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5 Steps for Building a Student Centered Classroom

A student centered classroom allows you to create an environment where the support and achievement is high and the class practically runs itself. Think it sounds too good to be true? It’s not! And I want YOU to experience the amazing, beautiful way your classroom should be designed – and that’s centered around your students! You all will benefit greatly from this set-up AND you’ll never want to go back. So if you want your students to be strong independent learners while you are stress free and happy, let’s get into how to set this classroom up! 

building a student centered classroom blog post

Step One: Organize Your Room To Foster Independence 

First things first, set up your classroom in a student friendly way so that THEY are in charge of their learning. One main goal of your student centered classroom is that it *almost* runs itself so that YOU have time to facilitate and support your learners. They are the ones that need to be exploring, learning, practicing, and growing INDEPENDENTLY! It is the student’s needs that should be at the forefront when organizing the classroom. It is important to have a well organized space where students can navigate easily, for books, supplies, centers, etc. If you want to delve even further into the classroom set up portion of building a student centered classroom, I can help support you every single step of the way. Learn more HERE! Remember, functionality first, and THEN spruce it up with all the cutest Target goodies! It may seem scary to turn your classroom over to twenty-five plus children, I know! However watching them truly know how to operate the class, while learning in ways that work best for them, is anything but scary, it’s magical!

Classroom Setup labeling bins with student numbers Calm Down Spot

classroom organization tips guided group organization

Step Two: Create a Climate of Kindness and Support 

Building a positive, and supportive classroom climate helps ALL students thrive and grow. Lead with love and focus on relationships before content. I believe this is definitely a number one priority as an educator. Get to know your learners and as a class, begin to build a positive, kind, and healthy classroom community. This takes time, energy, and work. However, taking the time to do this at the beginning of the year will make for a classroom that works well together and helps lift each other up throughout the entire year. There are a number of ways to help build your community such as, engaging in team building activities, making a habit of hosting morning meetings and connection circles, and teaching various social and emotional skills. Start from day one and continue every day to ensure a strong, positive, and thriving classroom community.  

Classroom Community Ideas Classroom Community Ideas tips for building a classroom community

Rock, Paper, Scissors Championship Cup Stacking Challenge Social Emotional Learning

5 steps to building a student centered classroom

Step Three: Go Slow to Go Fast 

This means to go slow in the beginning and take ALL the time to teach ALL the things to your learners. Take TIME to establish routines and procedures- and by time I mean SIX WEEKS. That may seem like SO much but trust me, you’ll be thanking yourself later! I talk heavily about this in my Building a Student Centered Course and it really is the secret sauce to having your classroom *almost* run itself. If you take the time with students to build those rules, routines, and procedures, this will help your students hit the ground running when it comes to instruction. How? Because they know what is expected of them. Thinking through things like carpet time procedures, hallway procedures, and bathroom procedures, are just a few but very important things to think about. You can also check out this blog post HERE to learn more specifics about teaching routines and procedures to students. Let’s be intentional and make a plan with the Back to School Teaching Timeline checklist!

beginning of the year teaching timeline checklist freebie

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Making Good Choices Activity social emotional learning Kindness Activity

the benefits of a classroom promise teaching routines and procedures

Step Four: Implement a Workshop Model

A workshop model helps meet the needs of ALL students. It is an amazing combination of hands-on learning activities and direct instruction. It embodies differentiation and student choice and children stay engaged and learning. There are many different ways to implement a workshop model, but it generally consists of direct instruction in the form of a mini lesson, followed up with ample time for practice in a student centered setting. The workshop is ended with a ‘debriefing’ that includes a recap and reflection on student learning. It is no secret that students thrive when they are able to make choices. It is also no secret that teachers have to differentiate because each student comes with their own needs. This workshop model allows for both of these to happen simultaneously. 

Another great reason to implement this model is because it supports a deeper understanding of concepts. The purpose of the mini lesson is to bridge learning from previous lessons, discuss learning targets, and the skills that are being taught. The beautiful thing about a guided workshop is that it is FLEXIBLE. You can set it up however you like that works for you and your students. Think of your workshop as a literal “shop” of “work” where students can explore and engage in activities that are aligned to the skill being taught. You, as the facilitator, will set up activities for students to engage independently, while you can observe and step in to guide or help as needed. It is a GAMECHANGER for student achievement.  

Make a Ten Strategy

Peer Editing Primary Writing Checklists

Step Five: Have Fun!

 Don’t ever underestimate the power of being silly and making the most of your time with students. Get creative in your engagement strategies, allow students to freely be them and make them feel comfortable bringing their own creativeness to the table. Make learning an overall marvelous time! Teaching is full of many challenges, lessons, and yes even tears…so make the most of it and have FUN with your students. You will only have this group of students one time so make the best of it! Be silly, laugh, and enjoy your year. 

sight word activity  

Are you feeling completely overwhelmed and not sure where to start as a first year teacher? Have you been teaching a while but still always manage to feel stressed at the beginning of the year? I strongly encourage you to join the Building a Student Centered Classroom course that will have you totally planned for your first six weeks of school with everything thought through. Get in the course and you’ll also have access to the Beginning of the Year Teacher Survival Guide at a discounted rate as well as some other amazing bonuses including a supportive teacher community. The course goes into extensive detail on how to successfully set up your classroom for the entire year. You’ll learn how to successfully set up your classroom in a way that flows and stays organized, strategies for building a positive classroom community, and all kinds of information on classroom management and instruction! The course will have you SET and help take some of the stress and pressure off.

