1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,620 Hello and welcome to the podcast today. 2 00:00:06,620 --> 00:00:13,580 We are talking about the Learner-centered paradigm and a significance in modern education. 3 00:00:13,580 --> 00:00:21,300 So with Learner-centered paradigm, it's a big shift from the way things have been going 4 00:00:21,300 --> 00:00:25,860 in traditional classrooms for a quite a long time now. 5 00:00:25,860 --> 00:00:29,700 Learner-centered paradigm is focused on the students rather than the teacher. 6 00:00:29,700 --> 00:00:37,380 So it's a move away from the traditional model of a classroom where the teacher is the 7 00:00:37,380 --> 00:00:43,980 focus of the classroom and the teacher speaks, the teacher teaches while the students 8 00:00:43,980 --> 00:00:50,940 listen and the students are supposed to absorb everything, take notes and learn as the 9 00:00:50,940 --> 00:00:53,860 teacher teaches. 10 00:00:53,860 --> 00:00:55,940 This is a big shift away from that. 11 00:00:55,940 --> 00:01:02,040 So with the Learner-centered paradigm, the learners have autonomy. 12 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:06,340 The students are able to make choices and decisions on their own. 13 00:01:06,340 --> 00:01:08,140 There's more exploration. 14 00:01:08,140 --> 00:01:14,620 They can take ownership of their education and hopefully become lifelong learners. 15 00:01:14,620 --> 00:01:16,540 There's active engagement. 16 00:01:16,540 --> 00:01:24,700 So rather than the teacher standing up front talking and lecturing and just spewing information 17 00:01:24,700 --> 00:01:32,780 to students who are supposed to be listening and taking it all in, there's more student 18 00:01:32,780 --> 00:01:34,100 discussion. 19 00:01:34,100 --> 00:01:39,460 We're seeing that there's some good results from that. 20 00:01:39,460 --> 00:01:43,700 The students are able to do some problem solving on their own. 21 00:01:43,700 --> 00:01:50,300 It promotes critical thinking and it's actually increasing retention and the research on it 22 00:01:50,300 --> 00:01:52,940 is really good. 23 00:01:52,940 --> 00:01:57,980 There's been some different studies and some research and we'll talk about those a little 24 00:01:57,980 --> 00:02:01,820 bit in a few minutes. 25 00:02:01,820 --> 00:02:06,540 There's also a personalization for the students. 26 00:02:06,540 --> 00:02:13,540 It can take care of individual student needs and meet those needs and take into account 27 00:02:13,540 --> 00:02:17,420 the different backgrounds that students have and the learning paces. 28 00:02:17,420 --> 00:02:23,980 It's really good for differentiated learning because rather than a one-size-fits-all type 29 00:02:23,980 --> 00:02:29,580 of learning, it can meet students where they are. 30 00:02:29,580 --> 00:02:35,100 One thing that's really neat about it is how it's inquiry-based learning for students. 31 00:02:35,100 --> 00:02:41,500 They get to explore and feed their natural curiosity but they're not just left to their 32 00:02:41,500 --> 00:02:48,100 own device, they're still guided by a capable train teacher. 33 00:02:48,100 --> 00:02:55,100 You've heard anything about the learner-centered paradigm. 34 00:02:55,100 --> 00:03:02,100 You may have heard that instead of sage on the stage, it's a guide by your side. 35 00:03:02,100 --> 00:03:08,700 The teacher is there still to teach you but more as a guide as you learn a little bit 36 00:03:08,700 --> 00:03:15,060 more on your own, you're a little more self-guided than you would be in a traditional classroom. 37 00:03:15,060 --> 00:03:22,700 As I said, research is showing that it does improve academic success, Stanford, how to 38 00:03:22,700 --> 00:03:30,220 report out that they did some research and the school of education there talked about 39 00:03:30,220 --> 00:03:37,220 how effective it can be at retention for students. 40 00:03:37,220 --> 00:03:46,020 Right now in a traditional classroom, if you're in your average public classroom in United 41 00:03:46,020 --> 00:03:52,420 States, they are still mostly teacher-centered and there's been a little bit of a shift 42 00:03:52,420 --> 00:03:57,340 toward learner-centered but it's a slow shift. 43 00:03:57,340 --> 00:04:02,180 It takes a while for the pendulum to swing that way. 44 00:04:02,180 --> 00:04:07,820 There's a teacher given projects and assignments and there is some time to complete them on 45 00:04:07,820 --> 00:04:14,540 their own but there's a timeline for finishing them and they're given time to work on projects 46 00:04:14,540 --> 00:04:17,620 but not much autonomy. 47 00:04:17,620 --> 00:04:25,580 We do see students working in groups often but it's still basically doing what the teacher 48 00:04:25,580 --> 00:04:30,500 has taught you to do, what the teacher is asking you to do and there's not much student 49 00:04:30,500 --> 00:04:34,660 choice and not much student agency. 