Research and practice in the field of early childhood increasingly supports the full inclusion of young children within early childhood environments. Until 2009, the field lacked a national definition

“Child-Centered Learning in Practice” Program Transcript [MUSIC PLAYING] NARRATOR: In this video segment, three teachers present their perspectiv\ es on the way child-centered curriculum and environments foster healthy develo\ pment and learning for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and primary-age children.

LINDA FRITZ: In my classroom, the child's learning is based on relations\ hips.

And because of that, it happens at the child's pace. And I can't force a\ relationship to happen, I have to truly be caring about that child. I ha\ ve to truly allow that child to feel comfortable with me. I can't push it. I can't p\ ull it. I can't make it happen. It has to come from my heart and happen at that child's \ pace.

So with some children, that will happen just immediately. We'll look and\ we'll make a connection, and we're ready to embrace one another. And other children I have to sit back and kind of allow that child to feel comfortable with\ me, and for that relationship to develop in a more slow-paced manner.

Some of the children that you see on the tape today are not children tha\ t are in my classroom, so that was a unique place for me to be in with that video\ taping today.

Mikaela's not in my classroom. So I was trying to develop a relationship\ with her in playing the peekaboo game so that she felt comfortable. And she seeme\ d to feel very at ease there. The smile came very easily for her, so I felt l\ ike I could move a little bit closer and could go a little bit further in that. But \ I really wanted her to be the lead of how that activity went, because it was her learnin\ g that was happening.

I'm learning a whole lot at the same time when I'm watching children learning\ . I'm learning how to do that. And some days, it's more successful than other \ days.

Some days I click along with the kids and other days I'll go home and th\ ink, got to do that differently tomorrow. So child-centered learning requires that t\ he adult be learning at the same time.

Well, I watched Mikaela since she entered our program. I've watched her \ and I know a little bit about her needs and the fact that she's developing a l\ ittle bit slower than maybe a typically developing child. I've just seen little te\ ensy bits of interactions with a physical therapist, a speech therapist, and talked a\ little bit to her teachers about what her goals are. But whenever I've sat down to int\ eract with M ikaela, I get that big smile. That goes back to developing that relation\ ship.

So I feel like that she's very open to me, and that she felt comfortable\ .

1 So today, I really wanted her to feel comfortable in our room and to hav\ e fun, and to experience the toys and the objects that we have in our classroom tha\ t she may not have in her room. So when I first started working with her, I ju\ st wanted to make sure that relationship was still there. So we played the peekabo\ o game because she had this scarf and she had those little bean bags. And so we\ were just playing that trying to develop that relationship.

And as I saw, she was really enjoying that. And then, these other toys a\ re just there around us. I thought, well, peekaboo is kind of like object perman\ ence. A m I still here when you put that scarf up? Yep. And she could see through \ the scarf and I could tell she could see through the scarf. So I thought, well, le\ t's put that scarf, or this scarf I have over these objects here on the floor. And he\ r attention just naturally was drawn to that, which I didn't know was going to happen b\ ut it was nice to see that she visually let this go and went to the visual fie\ ld here on the floor. So I thought, OK, I'm going to pull it away. And I get that s\ ame smile.

Oh, those things are still there. So we just played with that a little bit.

And I tried to encourage her to even move a little bit to get over there\ to where the objects were, or to put her own scarf on there. And that was a littl\ e bit more difficult for her, I think, for whatever reason physically at that point\ in time, where she wasn't quite so interested. But I tried to encourage her to, even at\ one time, crawl over and get a block that we had covered up. And she kind of scoot\ ed a little bit. So I tried to get her up on her stomach to see if I could ge\ t some of that gross motor activity of crawling, which I know that she's ready for but \ not yet doing. And that was minimally successful. And mostly because I don't kno\ w exactly what her physical therapist is saying about her strength in her arms and her legs, and how much support she needed for that.

But then we went right-- well, she went. And I think that's an important part of child-centered learning, too, is that you're willing to follow the child\ . And you don't always have this idea in mind about where things are going to go. She just\ naturally turned and the mirror was there. And she started padding at th\ e mirror and playing in the mirror. So I thought, well, this is the same sort of \ thing. I can peek around the mirror, and I can disappear. And she could look back and forth.

