New Scotty camper

Scotty camper

Bellwood camper pics before/current

Here is the Bellwood before/current pics....

Student Centered Classrooms

If we are not careful in our world today we can let our emphasis become a Me, Me, Me attitude...as educators we can't let this happen. The classroom has to be student, student, student atmosphere. It can be difficult at times to turn our classroom into a student centered classroom with us serving as facilitators, but with planning it can be done.

We can expedite this through letting students determine the areas of interest they will explore within the presented subject matter. Also, give students concrete check points and allow them to monitor and evaluate their own progress in each achievment. We must also encourage information interchange among themselves debating or assessing different modules through out the process. It is important to be the cheerleader/encourager to each student in order for them to look within themselves for answers and to push themselves to higher levels of thinking. By developing this type of attitude we create life long enriching life style, one of a thinker/problem solver.

To create a self-directed learner is like the Chinese proverb -"Give a person a fish and he eats for a day...teach him to fish and he eats all of his life". By empowering our students to be self-directed learners we give them that power to learn. This done by giving them the tools to work with and evaluate their work, such as lists, timelines and clear and precise goals and objectives. Modeling and coaching will help perpetuate along with feedback and self-assessments.

To support the diverse needs of my students I must conform and address their individual needs. Such as working to their strengths, modeling and constant coaching Different instructional strategies must be used. Adjust projects to address strengths and also need areas. Assess through pertinent questioning to act as a catalyst for discussion. Also the techniques of scaffolding, modeling and coaching enhance effective instruction.

Assessing student learning can be a difficult task. In this project the students will be assessed in three different time periods. Before - During - After. The Before will be covered with a pre-test evaluation instrument that will specifically address each format/edit tool needed for the project. The During assessment of the project will be assessed with checkpoints for various sections of completion. The After assessment will be gauged by the use of a rubric in order to evaluate specific accomplishments and by peer evaluation.

Student involvement in the assessment is valuable because it helps provide them a form of ownership in the project. Students can be effective for evaluation because they have a feel for possible problem areas, so they are better for getting to the more challenging areas of the project. This evaluative method not only accomplishes evaluation, but it also tends to enhance each student evaluator by forcing them to look at projects from a different perspective. This insight will not only help on this project, but also future projects.

It is difficult at times to put into words my "understanding" of the courses Essential question. But, as we work our way through different scenarios, the ability to break down the Essential Question becomes easier. At this point I am not sure of my complete understanding, but I am feeling better about it.

Creating the student sample is a great exercise in clarifying the expectations for the unit. To ensure the success of the students will continue to be a challenge but the sample will help clarify routes.