As a teacher, I no longer feel like I need to control everything my second-grade students do. I can now allow them to work independently in groups. I provide opportunities for students to work collaboratively, and I let them talk while they write. Students are now interested to be in my classroom, and behavior problems have diminished.
--Mathew Needleman, Brentwood Science Magnet School
Los Angeles, California
8 years of teaching
Related NCTE Resources . . .
Learning Centers: From Shared to Independent Practice This lesson This lesson provides a framework for using a shared reading experience to introduce independent literacy learning centers.
Join us for Content Literacy: Four Factors in Building an Effective Instructional Framework on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 from 5:00-6:00 p.m. EDT featuring Douglas Fisher. This Web seminar focuses the idea of a Gradual Release of Responsibility focusing on moving from teacher- to student-responsibility for learning and how to make this theory come alive in the classroom.