So we just played there with the mirror and with some of the other kids \ that were coming in and out there, too.

And I'd seen her pull up in my room and I knew that was a big step for h\ er. So I thought, I wonder if she can pull on the chair. So I just kind of set th\ at up there for her as a little bit of a challenge. And I wanted to see how she would do\ . I was real surprised-- that chair isn't real sturdy-- that she was able to do that.

And then, when the other child came along and sat down there too, she wa\ sn't intimidated by that other child. She felt very comfortable. That's not a\ child she knows, but she was able to allow that child to be that close. And I thou\ ght it was just a cool relationship between adults, relationships between children,\ and the © 2013 Laureate Education, Inc.

2 learning that was going on-- her gross motor learning, her language learning, just those different pieces. It felt like it just all fit together.

So we spend a lot of our planning time talking about what we've noticed particular children doing. We might say, I've noticed that he's really i\ nterested in trains or she's really interested in taking care of the babies. And I do\ n't mean to be real gender-based there, but I do kind of see those sorts of things. We reflect on what we've seen children showing us. What their interests are, what t\ heir skills are, that sort of thing.

And then we, in our planning time, also will talk a lot about how is our\ daily routine going. That seems to be a rough part of the day when we're coming in from the playground and the children are hot was a discussion Cris and I\ just had recently. That's a hard time of the day where we're coming in, we're was\ hing hands, and we're getting ready for snack.

And Chris, in her wisdom said, I think they're too hot to sit down to eat. So we said, well, why don't we come in and we'll just go over to the carpet an\ d we'll try singing some songs. So we've been doing that. So we have to continually \ reflect on our schedule, on the activities, on what the children are showing us. And we try at each of our planning times, as much as possible, to also reflect \ on what's going well. And to take a few moments to say, that's going well, or that\ 's not going well. But I think we tend to go real quickly to the things that ar\ en't going very well. So we try, between the two of us, to encourage a few moments \ of just enjoying the things that are successful in our classroom.

I think one of the things that maybe is most observable and most differe\ nt in our classroom is the pacing. And again, because reflection takes some time a\ nd being with children takes time. So we can't come in with this set plan o\ f we're going to do this and this and this, and move through this prescribed les\ son, or whatever, in a quick sort of way. We have to come in with we think this \ might work, let's watch and see.

And often with children, we'll notice they come in tired, or they come i\ n hungry, or they come in a little bit more tentative that day, or more full of energ\ y, so that Chris and I have to very much say, what are you thinking? Shall we chang\ e something around here and be very flexible in terms of our plans for eac\ h day, looking at what the children are showing us that they need that particul\ ar day that we might not have been aware of. Or even maybe, if they've had a little bump and they're feeling hurt, that that may need to change then what we're d\ oing for the day. But I think the pacing is probably the thing that is most diffe\ rent. It's really a very slow paced sort of thing.

3 roll. And you're ready to move. And now you have to slow back down and f\ ollow the child's lead. So that timing is really crucially important.

Today with Demetrius, he's new in my classroom. I know a little bit abou\ t him, but I didn't want to push him into doing certain things. So I kind of set so\ me stuff up, and then I really purposefully just sat back to see, is he going to be interested at all in this kitchen kind of activity? Or does he really want to get back\ to the cars, which is where he had started originally? So I purposely kind of set it \ up a little bit, and then wanted to watch to see how he was d oing.

And that isn't always very easy for me. Sometimes I come in and I'm read\ y to play. And I want to play. And just to allow the child to say how they wa\ nt to play.

Sometimes it's really important that I don't always get to be the boss, \ or the queen, or whatever in terms of play.

Yesterday we had made some play-dough. And it was just [INAUDIBLE] and I\ at the end of the day. We were the only ones left, and we were working with\ play- dough. And she was doing her stuff with play-dough and I found I just ki\ nd of had to pull the reins back, because I wanted to create something pretty cool\ with play-dough that I knew I could do. But I also knew that if I did that, it mi\ ght kind of stifle her a little bit.

Because I've see children say, make me a ball. Make a snake. And she knows that I can do that better than she can do that. So I don't want to show \ off my skills just because I've having fun. I kind of wanted her to see what she can d\ o. And so I often will purposely try to just do exactly-- poking at the play-dough, exactly what the child's doing, so that I allow them to be the leader in that ac\ tivity.

