How to Monitor and Create an Interdisciplinary Learning Center in the Classroom
A classroom is made up of many different students, and their learning needs are diverse. In order to accommodate the many different learning styles of students, it is key to have interdisciplinary learning centers as a staple structure in the classroom. Learning centers are a great way to help teach students, and it is important to make sure that students' needs are met in these learning environments. Here is an example of how I would set up a learning center in order to fulfill both the needs of the teachers and the students.
In order to design an interdisciplinary learning center for elementary students I would concentrate on motivating, reinforcing, and supporting students' needs, while also allowing teachers to meet the different learning styles and ability levels of the students. My learning center will include many different subjects, and I will set up interactive displays for the subjects of math, science, English, and history.
The learning center will have tables for each subject set in the corners of the room, and there will be posters that apply to each subject up on the wall by the tables they correspond with. The math section will have flash chards for different mathematic equations and different games that help improve math skills. The science section will have many resources for experiments, toys that illustrate scientific theories, and many plants, minerals, fossils, and crystals. The English table will contain many different books of poetry and literature. I would also like to have a board with magnetic poetry pieces on it so the children can create their own writing easily. The history table will include many different pictures and writing about historical events. If possible I would also like to include some artifacts or replicas of artifacts to show the children. Arrowheads and tools that wear used in the past would be nice too. All of these items are key to helping the children interactive and see what these subjects are really about.
In the middle of the room there will also be a table, which will have computers that have interactive teaching programs that are based around these subjects, and there will be tape players and headphones so children can listen to books and lessons on tape. This table will also provide a place for quiet work for students who want to study separately.
This set-up is an effective room arrangement because it will allow the teacher to walk around the room easily; this is also important because it will be necessary to monitor the students efficiently. A teacher can monitor the classroom well by walking around, asking the students questions, examining there work or what they are looking at, and answering any questions the students have. In order to anticipate and handle problems the teacher must effectively monitor the classroom and make sure that each student has something they are working on. If a problem does occur despite the teacher's efforts a student can be asked to stay with the teacher as she monitors the class, or the student can be given an individual assignment and separated from the class. It is important to be able to handle any situation that arises in the learning environment and this classroom plan will help the teacher be aware of all of the students.
An interdisciplinary learning center can be a fun and effective way of learning. If all of the subjects of interest are elaborated on in interesting ways the students will be able to involve themselves in a way that is much more memorable than just sitting in the classroom or doing homework. Learning environments are also a good way of monitoring the classroom while also giving the students a sense of independent learning. A learning environment is a good way to teaching students that should be interactive, effective, and easily monitored, and all effective classrooms should have one!
