Reference:https://www.learninga-z.com/site/resources/videos/raz-kids-overview

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Raz-Kids offers a digital library of developmentally appropriate fiction and nonfiction books for each child. Watch this video to learn how the product's leveled eBooks and corresponding eQuizzes improve students' reading, and how data collected can be used to track student progress and inform future instruction.

Raz-Kids is an award-winning K-5 online reading resource kids use to practice reading and improve their literacy skills, anytime, anywhere. With Raz-Kids, your students have access to a library of eBooks offered at 29 different levels of reading difficulty. These engaging and interactive texts include both fiction and nonfiction offerings, and target various topics, genres, and content areas.

Our proprietary, best-in-class leveling system looks at over 20 quantitative and qualitative criteria to ensure our resources are accurately and reliable leveled - making it easy for you to find the right range of text complexity for your students.

Students access their eBooks in an interactive, kid-friendly environment designed to keep kids excited and motivated to read. Each eBook provides opportunities where students can listen, read, record, and take a comprehension quiz.

The listen version of an eBook allows your students to listen as the text is highlighted and read aloud to them - helping them become more familiar with new words and phrases to develop their fluency skills.

The ability to read and record books at their own pace ensures that students are able to practice and apply reading skills and strategies, as well as demonstrate fluency and understanding of the text.

Every eBook includes interactive reading tools and features including a highlighter, area to write notes, and stamps, that help students read closely and think critically about the text.

After completing each eBook, your students then take a corresponding quiz that includes a constructed response opportunity to check comprehension. Every quiz question is tagged with a comprehension skill and a Common Core standard to inform progress and next steps for instruction.

As your students read books and pass comprehension quizzes, they advance to a new reading level where they have access to lengthier and more difficult text.

Students earn stars to spend in the motivational Raz Rocket or avatar builder for every task they complete.

Raz-Kids makes it easy for you to manage all your students' digital reading. The online teacher management portal provides a number of different reporting options that allow you to easily monitor your class and individual students' reading progress. These reports include quiz skills, level progress, activity, and words correct per minute.

Every student needs to practice reading. Raz-Kids is the award-winning reading resource both you and your students will love.

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Raz-Kids offers a digital library of developmentally appropriate fiction and nonfiction books for each child. Watch this video to learn how the product's leveled eBooks and corresponding eQuizzes improve students' reading, and how data collected can be used to track student progress and inform future instruction.

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The student-centered approaches that include physical movement as a central element_Li

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The student-centered approaches that include physical movement as a central element_Li

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We actually have used some physical movements in teacher’s training,like “the four corners”. But here we have more options:

1. A Four Corners debate requires students to show their position on a specific statement (strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree) by standing in a particular corner of the room. This activity elicits the participation of all students by requiring everyone to take a position. Use this as a warm-up activity by asking students to respond to a statement about a topic they will be studying.

2. Literary Yoga in an ESL class.
This lesson matches yoga poses to literary elements so that you can add movement and promote critical thinking in your English class. Research shows that sitting for long periods of time is horrible for both our brains and bodies. While we know that movement in the classroom is important, due to the nature of English classes, ELA students often find themselves needing to sit to read or write for long periods of time. Therefore, finding ways to add movement in your English literature class can be a challenge. This literary yoga resource is the perfect solution for adding movement in the English classroom.

3. Concentric  Circles
This discussion strategy invites every student in the class to participate as an active listener and speaker. Students stand in two concentric circles facing one another and respond to a question in a paired discussion. When prompted by the teacher, one of the circles moves to the left or right so each student now faces a new partner, with whom they discuss a new question. This kinesthetic activity works well to debrief a reading or video and mixes up students so that they have the opportunity to share with a wide range of students. Furthermore, because they are speaking with just one other person at a time, reticent students might feel more comfortable sharing their ideas than they would in a group or class discussion.
Reference:https://wakelet.com/wake/wMiBwS9mLg72iDHlgPuv_

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What student-centered approaches or techniques include physical movement as a central element? - Wakelet

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Appoaches we can use to address differentiation_Li

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Appoaches we can use to address differentiation_Li

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While integrating scaffolding strategies is centered around the class as a whole, providing structures to clarify learning objectives, differentiated instruction provides individual students with specific steps towards taking control of their learning experience. This framework requires you to assess how your lessons affect students before, during, and after class.

1. Create a differentiated learning environment – The first differentiation technique changes the physical layout of the classroom. Organize your classroom into flexible workstations. This will require you to move furniture around to support both individual and group work. For example, you can create a teaching table where teacher-led instruction will take place. This workstation would be focused on teaching new, challenging material. For art class, there are also could be different zones for different art practices.

2. Prepare thoughtful lessons backed by data – Before you even begin teaching each lesson, you should examine past assessments, collected data, work samples, and student observations to identify specific instructional strengths for each student. Then you can change the process of the learning experience by assigning different tasks to different learners. By creating a variety of related tasks at varying difficulty, you’ll be able to give specific tasks to certain groups or individual students based on their skill level. They can then work their way up to the highest assignment.

3. Tailor assignments based on students’ learning goals – Some students are visual learners, while others may be auditory learners or readers. You can offer students different avenues to present their understanding of the lesson based on how they learn the material. For example, some visual learners may want to create a poster to show their understanding of Newton’s first law of motion (inertia), while readers may prefer to write a paper or auditory learners may want to give an oral presentation. I think this is an idealistic approach since differentiate the assessment standards itself is...not that easy.

4. Adjust your lesson content based on student needs –  The most apparent way of differentiating the learning process is to change the type of content you use in your lessons. During a philosophy class, you may see that certain students aren’t paying attention, or are completely lost. Switch the content up by using computer programs, audio recordings, videos or even making it an interactive lesson by having students act out scenes from the play. Using a way students can understand to teach them.

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When it comes to engaging all of your students, you've probably realized that students learn in different ways. Some may work best when engaged in group work, while you may find others that perform best when working on their own. If this is the case, differentiated instruction and assessment, also known as differentiated learning, is the framework you need to reach students through different avenues of learning.

The term differentiated instruction was introduced in the late 1990s by Carol Tomlinson, who describes differentiation:

At its most basic level, differentiating instruction means "shaking up" what goes on in the classroom so that students have multiple options for taking in information, making sense of ideas, and expressing what they learn. In other words, a differentiated classroom provides different avenues to acquiring content, to processing or making sense of ideas, and to developing products so that each student can learn effectively. ( Tomlinson 2001)

While integrating scaffolding strategies is centered around the class as a whole, providing structures to clarify learning objectives, differentiated instruction provides individual students with specific steps towards taking control of their learning experience. This framework requires you to assess how your lessons affect students before, during and after class. Tomlinson describes four ways to differentiate the learning experience. Here we'll walk you through a list for implementing these four differentiation strategies into your classroom:

1. Create a differentiated learning environment - The first differentiation technique changes up the physical layout of the classroom. Organize your classroom into flexible workstations. This will require you to move furniture around to support both individual and group work. For example, you can create a teaching table where teacher-led instruction will take place. This workstation would be focused on teaching new, challenging material.

