In order to
establish efficient and reliable classroom routines and procedures, teachers
are usually encouraged to begin implementing those routines and procedures
immediately, beginning the first week of class. I agree that this is
generally sound advice, but when establishing a student-centered classroom, the
transition may need to be more gradual, especially if the students have little
previous experience with self-paced learning.
As a
teacher, I like to start off the year with a brief explanation of my
expectations and procedures, and then, jump right in. I don't like to let
students spend a lot of time testing the water. For me, it is very
tempting to address self-paced learning procedures in the same manner. I
want to simply tell the students, “This is what I expect you to do; now do
it”. However, jumping right in may not be the best way to introduce your
class to a student-centered paradigm. Even if I, the teacher, have managed to
let go of the concept of a teacher-led classroom, the students will likely need
time and direction to understand their new role. For better or for worse,
students have likely worked in the past with teachers that worried about
students practicing bad habits and have therefore trained students not to work
ahead. After completing a task, these students have been trained to wait
(hopefully while doing something quiet and productive) for further
instructions. It can take a lot of positive re-enforcement to change this
paradigm now that students and teachers have tools at their disposal that can
introduce material and check for comprehension in a self-paced
environment. Teachers must constantly repeat and reinforce their
expectations for self-paced learning until students have fully accepted the
idea that the expectation to constantly move ahead does not apply to just one
activity, one class period, or one unit. To clearly establish those
expectations, it is not enough to merely state and re-state them.
Instead, for the initial few weeks, consider beginning class with a more
traditional activity that has all of the students working together and branch
off from a large group activity into the individualized activities. For
example, try showing a video clip and holding a class discussion, then have
students individually complete a comprehension check. Based on their
performance on the comprehension check, the students can be offered a variety
of practice activities that focus on the particular needs of each
student. For example, a student that had difficulty with the vocabulary
can work on crosswords and flashcards while a student that understood the
terminology but incorrectly applied the conceptual information can view
supplementary resources and do application exercises. A student that
performed very well on the comprehension check can either work on enrichment
activities or move on to the next concept. This means that as the year
progresses, the whole-class activity will be an introduction of new material
for some students, a re-enforcement activity for other students, and a review
activity for the most advanced students, but, ideally, the activity should be
beneficial for all students.
Another
reason to ease into individualized activities is that students may have learned
the curriculum material but may not have learned how to use the tools they are
expected to use to demonstrate their learning. Teachers often have the
expectation that students are more familiar with technology than they are, but
that will not be the case for every application. Students use different
learning tools in every class, and they use those tools in different ways for
each class. Just because you know students have used PowerPoint before,
you should not assume they know how to imbed video or audio clips, hyperlink to
a non-sequential slide, or even utilize a transition effect. Before you
expect students to use a tool independently, have them complete a directed
activity to be sure they are comfortable using that tool.
Different
students will progress through the material at different rates, but it is still
necessary to prevent students from getting hung up on a specific topic or
skill. It is equally important to prevent students from racing ahead
before they have truly internalized new information. To address these
issues, rather than pushing all of the class content live immediately, I
recommend restricting access to two or three modules or topics.
Additionally, I recommend suggesting a range of dates, rather than one specific
deadline, for completing each module or topic. Although it may not occur
to students naturally, if it is explained explicitly, most students are capable
of understanding that everyone has some concepts that come more easily and
other concepts that they take more time to master. When students realize
this, if they finish the work for a particular topic before the final deadline,
most students will choose to move forward with their learning rather than risk
falling behind their peers if they should happen to find the next concept
particularly challenging.
The goal is
that both you and the students accept the idea that everyone in the class is at
a slightly different place in the curriculum, but that everyone is working to
their full potential. In order to achieve this goal, it is not sufficient
for students to understand what they are to do upon finishing an activity; they
must also understand what to do if they get stuck. It is important to
have a procedure for working through common problems so that students have a
set of steps they can follow before turning to the instructor. Otherwise,
there may be a lot of students doing nothing (or distracting others) while
waiting for their turn for assistance. Consider having students follow a
check-list to correct the problem themselves, and if that fails, ask a
predetermined partner for help, before turning to the instructor.
Lastly,
realize that collaborative learning and individualized learning are NOT
mutually exclusive. In her discussion of "The Use and Abuse of Technology in the
Classroom", Kathy Cassidy suggests using Skype, Twitter, and blogs to
allow students to interact directly with experts. She also suggests that
students share their own artifacts digitally. Digital sharing allows
students to collaborate with students from other periods, teachers, or
schools. Students from another class may have received similar information
presented differently, and by working together, students from different classes
can share different explanations and resources in ways that enhance the
learning opportunities for both groups. When utilizing technology,
remember to include a variety of partner and small-group activities. I
urge you to consider making at least one collaborative option mandatory for
each unit, and to encourage (or require) students to alternate between
similar-ability groups and mixed-ability groups.
It is true
that a student-centered classroom may initially appear less organized than a
traditional, teacher-directed classroom, but the benefits of allowing
struggling students to spend extra time mastering the content before moving on
and providing gifted students opportunities to advance and grow should make it
worth the juggling act. By making the transition gradual, individualizing
activities based on comprehension checks, allowing students a menu of practice
options, using ranges rather than specific dates for deadlines, and
encouraging or requiring interaction with both experts and peers, the teacher
should be able to verify that the students are engaged in meaningful learning,
even if they are not all doing the exact same thing at the exact same
time.