Beginnings....Going from a Traditional Class to a Learner Centered Classroom

Ok, so this is my first attempt at teaching an old dog new tricks  -  My first blog post.  I am not sure I 

even know what a blog is, but here it goes. Hopefully, I will have some useful information to share with you, something that you can use in your classroom to make your life easier and help your students learn more.  

To borrow a very famous quote from the great Martin Luther King: 

 "Free at last, free at last.  Thank God almighty we are free at last."  

That is the way I felt after making the transition from a teacher centered "traditional" classroom to my new learner centered classroom.   That is what I want to share with you - my transformation or educational evolution, to what I feel is truly an exceptional way for students to learn.   

For eighteen years, I taught 7th and 8th grade science in the way that I was taught.  Standing in front of the room, completing problems on the board, and giving all of my students the same assignments was what I knew - and what I thought was the best way for all students to learn.   All students on the same page, moving forward as a unit, an army of one.  Two years ago, that all changed.   Surprisingly, it all started with a little cartoon.  

It was an epiphany for me.   The same way some of these animals couldn't possibly succeed on their test, many of our students couldn't succeed in the classroom.  

Why?   Because all of the animals are all different.  Each one has their own strengths.    I shouldn't expect 28 kids, who all have different backgrounds, skills, interests, deficiencies, and histories, to all do the exact same thing and except the exact same results.  As Sonny the robot says in the movie I Robot, "I am unique."  And so are our students.  So we should treat them as individuals, not as a whole.  

So,  I was going to teach each student as an individual and not as a whole group.  How in the heck am I supposed to do that?????  That would mean I would have to have different assignments for different kids, allow kids to work at a pace that most benefits themselves, and basically, change everything about how I teach.   It sounded crazy.  But, I was willing to take that chance.  

It was a crazy idea, but looking back, it was the best idea I ever had in my teaching career.  Making the change to a learner centered class has allowed me so much more than I could have ever done in the former way I used to teach. I know my students better, both personally and academically.  My students feel more in control of their learning.  They are achieving more and at a faster pace than if I were leading them.  I gave them the freedom to spread their wings and soar in their education.  

Now, how did I accomplish this?   That is a simple, yet complex question.  I focused on four main points (or questions) to help me organize my class:   

       1)   What do I want students to know? 

       2)   What do they know already?

       3)   How will they show me what they learned?

       4)   What did they learn?

As I look at what I am writing, I realize this is going to take some time.  It is not something that you just say "Go" and your students are there.  It is a process.  A process I will continue to share in the future.   I will share specifics on each of the for points/questions I used to help my educational evolution.  Hopefully you will find some ideas that will be helpful for you to make the transition as well.   Please feel free to post comments, suggestions, questions, or whatever you feel like. 

So there you go.   My first attempt to start a journey into a learner centered class.  I hope you have been able to take something from this.