Domain 2: Instructional Leadership
Standard 5: Learning Environment - Effective school leaders structure and monitor a school learning environment that improves learning for all of Florida’s diverse student population.
How do you ensure that classrooms are student centered?
A student-centered classroom is where the needs of the students are considered and students are encouraged to be participants of the learning process all the time (Jones, 2007). Furthermore, the teacher is the facilitator of the learning process by guiding the students, managing their activities, and directing their learning.
In the Iowa Core (2012), it states that there are certain characteristics of student-centered classrooms. The first characteristic is the learner builds upon previous learned knowledge to create new ideas. Therefore, the teacher offers the learner higher-order thinking activities that challenge the reader to rethink and reshape prior ideas. Another characteristic is teachers providing the students with opportunities for metacognitive thinking, which means the learner reflects on what and how they learn. Subsequently, the students become responsible for their learning. The third characteristic is students and teachers having a partnership in the learning process. Therefore, students are given opportunities to make decisions in the classroom. Students are given opportunities to learn collaboratively when they are in student-centered classrooms. This gives students an opportunity to learn from their peers as well as interact socially with other students. The last characteristic is students engaging in meaningful assessments. As a result, students are engaged in authentic and challenging applications that are non-traditional.
What does a classroom that recognizes and uses diversity to motivate students and improve student-learning look like? What are learning styles and how can they be used to increase student achievement? What is differentiated instruction?
Diversity in the classroom is a given and it does not necessarily mean that there are only differences in race and culture. A diverse classroom means there are students from various economic backgrounds, students whose first language is not English, and students with varying learning exceptionalities. Moreover, a diverse classroom consists of students who learn differently. In order to achieve student achievement, an instructional leader must recognize there are various types of learners and they must understand how to teach them so they can be successful.
According to the Bureau of Instructional Support (2012), meeting the diverse needs of students can be a challenge for teachers. The solution to this challenge is designing effective lesson plans. They recommend the goal of designing lessons is to ensure that all students learn. For example, students with disabilities in your class will have accommodations that they need based on their Individual Educational Plans (IEP). The accommodations do not alter the content or the learning goals of the lesson, but they require that you to adjust how the information is presented or alter the expectation for student response. The Bureau also lists the five areas where accommodations can be made – 1) Instructional Methods and Materials, 2) Assignments and Classroom Assessments, 3) Time Demands and Scheduling, 4) Learning Environment, 5) Use of Special Communication Systems.
