Three Ways to Use the Learning Menu Option in Your Classroom?

Answer 1

How did you feel when you were able to select what you wanted to learn in class? Did it make you want to enjoy the lesson? These are two questions that get favorable responses from students around the world in their classrooms. Learning is about empowering others to take control of their own knowledge by being able to select the best learning activities that will allow them to grow. There are three ways to use the learning menu option in your own classroom. These ways are the following:

Center Time or Learning Stations

The first way is to use a learning menu option during center time or learning situations. This is a way to allow students to have a variety of learning opportunities that have been pre-determined by the teacher. Teachers are able to plan engaging lessons that covers what students should know at that particular level and then allow students to apply that knowledge to real world learning experiences. For instance, a teacher could create a lesson unit centered on statistics and probability. For this particular unit, students can have a variety of learning opportunities during center time or some type of learning stations to focus on topics such as central tendencies, probability, and graphs. Each learning station could be dedicated to these topics so that students can get an idea of how to apply the mathematical knowledge to a real world context.

Group Work

The second way is to use a learning menu option during group time. Depending on how the class is structured, the teacher could set up learning groups where students are able to work with the teacher who may need support or they may be considered as highly functioning groups and can run their groups on their own. Therefore, students are afforded the opportunity to select how they want to apply the knowledge that is learned in class.

Homework

The third way is to use a learning menu option for homework. This is where students will have to select a certain number of learning activities that will help them practice a certain skill. The teacher has pre-selected the learning activities, but it is the student is in control of their learning by selecting the specific learning activity in which he or she desires to complete for homework.

Knowledge is power and when students are able to take control of their own learning, this is when students are able to transfer their knowledge and truly be empowered to make a difference in their world.