50 00:04:34,660 --> 00:04:40,460 So a typical day in an elementary school classroom, the bell rings and students come in, they 51 00:04:40,460 --> 00:04:48,260 unpack everything, they might turn in some homework in the morning, make their lunch choice, 52 00:04:48,260 --> 00:04:55,020 teacher takes attendance and then students usually get started on some form of morning 53 00:04:55,020 --> 00:05:01,340 work for younger students that might be some focus play time, they might have some morning 54 00:05:01,340 --> 00:05:08,780 bins for older students in the elementary classroom that could be some daily activities, 55 00:05:08,780 --> 00:05:17,100 there might be some daily math problems or a daily journal, maybe some independent work, 56 00:05:17,100 --> 00:05:24,500 maybe some ELA and a lot of times if they're able to finish that morning work on their 57 00:05:24,500 --> 00:05:29,140 own and there's still some time left while the teacher is getting everything together 58 00:05:29,140 --> 00:05:35,180 in the morning as far as attendance and lunches and getting everything in order then there 59 00:05:35,180 --> 00:05:43,140 might be time for them to work on some unfinished work or maybe read a book and then after that 60 00:05:43,140 --> 00:05:50,260 a lot of classes will move on to maybe some math in the upper grades like fourth, fifth and 61 00:05:50,260 --> 00:06:01,220 sixth grade levels might switch classes within the grade level to more appropriately teach 62 00:06:01,220 --> 00:06:08,180 students at their own level for math and sometimes for other subjects as well but usually 63 00:06:08,180 --> 00:06:15,020 just switching between classes within the same grade level and then they'll come back to 64 00:06:15,020 --> 00:06:21,900 their own class after that and most likely have recess after recess they might do language 65 00:06:21,900 --> 00:06:30,280 arts or social studies something like that before lunchtime and there's usually some group 66 00:06:30,280 --> 00:06:35,900 work in there somewhere and again if you finish then you're working on unfinished work or 67 00:06:35,900 --> 00:06:42,060 reading a book or sometimes drawing depending on which grade it is and then it's lunchtime 68 00:06:42,060 --> 00:06:47,720 so go eat your lunch go play on the playground for a little bit and then you come back in 69 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:53,580 from lunch and just a little bit of time left maybe an hour, hour and a half and a lot of 70 00:06:53,580 --> 00:07:04,500 times in the afternoon teachers will plan science or history maybe some art and then generally 71 00:07:04,500 --> 00:07:09,900 get ready to go home and maybe after school they might have to have some extra curricular 72 00:07:09,900 --> 00:07:16,460 activities and then there's probably some pullouts during the week or some time out of the classroom 73 00:07:16,460 --> 00:07:25,740 maybe for library or PE music band thrown into the schedule one or two times a week so they're 74 00:07:25,740 --> 00:07:31,820 occasionally interrupted with things like that maybe once or twice a year there's a field trip but 75 00:07:31,820 --> 00:07:39,820 the basic skeleton looks about the same it just varies a little bit by grade level but most 76 00:07:39,820 --> 00:07:46,220 of the time when you walk into a classroom the desks will face where the teacher is sitting or 77 00:07:46,220 --> 00:07:55,100 standing and there's usually either a whiteboard or a TV screen or something where the teacher can 78 00:07:55,100 --> 00:08:02,940 project what they're working on but they typically look about the same you know there's some variation 79 00:08:02,940 --> 00:08:09,180 in the different classrooms and depending what part of the country you're in and how advanced 80 00:08:09,180 --> 00:08:16,220 your school district is there might be different technologies in different classrooms and 81 00:08:16,220 --> 00:08:22,140 the upper grades tend to work on their own a little bit more than the younger grades but 82 00:08:22,140 --> 00:08:29,580 basically most of the students in the class are doing the same thing give or take a little bit here 83 00:08:29,580 --> 00:08:38,460 and there for some differentiation but not much autonomy so what would it look like if we were to 84 00:08:38,460 --> 00:08:45,660 give students some more options maybe some choice boards so they could pick which way they learn 85 00:08:45,660 --> 00:08:53,100 different subjects what if we let them discover how they learn because people do learn differently 86 00:08:53,100 --> 00:09:02,060 I tend to be more visual I need to see how things are done some students need to have hands-on 87 00:09:02,060 --> 00:09:11,180 experiences before they can learn something so what if we were to do that let them discover how they 88 00:09:11,180 --> 00:09:20,380 learn less time doing the traditional work that you would think of for a classroom in the United 89 00:09:20,380 --> 00:09:27,340 States and and actually around most of the world too but what if there was less time more doing 90 00:09:27,340 --> 00:09:36,300 that work and more time discovering as I said how they learn what they like to do to help them learn 91 00:09:36,300 --> 00:09:43,100 more time to be creative a lot of times there's a little bit of time to be creative but even that 92 00:09:43,100 --> 00:09:52,860 can