Well, I always see a big difference in children when we're going from th\ e classroom to outdoors. It's sort of like you open up that door and thing\ s change.

Kids that were kind of quiet in the classroom-- well, maybe become a little more boisterous. Children that were kind of really starting to push the limit\ s in the classroom may calm down outside. So I always see a dramatic difference w\ hen I bring children outside. It's like you're taking them into a different wo\ rld. And you are.

And I always like to just kind of step back, again, and kind of watch an\ d see.

Who's going to run to the slide? Who's going to run to the water sprinkl\ ers?

Who's going to sit down? And who's going to get on the bike? And notice \ where they're going, and then see where I might be most helpful in supporting \ a child.

And often, I guess, in the classroom and outside, I kind of look for, wh\ ere do I need to be in terms of supporting a relationship with another child? Children don't naturally share things very easily at this age, so they may need a littl\ e support in that. So that's probably where my mind first goes, is how to support the\ ir relationships in that social-emotional kind of stage.

4 We use a couple of different assessment types, and probably observation and\ reflection are right up there at the top as we've mentioned in so many o\ ther parts.

But we use developmental milestones that we'll check with the child. Par\ ticularly as we've worked with children over a number of years, we kind of just ge\ t a sense, OK, they're about ready to start rolling over now. And then, tomo\ rrow- - yeah, they're rolling over. But if you don't, you're saying, oh, they're\ about ready to do that and you don't notice that happening, then that's maybe when w\ e'll start really paying a little closer attention and assessing. So we're always l\ ooking for developmental assessments.

During developmental assessments, we're also assessing whether the child\ is still interested in his project. They may have showed us yesterday that \ they're interested in bugs. And I bring some bug books out today, or I get the m\ agnifying glasses out and they're not interested in bugs anymore. They're ready to\ move on to something else. Or they are still interested in bugs and they're even more excited about it. So we have to continually assess their interest.

And then we have to do some assessing of how the day's going, just for t\ he whole class as a whole. And assessing how our schedule is going. Are we \ meeting the children's needs? Are we pushing them too far before we're a\ ble to give them a meal? So there's lots of assessing that goes on-- assessing of their developmental skills, assessing of their interest in the projects that w\ e're doing.

Assessing, are we meeting their needs?

And sometimes we have to call in specialists to say, OK, we think there \ might be something going on here with this child. She's not answering questions i\ n a way that I normally would expect. So sometimes we have to call somebody else\ in to say, will you watch? Would you observe and see what's happening here?

I think the benefits for the children are that it really values the chil\ d for who they are and not who the teacher thinks they may become, or what the parent w\ ants them to be. But it puts a value on, right now, where the child is right \ at this point in time. They don't have to be b ecoming something, but they are who they are right at that point in time.

And I think it's really important for there to be an equality in that re\ lationship. And sometimes I think people don't really see that when they're working with\ babies.

They see the adult as the knowing person and the baby as the child who n\ eeds care. But in so many ways, those babies know what they need and they kno\ w what they want. So I think as much as possible, I try and make sure that\ I'm valuing that child for who they are right now and not who they're becoming. And I think that's a wonderful gift to give children. And maybe one that they \ won't get throughout their life on a continual basis, but if they can get started \ that way and get that gift at any point in their life, that that's an empowering kind of thing for a child to know that they were valued for who they were at that point in t\ ime.

5 And I think that then helps them in their interactions with other childr\ en and other people. If they've been treated that way, that gives them the basis then to treat others that way. And I really feel like this could be the beginning of w\ hat makes for a brand new world. If you start these kinds of quality relationships\ in a child's life early on-- you start it here and you start it there and they go out from that, I think it has great potential for our world. And wonderful opportunities \ for that child to have had that experience.

Hopefully then, others will watch that happen. Other teachers in the cla\ ssroom.

Hopefully their parents begin to pick up on those sorts of ways to interact with children and to really notice what the child is saying, what the child i\ s wanting, and valuing that. I think it's great potential for that child.

LISA LEGNER: The curriculum we use is built around what we've learned. And we know about the child, what we've learned. And we know about their development and what we think will be coming next. So we try to encourag\ e growth and development in those ways.