2. Prepare thoughtful lessons backed by data - Before you even begin teaching each lesson, you should examine past assessments, collected data, work samples and student observations to identify specific instructional strengths for each student. Then you can change the process of the learning experience by assigning different tasks to different learners. A good way to differentiate the learning process is to have a series of tiered assignments for each of your lessons. By creating a variety of related tasks at varying difficulty, you'll be able to give specific tasks to certain groups or individual students based on their skill level. They can then work their way up to the highest assignment. You'll want to make sure that you're continually assessing students' progress with Classtime and providing them with relevant feedback that will help them work towards their educational goals.

Quick Tip: With Classtime, you can keep multiple question sets organized in your library and easily assign tiered tasks to different groups and individuals. Plus, the PDF and Excel session exports will keep all of your lesson's data organized so you can easily assess and adapt.

3. Tailor assignments based on students' learning goals - Using differentiation strategies to shake up the end product that students turn in for assignments can also help you reach different learners. Some students are visual learners, while others may be auditory learners or readers. You can offer students different avenues to present their understanding of the lesson based on how they learn the material. For example, some visual learners may want to create a poster to show their understanding of Newton's first law of motion (inertia), while readers may prefer to write a paper or auditory learners may want to give an oral presentation.

4. Adjust your lesson content based on student needs - The most apparent way of differentiating the learning process is to change the type of content you use in your lessons. During a lecture discussing Lady Macbeth's morality, you may see that certain students aren't paying attention, or are completely lost. Switch the content up by using computer programs, audio recordings, videos or even making it an interactive lesson by having students act out scenes from the play.

Remember, it's important to keep your eyes and ears open when using differentiated instruction. You'll need to constantly assess how your efforts are affecting your students while keeping the discussion open and engagement high. Differentiated instruction takes a lot of planning, but with continuous assessment and varying strategies, you'll be able to accommodate all of your students' learning styles.

Classtime can help you get started with differentiated instruction in the classroom today:
Get started now
The easiest way to learn more is to start a session of your own and take the tour. It takes less than three minute - it's that simple!

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Differentiated Instruction strategies in the classroom - Classtime

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When it comes to engaging all of your students, you've probably realized that students learn in different ways. Some may work best when engaged in group work, while you may find others that perform best when working on their own.

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Student Centered Learning - Dave McRitchie 

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Student Centered Learning - Dave McRitchie 

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There are many ways that a teacher can address student centered learning.  This can range from the physical environment of the classroom and moving away from the traditional evenly spaced decked and chairs all centered on the blackboard.  We can strive to make our classroom an immersive learning environment.  I would address this by having multiple learning centers; for example a reading center, with many books to choose from, a carpet and open space that the students can freely discuss their reading. A science center or corner would also be an option and just having desks that face each other for collaboration involves the students in more sharing of ideas and information.
Student center approaches are varied and can be adjusted meet your class needs. Student led discussions, an open ended story where teams help build the dialogue, or a science project to build something where everyone has a role are a few exemples.  All these techniques can be used to add variety and allow more hands on instruction for your students.
To address differentiation you can assign team tasks according to ability or match stronger students with those not as strong to help.  I found that think, pair, share worked well.
Finally a technique that I have used and helps immensely is a standing desk and walking around to engage your students. Active participation, observation, and guidance is necessary to assist in meeting your desired outcomes in student centered learning.  Your students will feel more involved in learning and hopefully will accomplish more than expected.

References

https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/teaching-strategies

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/how-student-centered-your-classroom-rebecca-alber

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/student-centered-learning-starts-with-teacher-john-mccarthy

https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/a-choose-your-own-adventure-model-of-learning/

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Some student-centered approaches that are based on collaboration_Li

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Some student-centered approaches that are based on collaboration_Li

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1.Small group discussion and peer instruction (also called "ConcepTests").

Students think about the answer to a question posed by the instructor, and then discuss the question among each other. The instructor selects students to explain the consensus to the class.

*ConcepTests are conceptual multiple-choice questions that were originally designed by Eric Mazur at Harvard University for students in large physics classes.

2.Group Test

A test is given twice to the same students.

The first time, students answer the questions individually (as in a normal test) and submit their answer sheets. Then students are allowed to work in groups and re-take the same test. The two scores (individual and group) are averaged.

3.Writing with peer

Students evaluate each other's writing using a Pelaez (2002) review rubric or criteria provided by the instructor.

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How to effectively assess student-centered learning_Li

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How to effectively assess student-centered learning_Li

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1.The International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) outlines five styles of assessment:

Adaptive – identifies each student’s level of progress

Formative – reveals a student’s mastery

Interim – shows student’s growth within a specific time frame

Summative – analyzes student’s learning

Performance – evaluates how a student has learned

Knowing what you want to measure is key for any assignment, but is especially important for student-centered learning activities. This is the first step.

2. Be Involved in Creating Government Standards if you have this opportunity

As innovators who help craft the new standards that will be used to assess student-centered learning, teachers who are involved are already ahead of the game and more prepared to help their children learn when these rubrics are implemented.

3. Peer Assessment

Allowing students to participate in teaching by guiding peers increases morale, confidence, and could shed light on their own strength. For example you can let students sharing their portfolios with each other.
Just be sure to give guidelines about what productive feedback looks and sounds like before the first peer review session.

4. Maintain Control of the Process

When considering an approach to learning that is student focused, teachers might find the variety of teaching options overwhelming. To avoid early burnout from this method, properly organize station-based learning days. As students engage in projects while at their assigned stations, teachers can move between each group to observe and assess student-centered learning. In this fun, small-group setting, students will be more at ease and the pressure of a more formal assessment will not exist for students or teachers while preparing everyone for larger projects.

5. Trading Classroom Spaces

This is a fresh idea! Switch classes with other teachers who teach the same grade and subject. As an impartial party, each guest teacher will examine how students express knowledge of and apply concepts. When teachers provide feedback to students whom they do not teach regularly, the assessment will be administered with a clean slate.
Reference:
https://edu.stemjobs.com/a-beginners-guide-to-station-based-learning/

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Innovative classrooms are introducing station-based learning to better engage students and provide more helpful feedback for teachers.

Station-based learning is true to its name: it allows students to rotate through stations, learning in smaller groups adaptable to each student's individual needs. Khan Academy offers a more thorough definition in a video explaining the model:

In a Station Rotation, within a given course or subject (such as math) students rotate at fixed points in time - that is, on a fixed schedule or at the teacher's discretion - between different learning stations, at least one of which is an online learning station. Other stations might include activities such as small-group or full-class instruction, group projects, individual tutoring, and pencil-and-paper assignments. Some implementations involve the entire class alternating among activities together, whereas others divide the class into small-group rotations. In the Station Rotation model, students rotate through all of the stations.

Educators have praised station-based learning for a variety of reasons. Allowing students to rotate through learning stations offers freedom, both for you and your students. You have more freedom to design a variety of learning opportunities, rather than attempting to create a uniform lesson that addresses the learning needs of every student, and students have freedom to move at their own pace - to a degree, of course - and experiment with different learning styles. The stations can also offer immediate feedback and give you a chance to communicate with your students in smaller groups or even one-on-one.