be very structured and very focused I study a little bit some about some different ways education 93 00:09:55,020 --> 00:10:01,500 takes place around the world and there are a few countries and they tend to be at the top of 94 00:10:01,500 --> 00:10:11,100 top of the list for performance that spend more time outside of the classroom more time to let 95 00:10:11,100 --> 00:10:21,260 the kids discover what they like to do more time to be kids and be curious and do some hands-on learning 96 00:10:21,260 --> 00:10:28,620 and some exploring or even inside the classroom having more hands-on experiences with 97 00:10:28,620 --> 00:10:36,300 writing and helping others let them discover what their talents are and what they have 98 00:10:36,300 --> 00:10:46,540 affinities for the Stanford I mentioned the Stanford Graduate School of Education and I was recently 99 00:10:47,420 --> 00:10:54,700 looking at their website and there's a quote here from from that website article I was reading 100 00:10:54,700 --> 00:11:01,180 schools that incorporate these key features of student center practice are more likely to develop 101 00:11:01,180 --> 00:11:07,980 students that have transferable academic skills they feel a sense of purpose and connection to school 102 00:11:07,980 --> 00:11:14,940 as well as graduate attend and persist in college at rates that exceed their district and state 103 00:11:14,940 --> 00:11:23,180 averages and that's definitely positive we want kids to succeed and feel a sense of purpose 104 00:11:23,180 --> 00:11:30,060 and connection to school and definitely want them to graduate and attend college and persist 105 00:11:30,060 --> 00:11:40,300 in college and these are very good things I think we've seen in the last few years that some 106 00:11:40,300 --> 00:11:48,460 workplaces have started to focus more on their culture still doing their jobs but 107 00:11:48,460 --> 00:11:57,500 focus on the workplace culture and the results have been amazing there are some companies that 108 00:11:57,500 --> 00:12:05,580 allow their employees I think it was Google that I was reading about that allows their employees 109 00:12:06,220 --> 00:12:13,980 20% of their time at work to be focused on something for that they're interested in 110 00:12:13,980 --> 00:12:21,340 personally as long as it somehow relates to the company and there have been some amazing 111 00:12:21,340 --> 00:12:28,940 innovations with that there's an article on leadership IQ that says these companies embrace 112 00:12:28,940 --> 00:12:36,140 innovation inclusivity and employee empowerment they create environments where employees feel inspired 113 00:12:36,140 --> 00:12:42,460 and valued by fostering open communication and shared values they maintain positive workplace 114 00:12:42,460 --> 00:12:50,780 cultures and that sounds great and so if we can take that same design and apply it to the classroom 115 00:12:50,780 --> 00:12:58,700 and of course you still need someone in charge and in these workplaces you know such as google or 116 00:12:59,180 --> 00:13:09,260 Yahoo I think also Zappos the I think Zappos is a shoe company same design same idea there's still 117 00:13:09,260 --> 00:13:18,380 people in charge there's still a hierarchy for their employees but there's more autonomy and more 118 00:13:18,380 --> 00:13:27,820 freedom for people to just feel as though they are part of that work environment that their voice is 119 00:13:27,820 --> 00:13:38,380 heard so along those lines what if we were to give students more flexible assignments some choice 120 00:13:38,380 --> 00:13:46,300 boards different ways to prove competency instead of just here's the information and this is how 121 00:13:46,300 --> 00:13:52,380 you're going to prove that you understand it and this is how you're going to prove that you remember 122 00:13:52,380 --> 00:13:59,980 it and then we grade you on it and that's it if we can give students some flexibility then they can 123 00:13:59,980 --> 00:14:08,060 feel more autonomy and feel more as though they have a hand in their education 124 00:14:08,060 --> 00:14:18,860 if we could give flexible if we could make classroom environments more flexible like some of 125 00:14:18,860 --> 00:14:26,300 these workplaces are I was looking at some pictures of these different companies office buildings 126 00:14:26,300 --> 00:14:33,420 online and there's different seating it's not just a floor is full of cubicles with 127 00:14:33,420 --> 00:14:46,380 computers and you know desk chairs they're letting people sit in couches or at bigger tables with other 128 00:14:46,380 --> 00:14:53,340 people or I even saw in them I think it was the Google website that they had some hammock chairs I 129 00:14:53,340 --> 00:15:01,820 think Google is the one that is such a colorful very inviting workspace looks like a really fun 130 00:15:01,820 --> 00:15:07,660 place to work and there's a real sense of community there so if we could transfer those ideas to the 131 00:15:07,660 --> 00:15:16,300 classroom be really interesting to see how kids would be affected by that couple 132 00:15:16,300 --> 00:15:23,500 years ago I've been a sub