I think a good example of child-centered approach would be, let's say, name writing. And we saw today some children who needed to solve the problem \ of whose turn it was at the computer. So we ended up getting a clipboard an\ d the first child I was working with had barely started to recognize his name.\ And no interest whatsoever in fine motor, which is fine. So he spelled his name for \ me- - for the most part-- and I wrote it.

The next child, who was the same age but at a little bit different devel\ opment, is emerging in that same skill. So he not only spelled his name, but he wrote some of the letters independently and some I helped him with.

Then the third little girl that we saw come up is ready for kindergarten\ . And she is totally ready for kindergarten. And she just took the pencil and wrote h\ er name herself. So while it was the exact same activity, the exact same situati\ on, the goals were all very different. The children were different. How they man\ aged it was different. And how I dealt with it was different.

And the first step of the process is always to watch. And sometimes that's a struggle for me because I like to talk and I like to jump in and do. But\ I have to force myself to sit back and really watch. Watch what that child is doin\ g that day at that time. Then I can take that information and compare it to s ome developmental milestones that I know they may be approaching or may not \ be approaching and pull out materials that may facilitate activities or lea\ rning that would bring that child up a little to the next level.

6 teaching them, we want to, again, provide materials, provide opportuniti\ es, the environment, the people around them, to help them stretch just a little bit further.

The children have success, and then it continues from there. It's a circ\ ular type of process. You won't see cut-out type things or commercial things. You will see class books that we make, the children make, and they're out for them to continue to read and review. You'll see photo albums. You'll see what lo\ oks like a real mess oftentimes. And it is a mess, but it's a great mes because it'\ s learning in progress.

Well, we hadn't really planned on doing water play, but the temperature today, the environment outside, was very, very warm. So out came the water, out\ came that type of wet, cool activity, play, spray bottles.

The sand in the sandbox has been getting drier and drier as we've had th\ is heat wave. And the children, over the last week, have discovered that if you \ dig down deep, it's wet. But if you want to pour it, you use the stuff on top tha\ t's dry.

One of the children today brought water from the water table and poured \ it in the sand. And they kind of couldn't figure out why the top was wet. And one little boy started to mix it and knead it together so that it was all the same. It \ must have annoyed him in some way. But he was really enjoying that whole aspect, t\ hat sensory aspect. That for him, I thought was very interesting. Because later he was at the water table, another child had been filling a bucket and dump\ ing it in the sand and scooping sand into that same bucket, then bringing it back \ to the water table. And there was sand in the bottom of the water table. And his perception of it was that it did not belong there.

However, he was very interested that it was on the bottom and continued \ to rub- - I think it was a little jar, a cup across the bottom. And I noticed, I p\ ointed out to him that it made a noise. Did he notice that? And he continued it, and g\ ot very quiet and listened. And continued with this.

What I thought was just a nice conversation. Yeah, there was some learni\ ng that occurred. I was floored when we went back to the classroom because this \ little boy went directly to our construction area where we have blocks and hard h\ ats and things like that, and got the cement mixer toy out, went to the bask\ et of books that contain books about trucks and building and trains, and what \ have you that is also in that center, pulled out the book about a cement mixer and said, read this to me.

And when I got to the page where it said that they make sand and water i\ n the cement mixer, he just looked at me. And I knew right at that moment he h\ ad put it all together.

7 Now he knows, in his mind, how to make cement. And we talked a little bit mo\ re about how the sand changed when it was wet. It was slippery. And did it \ fall through his fingers? And he just really grasped. And that's kind of an a\ dvanced scientific principle. And so now he understands.

Our director is very interested in increasing children's time outdoors a\ nd providing a natural environment in which to grow and learn. So we do hav\ e gardens that the students, the children, and the college students, and t\ he teachers have worked together to create.

Well, one of the things that the children decided they wanted to plant w\ ere tomatoes. And so the teacher, at that time, went and purchased some cher\ ry tomato plants. They planted them. They watered them all summer and no w they're starting to ripen.

Well, many of the children don't really care for tomatoes, but they're w\ illing to give it a try. So they'll taste it. And they've learned very quickly tha\ t red tomatoes taste a whole lot better than green tomatoes, which is, a gain-- you can look at that on so many different levels. And the children do because they're at\ different levels.

