Welcome

1. Welcome to our classroom!

2. Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.William Butler Yeats Classroom Ignition Centers Spark Student Learning! Students are engaged and active in their learning experience as they develop in different domains: Cognitive Affective Social Physical

3. Cognitive: Problem-solving at ignition centers improves students’ deductive reasoning skills and boosts their ability to organize, analyze, and synthesize new information. Relating objectives to real-world experience helps students retain new information. • Affective: Meaningful connections and greater understanding of information increases student confidence. Creative self-expression in a relaxed, supportive, yet challenging environment increases students’ sense of self-worth and well-being. Independent work develops students’ confidence, self-respect, and responsibility.

4. * Ignition Centers! *

5. Social: The students’ personal relationship with the objectives and information results in more meaningful participation in class work and discussions. Increased success and confidence improves their leadership and interpersonal skills. Collaborative work promotes cooperation and conflict resolution. • Physical:Participating in the hands-on activities, experiments, and theatre production, and simply traveling to and from learning centers allows students to release pent up energy and sharpens their gross and fine motor skills. The self-expression that takes place in the writing center enhances students’ emotional well being, which is physically beneficial to their health.

6. ClassSet-up • The students desks are in the middle of the room arranged in a horseshoe in front of ignition centers and facing the teacher’s desk. This promotes group discussion, eye contact, classroom community, and directs attention towards not only the teacher but to fellow students as well. • The chalkboard, world map, and bulletin board are behind the teacher’s desk. The ecology projects and plants are on the windowsill. This keeps student focus on the work at hand, (chalkboard or discussion) , encourages study of the vast and miraculous world in which we live, (map, globe, projects) , and connects students to the events, issues, and ideas concerning our classroom community. (bulletin board)

7. *Ignition Centers * are behind the horseshoe to keep students focused on the task at hand, not their peers who may be “igniting”at a center. The Reading and Writing Ignition Centerprovides students with a pillow-filled, comfortable corner to explore the world of books. Various reading levels and topics promote literacy and introduces students to the wonderful world of reading and writing for pleasure! The math manipulatives and real-world math problems and projects in the Technology and Math Ignition Center reduce math anxiety with concrete representations of abstract concepts. The computer screens in thewill face the wall to reduce glare. The computers promote active learning for today’s “techies”.

8. * Science and Ecology Ignition Center* Hands-on investigation and experimentation harnesses curiosity and leads students into a world of discovery. The variety of appealing tools and equipment tempt students to follow their interests, ask questions, and actively seek answers. They develop understanding for complex ideas, and their personal experience with trial and error and discovery, leads to retention of new information and develops cognitive reasoning and social responsibility.

9. Students unleash their creativity at the Music, Theatre, and Art Ignition Center. Imaginative play and study develop students’ appreciation for the arts and develop their capacity to seek creative solutions to problems. Culturally diverse music, plays, and books on CD, along with all of the ingredients essential for theatre production, create an environment conducive to self-expression, collaborative teamwork, and social development.

10. * Our Classroom * Leave-at-school work, recycling <<center Music Theatre Art Tech. Math Science Ecology Reading Writing Idea box ! Backpacks/ Lunches Library

11. The classroom is set up to relax the student, reduce frustration and anxiety, and support his or her individual learning style with differentiated instruction and constant consideration of his or her feelings, perceptions, ideas, and tendencies towards extroversion or introversion. • A variety of visually stunning and unique labeled objects and pictures representing the magnificent cultural diversity of people and places, and the remarkable biodiversity of plant and wildlife, will stimulate the students quest for discovery. • Ignition Centers let students play a vital role in their education. They give the students the confidence-building opportunity to make their own choices and follow their interests. They promote investigation, social development and responsibility, and motivatestudents to actively make sense of what they learn, not merely memorize it for a test. Ignition Centers build students’ grasp of independent learning as well as cooperative learning and collaborative teamwork. They reinforce concepts taught in class and encourage problem-solving, higher-order thinking, and fun!

12. Differences, Choices, opportunity • Students are encouraged to follow their interests and enjoy learning. Whatever their particular learning style, it will be supported, and they will be encouraged in our classroom. • Auditory learners will benefit from teacher-led and group discussions, collaborating with peers at centers, and listening to books on CD, music, and lesson-based theatre productions. • Visual learners will benefit from the abundance of labeled pictures and objects throughout the room, work on the chalkboard, ecology and science projects developing at the windows, and of course, working on the computer. • Kinesthetic/tactual learnerswill benefit from the physical activity involved in moving to the centers, conducting science experiments, solving math problem with manipulatives and 3-D programs on the computer, reading on soft pillows in the reading and writing center, and creating art projects, theatre props, and shows based on our lessons.

13. *********************** • The students will play a role in creating the classroom aesthetics and will therefore feel a sense of pride in the classroom environment. This collaboration between the teacher and students will contribute a sense of community and mutual respect. The teacher will regularly check the “idea box” for students’ suggestions on how to improve the classroom. • The student’s artwork and projects, including plants and pictures of the natural world and its culturally diverse inhabitants, will fill the classroom. • Most importantly, the students will not be solely dependant upon prompts or the teacher to light their educational fire, but will follow their interests down an educational path that best suits their learning styles, pace, and abilities in order to become life-long learners.

14. Works Cited: • http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/sem/semart10.htm • http://filebox.vt.edu/users/sahouck/portfolio/learning_centers.html • Faye Carlson-Mackenzie