Source:
Tucker, C. (2017). Stations: A Shift That’s Worth It. Educational Leadership, 74(6), 86-87.
Summary:
Catlin begins by explaining how the traditional classroom structure really does not allow for any personalized instruction and that many teachers have used a traditional "stand and deliver" model of teaching. She argues that technology with the use of stations will help to increase personalization of learning within the classroom, even if the stations span more than one day since secondary classrooms have more time constraints than elementary classrooms.
Catlin suggests a three lesson station design: one station being a teacher led station with small group instruction, a second being an online station, and a third being an offline station. The teacher station is time for the more traditional station that is used most often, grouping students by ability level and providing the correct amount and level of instruction needed based on those students. One way that she takes her one on one time with students and adds in technology is to use the time for synchronous editing in Google Docs. She gives feedback using Google's suggest mode and follows up in more detail. For the online station, Catlin explains that she uses online tools like vocabulary.com and NoRedInk to give students practice with the specific skills they need help with. She recommends that students not work with technology at every station. This leads into her final station, the offline once. She explains that they should "encourage communication, collaboration, and problem-solving." She explains suggestions of tactile tasks, interpersonal tasks, discussions, and choice boards with different activities for students.
Reflection:
After reading through the previous article on stations in the classroom, I've planned out a way to use them in my language arts classes this fourth quarter. I spent some time looking between articles on blogging (as this is what one of my stations will be for in my classroom) and just more information on using stations but also incorporating technology within them. In the end, I decided upon reading more about using stations with technology and liked this article because the author, Catlin Tucker, was someone I follow on Twitter, and I recognized the name!
As I have decided to implement them into my classroom, I really like the idea of using stations with my middle school students. I'm looking for ideas on more ways to use them, and although some of the ideas in this article were ones I had heard before, there are a lot of great ideas in here. I already have my students use Google Docs and have given them suggestions using the "Suggesting Mode" in Google Docs. Generally, I will do this at home and leave feedback trying to explain it to my students. I love the idea of suggesting in with them in class while I am working with a small group. It is so hard to sit down and talk with all students about their papers, and this would be a great way to ensure that we are having a good conversation, I am sharing what I want to share with them, and I am not taking over their computer to give feedback. I'm excited to try out stations in my classroom this week and see how they go. I plan to use the suggesting mode and comments capability of Google Docs while I am meeting with students as they plan their group websites out. I also want to re-look at NoRedInk and check out Vocabulary.com.
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