We're blessed enough here to have mixed age grouping. I appreciate that \ now.

When I was a younger teacher, that thought horrified me of having three, four and five -year-olds all together. And how am I going to meet everybody's needs?

But I was thinking of a more traditional teacher type of position for my\ self.

And now, I don't see myself as the great and powerful Oz that is expelli\ ng my knowledge to the children, but I'm an explorer with them. And I'm a faci\ litator for them to explore and learn different things for themselves. And share wit\ h each other, as well as myself and their families.

Child-emergent curriculum has benefits more than I could ever share with you.\ Primarily, it stimulates brain development and encourages development in\ all of the areas of development-- fine motor, gross motor, language, social-emotional skills, cognitive skills of course. But it allows the child the freedom \ to develop those skills and to grow at their pace, at their will, and when they're \ ready.

If I was going to teach one thing to everybody that day, now I realize i\ t could not happen because everybody's going to come at it from a different way. Not\ only just their development, but their family background. Their physical part of\ them.

I had a little girl yesterday who seemed very clingy. When the mother pi\ cked up, she told me they had been in a car accident and spent many hours at the \ emergency room. I knew there was something wrong, but I didn't know what\ it was until I spoke with the parents.

8 In order to support a child-emergent curriculum, we need information about the child, about the family, from the child and from the family about early \ development, ab out family makeup. Are there siblings in the home? If there are, are they older? Are they younger? A child that has a teenage sibling is \ going to come in with a very different perspective than a child who has an infant\ sibling.

And the family makeup will be different as well. So kind of that whole background, as well as, are there any family stressors?

And these could be wonderful things, like grandma visiting or vacation. \ And they could be very distressing things, like a car accident or a trip to the h\ ospital. So it's important to gather that information as much as we can. It gives us a cl\ ue on maybe wh at to present, but how to present it and to predict how a child may be receiving it or viewing the type of experience that we're offering them.\ We assess the preschool-age children by using a portfolio assessment. We\ gather a lot of work samples. We record anecdotal notes, observations, as well as photographs of the children as they are learning and exploring. We pu\ t all that together in a portfolio that we can use along with our-- we also use the Illinois State Learning Standards for Preschool. So we'll take that portfolio and see where is that child falling on those types of things. What's their stren\ gth? What is it that they prefer? And we share that with parents. And it's kind of ni\ ce then, they get to keep it too. So we have that, our portfolio assessment.

We also use just a very short, little checklist for each child. And thos\ e are the formal assessments, as well as screenings, of course, and health histori\ es. But the assessment process isn't just those things, it goes on continuously.\ Just like the p lanning, we have to observe, then we assess, what are we seeing? Then we\ say, what are we going to do? Where are they going? And then, provide th\ e materials or activities, or whatever influence we want to give the child\ , and then come back to it. Did it work? Did it not work? Were we totally off the m\ ark? Were we right on top of it? And if so, is this something we want to continue \ with? Is it going to grow into a project? Is more than one person interested in this\ ? And that's how it develops.

So I think oftentimes, assessment is seen as a separate thing. But it's \ really all part of-- assessment is part of planning and planning is part of the assessment.

They reflect each other. And I think if they don't, maybe you're not get\ ting as fruitful of a response as you would hope.

I think, what's been the greatest challenge for me over the years? And t\ hat would be in communication of what we're doing. It's like trying to explain a r\ ainbow. It's difficult to explain, but it's easy to see.

CRISTEN SUSONG: When I'm planning for my classroom, I am looking towards\ a child-centered curriculum in everything I do.

9 I view the children as an integral part of what I'm teaching. And what t\ heir needs are and what their learning styles are determine what I'm going to plan \ and where I'm going to go with what we teach. And that's so important to all\ owing the child to be a part of their own education and their own learning. They b\ ecome invested in it. And instead of just being a vessel that the teacher's po\ uring information in, I really see myself as a facilitator helping the student to find the path that they need to take for their own success.

The benefits are numerous. The children become more engaged in what they\ 're learning. They're interested in what they're learning because they get to decide what they're going to learn. So they really can just dive into that subj\ ect matter and really find that path that they're going to be successful.

It also promotes social and emotional learning. When children are workin\ g in groups and discussing their problems and their difficulties with each ot\ her, they're not just learning academics. Of course they are, but they're also learni\ ng to interact with each other and how to have that interpersonal relationship\ s with their classmates as well.