This method might not fit all classrooms or teachers well, but it does cater to several common teaching dilemmas, including large class sizes, a mix of learning styles, and prolonged periods of inactivity for students. To successfully implement station-based learning, keep the following tips in mind:

1. Offer a variety of stations.

In an article on station-based learning strategies, Janelle Cox focuses on three main categories of stations: open-ended activities, tiered activities, and learning menus. Open-ended activities can be applied to any student. For a lesson on environmental science, you could ask students to brainstorm on paper or research online the biggest environmental problems we're facing today. All students start in the same place but will end up with different answers and takeaways. A tiered activity allows you to tailor activities to different students. Again, all students will be doing the same activity, but to different levels of difficulty. In a math class, students could work on the same concept but different groups have varying problems. Finally, learning menus let the student choose the activity, allowing them the freedom to thrive in different learning styles. Offer your students options and ask them to pick several to complete. Learning menus provide boundaries while letting students explore and have a sense of ownership.

2. Hold your students accountable.

Station-based learning might sound chaotic, and it easily could become so without rules set in place and accountability on your part. A middle school science teacher, Ted Malefyt, found station-based learning to be successful in his classes, but only when he checked on his students throughout the process. He holds his students accountable by giving them a roadmap to the activity and keeping a personal roster. In his article for Edutopia, he explains how he'll give his students an activity sheet (their "roadmap") which includes the station name (Igneous Rock ID Lab), the learning target (How do I use grain size using cooling rate?), the key deliverable (ID Lab Chart + Teacher Conference), and a blank space for his stamp. He says he uses an old-fashioned rubber stamp to sign off on every student to ensure they successfully completed the station. He also keeps his own roster to jot down feedback for each student on each station so he can know what to focus on in the future. While stations can be fun, the goal is the same as a traditional lesson: to help your students learn. Keeping record of how they're doing will not only keep them on task but provide you with concrete, actionable data.

3. Communicate with your students.

One of the most lauded elements of station-based learning is the ability to communicate more personally with students. If you implement this method in your classroom, take advantage of the opportunity to see how students are doing and continually evolve your teaching methods to fit the needs of your students. Whether you talk to students in small groups or one-on-one, use that time to explain and expand on difficult concepts, dig deeper into their learning style, and answer any questions they have. Students want to be seen and understood - personal time with you could have a huge impact on their understanding and motivation.

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To learn about more trending topics in the academic community, check out three popular structural changes in the school day that are being made throughout the nation.

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A Beginner's Guide to Station-Based Learning

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Innovative classrooms are introducing station-based learning to better engage students and provide more helpful feedback for teachers. Station-based learning is true to its name: it allows students to rotate through stations, learning in smaller groups adaptable to each student's individual needs.

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Some student-centered approaches or techniques that are based on or require collaboration_Li Yin

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Some student-centered approaches or techniques that are based on or require collaboration_Li Yin

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1.Small group discussion and peer instruction (also called "ConcepTests").

Students think about the answer to a question posed by the instructor, and then discuss the question among each other. The instructor selects students to explain the consensus to the class.

*ConcepTests are conceptual multiple-choice questions that were originally designed by Eric Mazur at Harvard University for students in large physics classes.

2.Group Test

A test is given twice to the same students.

The first time, students answer the questions individually (as in a normal test) and submit their answer sheets. Then students are allowed to work in groups and re-take the same test. The two scores (individual and group) are averaged.

3.Writing with peer

Students evaluate each other's writing using a Pelaez (2002) review rubric or criteria provided by the instructor

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Newsela and Myon are great examples of educational technology tools are created so that students can have differentiated instruction. Both of these tools help students access reading material at various reading levels to give students access to read about the same material or topic but making it accessible to all.

I have personally used Newsela and Myon and strongly recommend them for any grade level.

https://shaelynnfarnsworth.com/2018/02/05/4-edtech-ways-to-differentiate-in-a-student-centered-classroom/

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Giving students opportunities to reflect on their assessment results and growth is student centered. Students should be given the opportunities to track their own data and progress even through assessments.

Reference: https://www.edutopia.org/article/why-student-data-should-be-students-data

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Group Project and Assigning Roles

Placing students in groups to do research or solve a problem helps them build strong relationships. It is also important give them roles and allow them to work together to achieve a common goal. Even during remote learning students can be placed in groups that will support their learning and make it centered on students together.

Reference: https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/teaching-strategies/assigning-roles-group-work-remote-learning

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Student Centered Learning-Abi O'Neal- Leaving 2 Learn

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Student Centered Learning-Abi O'Neal- Leaving 2 Learn

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The physical environment of learning environments does not have to be the classroom. At my school we are a Big Picture Learning school and we believe in having the school student centered by getting students to focus on what we call Leaving 2 Learn. Leaving 2 Learn is the belief that students to leave the school and go into the community or businesses to get a mentor and an internship in which they are learning about their future career.

Here is a video and reference about this learning tool: https://youtu.be/8FPkkOsFKtY

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I believe that assessment can be continuous. We should always strive tone observant of our students actions and activities and can assess informally as well as formally. I also plan on incorporating peer assessment but with the younger elementary years will try to make that positive, for example, say one thing you like about your classmate.

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Student Centered Approaches for Reading - Kristin Loeffler

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Student Centered Approaches for Reading - Kristin Loeffler

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Some student centered skills to focus on include:
1. Encouraging visualization of the text. Using sensory and conceptual mapping to see, hear, feel, taste and smell the text to develop a more rounded comprehension of the material.
2. Making inferences: for this, students will need to understand how to pick up key words and use prior knowledge to draw conclusions.
3. Summarizing the major events that occurred in the entirety. Differentiating the the important information from the unimportant information.
4. Making connections between the current text, and the information they have already learned.

Reference:
https://sites.google.com/view/student-centered-learning/question-6-student-centered-reading-writing-listening

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1. Focus On Teaching The Skill Of Listening (yes those A.C.R.O.N.Y.M.S do help).

Break the skill into identifiable components for students and then practice, role play, make posters and dramatize scenarios.

Use positive reinforcement to help with this and/or reward students for using the skill appropriately.

2. Model Good Listening For Your Students.

So often we are thinking about our response to a student rather than really listening to them.

Use the 'counselling' skill of rephrasing or restating what students say to enhance your own listening.

Ask students to restate yours or others points of view.

Insist on one person speaking at a time either in whole class discussions, paired or group work.

Demonstrate the skill to the class by drawing their attention to your listening with younger grades, having older grades deconstruct what effective listening looks like, sounds like, feels like.

3. Get To Know Your Students.

Find out about their interests, hobbies, music and sport, families etc. Kids will listen more to teachers they feel are interested in them and know them.

In high school, where you may teach up to 150 students use memory tricks, refer to school photos or take notes so you can use the knowledge in your conversations with students.

See some of our articles on how to build relationships with students.

4. Use Reflective Listening...

to defuse tricky situations.

Saying 'Joey I can see you are upset (disappointed, frustrated, sad) validates a student's feelings, provides the language to describe the feelings and can help to reduce the intensity of the feelings allowing the student to move forward.

Listening to students can give you insight into their state of mind.

5. Give Students A Voice...

...about the issues that impact them, i.e. their learning, their assessment, their classroom, their school values students need to feel heard and understood.

They will more readily accept the status quo if they feel they have been heard. What About Student Voice?

6. Get Everyone's 'Voice In The Room'.

Give students an opportunity to speak at the beginning of class by having a "check in".

You could use this as an orientation to the lesson e.g in Maths, everyone thinks of the highest number they have seen today or as an emotional check in e.g.use a colour to describe how you are feeling.

