My Transition to a Learner Centered Class (Step #1)

In my first blog post ever, I discussed my transition to a learner centered classroom and how much it positively affected my teaching and my life in the classroom.   Today, I want to start to talk about specific things I did to make this transition, in the hope that you will be able to take something from it and make the same transition in your classroom.   
     When I decided to make this transition, I knew I needed to have a really concrete focus on what I wanted students to learn since my students would be working at different paces in my room.  Obviously, this would be the standards, benchmarks, Common Core, (call it what you will).  

    "Students can not hit a target if they can not see."    A quote that I found very useful as I made the transition.  To show my students the target they were aiming at, I used capacity matrices.   "A capacity matrix is a charting technique used to break down topic areas into steps for achieving a specific result."1-Taken from David Langford's Tool Time For Education, Langford International.  

In my matrices, I include the concepts students will be expected to learn in that chapter.  Students check off their prior knowledge before the chapter, and as we progress through the chapter, add to the matrix what they learned.   It really helped my students know what was important to know in the chapter.  Below is an example of one of my matrices.  

Aim:  Big Idea of the chapter
Focus:  General concept
Capacity:  Specific concept
Capacity Breakdown:  Details to help focus our learning



This gives both the students and myself a focus of what they are expected to know going into a chapter.  It helps them guide their learning so they know what they should be focusing on with each lesson.  The "Essential" vs "nonessential" learning.   Students know exactly where their learning target is and how to hit it.

  For me, it helps me focus on what I want them to do to show me their proficiency.  From this, I can create my assignments, menus, projects, and assessments (pre and post tests), so they directly tie back into the concepts that are important for students to know.

So......I know what I want to teach them.   The next step is to see what they know, or our starting point for the chapter.

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.