Adjusting Curriculum Sequence To Support Student-Centered Learning

Three years ago I made the switch to student-centered learning for my virtual chemistry classroom. 

When I did, I felt as discouraged by fear as I did invigorated by a change toward what I deeply believed was something better, something so much more meaningful and impactful to the lives of my students.  I did not believe my students would cooperate.  I felt absolutely sure that they would revolt!  No other teacher at my school, to my knowledge, was challenging them with a daily activity for which they had to provide a written account of their experience.  Our practice included a lot of lecture, a lot of guided note-taking, and a lot of scaffolded questioning.

Rather than allow these fears to overwhelm me to the point of preventing me from following through on the learning I had done to prepare for this change, I chose to plan for the worst and hope for the best!

In this episode, I invite you to consider how changes to your curriculum -- the sequence of lessons you deliver throughout a unit, semester, or throughout the entire year -- might support the instructional goals you set for yourself and for your students when you make the commitment to plan for and deliver a lab-style activity in every lesson, every day.  More specifically, I'll address specific considerations such as student readiness, classroom routines, and the time it might take to address the potential obstacles you might identify for your unique learning environment.

 

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If you’d like to jump ahead or follow along with me throughout this series in the coming weeks – OR if you usually listen to me while driving in the car or while doing chores, I have some notes for you!   You can download the free guide, "Things To Consider When Making The Switch To Student Centered Learning",  when you share your email at www.labineverylesson.com/considerations.   And, if this was the first episode of the podcast you’ve heard and you’re as interested in planning for a student centered science classroom as you are interested in leading one, you can download the details of my 5-Element Framework for planning interactive science lessons on my website at www.labineverylesson.com/5elements. 

Remember, if you'd like to respond to this episode with comments or questions, please do so in the FREE community at community.labineverylesson.com.

If you loved this episode or any other on the Student Centered Science Teacher Podcast, please leave a review on the podcast player of your choice OR give me a shout-out on your favorite social network!  Help me spread the word!  Take a snapshot of that review or social shout-out and share it with me to receive a FREE interactive science lesson of your choice from those currently available in my store.  Just go to my website, www.labineverylesson.com, and click on PODCAST in the menu at the top right.  Then, follow the instructions on that page.