Learner-Centered Environments: Professional Learning Tool
Focus Area / Guiding Questions / Teaching and Learning Framework Connection / Evidence/ What teacher behaviors contribute to a learner-centered environment? / Domain I-Preparation and Planning
· Teacher understanding of individual learners’ strengths, needs, culture, and interests promotes personalization and customization.
· Teacher understanding of available culturally responsive resources promotes student choice.
· Teacher design of on-going assessment/feedback promotes responsive, small group instruction.
Domain III-Instruction
· Communication is initiated by both teacher and student.
· Questioning is high level and promotes multiple ways to respond, including further questioning.
· Learning activities and selected pedagogical strategies promote cognitive engagement.
· Formative assessment is used to monitor individual progress and make responsive decisions.
· Timely feedback is provided so students can make decisions about their learning. / Domain I
Personalization and Customization
You might see:
· Teacher-created variations of the same task
· Teacher-created and/or teacher-modified tasks
· Planning that allows student choice in process and/or product that support strengths, needs, culture, and interests
· Examples of student products of various cultures and interests
· Teacher aware of pop culture connections
· Teacher accepting of native language while teaching “business” language
· Teacher understands there are multiple paths of success
Resources that Promote Student Choice
You might see:
· Teacher-selected technology and resources that support learners’ strengths, needs, culture, and interests
On-going Assessment/ Feedback
You might see:
· Teacher connect assessment with learning targets; I can statements
· Teacher identifies strengths and areas of growth
· Assessment used to create groups for targeted instruction based on needs
· Teacher checks for understanding throughout lesson
· Flexible small groups driven by assessment
· Teacher observation identifying student needs for small group instruction.
· Differentiated assignments
· Quick and simple assessment strategies: pinch cards, fist to five, red/green/yellow
· Teacher is physically available for student conferencing and informal observations
Domain III
Communication
You might see:
· Teacher as facilitator
· Teacher provides guidance, focus, and redirection
· Teacher models appropriate discussion and protocols
o Fishbowl
o 3 before me
o Genuine conversations
o Student captains
· Provides discussion time
Questioning
You might see:
· Teacher models divergent questioning
· Teacher responds to students with other questions
· Teachers plan for effective questioning
o Questioning stems
o Anticipates questions in their planning
o Plan for higher-order/open-ended questions
Cognitive Engagement
You might see:
· Teacher knows compliance is not engagement and fun does not always equal learning
· Activities match a standard or objective
· Evidence of learning that is new
Formative Assessment
You might see:
· Teacher uses formative assessment to drive instruction
· Flexible groupings/lessons
o Use exit tickets to group students daily
o Students and teachers discuss how groups are made and why it’s important
· Lesson modified to accommodate student needs
· A variety of formative assessments: written assignments, tests, quizzes, conferencing, peer review, running records
· In response to formative assessment, remodeling of the lesson, student modeling, peer teaching
· Teacher asks probing questions, listens, and responds
· Teacher gathers data on student progress
Timely Feedback
You might see:
· Teacher makes students aware of their progress in a timely manner and consistently; students know when and how feedback will occur
· Teacher comments rather than corrects
· Teacher sets aside time for feedback
· Feedback is given before grading
· Feedback is specific using symbols and a key
· Teachers conference with students and/or students make corrections
· Focus on one skill/part of the assignment
· Students taught how to provide feedback
· Students provide feedback to other students and/or teacher
· Students have time for self-assessment before submitting work
· Descriptive feedback during the learning tied to content and standards
· Verbal feedback in person or using audio recordings
· Feedback is actionable; students can revise, redo, get clarification on misconceptions, review the lesson again
· Written feedback could include: picture/symbol cues, colored highlights, post-it notes, shared documents with comment feature
· Rubric to guide students providing peer feedback
/ How does the physical space reflect student input and facilitate a learner-centered environment? / Domain II-Classroom Environment
· Displayed student work is current and evinces choice and pride.
· Furniture is strategically arranged and supports instructional outcomes.
· Resources and materials are organized and available based on student needs.
· Visual resources support students’ independent thinking and learning.
/ How are students acquiring, developing, using, or producing knowledge, information and skills? / P21
· All students are actively acquiring core disciplinary knowledge.
· All students use collaboration and communication to facilitate their learning.
Communication is a sharing of information between a sender and receiver(s). It is used to inform, instruct, motivate, and persuade.
Collaboration is people working together to achieve a goal.
· All students have choice with regard to process and product.
· All students use critical thinking and problem solving.
· All students engage in tasks that require adaptability and flexibility
· All students have opportunities to create and innovate.
· All students are exposed to authentic, real-world contexts
· All students use of digital tools and content allow them to acquire, develop, and demonstrate knowledge and skills. / P21
Actively Acquiring
You might see:
· Purposeful and meaningful collaboration
· Students working independently
· Students engaged and active participants
· Teacher is facilitator, students are self-motivated learners
· Essential questions guiding research
Collaboration and Communication
You might see:
· Students have clear goals, roles, and responsibilities
· Students provide feedback to each other, question each other
· Student interactions that support each other
· Students use words indicating higher level thinking while communicating: analyze, categorize, evaluate, etc.
· Students use established norms for collaboration and/or communication
· Students use oral, written, and/or visual communication
· Students collaborating or communicating asynchronously or synchronously with their devices
· Student conversations are on topic
· Body language indicating student engagement
Choice of Process and Product
You might see:
· Students have a variety of options/ways to reach an outcome which are appropriately rigorous
· Students have a variety of ways to demonstrate achievement; products could include: posters, maps, cartoons, speeches, diaries, constructions, advertisements, music, video
· Students have multiple pathways to solutions, providing menu boards/choice boards
· Students choose process and/or product to support learning preferences
Critical Thinking/Problem Solving
You might see:
· Students ask questions and question each other,
· Student presentations with targeted audience participation
· Students use concept mapping tools
· Students analyze, synthesize, evaluate, and create
· Students use resources for research; students evaluate resources for use
· Students use a problem solving strategy such as trial and error
· Students identify problems and/or solutions
· Students make choices evident of higher level thinking
· Students persist
· Students share ideas with others; proving and disproving
Adaptability/Flexibility
You might see:
· Students take on various roles and responsibilities
· Work effectively in a climate of ambiguity and change; for example, compromising while collaborating
· Failure spurs students to try again
· Tasks that require collaboration and communication
· Students use feedback for improvement
Create and Innovate
You might see:
· Students coming up with the ideas for products
· Brainstorming and other strategies for ideation
· Student products look different from each other
· Students improve products through a design process: try, fail, reflect, refine, then repeat
Authentic, Real-World Contexts
You might see:
· Project based learning
· Students explain how their lives are impacted
· Students identify connections between their lives and events
· Students use primary sources
· Current events and news clips
· Students collecting and analyzing data
Digital Tools and Content
You might see:
· Office of Digital Learning resource wiki
· Digital Content from BCPS One
· Instructional Tools from BCPS One
· Students use BCPS One tiles
· Students use tools and resources appropriate for their strengths, needs, cultures, and interests
· SAMR, using the right tool at the right time
· Digital tools and content are aligned with standards
· Purposeful use of technology
· Technology used to research, organize, evaluate, and communicate
· Tools are varied to provide choice for process and product