5 ways to make your classroom student-centered

A student-centered classroom allows students to be an integral part of the assessment development process. This doesn't necessarily mean every assessment is created and designed by students, but it does mean there is a collaborative and joint venture of teachers and students in the planning and implementation stages of assessments. Students who help to design and create their assessments will find the assessments to be more meaningful, and typically students end up creating assessments that are more challenging than what teachers would have created anyway...

A student-centered classroom focuses on finding solutions to real-world problems. Too often our classroom focus is on solving problems that lack relevance and purpose in the eyes of students. The student-centered classroom addresses real-world problems that affect or will affect students. This in turn will provide meaning and context to student-driven learning, which then will increase levels of engagement and overall student involvement.

A student-centered classroom is not about what the teacher is doing or what the teacher has done; it's about what the students are doing and what the students can do in the future. We all have experienced the teacher observation model that focuses just on what the teacher is doing, but more and more models are now focusing on what the students are doing. Obviously, what the teacher does affects and impacts what the students are doing, but the most important piece is what the students are doing or are able to do as a result of what the teacher is doing.

A student-centered classroom embraces the notion that there are multiple ways to accomplish an individual task. When we limit and confine students to following a certain and specific path, we ultimately end up limiting their levels of ownership, innovation, and creativity. A student-centered classroom allows, encourages, and embraces the multitude of paths one can take to solve a given problem. This also allows for students to follow their strengths and their interests when completing a task.

A student-centered classroom firmly believes that there is a partnership and a strong level of trust between educators and students. The teacher no longer is and hasn't been for a while the 'smartest' person in the room. Because of this, we need to continue forging a partnership between the teachers and the students and accept an equal playing field when it comes to learning, exploration, and discovery. This partnership is built on trust, and trust happens when we are vulnerable and open to learning with and from others...

The ONLY question we should be asking ourselves...

A few things you can do to make 2015 great for your students

Commit to trying something new and different each and every week. Remember though, don't just do something new for the sake of doing something new. Figure out new and creative ways to accomplish the learning objectives and goals you've set forth for your students.

Give your students the opportunity to provide you feedback and input both formally and informally on a quarterly basis in regard to the learning they are experiencing in your class. Your students thrive on getting feedback and input as they progress through the learning journey, and you're no different. And since your students see you every single day, their perception and the reality of what's happening tend to be pretty accurate. Don't miss out on this great opportunity.

Have your students on a rotating basis pick a societal issue that is affecting them or is affecting others and spend time as a class making connections to that issue with your course content. Give your class a bigger purpose and meaning by making connections to issues that are affecting your students and people around the world. Think about the next time a student asks, 'why do we have to learn this...?'

Expect your students to do great work because when you have high expectations for your students, they are more likely to achieve those higher levels.

Infuse a healthy dose of empathy and tolerance into your daily regiment of learning. Life isn't always easy and school isn't the only thing happening in a student's life, so keeping this in mind will go a long way in developing rapport and trust with your students.

Approach your classroom as a powerful think tank and a breading ground for new and innovative ideas. The brain power that's available through our students is huge, so we need to be tapping into their thoughts and their beliefs as much as possible.

Approach your job as if you were a 'learning instigator' (thank you @mathphanatic) who uses questions, natural curiosity, and wonder to fuel the purpose and justification of what happens in your classroom. Ya, learning instigator... that's a pretty cool title!

Start 2015 off right by doing the #oneword activity with your students to make it publicly known what everyone will choose as their one word for the year. Also, do this yourself and commit to using this one word as your focal point for the year.

Here's to a great 2015!

5 ways to make your classroom more student-centered

A student-centered classroom allows students to be an integral part of the assessment development process. This doesn't necessarily mean every assessment is created and designed by students, but it does mean there is a collaborative and joint venture of teachers and students in the planning and implementation stages of assessments. Students who help to design and create their assessments will find the assessments to be more meaningful, and typically students end up creating assessments that are more rigorous than what teachers would have created anyway...

A student-centered classroom focuses on finding solutions to real-world problems. Too often our classroom focus is on solving problems that lack relevance and purpose in the eyes of students. The student-centered classroom addresses real-world problems that affect or will affect students. This in turn will provide meaning and context to student-driven learning, which then will increase levels of engagement and overall student involvement.

A student-centered classroom is not about what the teacher is doing or what the teacher has done; it's about what the students are doing and what the students can do in the future. We all have experienced the teacher observation model that focuses just on what the teacher is doing, but more and more models are now focusing on what the students are doing. Obviously what the teacher does affects and impacts what the students are doing, but the most important piece is what the students are doing or are able to do as a result of what the teacher is doing.

A student-centered classroom embraces the notion that there are multiple ways to accomplish an individual task. When we limit and confine students to following a certain and specific path, we ultimately end up limiting their levels of ownership, innovation, and creativity. A student-centered classroom allows, encourages, and embraces the multitude of paths one can take to solve a given problem. This also allows for students to follow their strengths and their interests when completing a task.

A student-centered classroom firmly believes that there is a partnership and a strong level of trust between educators and students. The teacher no longer is and hasn't been for a while the 'smartest' person in the room. Because of this we need to continue forging a partnership between the teachers and the students and accept an equal playing field when it comes to learning, exploration, and discovery. This partnership is built on trust, and trust happens when we are vulnerable and open to learning with and from others...