#411 – Station Rotation

#411 — Station Rotation

AVID Open Access
13 min

Transcript

The following transcript was automatically generated from the podcast audio by generative artificial intelligence.  Because of the automated nature of the process, this transcript may include unintended transcription and mechanical errors.

Paul Beckermann 0:01 Welcome to Tech Talk for Teachers. I’m your host, Paul Beckermann.

Transition Music with Rena’s Children 0:05 Check it out. Check it out. Check it out. Check it out. What’s in the toolkit? Check it out.

Paul Beckermann 0:16 The topic of today’s episode is station rotation. Station rotation may be the most versatile blended learning model available to teachers. It can be implemented quite easily into elementary classrooms, where teachers already use station-based rotation models. When implemented at the secondary level, station rotation can transform how classrooms function, leading to a more student-empowered learning environment. It’s one of my favorite approaches.

So what is station rotation? Well, in station rotation, the teacher divides the class into smaller groups of students who rotate together through a series of learning stations. For instance, you might design one station to be an independent Online Learning Station where students work with content in a self-paced software program or learning management system. Another station might be a collaborative learning station where students complete learning activities with at least one other student.

These activities may include technology, or they may be completely offline. Perhaps the most common station in a blended learning rotation is a teacher station. While not required, this station is very impactful and allows the teacher to meet face-to-face with a small group of students while the other students are engaged in other stations. This setting allows for a more personalized and differentiated mini-lesson, as well as an opportunity to provide targeted remediation and enrichment. While this station is usually offline, it doesn’t have to be, and you may choose to bring in technology that enriches a learning activity.

If you decide not to use a teacher station, you can use your time to float around from group to group, supporting students as needed. Many teachers will begin this way until their students are comfortable working at stations without direct teacher guidance. Once the students are able to work on their own, the teacher might then transition to begin using a teacher station.

While this description includes three stations, the number of stations is flexible and can be adjusted to meet your classroom needs and time constraints. It’s up to you. It’s also important to point out that not all station work is blended learning. To be blended learning, at least one of the stations needs to include some type of online learning, and at least one station needs to be primarily offline or face-to-face. The number of online and offline stations is flexible and is based on the lesson and learning targets.

Groups are typically set up by the teacher and may be based on performance level, student interests, or other factors important to the learning outcomes. When teachers have support staff in the room and the main teacher is working at the teacher station, that second adult can be used to monitor and answer questions in the non-teacher groups.

As for the content within each station, that’s flexible depending on class needs. In many cases, the stations all focus on a single learning outcome. Other times, especially if station rotation is used regularly, each station may focus on a different learning target. However, since blended learning requires that both online and offline activity support a common learning objective, this approach would mean that if an online station supported an objective one day, the next day, students would continue working on that same objective in an offline station. Part of the beauty of station rotation is that it’s very flexible and gives you many ways to set it up to meet your students’ learning needs.

Next let’s take a look at the nuts and bolts of setting up and running a station rotation lesson. I’ll break it down into three main parts: identifying your objectives, designing the stations, and then implementation. Let’s count it. Let’s count it. Let’s count it down.

So the first step, as with any lesson, is to identify your learning objective or objectives. You’ll need to decide if you want all stations to support a single outcome, or if you want to address multiple outcomes with your stations. If you’re using station rotation for just one day, it’s probably best to focus on one or two related outcomes. Students reinforce that learning in both online and offline activities. If you’re using stations for multiple days, you can spread out the online/offline experiences over time.

The second step is to create the station activities. This is likely where you spend the bulk of your planning time. Let me walk you through how this planning stage might look. One of the first questions I’d address is, how will I group my students? Now this question has two parts: how many students will be in each group, and how will I decide which students will work together? Let me start with how many students I would want in each station.

This will be determined somewhat by how many students I have in my class and how much space I have in the classroom. If I have 30 students, for example, I might target six groups of five students. Any more than five or six students in a group starts to become distracting and less manageable. The second part of the question is probably even more important: who will be grouped together and why? Often this will be based on student need and proficiency. By having students with similar needs grouped together, you can better target those needs at the teacher station. Of course, if all students are roughly in the same place, you might consider more random grouping.

Based on my group sizes and learning target, I would then need to decide how many stations I need to create. If I was targeting all the stations toward a single outcome, three might be enough. Since I’ve decided to have six groups to keep group sizes smaller, in this case, I would probably choose to have two sets of stations. That means there are two stations for each stop on the rotation: two station ones, two stations number two, two stations number three, again, to keep the group sizes smaller.