for quite a few years now and a couple years ago I walked into a first first 133 00:15:23,500 --> 00:15:30,220 grade yeah first grade class and I was a little bit surprised when I walked in because it wasn't your 134 00:15:30,220 --> 00:15:37,580 typical desks all in a line and facing the front and everybody had their friends pencil box on the 135 00:15:38,380 --> 00:15:47,580 on the desks there were no desks actually there were several different tables around the room different 136 00:15:47,580 --> 00:15:54,380 heights tables you could stand at tables you could sit at tables low to the ground so kids could 137 00:15:54,380 --> 00:16:03,420 sit on the floor and then there were also different chairs all over the room there were bean bags and 138 00:16:04,860 --> 00:16:12,220 the scoop chairs for kids there were pillows to sit on on the ground and at first I thought oh this 139 00:16:12,220 --> 00:16:17,580 doesn't look very organized I wonder how this is going to go it looks like these first graders have 140 00:16:17,580 --> 00:16:25,820 a little too much freedom in here and the as I said the first time I walked in there was a little bit 141 00:16:25,820 --> 00:16:32,460 surprised and concerned but as I got to know the teacher and the culture that she created in the class 142 00:16:32,460 --> 00:16:42,860 and as weeks went on and the the students understood her expectations and we're given some autonomy 143 00:16:42,860 --> 00:16:50,140 and some freedom and flexibility it was pretty amazing to see the transformation in the kids and 144 00:16:50,140 --> 00:16:59,180 they were just in first grade and I think at first I was worried oh man I wonder what the teacher who 145 00:16:59,180 --> 00:17:03,820 gets them in second grade is going to think you know these kids are used to being able to wander the 146 00:17:03,820 --> 00:17:10,460 classroom and they're not going to know how to sit down and she proved me wrong she had complete 147 00:17:10,460 --> 00:17:17,420 control of that classroom but in a way that the kids loved and in a way that the kids really 148 00:17:17,420 --> 00:17:25,580 responded to and and the teacher who got them in second grade was very impressed it went very well 149 00:17:25,580 --> 00:17:33,740 and I think that was one of my first experiences at a more not just flexible seating but a more 150 00:17:33,740 --> 00:17:42,140 learner-centered classroom and and it worked really well so shout out to Miss Melika Tone where 151 00:17:42,140 --> 00:17:48,780 we are teaching now I wish you still were with us here in in Brea I would love to 152 00:17:49,980 --> 00:17:57,580 try that in in my classroom once I have a classroom I'm so many classrooms I walk into and I 153 00:17:57,580 --> 00:18:02,380 spend a lot of time even though I'm a teacher substitute I spend a lot of time as a pair of 154 00:18:02,380 --> 00:18:08,860 professional substitute as well and you're trying to walk around the classroom and it's so crowded 155 00:18:08,860 --> 00:18:17,580 with furniture and desks you can't even move around and it just feels a bit stuffy the desks are 156 00:18:17,580 --> 00:18:25,900 facing the teacher or the board what if instead of that we if you're going to have desks maybe 157 00:18:25,900 --> 00:18:34,060 make the desks face the center of the classroom maybe there's way you could I know it's hard to do 158 00:18:34,060 --> 00:18:41,020 when you have so many kids in a classroom but somewhere where they'd be able to communicate with 159 00:18:41,020 --> 00:18:46,620 each other more I do appreciate some of the teachers I've been in with recently 160 00:18:47,500 --> 00:18:52,620 have the kids talk to each other quite a bit she said she'll give them something to think about 161 00:18:52,620 --> 00:18:58,380 something to talk about and say okay turned your elbow partner and discuss it and then after a 162 00:18:58,380 --> 00:19:03,500 couple minutes she'll bring the class back together and have some reports from around the room 163 00:19:03,500 --> 00:19:11,100 about what they talked about and what their conclusions were so I was thinking about how to some 164 00:19:11,100 --> 00:19:19,740 different ways to implement this well this is the you know as we're talking right now just about the 165 00:19:19,740 --> 00:19:28,300 flexible actual organization of the classroom you know flexible seating so I thought maybe instead 166 00:19:28,300 --> 00:19:36,060 of having everything in place the first day just have everything pushed to the sides of the classroom 167 00:19:37,100 --> 00:19:45,100 and talk to the kids about how they want to set it up and talk to them about how can we make the most 168 00:19:45,100 --> 00:19:50,700 of our space in the classroom how should we set up our classroom or you could have you could start 169 00:19:50,700 --> 00:19:57,580 out with a basic setup and then as you establish some rules and expectations because you are still 170 00:19:57,580 --> 00:20:05,740 the teacher in charge and you do still want to establish that hierarchy for a better word you 171 00:20:05,740 --> 00:20:11,420 want to make sure that the kids understand that you are still in