Roots teacher, Mackenzie Wagner, discusses the "ladder of priorities" for monitoring and supporting students during independent learning time.

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Transcript: Mackenzie Wagner: every flex center has a monitor for that center, and they have pretty much a ladder of priorities. First and foremost, making sure that everybody's where they need to be, because our kids are doing everything based off technology; they get confused, they go to the wrong station. After that, they're circulating to make sure everybody's on task. And then third, they are actually checking in with scholars, making sure that they're engaging in the work the way they're supposed to be. In the writing center, that looks like checking in, looking at a scholar's work quickly to see if they have extra capitals in their sentences, for example. In the flex center, that might look like making sure a scholar is actively engaged with the game they're doing, and that they understand how to play it. Because, as I'm sure you'd understand, like, if a scholar doesn't understand what they are doing at that point in time, then that time becomes useless. So, it's pretty important not to make sure they're just like, in their spot, but that they understand what they're supposed to be doing in there, because the self-directed work time can be used so valuably. Or, it could fall apart if it's not being monitored appropriately. So, it's something we've been working on a lot, is making sure that we've got the right process there for making sure students are on-task.