7. Talk Less.

As a general rule, kids can effectively listen for about half their age in minutes, so for a child of 10 that's about 5 minutes, for a 15 yr old, that's about 7.5 minutes!

Mix up the activities in the classroom so that they are talking, writing, moving and listening in a variety of ways.

Here are more ideas on how to use variety in the classroom.

8. Use 'Cold Calling'.

Have you noticed that it is usually the same 4 or 5 students who answer questions?

Introduce cold calling (no hands up), where any student may be expected to answer a question or explain a concept to the class.

Dylan William has a simple strategy of writing students' names on paddle pop sticks and then randomly drawing out the name of the lucky person who gets to answer.

If you would prefer a more high tech system, find a list of randomize apps here.

To ensure students feel safe to 'have a go', develop a culture of risk-taking in your class by encouraging thinking rather than expecting the 'correct' answer.

Not sure about how to develop a positive class culture? See 6 Ways to build a positive classroom culture.

(Teaching Strategies to Increase Your Student's Listening Skills)

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Student Centered Learning - Question 6 - (Student Centered Reading, Writing, Listening)

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Student Centered Approaches/Techniques for Reading: Questioning - Good readers ask purposeful questions before, during, and after reading to determine meaning or further understanding. Imaging (Visualizing) - Readers use a variety of sensory and conceptual processes (mental mapping) to

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Personalized Learning for Differentiation - Kristin Loeffler

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Personalized Learning for Differentiation - Kristin Loeffler

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A Personalized Learning approach is an excellent way to assess the strengths and weaknesses of each of our students. Since the beginning of the global health crisis, which hit at the beginning of 2020, major deficits have started forming in the quality of education provided around the world. Personalized Learning may be used to identify areas where students may be lacking, so that the teacher can aim to address these deficits. This also allows students to move at their own pace to make sure that they don't get left behind.
PL always includes these four elements: targeted instruction, data-driven decisions, flexible content, and student reflection and ownership.

References:
https://www.edweek.org/leadership/what-is-personalized-learning-educators-seek-clarity/2014/10

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Assessment of Student-Centered Learning - Kristin Loeffler

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Assessment of Student-Centered Learning - Kristin Loeffler

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The first video attached revises how students can practically implement effective self assessment of their work. Self assessment is a method of helping students identify their strengths and weakness, and then revise their work accordingly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkFWbC91PXQ

The second video discusses the foundation and process of peer assessment for student-centered learning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqWCJZH8ziQ

References:
https://studentsatthecenterhub.org/resource/assessment/

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Self-Assessment: Reflections from Students and Teachers

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Student Centered Approaches That Require Collaboration -Kristin Loeffler

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Student Centered Approaches That Require Collaboration -Kristin Loeffler

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A number of Student Centered techniques require collaboration with other students. The four approaches discussed in this article are:
1. The Jigsaw Method: where students "master" and become "experts" on a specific topic. They then share their expertise with their original group and present their projects to the entire class.
2. Fishbowl: Where students sit in two circles - one inside the other -  the inner circle are the speakers who share their thoughts of the topic, while the outside circle of students are the listeners. After about 10-15 minutes, students switch positions.
3. Project-Based learning: the teacher identifies a problem and students work to brainstorm, design, build and test their prototypes of the solution.
4. Think, Pair and Share: students take time to form their thoughts on a topic, share and discuss this with a partner and then share that which they had discussed with their partner, with the entire class.

Reference:
https://sites.google.com/view/student-centered-learning/question-2-student-centered-collaboration

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Student Centered Learning - Question 2 - (Student-Centered Collaboration)

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What are some student-centered approaches or techniques that are based on or require collaboration?

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Think Pair Share: For Student-Student Interaction - by Kristin Loeffler

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Think Pair Share: For Student-Student Interaction - by Kristin Loeffler

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With still so many students stuck at home these days, attending online classes, there is very little opportunity for them to have any form of physical student-to-student interaction. Through the use of Zoom Breakout Rooms, students have the opportunity to think up a response to a posed question, discuss their answers in small groups and then share their thoughts with the whole class once everyone has returned to the main class.

Within the ClassDojo Toolkit, there is an option for readily available Think Pair Share prompts that the teacher can utilize to allow more one-on-one engagement between students.

Reference:  https://keepteaching.iu.edu/strategies/com
municating-facilitating-activities/think-pair-share.html
https://www.classdojo.com/toolkit/thinkpairshare/

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Now you can facilitate "Think Pair Share" in just one tap. Post a prompt to the Think Pair Share app, then have students turn and share with a partner. Watch the discussion unfold 😀

Screenshots

Description

Some things are better in pairs: socks, earphones, cookies, and think pair share. Now with one tap of the the Think Pair Share tool you can display a question. Student pairs can collaborate together to solve harder problems, have 1-1 discussions, and work on their teamwork. Supairb.

Teacher Tips

"I love being able to quickly start a Think Pair Share so students can chat with their partner while I'm preparing for our next classroom activity."

Features

Think Pair Share is one of those empowering class discussion strategies that allows your students to have 1-1 conversations, collaborate together to solve harder problems, and hone their team building skills. With the Think Pair Share app, you can display a question or prompt to your students in just one tap. They then have the opportunity to pair up and share, while you prepare for the follow up lesson. This is one of those class discussion tools that gives you a few minutes to take a break from teaching and gain insight for the next lesson - all while stimulating healthy communication among your students. Finally, a fun and simple to use student discussion app. When it comes to equipping yourself with interactive teaching tools, Think Pair Share app is a no-brainer addition to your kit.

When you open up ClassDojo to view your teacher tools, Think Pair Share is on the main list next to a blue discussion bubbles icon. From there, you'll see the option to add a question or topic to a queue. When you're ready, you can cast the question or discussion topic to a computer screen or projected display for the class to see. Your prompt will appear on the screen in a clean and clear graphic - set in the middle of two discussion bubbles on a blue background. Students will be able to reference the prompt as long as it's shared to the screen. When you're ready for your students' discussions to wrap up, you can pull the question down from within the app, signifying to your students that it's time to draw their attention back to the center of the class.

Something that sets this class discussion app apart from other Think Pair Share tools is that you can brainstorm and type out several prompts at once, keeping then privately stored to your dashboard for later use or back-to-back discussions. Whether you like to have a list of prompts ready or you prefer to write your prompts on the fly, this class discussion app is designed to save you time no matter how you approach class discussion strategies.

Benefits

With Think Pair Share, you're equipped with a student discussion tool that keeps your classroom engaged while you take a few minutes to prepare for the next thing. Not only that, when you send a prompt to the screen, you're inviting each member of your class to think for themselves, share their conclusion with classmates, and begin discussions that allow them to better understand why outside input and feedback is essential to developing their own ideas.

If you'd like to see your students grow in their interpersonal skills, you can have them pair off to discuss a prompt one-to-one. If you'd rather your students work more on their team building and group communication skills, you can have your students break up into small groups to discuss. The "pairing" is customizable to how you prefer to use your class discussion tools. Your prompt doesn't always have to be topical or ideological, either. Say you teach math or science, and you're hoping to learn how well your students collaborate to solve a complex equation - you can simply type in a problem to the app and project it to the classroom screen.

