Flexible Learning Environments

Flexible Learning Environment

Explore Guide

Cooperative Learning (Elementary): Cooperative Learning is an important part of student learning. It is essential for students to learn to begin to work with one another collaboratively, creating partnerships, and sharing responsibility. In small group settings, children can often learn more quickly and more effectively.

Learning Objectives:

1. During this module the educator will choose an article and submit a response to both cooperative learning questions.

2. A lesson plan will be submitted that supports cooperative learning using one of the following examples: *Collaborative Learning *Jigsaw *Numbered Heads *Round Robin *Three Step Review *Team-Pair-Solo *Think-Pair-Share

Cooperative Learning (Secondary): Marzano states this is a high yield strategy resulting in an increase of student learning by 27%. Through this goal, the aims are to remove common barriers for teachers in the following areas:

• • How to grade

  • Easy set up

  • Technology

  • Student roles

Flexible Learning Spaces (Elementary) and Flexible Learning Spaces (Secondary): Flexible seating within a classroom at any age level empowers students to choose what type of learning works best for them. Students given the flexible seating choice benefits students in several ways. First, they are able to work collaboratively and engage in critical thinking skills. After reading multiple articles on flexible seating, it seems that flexible seating is beneficial to all students. While enhancing their learning, students are supplied with comfortable and flexible seating options. By offering students more options and giving them a choice in their learning environment, anxiety is decreased, and students’ sense of touch is stimulated, which can help them to focus and process information, as well as have fun while learning.

Growth Mindset (Elementary): After completing this module, you will be able to: Explain what it means to have a growth mindset. Identify ways to implement growth mindset in your own classroom. Create an activity or lesson that teaches students about having a growth mindset.

Growth Mindset (Secondary): Growth mindset occurs when individuals believe their talents can be developed through hard work, good strategies, and input from others. They tend to achieve more than those with a more fixed mindset; those who believe their talents are innate gifts. Having a growth mindset means that students believe they can increase their intellect through hard work and not innate ability.

Digital Environment- Under Construction

Classroom Culture (Elementary): The establishment of a class in which the students are empowered through maintaining positive relationships, appreciating differences, taking risks, and participating in meaningful conflict resolution.

PBIS (Elementary): The classroom environment is a huge part of student success. RCS has implemented the Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) model countywide, in order to maximize instructional time and build student character. The PBIS badge will be earned for 10 clock hours of research and product creation as described: Creating a Learning Activity using the template provided; Uploading at least two anonymous student samples or self-created/implemented learning activity that incorporates PBIS; Completing the reflection questions.

PBIS (Secondary): The learner will understand what PBIS is and be able to implement that into their classroom as a means of improving student performance.

Think, Read, Write, Talk and Do (Elementary): This course focuses on students learning through doing. The components include: Collaborative Groups, Writing to develop critical thinking, Literacy groups with roles, Questioning for further inquiry, Scaffolding of knowledge and experience and Class Talk where students are able to articulate their thinking. This badge will allow the learner an opportunity to watch videos, read articles and look at sample lesson plans in hope of them using some ideas in their own classroom.

Engagement Strategies (Elementary): After completing this module, the learner will be able to: Recognize the importance of engagement strategies and Identify engagement strategies to use in their classroom.

Engagement Strategies (Secondary): This badge is designed to help the learner gain a better understanding of the various levels of engagement in their classroom and help them to gain strategies to increase engagement. It includes resources that explain the differences between engagement versus good behavior and how to accurately judge how engaged students actually are. It also includes 100’s of strategies to explore. After exploring the resources, the learner is asked to choose 3 engagement strategies and after utilizing them in lessons, explain to what extent they increased engagement and specify who benefited from this strategy and why.

Paces, Pathways and Playlists (Elementary): This course will allow teachers to personalize the learning of all students in the classroom and provide student choice based on data to meet students where they are in the learning process. Educators will create and implement a pathway, pace or playlist for a unit of study to personalize the learning of their students.

Learning objectives:

• What are paces, pathways and playlists?

• How can I use pathways, paces and playlists to encourage student choice and ownership of learning with a personal experience based on student need and mastery?

• How can teachers implement pathways, paces and playlists into their classroom instruction?

Paces Pathways and Playlists: Implement personalized learning through creating a playlist for students. Students have choice of what tasks they want to complete based on a particular standard or unit of progression of standards. Students work at their own pace to show mastery before moving onto the next level within the pathway.

Community Partnerships (Elementary): The educator understands universal design for learning, appropriately implements universal design for learning in the classroom, and articulates a rationale for using universal design for learning during instruction.

Relevance (Elementary): This course focuses on students seeing the connection or importance of what is being taught in their class to their own lives in the real world. Relevance is important in gaining student interest and motivation. This badge allows learners to explore ways of making learning relevant to their students.