Student-Centered Classroom

The Student-Centered Classroom

Letting go of traditional grade-level thinking and instruction is one of the priority issues of all respondents to a multi-age survey.

Miller, Bruce (1994). Children at the Center, p. 11.

I created an environment where students accept responsibility for their behavior and learning. I established a classroom environment which allowed students to make choices, to get their own instructions and materials, and to work with others on activities and projects. I have clear objectives and instructions. I started with a few simple tasks in which students felt successful. Students feel they have ownership and a voice in the classroom.

As I structured the classroom around students' needs and provided project-based activities and authentic tasks, student motivation increased. The students and I negotiate the curriculum. I ask them what they would like to study before the new school year starts. Students get involved and become self-directed learners.

Anita Henson

Students use fraction bars to develop conceptual understanding of fractions. Students manipulate the bars to find equivalent fractions and to add or subtract fractions.

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Themes and Projects in my intermediate multiage classroom Multiage Thematic Instruction