By discovering where your students are getting stuck, you can gain key insight on how to continue the lesson or address their confusion about specific problem-solving techniques.

When it comes to teacher tools, Think Pair Share provides you with rare opportunity to pause and let your students process, so you can make notes and adjust your curriculum accordingly. Think Pair Share tools can also help your students better articulate their own confusion about the lesson at hand. By offering a follow up Q&A, you will gain important insight on the status of your students and where you might still need to fill in the gaps.

Best practices

Sometimes it's hard to tell if your students are really "getting it" when you're in the middle of a long lecture. Think Pair Share will help you keep them stimulated while processing new content. If you see students getting antsy, distracted or bored, you can quickly pull up this student discussion tool to pose a reflective question about the current lesson or material you're guiding them through. This will direct their focus back and get their wheels turning, so that they're interacting with the lesson rather than merely letting it go in one ear and out the other.

Another powerful use for class discussion tools like Think Pair Share is building a sense of community among students. By posing non-curriculum-related questions that might help your students get to know one another better, you are inviting them to listen and build trust with one another. When typing in a prompt such as "What are you grateful for today?" or "What's your favorite memory from over the weekend?" or "Where is somewhere you dream of visiting one day?" you are inviting students to connect and empathize on a human level, thus setting them up to more willingly collaborate on complex problems or theories later on. Now tell me another student discussion app that can facilitate interactions like that!

If you're wanting to make the most of your teaching tools, Think Pair Share is not only helpful for breaking up long lesson plans and stimulating discussion, but building a true sense of community in your classroom.

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ClassDojo Toolkit is free and is part of the ClassDojo app. Simply download the app to get started!

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Think Pair Share App - Tools & Strategies for Student / Class Discussion | ClassDojo

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Some things are better in pairs: socks, earphones, cookies, and think pair share. Now with one tap of the the Think Pair Share tool you can display a question. Student pairs can collaborate together to solve harder problems, have 1-1 discussions, and work on their teamwork. Supairb.

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Student centered approach for reading and movement

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Student centered approach for reading and movement

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Gallery walk is a teaching technique that was designed for face-to-face settings. During a gallery walk, students explore multiple texts or images that are placed around the room. You can use this strategy when you want to have students share their work with peers, examine multiple historical documents, or respond to a collection of quotations. Because this strategy requires students to physically move around the room, it can be especially engaging to kinesthetic learners.

Close Reading Protocol strategy asks students to carefully and purposefully read and reread a text. When students “close read,” they focus on what the author has to say, what the author’s purpose is, what the words mean, and what the structure of the text tells us. This approach ensures that students really understand what they’ve read. We ask students to carefully investigate a text in order to make connections to essential questions about history, human behavior, and ourselves. Skillful close reading is also an important foundation for helping students develop the ability to justify their claims in class discussions and writing assignments with specific evidence. A typical close reading activity uses some or all of the following steps: reading aloud, reading silently, answering text dependent questions, participate in a gallery walk, transition to discussion, etc.

Reference list:
Facing history & ourselves. 2021. Close reading protocol. https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/teaching-strategies/close-reading-protocol (Accessed 15 August 2021)
Facing history & ourselves. 2021. Gallery walk. https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/teaching-strategies/gallery-walk (15 August 2021)

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Ensure students’ reading comprehension by emphasizing a purposeful reading and rereading of a text.

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Student centered approaches to address differentiation.

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Student centered approaches to address differentiation.

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Differentiation technique has been defined as changing the pace, level, or kind of instruction you provide in response to individual learners’ needs, styles, or interests.

Student centered learning relies highly on understanding your students so that you know which techniques to adopt with them because the personal understanding you have with them. All students have the potential to do great things, once they are given the right type of support their require it is easy for them to blossom.

Some of the ways teachers can address differentiation is by customizing content for the students so that each has the opportunity to show their strength. Another way is to change or improve resources used for teaching and learning. There are different types of students that teachers needs to educate themselves about so they can know what to look for and how to treat each student's situation, amongst many types of students we can find students that are visual, auditory, linguistic, kinesthetic, logical/mathematical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, etc.

Reference list
Teachhub.com 2020. What are the different types of learners? https://www.teachhub.com/teaching-strategies/2020/01/what-are-the-different-types-of-learners/ (Accessed 14 August 2021)

Graduate Program for Educators. 2019. Educators Blog: Differentiated Strategies to use in the classroom. https://www.graduateprogram.org/2019/09/differentiated-instruction-strategies-to-use-in-the-classroom/ (Accessed 15 August 2021)

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Throughout my eleven years in the classroom, I have never encountered a class with just one learning style. In most classes I have found myself juggling a plethora of learner types and encountering at least one new type each year. This is the reality of the classroom and one of the more difficult aspects of a teacher's job. We are constantly pursuing the perfect balance of differentiation where all learners reach their full potential. While such a utopia admittedly doesn't exist, teachers can lay a foundation for student success by understanding the different types of learners.
Why it's Important to Know Your Students' Learning Styles
A proactive teacher will start each year armed with plans and strategies that have proven effectiveness. Having a bank of resources is crucial during the thick of the year when time (and indubitably patience) are running thin. This practice is built on the premise that you know what students need to learn in order to be successful, but what happens when you exhaust your bag of tricks and students still cannot write a well-structured essay or multiply 3-digit numbers? A year of blind trial and error is a year wasted, and therefore knowing your students' learning styles is critical.

When you know how your students learn best, you can easily identify the root of the issue when they aren't grasping a concept. You have clear direction when choosing strategies - for example: a rap about figurative language is fun but may not be helpful for your visual learners. When you don't understand your students' learning styles, planning will always be a shot in the dark.

When education is on the line, uninformed instruction is not a gamble that we should be willing to take. Teachers should gather data about student learning styles early and consistently. This can be done through learning profiles, observations, and more. Don't wait until a roadblock manifests to gain understanding of the learners in your classroom. The timing will likely be too late.
Types of Learners
Learners are typically pigeonholed into three categories: visual, auditory, and tactile. Furthermore, a true assessment of education as we know it will show that of the three, our visual and auditory learners receive the most instruction that is relevant to their style. There are, however, multiple learning styles that grace our classrooms. Here are some different types of learners along with information about how to accommodate them in the classroom.
Visual
Our classrooms are typically oversaturated with aids for the visual learners. As the name suggests, these learners retain information by seeing. Things like anchor charts, diagrams, number lines, and word walls are effective for visual learners. Visual learners also retain information that is modeled for them.
Auditory
Auditory learners learn best through hearing. Although these students have an advantage in lectures, there are many, more inventive ways to engage auditory learners. Creating mnemonics, reading information aloud, peer teaching, and incorporating non-obtrusive music (i.e. classical) are ways to cater to auditory learners. Because auditory learners naturally gravitate to sound, they are also easily distracted by excess noise in the classroom.
Linguistic
These learners are often confused for auditory learners. While the auditory learner learns best by hearing, a linguistic learner learns by expression and articulation. These students are typically strong writers and orators. They need time and space to think out loud and on paper. One way to engage linguistic learners is to always have instructions written down. Picturesque charts are useful, but know that your linguistic learners are typically looking for words that tell your expectations. Word problems for mathematical operations, writing to explain scientific concepts, and cloze assignments are all effective for these learners.
Kinesthetic
Also known as tactile learners, kinesthetic learners retain information through action. These students need to learn by physically doing things. Movement and creating things manually are winners for our kinesthetic learners. Activities such as gallery walks that allow students to move about the classroom are helpful. Flexible seating options that allow students to work while standing, laying down, etc. are also helpful. Products like fidget cubes and Bouncy Bands are great ways for kinesthetic learners to discreetly maintain movement while working.
Logical/Mathematical
These are our learners who excel in math but dislike the ambiguity of literary analysis. They learn through methodical logic and love the absolute quality of numbers. Logical learners thrive when structure is abundant and may struggle with creative projects. In order to accommodate these students, provide rubrics and/or checklists with clear expectations. Make goals measurable and provide them with the information and tools necessary to self-monitor progress. Sequencing activities, technology, and building projects are a great fit for these students.
Interpersonal
That student who consistently follows up your instructions with a timely request to work in groups is likely an interpersonal learner. These students thrive during collaborative work because communication is the key to their comprehension. Group work is obviously their strength, but we all know that some assignments must be completed individually. Allowing interpersonal learners to work with others during the planning stages of an individual assignment will go a long way. Activities like think-pair-share, literature circles, and team-building activities also work well with interpersonal learners.
Intrapersonal
The exact opposite of their interpersonal counterparts, intrapersonal learners thrive when working alone. These are the students who, when self-aware, will request to work alone on group projects. Allowing these students to have independent study time and a quiet, secluded workspace are extremely helpful. They do well with self-directed research, so providing resources for them to study independently will be beneficial. When intrapersonal learners must work collaboratively, providing defined roles will help them to identify their best-suited role and work accordingly.

