Training Independent Learners

 As teachers, one of the most important jobs we have, aside for teaching the content is teaching our students how to learn. We're grooming our students into problem solvers and independent thinkers; we definitely have our work cut out for us!

How many times have you had a student hold his/her pencil up in the air, give you a blank stare and proclaim, "it's broken!"? Yep...far too often! I always respond with, "now that's a problem! How should we fix it!?" They usually figure it out ;)

My goal for this year was to provide my students with the tools that they needed to be able to solve problems independently and that's when I dreamed this up:

A Learner's Toolbox! Cute huh?!

I folded the construction paper to resemble a toolbox and then added a handle because that's always fun. Then I stuck a little magnet tape on the inside so it would be able to fasten and filled it with little "tools" for my students.

They keep the toolboxes inside of their desks and then pull them out when they need help writing a letter, spelling a color word, writing a CVC word.

I also made some mini offices to keep in our writing station. The "tools" are exactly the same, they're just not cut apart. I laminated the mini offices so that they would survive in the classroom;)

What else do you hear a lot as a primary teacher??

We do stress "sound it out" but sometimes that only gets you so far. So I was SO excited when my bloggy friend Tara created this awesome unit! She included several words that my kiddos use often, but it's also editable which is aaaawesome. During writing centers, my students scan the pictures for the word they need, take the card to their seat or center and then put the card back on the chart. Done and done!

Another tool we use during writing is our self-check bookmarks.

This bookmark has a checklist of important conventions we need to remember when we're writing!

 

I laminated each bookmark so that it would stay in tact and so my students can check each box with a dry erase marker. I think that is their favorite part ;)

 {this writing sample was from when I was teaching first grade!}

We also have super cute journals for each month! There are so many awesome journals out in blog land! My favorites are from Rachelle of What the Teacher Wants and Alisha of The Bubbly Blonde.

 Finally, my saving grace is the "I'm Done" jar!

Inside the jar are sticks with activities that they kids can do when they finish their work.

This is really eliminated a lot of the "I'm done, I'm done!" going on in the classroom ;)

You can read more about how I use the jar {here}.

I also really love Nicole's visuals for what to do when you're through. You can check them out by clicking on the image below!

How do you teach your students to be independent? Leave a comment below!

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