Supporting Students During Independent Work Time

Building student ownership in their learning is huge.  Whether this autonomy is during assessments or independent work time, there are ways you can enhance the learning experience for your kids. Consider these tips....

Monitor students doing computer-based work from the back of the room. Technology gives us many gifts, one of which is quick visibility.  In this class, students are taking an assessment online, and the teacher can easily monitor every student's progress by being behind students. This allows for quick intervention when a student struggles. 

Conference with kids doing independent work. Whether students are reading, writing, or completing an assignment, you have a great opportunity to build relationships and assess student learning progress. My suggestion is to quietly move around the room, asking a quick question of each child. The question could be as broad as, "What is one thing you've learned from this assignment?" Or as content-specific as, "Tell me about your favorite character."

It's often the small procedural differences that help us advance great learning.