How it's done

The Goal:
Make students reponsible for their own work and their own actions. Make sure the children make their own choices, rather than dictating their actions.

The Method:
A student centered classroom allows the students to make choices and to use their own creativity to enhance the learning experience. They can choose to break rules and face the consequences, or choose to work within the system. They make choices about their behavior.

The Goal:
Always bring something new to the students. Keep the children interested in learning.

The Method:
The use of creative ideas in the classroom, and being open to trying new ideas in the classroom prevents the educational process from becoming repetetive and boring.

The Goal:
Meet the needs of the individual child, while accommodating special needs, so that children can feel successful. Make sure that their problems don't get in the way of their learning.

The Method:
Make students feel comfortable by incorporating behavior modelling into the classroom and presenting the children with an example of appropriate behavior. Maintain an attitude of flexibility and an awareness of the differing needs of individual children.

Students with different ways of learning benefit from a wide range of classroom stimuli. Bringing music and movement into the classroom enhances the learning process and provides kinestetic, visual, and auditory stimuli.

The Goal:
Provide an environment where students can work and learn together to meet their educational goals.

The Method:
Allowing students to work together and encouraging older students to assist younger children fosters a sense of community among the children, and provides an environment conducive to group learning and positive reinforcement. Students work together with the computers and other educational materials, emphasizing the team effort necessary to complete their tasks and solve the problems they encounter.

The Goal:
To use existing and new technology to its fullest potential as a classroom aid and as a learning tool.

The Method:
By introducing the students to the computer, they acquire skills that will benefit them right away as well as in the future. Students learn the different parts of the computer -- keyboard, mouse, etc. -- and how to use them. The use different software to help with different areas of the curriculum. Some students are able to figure out how to exit one program and start another through their exploration of the computer.

Each day, students are scheduled to work on one of the four computers. Based on their current level of understanding in a given area, they are set up with an appropriate piece of software. The computer is used to enhance the educational process in all areas.

Each program uses many of their skills, such as

It is also a fun way to learn the curriculum.