charge of the classroom and you 172 00:20:11,420 --> 00:20:21,900 have some expectations but let them feel some freedom I watched a video from edutopia that had 173 00:20:21,900 --> 00:20:28,300 a lot of different seating in the classroom and one of the things that I thought was so neat was 174 00:20:28,300 --> 00:20:35,260 they had taken one of those bunk beds where it's a twin size bed on the top and then 175 00:20:35,260 --> 00:20:42,140 underneath it's like a loft bed where underneath there's room for a desk or a small couch or something 176 00:20:42,140 --> 00:20:51,260 like that and they had that in the classroom and it made a real neat reading area so I don't know if I 177 00:20:51,260 --> 00:20:57,900 could get away with that in my classroom I'd have to talk to the principal obviously but that would 178 00:20:57,900 --> 00:21:03,100 be I feel like that would be really fun for the kids I remember a couple years ago 179 00:21:04,780 --> 00:21:16,140 we had a snoopy doghouse built for a play at the school and it wasn't needed after the play and 180 00:21:16,140 --> 00:21:21,100 one of the teachers loved snoopy and had a lot of snoopy things in her classroom and so 181 00:21:21,100 --> 00:21:28,540 and it was good-sized and so she took it into her classroom and made it a reading area for the kids 182 00:21:28,540 --> 00:21:34,700 she was a first grade teacher and just something different like that the kids just loved it and it 183 00:21:34,700 --> 00:21:40,620 was I think she used it more as a reward but you know something where you get kids excited about being 184 00:21:40,620 --> 00:21:49,020 in the classroom and and things that they look forward to another thing that's great about 185 00:21:49,020 --> 00:21:57,260 the learner-centered paradigm is the psychological safety the social emotional learning that 186 00:21:57,260 --> 00:22:02,700 takes place we're still focusing on that there's a big push for that right now and 187 00:22:04,540 --> 00:22:12,140 making the kids feel safe some different ways to do that is just to model the positive behavior 188 00:22:12,140 --> 00:22:23,740 really an atmosphere of encouragement and there's something we used to actually do at my church 189 00:22:23,740 --> 00:22:31,340 years ago that I've thought about translating to the classroom and they just had postcards available 190 00:22:31,340 --> 00:22:38,540 just blank postcards available and you could grab a postcard and write a note to somebody and 191 00:22:38,540 --> 00:22:49,500 stick it in the the I don't know offering bag or or box or whatever it was in it the church would 192 00:22:49,500 --> 00:22:53,100 mail them out for you and I thought about doing that in the classroom and we could have 193 00:22:53,820 --> 00:23:02,940 kids write encouragement cards to each other to their parents their families to kids in other classrooms 194 00:23:02,940 --> 00:23:09,580 and then I would just collect them and and get them to where they needed to be and just get kids used 195 00:23:09,580 --> 00:23:17,580 to being a positive force in each other's lives and and being encouraging to each other so 196 00:23:18,140 --> 00:23:24,140 that sense of psychological safety I think the encouragement and the positive behavior being 197 00:23:24,140 --> 00:23:31,020 modeled to them really contributes to that another thing I would want to make sure of is and I think 198 00:23:31,020 --> 00:23:37,900 the learner centered paradigm would be a good way to do this is to instill some responsibility in them 199 00:23:37,900 --> 00:23:43,500 but not just responsibility where it feels like a chore 200 00:23:45,900 --> 00:23:51,580 but responsibility where there's also care and cooperation as part of it that they learn to 201 00:23:51,580 --> 00:24:03,980 help each other and so not only I'm responsible for my area and my things and I'm not responsible 202 00:24:03,980 --> 00:24:11,340 for yours and not quite that but responsible for themselves but also responsible to take care of 203 00:24:11,340 --> 00:24:15,980 each other and help each other so if somebody's struggling to clean up their area maybe you could 204 00:24:15,980 --> 00:24:24,700 step in and help them um I'd also like to along with the responsibility teach them about 205 00:24:24,700 --> 00:24:33,660 conservation and I don't like to go too crazy with that um but I think the idea of trying to 206 00:24:33,660 --> 00:24:42,700 conserve supplies and you know even just to have a recycling can a trash can in our classroom where 207 00:24:42,700 --> 00:24:49,660 we made sure that we were recycling any bottles and cans and keeping our classroom clean taking care 208 00:24:49,660 --> 00:24:59,980 of our own things and then just trying to be good stewards of what we have I think another aspect of 209 00:25:02,940 --> 00:25:12,620 the change that I would like to see is community and accountability um I think it would be great 210 00:25:12,620 --> 00:25:18,140 you know a lot of times we have our classroom rules already printed and on the wall and we just 211 00:25:18,140 --> 00:25:25,820 read them to the kids we go over them and talk about them but I saw on one of the