The Student-Centered Classroom: Early Elementary Edition

Presented by Marlene Tapia-Garcia, Bilingual Teacher, First Grade, Talcott Fine Arts and Museum Academy (IL); Melissa White, Kindergarten Teacher; and Jodie Hopkins, former Early Childhood Director, ECE Teacher, K-12 Instructional Coach, current Upper Elementary Teacher, Escola das Nacoes (Brazil)
Moderated by Toni Rose Deanon, Community Engagement Manager, The Modern Classrooms Project

Sponsored by The Modern Classrooms Project

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Creating a student-centered classroom is crucial for fostering a love of learning and promoting the development of essential skills in early elementary students. In this edWebinar, we explore practical strategies and approaches to establish an engaging, student-centered, and self-paced learning environment specifically tailored to early elementary grades.

Join us as we dive into the key principles and practices of the self-paced classroom for early elementary education. This recorded edWebinar is of interest to PreK-3 teachers, school and district leaders, and education technology leaders.

About the Presenters

Marlene Tapia-Garcia was born and raised in Mexico. Her mother is also an educator. Marlene graduated from National Louis University with a major in early childhood education and a bilingual endorsement. She has been fortunate to be exposed to multiple multicultural experiences. The opportunity to live abroad opened her eyes to different cultural practices of people from around the world. While living in Europe for three years, Marlene developed a love for languages that continues to this day. As she learned Portuguese and French, she enjoyed the opportunities to connect with locals who welcomed her in their communities. Marlene’s goal is to share her excitement for learning languages and desire to understand different cultures with her students. She enjoys spending time with her friends, watching foreign movies, and visiting her family in Mexico.

Teaching and working with kids has been a lifelong passion for Melissa White; however, she took the scenic route to make it her career. After careers in residential design and financial planning, she spent a month volunteering in a Russian orphanage where she decided it was finally time to pursue her master’s degree in education. She’s spent the past ten years teaching grades K, 1, 2, 3, and 6 in three states (with kindergarten and first grade being favorites). She is currently a kindergarten teacher—which is what she told her mom she was going to do when she was five years old. In her free time, she loves to travel and immerse herself in other cultures. She also enjoys volunteering, reading, making jewelry, photography, and doing jigsaw puzzles.

Jodie Hopkins (she/her) is a passionate educator who started her educational journey in the early childhood classroom, refusing to leave until her mentor explained that to help all students it was best to see the whole rainbow of a child’s educational journey. She reluctantly moved on to serve as an educator in elementary school, as an ECE Director, District ECE Supervisor, and Instructional Coach, and this year returned to the classroom with upper elementary students so that she can fully implement MCP in her own laboratory. When not learning more about education, you can find her reading voraciously, doing science in search of her perfect cup of coffee, attempting not to kill her plants, or crafting something fun but rarely purposeful. She has a BA in English with a focus on elementary education, a minor in early childhood education, and an MA in educational leadership.

About the Moderator

Toni Rose Deanon (she/they) is a former English and ESL educator with 10 years of experience teaching in Atlanta, Baltimore City, and D.C. They were also an instructional coach in Redmond and currently facilitate professional development for educators all over the world. They will forever identify as an educator and a lifetime learner. Toni Rose strives to be the educator that they never had growing up, so they focus on anti-bias, anti-racist work and want to create a brave space for everyone around them. As a queer Filipino, they understand just how important it is to be represented, be valued, and belong. They especially love being a thought partner for and celebrating educators.

Learn more about viewing the live presentation and the recording, earning your CE certificate, and using our new accessibility features.

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The Modern Classrooms Project empowers educators to implement a self-paced, mastery-based instructional model that leverages technology to foster human connection, authentic learning, and social-emotional growth.