Deep Roots =＞ Flowers + Fruit

How To Prepare Student Centered Learning Experiences That Work In Any Learning Environment

The phrases, “learning experience” and “student exploration” are some I’d use to describe what I learned from my study of the Visible Learning for Science text if I had to explain it in a sentence or two.  I emerged from my reflection on it with three main professional goals for the 2019-2020 school year, my worst-ever year for student engagement:  to collect student artifacts, to enhance rigor, and to foster growth mindset.  I wanted to acquire evidence of their learning, I wanted that learning to be challenging – considering the 60% mindset I’ve discussed in former episodes – and I wanted my students to feel loved and nurtured through the process – both by me, their teacher, but also to learn to give themselves grace in the doing.  And, that’s where my lesson planning began.

 

But, I’m a cyber school teacher!  Don’t think that didn’t give me major pause!  HOW WAS I GOING TO CREATE MEANINGFUL LEARNING EXPERIENCES IN SCIENCE FOR STUDENTS WHO COULDN’T PUT THEIR HANDS ON ANYTHING?!  I turned, first, to technology and then revisited my own professional classroom goals to realize any medium can be transformed into a "learning experience".

 

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To revisit any of the 5 Element Framework discussed in this series, remember to visit my website at www.labineverylesson.com/5elements.  There, you can download the complete guide that provides you with examples or recommendations of how to implement each element into your own lesson plans. 

When you share your email with me to get the guide, you’ll also get added to my email list.  That might be super useful if you think any of my prepared lessons might work for your students in your classroom.   Each time I publish new lessons for sale – those that aren’t already on TpT – I’m going to be publishing them to only my website for 1 week at a lower price before publishing them on TpT for the masses.  When you’re on my email list, you’ll get first-dibs and a discount!    

How To Write Learning Intentions & Success Criteria To Provide Clear Expectations

In my student centered classroom, my role is the same as a variety show host!  My job is to plan it out, introduce the cast of characters, and provide some context, but I am not the star of the show.  I might as well shout, “Students!  Take it away!”.  But without knowing what they need to do, why they need to do it, or how they'll demonstrate that they've learned it, they can’t really step out on that stage, can they?

 

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To revisit any of the 5 Element Framework discussed in this series, remember to visit my website at www.labineverylesson.com/5elements.  There, you can download the complete guide that provides you with examples or recommendations of how to implement each element into your own lesson plans. 

When you share your email with me to get the guide, you’ll also get added to my email list.  That might be super useful if you think any of my prepared lessons might work for your students in your classroom.   Each time I publish new lessons for sale – those that aren’t already on TpT – I’m going to be publishing them to only my website for 1 week at a lower price before publishing them on TpT for the masses.  When you’re on my email list, you’ll get first-dibs and a discount!    

How to Activate and Integrate Prior Knowledge into Interactive Science Lessons

This marks the start of a 5-week series where I’ll share details of the framework I use to create interactive science lessons for student centered learning in my very on virtual high school chemistry class!  Today's topic is “Review & Preview”.  In this episode, I'll share with you the research that inspired me to make it so much more than busy work at the start of class and some specific examples of exactly how I use it.

 

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To revisit any of the 5 Element Framework discussed in this series, remember to visit my website at www.labineverylesson.com/5elements.  There, you can download the complete guide that provides you with examples or recommendations of how to implement each element into your own lesson plans. 

When you share your email with me to get the guide, you’ll also get added to my email list.  That might be super useful if you think any of my prepared lessons might work for your students in your classroom.   Each time I publish new lessons for sale – those that aren’t already on TpT – I’m going to be publishing them to only my website for 1 week at a lower price before publishing them on TpT for the masses.  When you’re on my email list, you’ll get first-dibs and a discount!    

A Research-Based Approach to Student Centered Lesson Planning

My interpretation and understanding of student centered learning may not be textbook.  But, then again, is anything that happens in our classroom really "textbook"?!

I've spent the last several weeks detailing for you the most impactful research-based concepts from the Visible Learning text that transformed my practice.

In this episode, I'll explain how they compliment my idea of student centered learning and the development of the Lab In Every Lesson concept and curriculum.

How To Differentiate Student Centered Learning Activities

Today, we’re talking about DIFFERENTIATION.

In my 11 years of participating in professional development, I've learned that we should be able to differentiate content, process, and product.  But, no one ever described how we should accomplish that!

The authors of Visible Learning get it done, though!  So, we'll discuss differentiation, Visible Learning-style, where we consider varying only "difficulty" and "complexity".

Instructional Strategies THAT WORK to Nurture Student Centered Learning

In our tour through the text, Visible Learning:  What Works Best to Optimize Student Learning, we consider the effectiveness of various instructional strategies and something the authors refer to as “effect size".  The effect size of common strategies are discussed, but we reveal that those strategies with the highest effect size values, those that are said to produce two and three years worth of learning, form the foundation of student centered learning.

Is Learning Visible In Your Classroom?

We begin our study of the text, Visible Learning for Science, by considering some nuances presented by the authors in the introduction which have formed the foundation of the Lab In Every Lesson approach for preparing and delivering interactive science lessons.

Welcome! Who I Am and Why You Should Tune In ...

Welcome to my new podcast!  In this episode, I invite you to learn more about my credentials and begin a book study with me as you seek to explore options for making your classroom more active and your students more capable.