Knowing your student' learning styles is crucial to helping them reach their potential. This requires flexibility and engagement in a constant learning curve. The most effective classrooms are those tailored to the specific needs of the students they house.

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What are the Different Types of Learners? - TeachHUB

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Throughout my eleven years in the classroom, I have never encountered a class with just one learning style. In most classes I have found myself juggling a plethora of learner types and encountering at least one new type each year. This is the reality of the classroom and one of the more difficult aspects of a teacher's job.

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4 main aspect for student centered learning:

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Simo Makhathini = Collaborative learning

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Simo Makhathini = Collaborative learning

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Internet is the biggest factor of human life today but it is still not taught as a subject in many parts of the world. The internet changes at very high speed and also shapes tomorrow's world, so if the students that are to live in that future will not be geared up for that world throughout their childhood as students, then their human competence will be shortchanged for their world.

Complex Dynamical Systems (CDS) are the small bubbles that represent the true nature of human life, that we are all fruits of the people we are connected to. When you take out the presence of a teacher and let a heterogenous group same age students explore and idea/invention by themselves in a comfortable space, then energy they share at that moment often results into something amazing.

Divide existing curricula into 3 parts:
1.  Things are necessary for what will be relevant in the future.
2. Things that feel good to know i.e. astrology
3. Skills to excel in assessments

Allowing the use of the internet during examination is a complete 180 turn from old school education which tests to prove your deep knowledge with having a support or verification system. Having so many things to learn from and about the internet, it would be wise to assess students on what they need to actually know, not what is already known by a computer.

Reference:
S. Mitra. 2018. Ted Talk "The future of Learning" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGF3kjgCaMQ (Accessed 14 August 2021)

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Student Collaboration Activities, Activities for Differentiation & Techniques for Reading - Aja Couso

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Student Collaboration Activities, Activities for Differentiation & Techniques for Reading - Aja Couso

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Here are a few activities that promote student collaboration, techniques to address differentiation & techniques for reading. I found that several of the student centered learning techniques overlap each other:

Jigsaw

Project Based Learning

Think-Pair-Share

Peer Review

Book clubs or reading circles

Cooperative learning groups

Allow students to choose reading material that is of interest to them

Student led discussions

Learners develop content (podcasts, videos)

Flipped classroom

References:
Caroline Lawless. (2019, September 26). Learner-centered approaches: Why they matter and how to implement them. LearnUpon. Retrieved August 15, 2021, from https://www.learnupon.com/blog/learner-centered/Joyce Taylor-Gibson. (n.d.). Student-centered instruction | teaching diverse learners. Retrieved August 15, 2021, from https://www.brown.edu/academics/education-alliance/teaching-diverse-learners/student-centered-instruction
Jennifer Gonzalez. (2015, April 15). 4 things you don't know about the jigsaw method | cult of pedagogy. Cult of Pedagogy. Retrieved August 14, 2021, from https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/jigsaw-teaching-strategy/

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Approaches That Promote Physical Movement & Designing Physical Environment - Aja Couso

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Approaches That Promote Physical Movement & Designing Physical Environment - Aja Couso

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Setting up classrooms with stations that allow students to use different modalities to explore and learn. With the teacher being able to walk the room and spend time with students at their stations, they can provide one on one assistance while ensuring other students aren't just sitting and waiting on the teacher.

Teachers are finding inspiration from places like Starbucks to create classroom environments that promote collaborative learning, movement, and creativity. Several articles suggest allowing students to choose which stations to use but encourage them to try all of them before settling in on one.
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12 Ways to Upgrade Your Classroom Design

Bob Dillon suggests
REDUCE YOUR TEACHER FOOTPRINT
"One way to free up more space is to minimize or eliminate our teacher workspace. In fact, many teachers are getting rid of their desks altogether."
CREATE SPACES FOR COLLABORATION
"they need to be able to communicate well and work together to solve problems. Our classrooms need to reflect that. So when rethinking your classroom design, look for ways to make more of these collaborative spaces possible."
CREATE SPACES FOR CREATION
"Classrooms where project-based learning and design thinking are taking the place of rote memorization need spaces where students can sketch, build, make, and prototype."
CREATE WRITABLE SPACES
"I would give more writable space back to kids"

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Flexible Seating and Student-Centered Classroom Redesign

"I’ve found that some of the immediate benefits of flexible seating include burning more calories, using up excess energy, improving metabolism, increased motivation and engagement, creating a better oxygen flow to the brain, and improving core strength and overall posture."

References:
Hill, M. (2018, May 18). 4 key ideas in student-centered learning | by mcgraw hill | inspired ideas | medium. Medium. Retrieved August 14, 2021, from https://medium.com/inspired-ideas-prek-12/4-key-ideas-in-student-centered-learning-54e01efd11e
Jennifer Gonzalez. (2018, March 18). 12 ways to upgrade your classroom design | cult of pedagogy. Cult of Pedagogy. Retrieved August 14, 2021, from https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/upgrade-classroom-design/
Kayla Dornfield. (n.d.). Flexible seating and student-centered classroom redesign. Edutopia. Retrieved August 14, 2021, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/flexible-seating-student-centered-classroom-kayla-delzer

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Minecraft was used by a student as part of a research project about an architecture. 

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Providing opportunity for students to choose how they will be assessed.
> It is recommended to offer 3 options - 2 designed by the teacher and 1 that students can design. "Offer a variety of product options based on what you know about your students. Some examples include using Minecraft to design models and prototypes, presenting through social media tools, or writing in a professional medium." Of course, the student designed option should be approved by the teacher.
> Be sure to set clear learning criteria and ensure that students understand. "When students understand the targets, they can effectively design their own products -- with coaching support for some more than others."

