Let's Be Nimble, Let's Be Quick: Student-Centered Learning

I read the white papers on a Dreambox Learning product today and loved so much of what they had to say. I decided it might be a good idea to paraphrase, since the document was some thirty-eight pages in length.

The part that resonated most with me most focused on student-centered learning. I have spent the past ten years of my teaching career trying to get away from the "Sage on the Stage" approach in which students "sit and get" in favor of the "Guide on the Side" method that gives the power to the people (the little people, in the case of an elementary school setting).

The Dreambox team put together a nice, succinct table comparing teacher-centered to student-centered activities, which I have share below. They also said:

These skills, enhanced with high-quality, relevant, domain-specific 

digital content-form a solid learning foundation to help today's students 

                      become nimble, adaptive thinkers and doers who thrive in a complex                          future.