Station teaching has so many benefits for teachers and students: small groups, built-in movement, both co-teachers teaching all students to name a few. A benefit that isn’t highlighted as often is the independent station!
“…but our students can’t work independently!!”
Can you relate? We hear this a lot, K-12, especially post-pandemic. Here’s the thing: students need the opportunity to practice working independently in order to grow their capacity and stamina for working on their own.
Teaching regularly in Station Teaching, with well-planned independent stations included, provides consistent and structured independent practice opportunities. Here are three things you need to create a successful independent station:
- Clear instructions and expectations: this includes a list of tasks, materials needed, location, and what to do if they get stuck. Free fillable instruction sheet here!
- Tasks that can truly be done independently: Nothing throws a wrench into the independent station more than students who aren’t sure what to do or how to do it. For students who struggle with grade-level work, they will need differentiated or modified work for the independent station.
- A growing bank of low-prep tasks: You don’t have to reinvent the wheel for each lesson! Students can have a packet, a basket of games, apps, or any number of routine tasks that they can access easily- and at their level!
Instructions and Expectations
Provide students with a visual list of tasks that need to be completed (see freebie above for an example!). This visual can be on their devices or as a hard copy, as long as students can access it easily throughout their time in the independent station. This visual should also include materials needed for each task.
Let students know if they’re expected to work completely on their own or if partnerships or groupwork is allowed. If they’ll be working with other students, set up a clear expectation around volume. Some teachers assign a station captain to help everyone stay on task and answer any questions that come up.
Tip: Include small icons next to instructions and expectations as visual cues.
Independent Tasks
We cannot stress enough the importance of assigning work for the independent station that you are sure all students are able to do. This may mean that students are looking at more image-heavy material instead of text-heavy material to accommodate struggling readers. This may mean reading selections are tiered using AI. This may mean students are reviewing foundational skills or vocabulary in your subject area from previous years. That’s ok! None of this will hurt their learning.
If it helps, you can remind yourself that they are primarily practicing the art of working independently and the content is secondary. Your investment in building this skill will pay off. Especially at assessment time!
Bank of Low or No-Prep Tasks
While you can absolutely create independent activities tailored to each lesson, this is not always practical or possible, and that’s more than ok! The independent station is a fabulous time to review and practice previously taught skills and concepts.
We’re big fans of creating routines around low or no-prep technology-based programs like iReady, Freckle, Quizlet, etc. This allows students to access individualized learning with a click.
If you prefer paper and pencil, we love to see monthly skill packets or unit packets that students can work on for up to a month! You can include content-specific crosswords, wordsearches, and other engaging activities!
Getting Started
If you’re still feeling a little overwhelmed about getting started with an independent station, we recommend that you try it in low-stakes moments. Introduce your expectations and then just dip your toes in! If you teach secondary, you might try adding a Quizlet for the independent station during a stations review for an upcoming test. Primary and elementary grades can do five-minute non-academic morning stations to welcome students back from the weekend.
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