I really hope you enjoyed learning 5 steps for building a student centered classroom! Don’t forget to subscribe to my email list! Not only will you get the most up to date tips, tricks, and classroom projects… and of course more fun FREEBIES including the Back to School Teaching Timeline FREEBIE! You will also have exclusive access to tons of digital how-to videos! If you would like to learn about this and other things happening in my classroom follow me  @sweetnsauerfirsties on Instagram.

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A fun place to be apart of the educational journey. Full of all things teaching! The good, the bad, and even the ugly. Join my experiences and subscribe to my email list to get the most up to date tips and tricks.

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It’s time for a G*I*V*E*A*W*A*Y! 🥳 All week It’s time for a G*I*V*E*A*W*A*Y! 🥳

All week I’ve been sharing about how to totally rock your first week of school with tons of ideas and tips. 

Now it’s time to celebrate and help kickstart your year by giving away one of these mega kits!

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This is one of my absolute favorite back to school activities that I hand out at our meet the teacher event.

It’s a super simple easy activity to get to know your students even better. Students put three things that represent them in the bag and bring it back to school during the first week of school.

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Save these classroom set up tips! After spending Save these classroom set up tips!

After spending a LOT of time setting up classrooms…. I’ve learned a few tricks along the way. Here are a few of my favorites! 🤩

🌟 Hot glue is a great way to attach laminated sheets to concrete, brick, and other types of walls. 

🌟 Line up all your pages to be hung up and count until you find the middle. Start hanging from the middle and work your way outside to make sure it’s even.

🌟 Use matte spray on laminated sheets to greatly reduce the glare from lights. 

🌟 Line up letters and gently tape them onto bulletin boards or the wall to get them lined up exactly the way you want before gluing or stapling. 

🌟 Velcro dots are a life saver for things like your calendar and daily schedule.

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Learn more fun first week activities now! 🥳
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Lindsay Sauer

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It’s time for a G*I*V*E*A*W*A*Y! 🥳All week I’ve been sharing about how to totally rock your first week of school with tons of ideas and tips. Now it’s time to celebrate and help kickstart your year by giving away one of these mega kits!With this kit, you will have your ENTIRE first week of school planned for you. We’re talking detailed lesson plans, anchor chart headers, daily classroom slides, editable procedure posters, engaging activities, and of course tons of team building!Entering is EASY! 1️⃣ Make sure you’re following me2️⃣ Tell us your favorite part of this kit 3️⃣ Tag some friends who would love to win too!🌟 For BONUS entries…. Share this post to your stories and don’t forget to tag me! I’ll choose one lucky winner Monday morning! Good luck! 🤩••••#elementaryteacher #teaching #classroom #teachingideas #classroomideas #education #handsonlearning #teachertribe #teacher #teachers#teacherlife #teacherproblems #firstgrade #firstgradeteacher #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #teachersofig #iteach #tptfreebie #tptsale #igconnect4edu #firstyearteacher #teacherspayteachers #weareteachers #teacherinspiration #teachershare #classroommanagement #backtoschool #classroomcommunity #makelearningfun ... See MoreSee Less

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Lindsay Sauer

1 day ago

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Let’s have some fun! If you had to choose one, which would be your IDEAL classroom?! This is a hard choice for me but if I had to pick only one I would choose classroom 4!!Which would you choose? Let us know below! ⬇️Image credit @educationtothecore ••••#elementaryteacher #teaching #classroom #teachingideas #classroomideas #education #handsonlearning #teachertribe #teacher #teachers#teacherlife #teacherproblems #firstgrade #firstgradeteacher #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #teachersofig #iteach #iteachfirst #iteachtoo #igconnect4edu #tftpickme #teacherspayteachers #weareteachers #teacherweekend #primaryteacher #teachershare #backtoschool #teacherquotes #teacherfun ... See MoreSee Less

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Lindsay Sauer

2 days ago

Lindsay Sauer
It’s time for #tptfreebie Friday! 🥳This is one of my absolute favorite back to school activities that I hand out at our meet the teacher event.It’s a super simple easy activity to get to know your students even better. Students put three things that represent them in the bag and bring it back to school during the first week of school.They bring the most THOUGHTFUL things in. I have definitely shed some tears at the sweet stuff they bring in. 😭With this EXCLUSIVE freebie, you will have everything you need for this great community building activity. Grab yours now! Happy Friday! 🎉{🔗 on profile}••••#elementaryteacher #teaching #classroom #teachingideas #classroomideas #education #handsonlearning #teachertribe #teacher #teachers#teacherlife #teacherproblems #firstgrade #firstgradeteacher #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #teachersofig #iteach #iteachfirst #iteachtoo #igconnect4edu #ilovemystudents #teacherspayteachers #weareteachers #classroomcommunity #teacherinspiration #backtoschool #meettheteacher #backtoschoolnight ... See MoreSee Less

