Students will be placed in groups of three or four. A group of four would be ideal because it allows for both group-work as well as partner-work. Group activities along with project-based learning could keep the students focused in class. Gamification will be the platform used in the class. It has proven to be a great way to keep students more engaged and interested in the class because they can view the class as a game rather than just another boring class. They can focus on gaining points and obtaining special powers. Each group of guild will include characters like warriors, who will go to battles, mages, who will possess special abilities the group can utilize, and healers, who can heal or revive ones who have lost points during battles or for misbehaving. Through Classcraft, students can learn critical thinking skills as they need to figure out how to solve problems as a group. Since they are working in groups, they will enhance their collaborative and communication skills, which will help them greatly later in life. They also have to learn how to solve problems by using their creativity.

Also, I would point out to my students that learning happens anytime, anywhere, and not just in the classroom. Thus, flipped learning will be used as they will get opportunities to watch videos related to the content in advance before class. Some videos may come from Ted Talk videos, movie or TV show clips, or other short educational video clips from YouTube. In EFL or ESL classes, watching videos in English will help students improve their listening comprehension skills, they will be able to learn useful vocabulary words and expressions, and they will learn how to analyze and think critically about what they watch as they formulate their own opinions on the topics. 

For online classes using Zoom, I place students in breakout rooms for group discussions to enhance group collaboration. I use the Zoom whiteboard from time to time to create mind maps and demonstrate to my students to help English language learners think about what to talk about, how to respond to others’ comments, and how to continue conversations by asking follow-up questions.

Some activities and games could be modified for students with special needs by incorporating visual aids to help clarify key concepts. Scaffolding could also help allow for more understanding of difficult concepts. Voice and speech recognition software could help students who have hearing or speaking issues.

                                              References

Alber, R. (2015, August 17). How Student Centered Is Your        Classroom? George Lucas Educational Foundation and         Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/how-
       student-centered-your-classroom-rebecca-alber

Day, E. (2017, September 5). Classcraft: Transforming the Class Into a Cooperative Challenge. Getting Smart. https://www.gettingsmart.com/2017/09/05/classcraft-transforming-classroom-cooperative-challenge/

Marie, D. (2014, June 19). Shawn Young, CEO and     
      Founder of Classcraft, Talks Benefits of Gaming 
      Classrooms. Gameskinny.   
      https://www.gameskinny.com/qquyj/shawn-  
      young-ceo-and-founder-of-classcraft-talks-benefits-
     of-gaming classrooms

Transformation. (2015, March 13). Transformation. [Video] 
       YouTube. https://youtu.be/e6ieXLVCss4

 

There are specific elements that qualify a learning exercise as collaborative learning. With positive interdependence, the team members are obliged to rely on one another to achieve the goal. If any team members fail to do their part, everyone suffers consequences. Also, individual accountability, all students in a group are responsible for doing their share of the work.

 

Collaboration Example: Think‐Pair‐Share  

 

The teacher initiates a question, with a demanding analysis, evaluation, and/or synthesis, and gives students time to come up with an accurate response, which is my personal favorite to use in my classroom. This "think-time" can be spent in different ways, such as writing. Students can then turn to partners and share what they’ve come up with. The last step could be when the two or four-person group of students can share responses as a team project. A larger group, or with an entire class during a follow-up discussion would work as well. The caliber of discussion is enhanced by this technique, and all students have an opportunity to learn by reflection and by verbalization. 

 

Why use it?   

1. Keep students engaged in large classes   

2. Prime students for whole-class discussion    

3. Target key concepts for review  

4. Enhance students’ metacognition—they become more aware of gaps in their thinking  

5. Student responses are feedback to the instructor about how they are making sense of the material

 

References

https://lincs.ed.gov/sites/default/files/6%20_TEAL_Student-Centered.pdf 

 

 

http://tnaugust17cohort4.pbworks.com/w/page/120465129/Student-centered%20approaches%C2%A0or%20techniques%20that%20are%20based%20on%20or%20require%20collaboration 

 

Pros: 

Con (potential):

Edutopia. (2019, May 9). A student-centered model of blended learning. Edutopia. Retrieved October 10, 2021, from https://www.edutopia.org/video/student-centered-model-blended-learning. 

Anderson, S. and Farnsworth, S. (2019, October 10). 4 ed tech ways to differentiate in the student-centered classroom. AVID. Retrieved October 10, 2021, from https://www.avid.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&ModuleInstanceID=6506&ViewID=DEDCCD34-7C24-4AF2-812A-33C0075398BC&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=6197&PageID=3300.

Reference:
CAST. UDL. (2018, January 12). Retrieved October 10, 2021, from https://udlguidelines.cast.org/engagement/?utm_source=castsite&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=none&utm_content=aboutudl.

