Learning Centers Enable Teachers to Cover More Content and Increase Student Participation
When secondary teachers struggle to keep students engaged learning decreases. The use of active learning centers increases student engagement, participation, and therefore learning. There are some tangible advantages to including learning centers in the classroom. Experience has shown that students actually tend to be more engaged when they work in centers. The combination of self-directed activity and short, specific task lends itself to the natural strengths of the developing adolescent. Students with special needs, in particular, report that they feel “safer” in these small groups. They are often able to learn from and with their peers while finding it easier to concentrate – especially in inclusive classrooms.
Teachers find that learning centers enable them to cover more content and skill development in the same amount of class time. Plus it’s easy to give individual attention and personalized instruction to students who need it.
This year Highland Middle School began implementing centers in ELA classrooms, based on the work of Dr. Katie McKnight. Teachers report student engagement is at an all-time high and students report to be enjoying class more than ever.
Challenges or Obstacles:
- Teacher buy-in was difficult as the initial preparing for centers can be time-consuming.
Benefits and Successes:
- Walking from center to center or working in a teacher-led center, answering questions and assisting students as they research and explore activities, you’re likely to find yourself relating to your class in a more natural, organic way. The difficult-to-achieve differentiation will almost feel like it’s taking care of itself as all students fully participate in the activities.
- This learning centers model has been used in middle school and high school classrooms all over the country – in public, private, and parochial schools; in rural, urban, and suburban districts. They’ve been used with gifted students, high-poverty students, students with special needs, ethnically diverse students, and English language learners.
Additional Information:
Click here for an example of Dr. Katie McKnight’s Learning Center
Submitted by: Jennifer Eltringham, Highland Middle School