And also, I think another benefit, is children really become more attune\ with what their needs are. They start to realize where they need more help or wher\ e they need a little bit more clarification. And as the year progresses, childr\ en are more confident to say, I really need more help learning how to multiply. I'm still not \ getting it. And they really start to take the pulse of where they are.

I think it's really important for the children to be an integral part in\ setting up the classroom environment. I want it to be a place where they know where everything is. They are in charge of putting things where they need to g\ o, and they've decided the most logical place for them.

If you can set up places in the classroom for students who have particul\ ar learning needs, that they know that that's a safe place for them to go a\ nd read.

The way the classroom is set up in an inviting way, not in just rows of \ desks where children are sitting being filled with information, but a way that\ a cooperative learning environment can take place. So even the simple placement of desks in a circle or even not using desks, using the floor, the class\ room becomes everything. It's a very tactile place where children need to be \ able to touch and feel and grab and use instruments, and know exactly where to go to get that ruler or exactly where to go to get the papers that they need, \ instead of the teacher being the one passing the materials and facilitating that.

If the students are invested in the way the classroom is set up, they al\ ways know where they can go to find the book they need or where the encyclopedias \ are because they've made that decision of where those book should be.

10 The activity that we saw today in the classroom with my students, I thin\ k really demonstrates that the classroom environment is extremely important to how the child learns. From simply setting the desks in the conference room style\ where the students were sitting in a circle, not at little rows of desks and I\ was not standing above them, I was sitting with them as a part of the group, as \ part of the learning, is really important. As well as having access to the rest of t\ he classroom for the students to explore and find objects and really decide what they\ would like to explore and measure.

The activity that we worked with today in the classroom, and almost all \ of the activities that I help facilitate in my classroom, work for children at \ all varying ability levels. I may have a student who is a struggling reader in the s\ ame classroom with a student who is a soaring reader and who is devouring bo\ oks.

But I find when you are letting the student be the leader and guide them\ selves through the activity, the student who needs that extra help and maybe a \ slower pace is going to feel more comfortable and not pressured to keep up with the rest of the class because they know that everybody in the class is going to b\ e working at a different level. No one's expected to be on the same page at the sa\ me time every single day.

And if you set that environment up, the student will also feel more comf\ ortable and it won't be such a stigma if they are struggling. And I also find th\ at the students who are a little bit ahead love to help out and love to be help\ ers and partners with those students. So they're not only learning from the teacher, they're learning from themselves. And they're also having peer teaching \ taking place, which is an excellent way to learn. When another friend is tellin\ g you something, it might even be better than the teacher telling you that som\ ething is true. So that's very important.

And there's always modifications you can make if an activity seems too d\ ifficult that we're doing. There are always ways to modify it.

In the activity today, there were some students having some difficulties\ with spelling words, or understanding how to spell computer table. And just s\ imply saying, do your best guess or draw a picture of what you see. You don't \ have to write the word down that you're measuring, just draw a picture of it to \ remind yourself of what you measured. Just little simple adjustments like that can help children at all different levels of learning.

I think that there's a misconception that child-centered learning means \ that the teacher is just allowing the children to learn whatever they want withou\ t any regard to what the rest of the world is learning or what other classroom\ s are learning. And that's certainly not the case.

11 individual standard that I've picked out and isolating that for a studen\ t to learn. I intentionally plan and let the students plan things that I know will hit\ those standards. And I can gauge whether they need more help or less help. If they're reaching those standards or if they need to go beyond those standards if\ they're working very quickly. So child-centered learning doesn't mean that you'r\ e throwing the standards out the window. It means you're trying to incorpo\ rate several standards-- you're learning reading, and math. You're learning math and your reading. You're learning science when you are doing your language a\ rts.

So if you try to infuse all of the standards rather than isolate them, I\ think that you'll find that students, they're learning without even realizing that they're learning things. They're reaching those benchmarks without realizing tha\ t they're reaching them. They aren't pounding them over the head with them saying,\ you will learn this one thing and only this one thing. Because people don't learn that way. We all learn at different rates and not all on the same day.

