Study Strategies

(Adapted from: Laskey, Marcia L. and Paula W. Gibson, College Study Strategies. Allyn and Bacon, Boston, 1997.)- taken from https://www.houghton.edu/current-students/center-for-student-success/academic-support-and-accessibility-services/study-advisement/general-study-information/kinesthetic-learning-style/

My site tour showed a school where spatial design, technology and furniture combined to enhance individualized student learning."- (Williams, 2018)

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Ideas for different types of learning centers:

When can they be used?

Learning centers are usually used for group teaching to provide students with a meaningful and engaging way to do independent work. They can also be used as anchor activities or to help end-of-day activities.

The teacher and students should work together to develop a criteria for what they would like to display in the classroom. Some example criteria is as follows:

At the beginning of the year it may be suitable for teachers to choose the work that is being displayed in the classroom, however, as the year progresses, students should be taught how to analyze their own work and to select work they are proud of.

In addition to displaying the work of students, the classroom should be decorated with visual aids and classroom management rules, such as the following:

Enjoy decorating your classroom, but remember to keep it practical, neat, and organized. The classroom should be lively, but never chaotic!

PBL experts will tell you this, but I often hear teachers ask for real examples, specifics to help them contextualize what it looks like in the classroom. We all need to try out specific ideas and strategies to get our brains working in a different context. Here are some specific differentiation strategies to use during a PBL project.

1. Sometimes homogenous grouping can be an effective way to differentiate in a project. For example, in a novel- or literature-based PBL project, it might be appropriate to differentiate by grouping students by reading level. That way, you can take groups that need intensive work and ensure they are getting the instruction they need.
2. Throughout the project, students should be reflecting on their work and setting goals for further learning. This is a great opportunity for them to set personalized learning goals and for you to target instruction specific to the goals they set.
3. You could offer mini-lessons or center work to support your students’ learning, or maybe you show students a variety of resources from which to learn, including videos, games, and readings.
4. Another essential component of PBL is student voice and choice, both in terms of what students produce and how they use their time. With the products, you can allow students to show what they know in a variety of ways. From written components to artistic or theatrical, you can differentiate the ways that students are summatively assessed.
5. For example, when targeting collaboration in a project, you can differentiate a formative assessment of this in a variety of ways: oral conference, series of written responses, graphic organizer or collage, etc. More importantly, these formative assessments allow you to differentiate the type of instruction needed as you feed forward in the project.
6. Sometimes, you need to differentiate the learning environment because some students learn better on their own, and others learn better in a team.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272909706_The_Classroom_Physical_Environment_and_Its_Relation_to_Teaching_and_Learning_Comfort_Level
Loveless, B. (2019). Developing a Student-centered Classroom. Educationcorner.com. https://www.educationcorner.com/developing-a-student-centered-classroom.html

‌Your Physical Classroom Environment – Video Podcast. (n.d.). Www.youtube.com. Retrieved July 17, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1hfZwty-d4

Starter), H. (Teach. (2020, January 14). 8 Tried and Tested Classroom Desk Arrangement Ideas. Teach Starter. https://www.teachstarter.com/au/blog/inspiration-for-classroom-seating-arrangements/

‌Puteh, Marzita & Che Ahmad, Che Nidzam & Noh, Noraini & Adnan, Mazlini & Ibrahim, Mohd Hairy. (2015). The Classroom Physical Environment and Its Relation to Teaching and Learning Comfort Level. International Journal of Social Science and Humanity. 5. 237-240. 10.7763/IJSSH.2015.V5.460. 

Displaying Student Work |. (n.d.). Www.responsiveclassroom.org. https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/displaying-student-work-2/

The Primary Program: Growing and Learning in the Heartland Active Learning in the Classroom: Classroom Organization Active Learning in the Classroom: Classroom Organization Planning the Classroom Space. (n.d.). https://www.education.ne.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/ALCO.pdf

Creating Your Own Classroom Learning Center. (2017, March 31). Schoolyard Blog | Teacher Resources | School Specialty. https://blog.schoolspecialty.com/creating-classroom-learning-center/

5 Tips for Decorating Your Classroom. (n.d.). Www.youtube.com. Retrieved July 17, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AivIGX6snfU&t=7s&ab_channel=Edutopia
https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/a-choose-your-own-adventure-model-of-learning/

(Bok, 2022)

https://bokcenter.harvard.edu/flipped-classrooms#:~:text=A%20flipped%20classroom%20is%20structured,that%20involve%20higher%20order%20thinking.

The “fishbowl” is a teaching strategy that helps students practice being contributors and listeners in a discussion. Students ask questions, present opinions, and share information when they sit in the “fishbowl” circle, while students on the outside of the circle listen carefully to the ideas presented and pay attention to process.  Then the roles reverse. This strategy is especially useful when you want to make sure all students participate in the discussion, when you want to help students reflect on what a “good discussion” looks like, and when you need a structure for discussing controversial or difficult topics. Fishbowls make excellent pre-writing activities, often unearthing questions or ideas that students can explore more deeply in an independent assignment.

> Individualized;
> Focused on learning and growth;
> Motivating;
> Amenable to actively engaging students in the regulation of their own learning;

and
> Informative and useful to a variety of audiences.
Part of this method is to perform formative assessment, which is a measure of what students know and can do during the lesson or unit to guide instruction and reinforce learning.

Kagan Structures 

What is better to engage only one student or every student at one tie? 

How to Implement? 

-Teach the Fab Four 

- Questioning, clarifying, summarizing, predicting

**Just one variation of reciprocal teaching. 

What do students do? 

kaganvideo. (2014, June 12). What is Kagan? YouTube. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-yzgJtgVrg&ab_channel=kaganvideo 

YouTube. (2014, February 6). Education- collaboration. YouTube. Retrieved October 10, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po40I4c94R0&feature=youtu.be 

YouTube. (2020, March 29). Reciprocal teaching: Why, how, & examples. YouTube. Retrieved October 19, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wKA3dWc7J4&ab_channel=TeachingsinEducation 

Using effective, engaging, and learner-centered computer programs to provide academic intervention can be a great way for students to gain independence in the classroom. 

This type of program empowers the student to work independently in the general education classroom at their own pace. The teacher can help individual students while others work independently.

There are other academic programs that students can use, such as Freckle, IXL, Amplify, etc.

https://i-readycentral.com/ideas/maximize-differentiated-instruction-at-home-with-i-ready-teacher-assigned-lessons/