Student-Centered

At Urban, we strive to shift the focus of the learning process from the teacher to the student with the ultimate goal of reaching a deeper level of understanding while providing the student with the opportunities to develop personal meaning with the acquired knowledge. This approach emphasizes supportive relationships between students and teachers in an environment that is challenging and collaborative, while encouraging reflection on one's own learning. Students are assessed on their mastery of knowledge and skills, which they demonstrate in a variety of ways including, but not limited to, conversational pair work where they discuss topics or critically analyze a piece of literature or film. Students also work in small groups to write short stories, poems, or songs that encourage them to express their creativity.

Lastly, our one-to-one laptop program facilitates the learning process by providing each student with the tools and resources needed to be successful both in and out of class. Urban laptops are equipped with a full suite of media production programs and applications to enable students to create movies, podcasts, musical recordings, stop motion animation, and digital images.

Urban language classrooms employ the full range of provided programs as well as a suite of online tools to creatively engage with the curriculum and further their language skills. Some assignments even include the use of digital avatars to decrease the stress and anxiety students feel when recording themselves speaking another language.