Wolpert-Gawron, H. (2016, August 11). What the heck is inquiry-based learning? Edutopia. Retrieved October 10, 2021, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/what-heck-inquiry-based-learning-heather-wolpert-gawron. 

Assessment is sometimes reduced to a high stakes moment in time: a student taking a single test or quiz. Assessment is instead, an integral process of learning rather than a single anticipated moment. Snapshot assessments empower learners. When a student demonstrates learning and growth areas in multiple ways throughout a process--rather than just at the end--teachers and students gather information about what learners can do next. When we design for frequent check-ins within our learning experiences, we offer students agency-rich opportunities to ask questions, to revisit concepts, and to monitor their progress.

Simple tools like automated quizzes, two-minute conferences, and structured learning reflections are quick to administer yet rich in information for learning. Sprinkled throughout a unit or experience, snapshot assessments are fast ways to keep both teachers and students informed on progress so that everyone can plan for personalized next steps.


2) Process Portfolios

Process portfolios are systems friendly, meaningful, and useful assessment tools that invite conversation, feedback, and engagement on learning. They are adaptable, capturing learning over time in one helpful place, regardless of whether students are learning in-person, online, or between the two. Simple structures like collaborative slide decks established at the start of an experience can become profound spaces for students to share pre-thinking, goals, on-going reflections, and evidence of learning. Diversified modes of audio, video, text and images are easily added for speedy syntheses of progress. And since sharing settings allow anyone to view, peers and caregivers can be invited into the process portfolio to follow protocols for offering feedback and supporting goal-setting.

Process portfolios encourage a growth mindset; they are assessment tools that contribute to a culture of learning that invites risk-taking, reflection, and revision.



3) Self-Assessment

When students are empowered to monitor their own progress and to use that information for future learning gains, they are engaged in transferable metacognitive processes that have exponential impact and transfer potential far beyond our classrooms.

Moments of self-assessment throughout a learning experience invite students to tell the story of their learning -- where they started, where they are, and where they want to go. And when paired with diversified modes (peer-to-peer, student-to-teacher, student-to-self) and tools (reflection protocols, automated quizzes, feedback prompts), they also invite agency and access as students leverage strengths and interests to own their learning stories.

Some effective student-centered approaches or techniques for reading are as follows:

 

Annotating and Paraphrasing sources - This means to teach learners to carefully read material by having them underline  keywords, write margin notes and summarise main ideas. This technique helps students to deepen their understanding about the content.

 

Anticipation Guides - It helps students to ponder about the ideas and themes that they come to know in a unit or a text while reading. This improves students’ comprehension level.

 

Close Reading Protocol - this ensures students reading comprehension  by emphasizing a purposeful reading and rereading of a text. This approach develops students analysing skill and keeps them focused.

 

Colour, Symbol, image - This is to invite students to communicate nonverbally something they have read, using a colour symbol and an image. This technique is commonly used for students with special needs.

 

 Connect, Extent, Challenge - It  deepens students’ understanding of a topic by having them connect to their prior knowledge. Suitable for all subjects.

 

Introducing a New Book - This helps to spark students interest in a book before reading it by having them make predictions and ask questions about it's contents.

 

 Read Aloud - This is to encourage class participation and develop students’ active listening skills by reading aloud text excerpts.

 

Read Aloud Peer Review - This is to have students work in pairs to read each other's work aloud, and then give each other feedback.

 

Reader's Theatre - Students and teachers create a performance that conveys characters, a text message, theme or conflict. For instance, a ‘Book Week’ or a ‘Book Club’ can be arranged to align  the purpose by any subject teacher to encourage and motivate students into learning.

 

Say Something - this is to encourage students to stop and engage with a text as they read with this comprehension strategy. This is a useful tool for ESL learners to improve their communication and understanding.

 

 Shadow Reading - to help students consider, compare and analyse various perspectives on a complex topic. Helps students to improve their critical thinking skills. It is widely implemented in project based and content based learning for various subjects.

 

Sketch to stretch - ask students to visualise a passage of text and interpret it through drawing with this reading comprehension strategy. This is a common approach practised for ‘Differentiated Teaching’ with students who struggle in learning. 

 

Text- to- text, Text -to-self, Text -to- World - This helps to improve students’ reading skills and help them connect ideas in a text to their own lives, current events, and history. This technique is very helpful with students who have special needs.

 

Think Aloud -  This is a model for  students how proficient readers make meaning of a text by verbalizing your thinking as you read. Students often use this technique while studying English Literature, Social science or other subjects for making the concepts easier.

 

Reading Log - Helps students to keep track of their reading especially with their library books.

 

Book Buddy Reading - Usually, students from middle or upper grades read with lower. grade students. It  encourages ESL learners into reading.

Recommended tools and resources for Effective Student-Centered Reading strategies: Achieve 3000 (https://www.achieve3000.com/) , Raz-Kids (https://www.raz-kids.com/)


Reference:

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

 

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