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Lindsay Sauer

3 days ago

Lindsay Sauer
Help students get to know their space with a scavenger hunt!This is one of my favorite first week activities because not only does it help students but it is also a great way to get them up and moving around for those much needed movement breaks! Learn more fun first week activities now! 🥳{🔗 on profile}••••#elementaryteacher #teaching #classroom #teachingideas #classroomideas #education #handsonlearning #teachertribe #teacher #teachers#teacherlife #teacherproblems #firstgrade #firstgradeteacher #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #teachersofig #iteach #iteachfirst #iteachtoo #igconnect4edu #teacherinspiration #teacherspayteachers #weareteachers #makelearningfun #primaryteacher #clasroomcommunity #backtoschool #classroommanagement #firstweekofschool ... See MoreSee Less

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Lindsay Sauer

3 days ago

Lindsay Sauer
Let’s talk about back to school stress for a minute. This is the time of year that is so exciting and of course so stressful. The back to school nightmares began, the to-do list starts to fill up, and of course the work emails start back up. Which of these has you the most stressed right now?It’s A LOT. But don’t worry… I CAN HELP!Drop a comment with something that’s stressing you out the most and I’ll help by sending you some of my favorite tips and tricks for the beginning of the year. ❤️••••#elementaryteacher #teaching #classroom #teachingideas #classroomideas #education #handsonlearning #teachertribe #teacher #teachers#teacherlife #teacherproblems #firstgrade #firstgradeteacher #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #teachersofig #iteach #iteachfirst #iteachtoo #igconnect4edu #teacherspayteachers #weareteachers #teacherquotes #backtoschool #firstyearteacher #classroommanagement #classroomcommunity #firstweekofschool #firstyearteachers ... See MoreSee Less

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  • What do you envision when you think of your writing classroom setup? Writers workshop for 1st grade is a great way for all students to work on the writing process, no matter what their age is or developmental skills are. Today, I will talk about how to get started with writers workshops for your elementary classroom. I include ideas for writing workshop organization, a list of read aloud books for kids that are great to use for teaching about the writing process, and other writing resources.
  • Do your 2nd graders find it difficult to work with partners? Today, I will give you some of my classroom tips and tricks for partnering students and ideas for utilizing partner activities in the classroom. A great way to pair up students for working as partners is with partner cards. I also include a link to my activity pack for partner cards in the classroom that include sentence starters. Also, check out my classroom poster for perfect pairs that is great for the beginning of the school year.
  • Are you looking for some faBOOlous Halloween activities? Activities that will be engaging during October? I have planned some wonderful Halloween themed activities for my students. I have included Halloween science experiments, Halloween reading activities, Halloween writing activities, and math lessons. Find Halloween books for kids, a reading comprehension activity using the book Crankenstein, and a STEM activity.
  • Fall in the classroom is right around the corner and you are probably looking for seasonal classroom activities. Check out this blog post for 5 fun and engaging fall activities for kids. Some of my fall activities that you can read about here include sensory bins with acorns, handwriting activities with leaves, and a writing activity that you can use as a fall bulletin board in your 1st grade classroom. Learn about all of these fall activities for kids elementary today.
  • Are you using math workshop for 1st grade? Today, I talk about why you should use math workshop, or what is also known as guided math in the classroom. Math workshop model combines hands-on learning activities with direct instruction so that your elementary students can increase their math skills. In this blog post, you will see some of the math resources I use, including some engaging math center activities and math rotation slides to help guide students during their work time.
  • Are you looking for fall literacy activities that you can use during fall centers? Today, I am sharing some of my favorite fall activities for kids including sight word task cards, upper and lowercase sensory bins and a beginning sound activity. I also share a digraphs activity and a fun fall rhyming words activity. These fall activities are great for literacy centers, morning work, or early finishers.
  • Does your elementary classroom have a centers setup that helps facilitate independent learning with small group learning? This blog post gives you everything you need on how to set up centers in a classroom that will help your 1st graders be successful. See my list on how you can start preparing your classroom for successful centers like anchor charts, practice centers for literacy and math, and more. You can even check out my ideas for center organization and my center rotation display here.
  • Fall in the classroom is right around the corner and you are probably looking for seasonal classroom activities. Check out this blog post for 5 fun and engaging fall activities for kids. Some of my fall activities that you can read about here include sensory bins with acorns, handwriting activities with leaves, and a writing activity that you can use as a fall bulletin board in your 1st grade classroom. Learn about all of these fall activities for kids elementary today.
  • Parent Teacher Conferences can be extremely stressful but it doesn’t have to be! It’s so important to be organized and know everything you want to discuss during the conference. Today, I am sharing my top teaching tips for parent teacher conferences that will help build those parent teacher relationships. Do you want to know more ways for a successful parent-teacher conference? Find all of my parent teacher conference ideas now!

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