Learning Stations can have many positive impacts on your classroom and your students. Below are 10 reasons. Be sure to check out the related articles, as well as the free teaching series and videos on how to create your own learning stations.
1) Students get as much practice as they need
Some people take longer to learn a new skill than others. We all have something that we are not good at, and need lots of practice to master that skill. For some of your students, that skill is math.
Yet in the traditional teaching method, we push the entire class from one concept to the next, though some have not yet had the amount of practice that they need to master the skill.
When you use learning stations, students can remain on one skill, receiving as much practice as they need to master the skill before moving on to the next math concept.
2) No one gets left behind
By using learning stations and allowing students the time that they need to master a skill, you ensure that no students are left in a state of confusion while the class has moved on to more rigorous work.
You give each student the opportunity to master the skills that they need before moving them on to more advanced concepts.
3) You don’t punish them for making mistakes
We all know that failure is a great teacher. Yet, the current model of teaching punishes students for making mistakes, and progresses them onto the next standard without first requiring mastery of the previous skill.
When you use learning stations, you retain students in one skill until they have mastered it, without punishing them for making mistakes or taking longer to grasp a skill than their peers.
4) Celebrate their success
Mastering a skill takes a lot of work. It calls for a celebration. Doing so will not only make class enjoyable, but help that student understand that they can do this!
When you use learning stations, students know when they have mastered a skill, and you celebrate their success with the class.
You also show off their success by placing their name under a banner, helping them build confidence in their mathematical abilities.
I Love Math – PopSocket
5) Success breeds Success
Once students have tasted that success, they will want more of it. They will also have gained confidence and their momentum will continue.
I once had a student who remained in the first station for MANY weeks. Despite my best efforts, she consistently did not pass the quiz at the end of the station to demonstrate that she had grasped the concept, and was retained on that skill.
Finally, she got it. I was amazed at how quickly she got every skill after that. She quickly caught up with many of her peers despite being so far behind them. Once she had tasted that success and gained that confidence, she continued in it.
6) You can accelerate your stronger students without hurting the rest of the class
When most of your class doesn’t grasp a concept, do you reteach it? What about those in your class who have already mastered it? They need to move on to more challenging work. If you retain them with the rest of the class, they will be bored and might misbehave as a result. They also are not able to reach their fullest potential because they are being held back by their peers.
When you use learning stations, you can allow that student to proceed without hurting the rest of the class.
7) You hit all your accommodations at once
When you use learning stations it is very easy to hit every students’ accommodations at the same time. You are already giving extended time, and not punishing them for not getting all the answers correct.
It is easy to partner with stronger students and complete the many other accommodations you might see.
An online course to help you create and implement Skills-Based Learning Stations. Click here to learn more
8) Absent work is a breeze
When students are absent, especially for an extended period of time, both you and they know exactly what work is needed to be completed: the station work for the previous day.
Furthermore, if they miss a lot of days, they will obviously have not mastered the skills that the class was learning. In the traditional classroom, they would then be stuck behind the group, trying to catch up. But with learning stations, you can trust that they will get the teaching and practice that they need to master the skills.
9) Your administrators will love seeing your data
Administrators love seeing data. They also love knowing that you’re using it in your classroom.
They will love walking into your room and seeing different math standards around the room, with student names beneath each one, modeling how they have mastered that skill.
10) Students will fully ‘get it’
When a student is not progressed to the next standard until they have mastered the previous, and demonstrated this on an assessment, you ensure that they fully comprehend the subject matter being taught. This will help them do well on the diagnostics, as well as ensure that they are completely ready for the next standard.
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