For example, in the lesson that we saw today about measurement and estimating, we were reaching several math standards. The students were u\ sing a ruler. They were using the inches side of the ruler, as well as explorin\ g some of the centimeter side of the ruler-- for those who were ready for that. Some students weren't ready to explore the centimeter side of the ruler.

We were learning about estimation, which is another math standard, learning how to give guesses and estimate and why that's important. The students \ were exploring the classroom. They were using a chart and writing down the information and learning the structure of a chart. And how to fill out that chart, which is an extremely important skill to be able to read the headings an\ d understand what you're supposed to put in each box. So we were covering \ all sorts of standards.

Assessment is a really important part. As we all know, parents and teachers want to know if the children are learning, if they're reaching goals. But in \ child-centered learning, it's really important for the child to be a part of that asses\ sment. So I do a lot of self-assessment. As you saw in the lesson today, if children felt that they were strong with their measuring skills, they could tell me if they were\ . And there were some that still needed more help, which is also the reason why we d\ id another lesson today because students had suggested that they maybe need\ ed a littl e bit more practice with measurement. So really being able to gauge a student as part of the assessment is very important. And a student asses\ sing whether they're ready to move on is very important.

But assessment took place all day today as I observed the students. I can tell right there if they are using the ruler properly. Are they using the cor\ rect side of the ruler? So the teacher being engaged and watching and being watchful \ of the student, that's an assessment in itself.

12 At some point, there may be a formal assessment where a student brings u\ p something for me to observe them measuring. And that's all I'm going to \ need from them for this lesson.

For other lessons and other subjects, the assessments could be different\ .

Portfolios are a very important part of child-centered learning. And chi\ ldren being able to put pieces or work into that portfolio that they feel best repre\ sent their progress or an assignment they feel they really worked hard on, being ab\ le to choose that themselves is very empowering for a student.

And when they show that portfolio to their parent, they can point that o\ ut and say, I put that in there because I really felt I did an excellent job on that\ report on Mount Vesuvius, or whatever we're learning. And so a portfolio assessmen\ t's very important.

Of course parents want to know if their children are performing as well \ as everyone else. And so we also, in my classroom, my students are given standardized tests. And they're always well above their grade level and \ where they need to be. So that gives me that sense of I'm doing something right here.

But assessment happens every day and every minute that we're teaching. I\ t doesn't just happen on a piece of paper for a written exam.

What I feel is unique about my classroom is that the students feel like \ a family.

Because we have meetings and we make decisions together, I think the stu\ dents are open to doing new and fun activities that I may have an idea, or if \ another student has an idea for something they'd like to explore. The students r\ eally are respectful of each other in that way because we've set it up that way fr\ om the beginning. It's a very democratic process in the classroom.

I find my classroom is usually on the floor or laying on a beanbag and not necessarily a traditional walk in the classroom and all the students are\ sitting quietly at a desk working on a worksheet. That may be different than a l\ ot of teachers may teach, but I feel that in a child-centered learning environ\ ment, sometimes that doesn't work for every child.

And if a child needs to do their math work on the floor, then that's jus\ t fine with me, if that's where they feel more comfortable and if that's what's goin\ g to make them be successful. And if they have to be out in the hall by themselves because they just can't concentrate, then that's OK too. So I think being flexib\ le is a really important part of a child-centered classroom, being comfortable, and hav\ ing an environment of mutual respect. And not being afraid for the classroom to be noisy. And having fun and gregarious. And being quiet is not always an i\ ndication of learning.

13 Well, I think that teachers are rewarded all the time with their student\ s. But I think particularly, in a child-centered environment, I think you get to hear m\ ore and see more closely the little hurrahs that the students are giving themselves.\ If a student has a light bulb moment, they're more inclined to share it \ with you.

And I've had students come in struggling to read and struggling to keep up with peers. And they come into a classroom where a teacher is telling them th\ ey get to choose what they'd like to read for the day. And they don't have to r\ ead what everyone else is reading. The look in their eyes is, wow, I really can c\ hoos e anything I want? And pretty soon, by the middle of the year, their readi\ ng is right where it needs to be. It's only because they were the ones that got to c\ hoose what interested them. And so watching those students who didn't crack a \ book open sitting in a beanbag chair in the middle of the room in their free \ time reading a book, that's probably one of the biggest rewards a teacher can get.