Core principles of the Collaborative Classroom:


  • We must actively create and support an inclusive, caring, and safe learning community. We have learned through years of experience and careful reading of research that in order for students to be successful, they need to feel a “sense of connectedness” to school. They need to develop positive relationships with peers and teachers. By feeling safe, connected, and supported, students can then take the risks they need to take in order to grow and thrive. Additionally, teachers and other school staff need to work in the same sort of environment—one that makes them feel safe and supported.
  • We must integrate social and emotional learning into academic instruction. Powerful teaching means incorporating authentic ways for students to collaborate so that they may grow ideas, deepen learning, and engage in intelligent discourse. Doing this requires that students develop the social skills that they need to interact with others in ways that foster meaningful learning. By integrating social development into core academic instruction, teachers ensure that social development does not get marginalized and pushed out of the school day. Instead it becomes integral to student learning and success.
  • Lessons must build on and support students' intrinsic motivation. Teachers can present great lessons and content, but in the end, the student decides what gets learned. This simple idea—that the learner is in charge of the learning—forms the centerpiece for the lessons and learning situations that students experience. We believe that classrooms need to be organized so that students are motivated to engage in the learning, with each other, and in the greater learning community.
  • Learning situations should center on students’ thinking and action. We want students to be doing most of the talking, thinking, and action in our classrooms. We believe that learning experiences need to be constructed so that most of the classroom time is spent with students doing engaging and active work such as reading, writing, talking, drawing, and making things—not on teacher talk and presentation.

OneClay U Professional Development Offices

Kathleen Moeller,
Director, Professional Development, School Improvement, and Assessment

800 Center Street
Green Cove Springs, FL 32043 

kathleen.moeller@myoneclay.net 
904-284-6547 office
Kelly Theissen,
Administrative Support Assistant
904-284-6578 ext. 5900578
kkthiessen@oneclay.net



OneClay U Main Campus
800 Center St
Green Cove Springs FL  32043
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