Trying to develop a student-centered classroom, like many fads in education, seems to come and go as frequently as the seasons. What’s here today is gone tomorrow, only to return again next year. But pushing the onus of doing the hard work onto our students is an effort that should be maintained even as other initiatives fizzle out. When done well, student-centered classrooms help kids better understand concepts, become more invested in the learning process and develop both independence and the ability to work in teams.

As a 7th-grade science teacher, I try weekly — if not daily — to push my students to complete labs. The only way my students can do this is if I instill in them the idea that it is their classroom, not mine, and what they put into the class determines what they get out of it.

In particular, I have pushed my kids to work at stations so that they spend more time doing hands-on/minds-on work and less time listening to my voice.

Here are a few tips to help implement stations effectively (yes, even with middle-schoolers):

1. Have a backup plan. I find that my kids love the opportunity to get out of their seats, move around the room and use their hands to learn. But what happens if materials go missing and the lab can’t be completed? Have extra supplies of what you need readily available. What if a student’s behavior is poor and you doubt he or she has the current mindset to complete the lab? Have a text available on the same topic for the student to read and respond to instead. I promise you, if a student acts out and has to read a text as peers complete a lab, that student will get with the program next time.

2. Front-load expectations. How do you expect students to work together at a station? What does safety look like when handling beakers or other delicate materials? What does cleanup involve? Eliminate any ambiguity by clearing up common misconceptions before kids get to work. With this in mind, give students the rubric for the assignment at the beginning. Not only will this help kids produce better work, but it is another means of holding them accountable when they go off and work on their own.

3. Write clear station procedures. This applies to science and non-science teachers alike. When you say “Go!” and have kids head to their stations, make sure crystal-clear directions are available to students. When kids ask you about what they are supposed to do, guide them toward the written directions. This will free you up to work with a small group (or one-on-one with a student), and it will encourage students to be more self-sufficient. A requirement to follow written procedures is also a great way to infuse reading in non-ELA classes. Have a colleague read over your station directions in advance to see if they make sense.

4. Label materials. Procedures that reference materials unknown to students won’t be very effective. If you want kids to use a microscope, it may be helpful to label its parts.

5. Let go. I’ll admit it — as a teacher, I can be a bit of a control freak. In fact, I would argue that most teachers are. By definition, student-centered classrooms are not teacher-centered classrooms. And yes, this means kids may make more mistakes at first. This is fine. The rewards at the end are worth the struggles in the beginning. As an African proverb states, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

6. Be patient and reflective. You will not necessarily see amazing results the first time you do station work. But if you remain reflective and constantly work to make gradual improvements, you will see the fruits of your labor. It’s an iterative process. Remember where you started!

Teaching is a difficult job. This is not breaking news. But sometimes we make it harder on ourselves than it should be. It’s our students who should be doing the mental heavy lifting, not us. It’s their education after all. Our job is to help facilitate their learning, not to do it for them.