How can I facilitate a student-centered classroom?
A student centered classroom is not easy to facilitate and it takes a lot of practice and training in the beginning. It is very possible but don't expect to have it flow until well into the 2nd quarter. There must be a lot of planning that goes into each activity and children need to be trained that there is an "I'm done" sort of attitude, that working through the project, editing, thinking, rethinking and redoing are all part of it.
When I had a student-centered classroom and my scores went down. When I come back from break this year I will start more skill and drill, direct instruction and teacher centered classroom to see if my scores go up.
How can I use technology to support my instructional practice?
Technology is a good support but also can be a crutch. Children need to learn 21st century skills but they also need to learn how to sort through all the websites, pictures, URL's to find good quality information. I use technology everyday to support instruction but I still don't think it replaces hands on applications such as math manipulatives because it is still a 2D world.
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You are right about the "I'm done" attitude. That is tough to change.
ReplyDeleteIt would be sad if drill and kill ends up getting better results than the constructivist approach for you. All of the research points toward the opposite.
I will be interested to see how your unit works out. Let me know if you need some extra hands.