References:
McCarthy, J. (2015, September 9). Student-centered learning: It starts with the teacher. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/student-centered-learning-starts-with-teacher-john-mccarthy.
McCarthy, J. (2014, August 25). Learner Interest Matters: Strategies for Empowering Student Choice. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/differentiated-instruction-learner-interest-matters-john-mccarthy

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Teachers play an essential role in the education process. Dedicated educators do everything in their power to foster positive outcomes for their students. Student-centered learning does not sideline or diminish the role of teachers. Instead, it seeks to use teachers’ expertise in different ways to increase student engagement.

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By Nan Nan

How would  you design the learning tool kit of your students’ online learning environment?

For kids from 6-9, I would use Seesaw to post all teaching materials and assignments. Zoom and Google meeting are both good choices for online teaching sessions. Then use Kahoot as a game to check how they understand from class.

For students from 10-13, I would also use Zoom and Google Meeting.  They can also use Seesaw or something more complicated like Powerschool Learning. Lately, I’d like to use CLASSCRAFT as a math challenge and  ACHIEVE3000 to help students with reading.

What are some student-centered approaches or techniques that are based on or require collaboration?

1. Three-Step Interview

Common as an ice-breaker or a team-building exercise, this structure can also be used to share information such as hypotheses or reactions to a film or article. (1) Students form dyads; one student interviews the other. (2) Students switch roles. (3) The dyad links with a second dyad. This four-member learning team then discusses the information or insights gleaned from the initial paired interviews.

2. Student Team Learning

Students work in small, mixed-ability groups to help prepare one another for quizzes that student teams compete on against one another. Students contribute to their team’s performance through their own performance on the quiz. Teams with high levels of mean group performance are recognized.

3. Think‐Aloud Pair Problem Solving (TAPPS)

This learning activity involves solving problems. Students work in pairs and alternate roles. For each  problem one is the solver while the other is the listener. The solver thinks aloud, narrating his/her reasoning process, while solving the problem. The listener prompts the solver to keep talking and asks  for clarification but does not intervene to help.

4. Leave a comment

Ask students to comment under each other’s submission. This activity focuses them on the content and can also provide feedback to you as a teacher. Teachers can use these to begin the next day's discussion, to facilitate discussion within a group, or to provide feedback on where the student is in his or her understanding of the material.

How can you implement assessment so that it enhances student-centered learning?

Assessment can be a powerful force for knowing our students and creating a classroom that can meet their needs. We simply have to move past the baggage that comes with the term assessment, and understand that it can mean a lot of things. We can assess content and skills, yes, but we can also assess for passions, interests, success skills, and the like for the purposes of the right instruction at the right time.

1. Assessing Student Passions and Learning Styles

One key way to create a more student-centered classroom is by assessing students for their passions and interests. All of our students come with powerful experiences that have driven their lives, such as family stories, favorite books, hobbies, and trips. We can use a variety of assessment tools like one-on-one conversations, journals, and graphic organizers to learn more about our students and what drives them to learn.

2. Assessing 21st-Century/Success Skills

We know that some of our students collaborate better than others, just as some students have more global empathy than others. If we assess these success or 21st-century skills, we can provide experiences and instructions that foster those skills and allow our students to grow in areas that are more than simply content knowledge or skills.

What student-centered approaches or techniques can you use to address differentiation?

1. Replace homework with engaging project-based

We are now using engaging project-based learning (PBL) to teach math standards, sciences, technology and other core subjects to their students and increase student productivity and effectiveness of learning in the classroom. For example, I’m a fan of using CLASSCRAFT as a math challenge and  ACHIEVE3000 to help students with reading. Both of them are designed for self-paced learning. Students start with a placement test, then they get different materials based on their own level.

2. Use Print and Digital Resources to Reach Every Learner

Perhaps the most difficult part of creating a truly student-centered learning environment is engaging all students proactively in the lesson. You’ll always have some students who light up when discussing a certain subject, but how can you consistently reach each one of them? Consider: if you want students to take ownership of their learning, it may also make sense to allow them to take ownership of their learning modality. By offering a variety and blend of print and digital learning resources, students can experiment with the best fit for their preferences and strengths. Print also offers unique opportunities for teacher-led lessons, group discussions, and shared reading experiences. So, while you should lead with digital instruction, don’t forget other modalities. Agency can start with the power to influence how learning happens.

What student-centered approaches or techniques include physical movement as a central element?

1. Have students create things with their bodies like phonics letters or shapes (Staff, 2017).

First, you introduce the concept of shapes to students making sure to discuss each shape name and what it looks like.

Second, model how you can create a shape or phonics letter with your body using volunteers from the classroom.

Provide students a picture reference and ask them to create a shape like a triangle or a letter like c. Make sure the first shape created is easy, so they don’t get frustrated. This provides them an opportunity to collaborate with one another.

Bonus: You can snap a picture of them creating the shape or letter and then post it on your wall. They’ll have so much fun looking at the shapes they created with their bodies. And because most of us are ego-centric, they’ll want to look at the shapes because they’re in them. This might even motivate some of your reluctant learners.

2. Students can sculpt with modelling clay or write problems on the whiteboard (Staff, 2017)

This activity provides an interesting movement challenge to what could be a boring rote memorization task like learning your times tables. Plus, it’s fun, and we learn more when having fun.

Many students who might be frustrated by math or spelling exercises actually become motivated because the physical task of modeling something from clay or writing from a white board is exciting to them.

High school and middle school learners can use these whiteboards to do investigation tasks, where they’re given a question and the data to solve it such as a math word problem. They work together practicing collaboration, a valuable skill in the student-centered environment before presenting their work to the room.

3. Use tools like a child tunnel or bounce and catch ball games to give students a quick physical reward for answering a question (Shawley, 2014).

Sometimes, you need to quiz your students. Using an activity with a kinesthetic reward will help keep them from building up too much energy and becoming restless. Restlessness is the downfall of many young learners, particularly male learners who learn better when movement is incorporated anyway.

This type of activity is also quick and requires little explanation. There’s just not always enough time to do certain really cool kinesthetic activities. But adding just a little bit of movement might motivate some of your more reluctant learners

What are some student-centered approaches or techniques for reading?

Reading should be taught both individually and in small groups.

Students should be encouraged to browse the books and make choices on which books to read

Use the “saturation” approach to reading by encouraging students to read for pleasure as well as for information, but also to read a variety of formats such as; paperback books, textbooks, magazines, catalogues, comic books, literary novels, plays, poems, etc. (Acquavita, 2016).

Variety is the key

Keep records of the student’s progress

Allow time for independent reading

Plan units that are product-driven in nature and have an essential question which instruction seeks to answer.

Use an effective pre-reading strategy to build schema.  One good strategy is “What I know, what I want to know, and what I learned (KWL).  This is useful for tapping into students’ prior knowledge while helping them make connections in learning (Mansaray, 2013).

Provide instruction in basic reading strategies by using reciprocal teaching practice which includes; predicting, visualizing, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing

I personally recommend ACHIEVE3000 which is designed for self-paced learning. Students start with a placement test, then they get different materials based on their own level.

