A classroom is much more than just a room where students go to learn. It is a place where children discover what they love to do, what intrigues them and motivates them to learn. It is a place where they learn through their peers and establish social interaction. It is very important to have many different centers to facilitate this hunger for knowledge. The more the merrier really! Students should have all sorts of different educational options so that they can choose what they enjoy to do. This will then in turn motivate them to want to learn instead of feeling forced. Most importantly, they will have fun while doing it.
On page 381 the chapter talks about how to set up the classroom and what to include to encourage literacy learning. They talk about how important it is to contain many different items in each center to give the students different choices. When I was in grade school every classroom was set up the exact same way. Teacher in the front of the room at his/her desk and 20-something desks facing them in rows. We didn't have any centers, for the most part, and kept things pretty basic. Now that I work with students in a classroom setting I can see just how beneficial it is for them to have options. We have an iPad center, a reading center, a homework center, and a study center. Having these centers lets our students be more goal oriented. When at each specific center they are only thinking about that specific center. They do no worry about other work that needs to be completed and they focus on the task at hand!
Centers are extremely important to the classroom and can help the growth and knowledge of a student in a more meaningful way. Why haven't all schools established multiple centers in their classroom? It is very clear how well these students learn when they are more goal oriented and focused. I wish that all schools had the means to offer their students more.
I completely agree that having designated centers in the classroom is extremely beneficial to children and their educational growth. When I think back to my childhood and school, I can remember having all the desks in rows facing the teacher, and never having centers for certain subjects. I wish I would have had centers because I think I would of enjoyed school more. I think teachers are often skeptical to put desks grouped together or facing one another because they think students will be focused on chatting with one another, rather than paying attention to what is being taught. However, I think many teachers are now realizing how to alter their lesson plans in ways that allows students to collaborate with one another while still promoting individual learning; students often learn best from other students. I also believe some teachers are afraid to incorporate centers into their classroom because their ability to monitor all the students at once would become more challenging. However, I think allowing students to collaborate with one another and have somewhat of an independence while working in the centers is going to help them developmentally in all aspects. I have also found it interesting how some classrooms will have a reading, writing, math, and art center, while many classrooms I have seen only have reading centers. I assume this is because literacy development is such a huge focus in early childhood classrooms. However I think incorporating more than one center in a classroom gets students more excited about each center/subject individually because they become presented with options. What I like most about having centers in the classroom is it allows opportunities for teachers to pin point each student's individual learning levels. Many centers I have seen have cubbies, bags, buckets, etc., that are labeled with each students name and consists of various teaching materials (books, activities, etc.) that are suited to work best for that particular student's learning style and level. Bringing out individuality in learning centers is going to get the students more excited and engaged in what they are learning.
ReplyDeleteI agree, centers are HIGHLY important when a child is in elementary school. I've seen the "typical" centers in classrooms recently, including a reading center, writing center, math center and block center. Through my vast experiences in classrooms here at Ball State for courses, I've also seen other types of centers utilized. Teachers have created music centers, dramatic play centers, science centers, technology centers, art centers, sensory centers, you name it! These centers can be manipulated in ways that incorporate literacy in them. When creating literacy centers, having several activities as options is key, so students can choose the center that connects to their own interests or has an activity that they’re comfortable engaging in. This makes learning fun and hands-on, and the interactions and conversations with peers have a huge impact on a child’s social development.
ReplyDeleteI remember the classrooms in my elementary school being the same setup. The desks were typically in rows and pointed at the front of the room, where the teacher stood and lectured. On occasion, the desks would be in small groups, to promote peer engagement and interaction. No signs of centers were included in my past elementary classrooms. You posed an interesting question, and I too wonder why all classrooms haven’t established multiple centers in their rooms. It’s evident that children benefit from them greatly, so why aren’t they used? I think since we were in elementary school, teaching and education in general has greatly increased in both professionalism and in research. New information on how students learn and what impacts them developmentally has shaped and changed the way we teach in schools. This may be why we see a shift to a more child-centered, integrated curriculum. Also, advances in technology could be another factor in the evolution of centers into what they are today. Teacher serve as guides and facilitators in these centers, so I think it’s important for us to take our jobs seriously, and to create centers that best fit our students as a whole.