what is the teacher-bordered classroom?
What if we dumped direct instruction in favor of student agency?
What if we stopped talking at students and instead asked open-ended questions?
What if we gave up our fear that learning won't happen unless we control it?
These are the things I've been asking myself since 2014, and I've been working ever since with educators willing to step back and let their students take responsibility for their learning. It's no longer enough to be the sole knowledge expert in the room; we must allow our students opportunities to become knowledge experts themselves.
in the teacher-bordered classroom...
Instructional delivery isn't a one-size-fits-all mandate; students are given the opportunity to choose the pace and path of their learning.
Assessments are designed to spark creativity; students are encouraged to use their unique voice to show what they know.
Learning isn't controlled by the teacher; students feel free to explore, fail, and try again under the thoughtful guidance of an invested learning coach.
Stephanie DeMichele is a learning designer, coach, and speaker with the Educational Service Center of Northeast Ohio who encourages & inspires educators to grow, to innovate, and to conquer their edtech fears when it comes to student-centered learning. In fact, she's been dubbed the "Slayer of Edtech Fears."
In her 15+ years in K-12 classrooms as a high school English teacher, a gifted + talented course developer, a technology teacher, and a district technology coordinator, Stephanie has researched, tried, failed, tried again, tweaked, and evolved as a digital learner herself. She embraced digital teaching and learning with her first paperless classroom in 2008 and loves sharing her experiences and ideas--as well as those she's observed from amazing teachers--with others.
Stephanie is a Google-Certified Trainer, a certified educator for Flipgrid, Edpuzzle, Screencastify, Wakelet, Book Creator, Quality Matters, and Quizlet, a HyperDocs Boot Camp grad, a Ditchbook Ambassador, and a member of Matt Miller's Ditch That Textbook Speakers’ Bureau. In 2015, she received the Betty C. Cope Award for Excellence in Educational Outreach in Northeast Ohio. You can learn more about Stephanie and connect with her here.
