Krystle's 15th Post

I want student centered learning to be a large part of my future classroom. I feel that students learn so much more when they are taking an active role in it. Because I know that when I am participating and actually doing I remember better and I actually care. It's important to make sure that activities are various so that you can reach not only the students that work better in groups but also those that work best individually. I really liked the quote at the beginning of the reading by Lisa Delpit, "The teacher cannot be the only expert in the classroom. To deny students their own expert knowledge is to disempower them." I think that this is so true even though I hadn't really thought of it that way before. I want a classroom full of experts not just me. I feel that to allow the students to be experts gives them a voice and a place to share it. In the reading there was the example of the teacher not having the student raise their hand to give feddback and rather just talking when no one else is talking. I think that this really does give the power back to the students because then the teacher isn't dictating who is and isn't speaking. When I think back I can remember that being what we did in drama but I hadn't thought about what it does for the students. I agree with it giving more freedom to the students and giving them a sense of control in their learning.