The next important decision is to decide what learning activities will students engage in at each station. When making this decision, it’s important to consider best practices, just as you would with any lesson. What learning activities lend themselves best to the learning target you’ve set? Here’s some options that you might consider: teacher station. Typically, I’d recommend having this, especially once your students are comfortable navigating the rotations on their own. This is where you can work with a small number of students in a really responsive and personalized way. You can use this station for direct instruction, for addressing areas of concern, for extending students who have mastered a concept, or maybe for practicing a skill. The possibilities are nearly limitless.

New Learning Station, you might have a station where students learn new content. In this station, you might have students gain new information by reading, researching, or watching a video. You might also build in some sort of processing activity to help students process that new information. Now, if the new learning has to happen before students can complete other stations, you’ll need to front-end load this. Sometimes teachers will begin with a mini-lesson with the entire group before moving into stations where students process and practice. Other times, you might have all students begin with the Learning Station and then transition out to the other stations. You’ll need to decide what makes sense for your situation.

Paul Beckermann 7:14

Practice station is another option. In this case, the station is designed to help students review and practice content or skills that they’re learning. This could be an online drill and skill program. It could be a writing assignment, either online or offline. It could be game play or small group or partner quizzing activities. Consider how you typically have students reinforce new learning and build that into the station creation. One of my favorite station activities involve student creation. Have students use new learning to create something that applies to or demonstrates that new learning. This is a great place to integrate powerful online creation tools. As you create these stations, again, remember to offer both online and offline opportunities. Another effective approach is to make sure that some stations require collaboration while other stations are completed individually.

The goal is to mix it up and offer a variety of learning experiences that can appeal to a wide range of students. The next critical question I would ask myself is, How will I manage the groups? A key to answering this is to decide how I will provide clear directions. If students don’t know what to do at each station, I’ll have chaos and off-task learners. Typically, there are two main options for directions: print or audio/visual. Personally, I think having a short video explaining the station is the most effective. That way, students can press play or scan a QR code or click a link in their learning management system and hear me telling them what to do. The other option, especially if the task is simple or something the students are used to, is to have a sheet of print directions on the station table that students would read. And again, because they’re in a group, students can help each other understand the directions.

Another key element of managing stations is the transition from station to station. Typically, it’s helpful to have a timer projected on the front screen in the classroom so students know how much time is left and when they need to transition. It’s also important that students are clear about which station they will attend and in what order. Often teachers include this information on the screen in front of the room as well. The key is to be simple, clear, and predictable.

A final planning detail concerns feedback. How will I know how students are progressing at each station? The teacher station is easiest, because I’ll be there in person. But what about the other stations? Well, in some cases, such as the practice station, I might not need to collect feedback, because I’ll see the fruits of this practice when they come and visit me at the teacher station. In other cases, I might review a teacher dashboard for an online activity that was completed, or I might have students submit feedback in a Google form. You’ll have to think through how you want to get that feedback from each station and how important that feedback is to your ultimate goal.

Once the lesson is planned out, it’s time to implement it. Unless students have worked in stations before, it’s important to actually teach them how to be successful in station rotation. I found this to be true. Even at the high school level, you might begin your station rotation journey by explaining the routine and then actually practicing it. One way to do this is to have a station rotation Practice Lesson filled with quick, fun, get-to-know-you activities. Keep each station short, and then have students practice station rotation.

They’ll need to identify what group they’re in, what station they start at, how to access directions, how long they have to complete the activity, and where to rotate to next. It’s not necessarily difficult, but if students don’t know what to do, it won’t work. You know what they say, practice makes perfect. And again, even with older students, who you might assume can do this with very little guidance, practice can be beneficial.

Another way to teach students how to be successful in station rotation is to have the entire class practice the same small group activity at the same time. To do this, I might create six different groups in my classroom and have all six groups complete the same task at the same time. This allows me to explain it to everyone at once and then have them all try it at the same time in their small groups. Because everyone is doing the same thing, I can then debrief with the full class afterwards and clear up any confusion.

Once they’ve mastered one activity, I can introduce the next one and practice that until we’re ready for the full rotation. As that other saying goes, going slow can help you go fast later. So overall, station rotation can be a powerful and flexible learning model for the classroom. It takes a bit of work to set it up and get students comfortable with the routine, but once it’s running, it’s an approach that is blended, differentiated, personal, and helps students develop autonomy and take control of their learning. All things we want for our classroom.

To learn more about today’s topic and explore other free resources, visit avidopenaccess.org. Specifically, I encourage you to check out the article collection, “Explore Blended Learning Strategies”. And of course, be sure to join Rena, Winston, and me every Wednesday for our full-length podcast, Unpacking Education, where we’re joined by exceptional guests and explore education topics that are important to you. Thanks for listening.

Paul Beckermann 17:00 Take care and thanks for all you do. You make a difference.