Student-centered learning environment

A student-centered learning environment, in the context of powerful teaching, stresses new learning based on prior social/cultural experiences and previous academic learning (constructivist learning). The following DLC resources support this specific element of powerful teaching.

DLC Library

Grolier: Lands and Peoples: Culture Cross Sign in for access to this resource: Click on Culture Cross. Compare the land, people, economy, history, or facts and figures of any two continents, countries, or states/provinces (particularly those where students have recently come from).

Grolier: World Newspapers Sign in for access to this resource: Immigrant students can catch up on the news from their home countries. All students can access local perspectives on world and national events.

Grolier: Advanced Search: Lexile Level Sign in for access to this resource: Articles from Grolier's encyclopedias can be searched by Lexile reading level.

netTrekker d.i.: Famous Person Search Sign in for access to this resource: Students can locate notable individuals from their own cultural backgrounds.

netTrekker d.i.: Reference Tools: Portals of the World Sign in for access to this resource: Click on Portals to the World under Maps, Geography & Almanacs. Portals to the World is an extensive collection of links, compiled by the Library of Congress, to in-depth information on every country in the world.

SIRS: Lexile Level Sign in for access to this resource: The articles displayed on the results page of a SIRS search can be sorted by Lexile reading score (low to high or high to low), enabling teachers to efficiently direct students to appropriate resources (in terms of their reading abilities).

Teaching Resources

ExploreLearning Gizmos: The Exploration Guides provided for each Gizmo simulation can be edited by teachers to fit the needs of individual learners or groups of learners. Copy and paste the content of any Gizmo into Word documents to create customized student assessments.

Bridges Learning Style Inventory: Use online surveys to analyze students' unique learning styles based on their personal preferences. Student reports help you meet students' instructional and environmental needs.

Mathcasts: Assign specific Mathcasts to students, dependent upon their individual WASL performance. Mathcasts are categorized according to WASL math strands.

ClassTools: Before beginning a course unit, students complete a diagnostic activity that identifies skills and concepts that they have mastered and those they have not. After completing each unit's diagnostic activity, individualized study plans are automatically generated for each student.

Thinkfinity: Search: Enter the keyword "cultural relevance" or "constructivist," after choosing the subject area and/or grade levels you're interested in, to access lesson plans addressing cultural relevance and constructivist strategies.

INTIME: Find a Video: Click on either the Democracy Element link or the Multicultural Education Element link. INTIME provides an extensive collection of videos of teachers incorporating technology into their lessons.

DLC Tutors

Every student at a DLC-member school can work directly with a DLC Tutor; each tutor is a motivated, successful university student with expertise in specific subject areas. Our tutors relate to students as peers, making the process fun and productive.