Reference list

Shawley, Jessica. (2014) Increasing differentiation & choice in physical education. Retrieved September 24, 2014 from http://www.gophersport.com/blogentry/increasing-differentiation-choice-in-physical-education

Staff, T. (2015, November 05). 5 Movement strategies that get students thinking. Retrieved September 25, 2017, from http://www.teachthought.com/technology/much-sitting-five-movement-strategies-get-students-thinking/

Becton Loveless  Developing a Student-centered Classroom

Andrew Miller (September 2, 2015) Using Assessment to Create Student-Centered Learning

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/assessment-create-student-centered-learning-andrew-miller

Collaborative Learning Structures and Techniques

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjmsdzx_6_yAhXaLc0KHQmsDR8QFnoECAMQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gdrc.org%2Fkmgmt%2Fc-learn%2Fmethods.html&usg=AOvVaw2oMNeX1vF7SoIgrHu_PFnV

Student-Centered Approaches and Techniques for Reading

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiQvqycibDyAhVGBs0KHRViCuEQFnoECAIQAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftnjune17cohort3.pbworks.com%2Fw%2Fpage%2F119008734%2FStudent-Centered%2520Approaches%2520and%2520Techniques%2520for%2520Reading&usg=AOvVaw1R9gjXujK3PxshqN6Ayp5M

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I assess my students while they are exploring in the centers. playing with them and observing them and documenting what the student is able to do.

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Learning through play has been my focus on teaching since I became a teacher. It has been proven time and time again as the years gone by that letting the students explore through play ha increase their knowledge as well as social skills. I have had several students who were always quite during large group and story time but when center time came I was shocked to see what all the students knew. They would count the different items in the kitchen. Read different letter in the library or make letters using blocks. They used the skills that was taught to them previously and explored using different items in the classroom.

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1. Designing the physical environment of the classroom - Ryan Messer

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1. Designing the physical environment of the classroom - Ryan Messer

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Flexible Seating
This is the method of allowing students to decide where and how they wish to sit in the classroom. The students are offered various creative styles of seats, ranging from beanbags to stools to rugs. This gives the students autonomy, agency, and allows them to find the seating arrangement that best suits their needs. Flexible seating creates a more comfortable learning environment for students. It is also beneficial for students with ADHD. Students with attention disorders are more likely to fidget in a traditional chair/desk design.  Research has shown that this style of seating arrangement leads to better test scores.

Reference list

Brooks, D. (2012). Space and consequences: The impact of different formal learning spaces on instructor and student behavior. Journal of Learning Spaces, 1(2). Retrieved from http://libjournal.uncg.edu/jls/article/view/285/282

Minero, E. (2017, August 24). Flexible Classrooms: Assembly Required. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/flexible-classrooms-assembly-required

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2.  Student-Centered Approaches - Ryan Messer

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2.  Student-Centered Approaches - Ryan Messer

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Project Based Learning
In this approach students work together to create a project that solves a specific problem with a large scope. Project Based Learning (PBL) requires students to utilize different disciplines and function as a team to successfully complete the project. Unlike traditional projects, in PBL students learn through completing the task, rather than using the task to demonstrate the skills they have already learned. Students are given free rein to plan, schedule, and execute their task. This necessitates the use of delegation, time management, and critical thinking. PBL gives students practical application for the skills they learn.

Reference list

PBLWorks. (n.d.). What is PBL? Retrieved August 12, 2021, from https://www.pblworks.org/what-is-pbl

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Projects and Project-Based Learning: What's The Difference?

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3. Student Centered Assessment - Ryan Messer

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3. Student Centered Assessment - Ryan Messer

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Showcase Portfolios
In this assessment approach, students collect their work, activities, and accomplishments throughout a period of time. The student selects what they deem best shows their progress over the semester or what is most meaningful to them. This is often accompanied by a reflective essay the student writes to explain the importance they see in each entry. For younger students the reflection can be a spoken discussion with the teacher. This approach can be used as a summative assessment that allows the student to be cognizant of their growth and achievements. Younger student will likely require more scaffolding for this method. The video above gives some useful examples of this.

Reference list

The University of Hawaiʻi. (n.d.-b). Using Portfolios in Program Assessment. Assessment and Curriculum Support Center. Retrieved August 12, 2021, from https://manoa.hawaii.edu/assessment/resources/using-portfolios-in-program-assessment/

State University. (n.d.). Portfolio Assessment. Retrieved August 12, 2021, from https://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1769/Assessment-PORTFOLIO-ASSESSMENT.html

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4. Student-centered approaches or techniques to address differentiation - Ryan Messer

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4. Student-centered approaches or techniques to address differentiation - Ryan Messer

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Flipped Classroom
In this approach the classroom is a place for group tasks and problem solving that utilizes the knowledge learned through self-study of material reviewed at home. It is called a flipped classroom because the kinds of work performed in class are what we would usually think of as homework, and the material studied at home would usually be learned through in-class lectures. Students can use video material or online content to learn on their own. The classroom then becomes a time for students to go deeper in depth with the content.

Students should be given questions to answer at home to ensure they’ve reviewed and understand the material. The teacher’s job becomes one of a discussion facilitator in class, creating tasks and projects that students work on together. The focus of the classroom should be on the students’ interactions as they work on concepts together.

Reference list

Flip Learning. (2019, January 18). Definition of Flipped Learning. Flipped Learning Network Hub. https://flippedlearning.org/definition-of-flipped-learning/

TeachThought. (2021, July 17). The Definition Of The Flipped Classroom. https://www.teachthought.com/learning/the-definition-of-the-flipped-classroom/

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5. Student-Centered Approaches that Include Physical Movement  - Ryan Messer

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5. Student-Centered Approaches that Include Physical Movement  - Ryan Messer

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Gallery Walk
In this approach different displays are put throughout the classroom. These can either be created by the students or the teacher. The students walk around the classroom in small groups and observe each display. There can either be one big question that students are given ahead of time which they must relate to each display, or each display can have its own question. The students talk amongst themselves about the question and how it relates to the display. They then leave a note on the display with their thoughts. At the end of the walk, the class can reflect on the notes they all left. This approach requires physical movement while keeping the learning student-centered.

Reference List

NSW Government. (2020, April 29). Gallery walk. https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/school-learning-environments-and-change/contemporary-learning-and-teaching-from-home/learning-from-home--teaching-strategies/gallery-walk

Starting Point. (n.d.). What is Gallery Walk? Gallery Walks. Retrieved August 13, 2021, from https://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/gallerywalk/what.html

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6. Student-Centered Approaches for Reading  - Ryan Messer

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6. Student-Centered Approaches for Reading  - Ryan Messer

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Close Reading
In this method students read a complex text multiple times, looking at different levels of meaning each time. The student makes pertinent notes and highlights pieces of the text they find meaningful. The teacher facilitates the close reading by scaffolding note writing and what areas of the text are to be observed upon each re-read. The class discusses their personal findings. The close reading can start with a larger scope of focus such as themes of the text, and becomes narrower focusing on areas such as sentence structure and word choices.

Reference list

Shanahan, T. (n.d.). Common core: Close reading. Scholastic. Retrieved August 13, 2021, from https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/common-core-close-reading-0/

Wiggins, G. (2021, June 24). What Close Reading Actually Means. TeachThought. https://www.teachthought.com/literacy/what-close-reading-actually-means/

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Complete Lesson: Modeling Close Reading of Short Texts