Creating A More Student

Centered Classroom
Presented by Cara M. Schroeder, English Language Fellow
What Is A Student Centered Classroom?

Focus of the activity is on students (rather than the teacher)

Methods Include:
● Active Learning
● Cooperative Learning
● Inductive Teaching & Learning
Active Learning

Students:
● Solve problems that are relevant and applicable to their lives
● Answer meaningful questions
● Formulate questions on their own
● Discuss, explain, debate, brainstorm during class
Cooperative Learning

Students:
● Work in teams on problems
and projects
● Positive interaction
● Use of target language
● Interdependence & individual
accountability
Inductive Teaching & Learning

Students are:
● Presented with challenges (questions or
problems)
● Learn course material in order to find
solution to the program
● Inquiry-based learning, project-based
learning, discovery learning
 Benefits of A Student Centered
Classroom

● Builds 21st Century Skills (autonomy, collaboration, communication, creativity)

● Increased student talk time
● Lowers Affective Filter (Krashen)
● Reduces disruptive behavior
● Engages students’ in their own learning
● Promotes learner accountability
● Builds community within the classroom
● Short-term mastery, Long-term retention of content
● Acquisition of critical thinking skills
How to Make Your Classroom More
Student-Centered?

● Allow for student choice and autonomy

● Use open-ended questions
● Move away from skill and drill
● Design your class around student collaboration and group work
● Encourage student reflection
● Seat your students in groups
Student Centered or Teacher Centered?
Student Centered or Teacher Centered?
Student Centered or Teacher Centered?
Student Centered or Teacher Centered?
 How Student-Centered Is My Class?
Self Check Quickwrite

● Who is talking more in my class, me or

my students?
● Is everything I'm saying necessary or
beneficial?
● Is there a way I could share the same
information by letting students do the
talking?
● Am I interjecting myself in pair/group
conversations too much or too often?
Four Poems in Four Voices
● Students arranged in groups of 4
● Each student is assigned a different font type to read
● Reading with a purpose:
○ What does the text say to you?
○ What questions does it leave you with that you would most like
to know the answer to?
● Text is read aloud collaboratively, with each student reading just
his/her assigned font type
● Read aloud collaboratively again
Round Robin

● Each student has a turn to provide his/her

answer (in one word or one sentence)
● No other student can comment, interrupt, or
talk
● One question is answered at a time
● No discussion!
● Repeated Information is OK!
 Mind Mirror
● Shows what a character or author is thinking and feeling
● In groups of 4, students will include the following information in their
Mind Mirror:
○ 2 quotes from the text
○ 2 original phrases (in students’ own words)
○ 2 symbols
○ 2 relevant drawings
● Each student “marries” a different color marker
● Provide & go over rubric before starting
 Vocabulary Review
Jigsaw
● On a clean piece of paper number 1- 12 (or whatever number of vocabulary words
there are) vertically.
● Each group with receive a set of four cards: A, B, C, D.
● The student with Card A chooses a number from 1-12 and reads the clue on the card.
● The students with Cards B, C, and D read that number clue in order.
● The group works together to determine the answer, which is then written down on
each member’s paper.
● After a turn of picking the clue the cards are rotated clockwise so a new student has
card A.
● When all words have been determined a member of the group obtains an answer
sheet from the teacher.
 Writing Cubes
On your own piece of paper, do each of the 6 steps in order (after rolling the
cube), spending no more than 3-5 minutes on each.

1. Describe it.
2. Compare it.
3. Associate it.
4. Analyze it.
5. Apply it.
6. Argue for or against it.
Let’s Reflect! Think-Pair-Share

● What does a student-centered classroom look like to you?

● What characteristics of student-centered learning did
today’s activities embody?
● Which of today’s activities would you use in your teaching
practice?
● What might you need to change to make your classroom
more student-centered?
Resources:

https://apasseducation.com/7-ways-to-create-a-student-centered-classroom/

QTEL

https://slideplayer.com/slide/7090990/