websites I was 212 00:25:25,820 --> 00:25:34,940 looking at I think it might have been edutopia that they created a classroom contract together 213 00:25:34,940 --> 00:25:40,540 so they came up with the the class rules and the classroom contract and then the teacher put 214 00:25:40,540 --> 00:25:50,780 what they decided on on like a big piece of poster board excuse me and they all signed it 215 00:25:50,780 --> 00:25:57,500 and so that shows them some responsibility too it's more like a contract that they're signing that 216 00:25:57,500 --> 00:26:05,580 this is what we've agreed to and it's not just some rules that are being imposed on them but some 217 00:26:05,580 --> 00:26:14,540 different routines and and things that they've come up with um and also establishing some routines 218 00:26:14,540 --> 00:26:21,980 for discussions that we respect each other and um I think I've seen a teacher use a talking piece 219 00:26:21,980 --> 00:26:27,260 where if you are holding the talking piece then you're the one that's allowed to be talking so 220 00:26:27,260 --> 00:26:37,180 just that general sense of accountability and community and um care for each other um I think that 221 00:26:37,180 --> 00:26:47,340 this really does align with uh the learner centered paradigm because the focus would be on the students 222 00:26:47,340 --> 00:26:55,180 and their participation in their own education um I don't want the kids just sitting in hard chairs 223 00:26:55,180 --> 00:27:03,660 for hours I would want them participating and moving around and uh just a different environment 224 00:27:03,660 --> 00:27:11,660 that they're part of their own education instead of just sitting and listening to me talk is if I 225 00:27:11,660 --> 00:27:18,140 have all the knowledge and they don't have anything to contribute that's that's not what I want my 226 00:27:18,140 --> 00:27:28,300 classroom to be like I want them to feel a sense of agency as they're uh learning in the classroom um 227 00:27:30,220 --> 00:27:37,980 when it comes to their education I want to help them create an appreciation and an ownership for their 228 00:27:37,980 --> 00:27:44,780 education and to really see the relevance of what they learn I just have to laugh when I 229 00:27:44,780 --> 00:27:53,020 trying to help my own kids with their math because some of it is just I have older kids now and some of 230 00:27:53,020 --> 00:28:01,660 it is just not relevant I mean I don't think you need to take statistics unless you're gonna use it in 231 00:28:01,660 --> 00:28:11,740 your uh profession and you know I I think that if kids are learning and they're seeing the relevance 232 00:28:11,740 --> 00:28:20,220 of what they're learning I think that goes a long way to motivate them so um I think that 233 00:28:21,980 --> 00:28:32,060 moving toward this learner-centered paradigm um helping kids to take ownership of their education 234 00:28:32,060 --> 00:28:38,620 and be responsible for what they're learning and instead of just howling them to get their work done 235 00:28:38,620 --> 00:28:47,980 having them help choose what they're learning so that they can really enjoy it and 236 00:28:48,700 --> 00:28:56,380 um just feel like they're doing something that they want to be doing I don't want kids to 237 00:28:56,380 --> 00:29:04,940 dread coming to school so definitely one of my goals is for my classroom to be inviting for students 238 00:29:04,940 --> 00:29:12,940 I want it to feel like a place they want to be um kind of like their home away from home um honestly 239 00:29:12,940 --> 00:29:21,980 I would love for kids who aren't in my class to walk by and wish they were um I would want kids to be 240 00:29:21,980 --> 00:29:29,580 excited about hey maybe next year I get to be in Mrs Wagner's class and um just have it be a really 241 00:29:29,580 --> 00:29:35,740 good experience and and of course ideally mine wouldn't be the only classroom like that but um 242 00:29:36,860 --> 00:29:46,140 I want it to be an inviting place where students are joyful in learning and uh feel like they have a 243 00:29:46,140 --> 00:29:52,380 part in their education and it's not just something that's being imposed on them and they're doing 244 00:29:52,380 --> 00:30:00,220 assignments that they don't really understand the purpose of so um I would just love to instill a 245 00:30:01,100 --> 00:30:11,980 joy for lifelong learning in my students um I do realize it's probably not going to be the easiest thing 246 00:30:11,980 --> 00:30:22,140 to um make a reality I think one of the first steps would be to meet with the principal and the 247 00:30:22,140 --> 00:30:30,700 grade level team to explain and share my vision and uh you know hopefully they would be open to that 248 00:30:31,340 --> 00:30:39,820 and who knows maybe the other teachers would be willing to try it as well and um if not if I was the 249 00:30:39,820 --> 00:30:47,420 only one that was going to be changing to this more of this model and I think it does need to be a um 250 00:30:47,420 --> 00:30:53,500 a transition not just overnight I think uh we might need to 251 00:30:55,180 --> 00:31:03,100 spend a year