I really loved the ‘What is a Center’ article by Linda Holliman. I have always been very interested in centers and as I’m sure you all will agree, have seen them used in a variety of ways throughout my experiences in the classrooms. This article did a wonderful job of laying out all of the elements that make up a great center. While they may look like they are just thrown together, this article went in depth on how to make a successful center that is educational and engaging for the students.
The started off by stating that a center should, “Provide opportunities for children to be actively involved in learning and making choices in a variety of ways” (CP 291). That statement immediately caught my attention as it states that the children will be actively involved while making their own choices; how great as they are not being taught to, they are discovering ways to teach themselves. I really like how they illustrated that centers will allow room for different learning styles and will also give the teacher the opportunity to meet the needs of each student, whichever level they might be on through varying activities and allowing more one on one time with each student individually.
The article also stated that centers are created through careful thought and planning; almost like a lesson plan. They even gave a Center Activity Planning Sheet which I thought was awesome. This provides structure, and a reference to refer back to for future planning and for accountability with the school and/or parents. The structure it provides is also just enough for the teacher to get the most out of the center but allows the students to still have choice. So, it’s structure with room for choice; too great!
I also really liked how they illustrated the use of themed structures and how you can meet GLCE’s (or other state/curriculum goals) through centers. I just never appreciated centers enough I guess, but definitely do after reading this article and am very excited to get started on my own centers. I think it would be great to fill out a few of these center plans to include in a portfolio. Along with all the technology we have been learning about, this would look awesome to a potential future employer. This article was really to the point too which I know we all love at this point in the year. I definitely give this article two thumbs up! What do you guys think!?
As for the other two assigned readings, both Tompkins and Avalos, were beneficial but things I feel we have covered before. More ways to allow for integration and gateways to reach lower level students or ELLs. Not that I didn’t think they were good pieces; I just feel we have touched base on this topic a lot. Of course there is always room to learn of new ways of creating conducive plans/environments for students like these but I just enjoyed the center article so much more as it was something that we really haven’t touched base on yet but is still an important part of the classroom.
The New Literacies project is going well. We have been working on our digital story which will highlight the lifespan of a butterfly through a variety of vibrant images and enthusiastic narratives. While I am anxious to see how it will turn out, I am even more anxious to watch everyone else’s. I really feel that this is a useful activity that we will all be able to use in our future classrooms and portfolios. I’m sure we can all agree that we are learning that there is so much more to the digital world than we once imagined and that we are having fun discovering and playing with it all! As interesting as it as been, I can definitely say that we have a lot more work to do before due date! All in good time I guess!
1 comment:
I really enjoyed the centers article too. Yes, it was nice having an article that presented its information efficiently and to the point! I also really liked the diagrams and pictures that were included to give us an idea of what a classroom with centers might look like. I think obviously if students are involved in making choices and are actively involved in the activity it will help them teach themselves and also give them incentive to actually learn. This is a point I think we all realize is true, but might not know how to go about implementing it and this article gave a lot of helpful tips. I really like the idea of varying activities at different levels because students are definitely all different and learn in their own ways, so centers are a really great way to address this issue and provide opportunities for everyone in the class. I can definitely see how it might be difficult to create centers and have multiple (5+) centers running throughout the room in the beginning, so I agree that the planning guides could be helpful! I think as you gained more experience you could phase them out and come up with lessons on your own, but it would be nice to have your lessons organized and planned to begin with.
I also agree that there is so much more about the digital world that I have to learn! I know most of us thought we were digital natives, but with technology growing so quickly I feel like there will always be more to learn. I am really excited to see everyones project and hopefully gain more knowledge about some of the technological resources that are available to us...and hopefully be able to integrate some of them into the classroom! :)
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