or two to make the shift um a year maybe a couple of years span to give everybody a chance 252 00:31:03,100 --> 00:31:13,820 to buy in and and also to not overwhelm myself but um let's see I was saying if uh if not if the other 253 00:31:13,820 --> 00:31:21,580 grade level teachers don't want to um kind of follow the same design for their classroom then 254 00:31:21,580 --> 00:31:27,900 I definitely would want to make sure I discuss how it will impact their classrooms um especially 255 00:31:27,900 --> 00:31:33,900 and their teaching styles especially if we are switching for any of the subjects like maps I know 256 00:31:33,900 --> 00:31:41,180 quite often and especially in uh fourth, fifth and sixth grade the teachers of the same grade level 257 00:31:41,180 --> 00:31:48,540 will get together and and um figure out the different levels for the students and um 258 00:31:50,140 --> 00:31:55,660 do some rotations for the different math levels so I would want to make sure that 259 00:31:55,660 --> 00:32:05,500 it's not a difficult impact on their classrooms um I don't want to be a rebel and just do my own 260 00:32:05,500 --> 00:32:11,580 thing so I want to make sure that this plan would work with our school culture so I know I would 261 00:32:11,580 --> 00:32:18,860 definitely need to discuss it with the principal and at least the other grade level team um 262 00:32:19,740 --> 00:32:27,100 and then if there's buy-in for that I know I would need to um create a list of 263 00:32:27,100 --> 00:32:35,820 classroom supplies and needs because if I'm gonna have flexible seating um ideally I would 264 00:32:35,820 --> 00:32:41,740 prefer some I'd really like to have a lot of open space in the middle of the classroom and 265 00:32:41,740 --> 00:32:49,260 some different uh maybe pillows to sit on on the floor or I just want kids to feel like they're 266 00:32:49,260 --> 00:32:54,540 comfortable instead of just sitting at a desk all day not too comfortable because you still have to 267 00:32:54,540 --> 00:33:01,660 learn but um just some different seating options and so maybe some different heights of tables and 268 00:33:01,660 --> 00:33:12,940 maybe some uh like the the lap desks and um the there's these I don't even know what to call them it's 269 00:33:12,940 --> 00:33:21,420 like uh almost like a tray that the kids can use while they're sitting on the floor um so I know that 270 00:33:21,420 --> 00:33:28,300 there would be a financial need um and and the having a shift over a couple years might help that as 271 00:33:28,300 --> 00:33:35,740 well where you're not buying all the furniture one year um so yeah as far as resources 272 00:33:35,740 --> 00:33:42,620 well first of all the first resource would be permission from the principal and buy in from 273 00:33:42,620 --> 00:33:50,860 um the other grade level teachers and then definitely some finances for the 274 00:33:50,860 --> 00:33:57,900 non-traditional furniture and supplies um the first couple years might cost the most but 275 00:33:57,900 --> 00:34:04,940 you know if you could stretch that out or um over a couple years or who know get donations 276 00:34:04,940 --> 00:34:11,180 do you a go fund me something to help cover those costs um 277 00:34:12,140 --> 00:34:18,380 I think the stakeholders that I would have to involve would be obviously the principal 278 00:34:18,380 --> 00:34:26,700 and possibly somebody from the district but I know at least in in our district the 279 00:34:26,700 --> 00:34:33,020 principles are given some freedom as far as as something like this would go but the the 280 00:34:33,020 --> 00:34:41,420 principal and the other grade level teachers and families would be um who I would need to 281 00:34:41,420 --> 00:34:50,140 involve because the families at least in our district are fairly willing to help if you have 282 00:34:50,140 --> 00:34:57,340 an idea like this and if they if they have some buy in then they're pretty good at stepping in to help 283 00:34:59,660 --> 00:35:06,380 it was really fun seeing some of the examples um that I found online of the different 284 00:35:06,380 --> 00:35:13,660 classrooms that have already tried this I didn't realize that we have so many schools around 285 00:35:13,660 --> 00:35:19,900 the country that are already participating in this so that was really neat to see some of those 286 00:35:19,900 --> 00:35:30,220 examples and if you just google uh non-traditional classroom or learner centered paradigm examples then 287 00:35:30,220 --> 00:35:36,220 you'll be able to see I think I have some links in in my references to you'll see some different examples 288 00:35:36,220 --> 00:35:46,860 I really want students to remember their time in my class as positive I want them to look back and 289 00:35:46,860 --> 00:35:55,340 and think of it as a good thing um when I look back on my education I think my first 290 00:35:55,340 --> 00:36:03,660 favorite most positive experience had to be third grade and my teacher's name was my half-worth 291 00:36:03,660 --> 00:36:14,620 she actually just passed away last year um it was just the best classroom um you know back in when 292 00:36:14,620 --> 00:36:25,020 I was in school I'm gonna date myself here in the early 80s out that makes me sound old um it was 293 00:36:25,020 --> 00:36:33,020 definitely not normal for a for an elementary school teacher to let you call her by her first name 294 00:36:33,020 --> 00:36:43,340 but that's what my did and I don't know she made us feel like family and it was just a such a great 295 00:36:43,340 --> 00:36:50,460 experience in her classroom she was so kind and loving and encouraging um and then I had some 296 00:36:50,460 --> 00:36:58,700 teachers like that in a handful of them um I remember one in junior high and and one in high school too 297 00:36:58,700 --> 00:37:08,620 that really did especially in high school I think my mouth teacher really did um let me kind of 298 00:37:11,340 --> 00:37:19,980 tailor the learning experience to what I needed and that was way back before anyone probably 299 00:37:19,980 --> 00:37:28,540 ever even heard the term differentiated instruction but math was my best subject and so 300 00:37:28,540 --> 00:37:38,300 mr. crisp would let me do the work on my own while he was teaching and then I would be done with my 301 00:37:38,300 --> 00:37:45,980 class work and homework before most of the other kids were even starting on their class work and he 302 00:37:45,980 --> 00:37:53,740 let me read a book or do homework for another class or hurry on dating myself again listen to my 303 00:37:53,740 --> 00:38:04,060 walkman but I appreciated that he trusted me and I can say I did not let him down I did the work 304 00:38:04,780 --> 00:38:12,460 I got good grades in that class and and I appreciate that about him so I I would love for students to 305 00:38:12,460 --> 00:38:21,260 look back on my class the way I remember my and mr. crisp and a handful of other teachers that they 306 00:38:21,260 --> 00:38:28,540 enjoyed learning felt heard felt ready to move on in their education after being in my class 307 00:38:29,100 --> 00:38:37,820 and to be able to hear from parents um positive feedback about maybe a change they saw in their 308 00:38:37,820 --> 00:38:44,780 child's outlook on school and learning and and also from administration to give positive feedback 309 00:38:44,780 --> 00:38:54,540 and to have administration be excited about moving forward with the the strategies that I've tried 310 00:38:55,660 --> 00:39:06,700 and I think the way to see if it is successful is well I was thinking about parent and student surveys first 311 00:39:06,700 --> 00:39:15,660 so that would probably be I don't know if that would seem if that would give me a good idea if it 312 00:39:15,660 --> 00:39:23,020 was successful but I would at least get a good idea of whether they liked it or not and then 313 00:39:23,820 --> 00:39:29,260 if I'm if the students are achieving the standards that would be probably the most important thing 314 00:39:29,260 --> 00:39:35,180 and if they're ready to move on to the next grade level um I think that's how I could measure that 315 00:39:35,180 --> 00:39:44,860 so I think you know after the first I would say even after the first six months or so I could 316 00:39:44,860 --> 00:39:52,380 see if it was working and and adjust wherever I needed to um there might be some 317 00:39:52,380 --> 00:39:59,660 opposition from people in the same school maybe from the districts um speculation 318 00:39:59,660 --> 00:40:07,900 maybe even from families because it's not the traditional method of teaching that they're used to 319 00:40:07,900 --> 00:40:14,620 and then it would be a bit of a financial burden the first couple years if the district didn't have 320 00:40:15,500 --> 00:40:25,020 a budget for me to do to get different furniture like that but um I can't see too many obstacles 321 00:40:25,020 --> 00:40:36,380 to trying this out um I'm excited about it I I really hope that I'll be able to try something like 322 00:40:36,380 --> 00:40:45,180 this and I think that even though there's been a slow shift um that this isn't what most people 323 00:40:45,180 --> 00:40:56,540 are used to in the United States um there has started to be a shift in um towards the Learner Center 324 00:40:56,540 --> 00:41:04,380 paradigm and I think we're headed in that direction and I think it'll really make an impact on 325 00:41:04,380 --> 00:41:10,460 the student's educational experience and improve their outlook and their performance and 326 00:41:10,940 --> 00:41:21,980 um I think if I can help people to catch the vision and uh just get some buy-in from people and 327 00:41:21,980 --> 00:41:29,740 have some people trust me that it it's a good idea I think that can help make it a reality and 328 00:41:29,740 --> 00:41:37,020 um especially if you know looking at some of the examples that I've seen from from other people so 329 00:41:37,980 --> 00:41:49,100 um I will put the um the links in my show notes for you and um I hope you've enjoyed listening to 330 00:41:49,100 --> 00:41:56,940 what a Learner-centered paradigm might look like in the classroom and I really hope I get to try 331 00:41:56,940 --> 00:42:06,620 this out so thank you for listening and we'll talk again soon.