Learning Environment Plan

My educational philosophy has been developing over the past two years as I’ve observed and assisted in a variety of elementary classrooms. As I come to the end of all of these experiences, I realize just how much my own philosophy has grown, becoming a solid foundation for me to build my own classroom on someday in the near future. My personal philosophy stands firm on the idea that all aspects of my classroom will be based upon creating a community of learners. I want my students to understand that when they enter my room, they are being welcomed into a safe community where all students work together and show a mutual respect for one another. Here individuality is embraced, students’ perspectives are broadened, hands-on learning is fostered, and student interests are recognized and nurtured. There are many key factors that contribute to implementing successful classroom management that will eventually produce that enriching community of learners; these include establishing rapport with my students, increasing motivation, creating consistent daily routines, teacher clarity, student engagement, positive feedback for students, and finally the use of rewards and penalties.

Building a positive rapport with my students is the first step toward building a safe classroom community. One way to begin developing this relationship is by teaching students efficient self-management skills for their own behaviors. Holding students accountable for their actions gives them a certain amount of responsibility that makes them feel like they are a part of their community. Assigning jobs to each student is a way to show them that they play an equal role in our community, and because of this a mutual respect for myself and fellow peers will begin to grow. I could also incorporate “Say Anything” journals into my curriculum to earn the trust of my students while learning more about them. In these unassisted journal activities my students could write entries to me about feelings, thoughts, problems, or questions on topics they don’t feel comfortable speaking publicly about. I would stress the confidentiality of these entries, and respond by writing back to them in their journals. I see these journals as a huge benefit for building rapport with my students as it will allow me to get to know every child individually. Taking the time to read and respond to each one shows that I am interested in their thoughts, feelings, and everyday life. The students will also have an opportunity to read about my own interests that I choose to share with them so they can learn about me on a more personal level. Finally, I would also like to have a “lunch bunch” where I would have lunch with a small group of my students once a week or so. Receiving a personal invitation to eat with the teacher is an honor in the eyes of a child, and having this relaxed time with them would encourage a teacher-student relationship founded on trust and respect.

Almost all children benefit from structure in their learning environment. Structure allows students to feel comfortable in the classroom because they know specifically what is expected of them, and it alleviates the stress of anticipation or inconsistency in what might happen next at school. Again, structure instills in students that sense of personal responsibility so they can easily and efficiently self-manage their own behaviors. Routines provide that certain amount of structure needed to build a safe community. Class routines should be modeled and implemented from the first day of school and consistently carried out for the remainder of the year. Many of my routines will be organized on posters with legible print hung around the room where the students can easily view them. Some of these routines might include that day’s schedule with times; learning centers with students’ names on clothespins to represent which center the students are working at; “I’m done…now what?” poster outlining activities after completed seatwork; classroom rules (generated by the students); classroom consequences (created with help from the students); and student names next to their job of the week. I would like to have one plastic drawer for each subject stacked in the back of the room where students turn in homework first thing in the morning to its respective subject drawer. After students turn in homework, they should sit down at their desks and immediately begin copying the new homework assignments (written on the front board) for that day into their assignment planners. The students must have my initials in their planners by the end of the day. When I give my ‘special signal’ (which has not yet been determined and highly depends on what age group I teach), students will give the signal back, face forward and look ready to listen. These are just a few ideas for routines I think would be beneficial to learners in their classroom environment. When routines are used correctly, instructional time and student time on-task are both significantly increased and severe or distracting behavioral issues are less likely to occur.

Other important factors contributing to our safe classroom community are positive feedback, clarity and engagement. Positive feedback has an enormous effect on students and their attitudes towards academics. One of my greatest strengths as a growing teacher is knowing when and how to provide effective feedback to students. When students know they can excel and are made fully aware of exactly what they are doing correctly, they feel good about themselves. This places a positive spin on academics, and has a profound impact on the attitudes of students when learning. However it is important to remember that overusing positive feedback decreases its effectiveness, and often has the “please the teacher” affect. I will give specific positive feedback sparingly enough as to not overuse it so that my students know that their genuine efforts are not going unrecognized. Clarity is solely my responsibility as the teacher, and it will remain my constant teacher focus to always be clear when addressing my students. Anything from activity directions to behavioral expectations require clear modeling and a variety of examples. On-task behavior and student achievement are highly correlated with teacher clarity, and if a lesson was ever unsuccessful the first part to evaluate would be my clarity during instruction. Student engagement is another aspect of good management. When students are interested in what they are learning, there is essentially less time for acting-out behaviors and more time for academic gain. I plan on engaging my students by creating interesting, active lessons that are meaningful to their everyday lives. If students can make connections between themselves and what they are being taught, authentic learning is more likely to occur. I want my lessons to be cross-curricular so that in science we can draw and write, and in reading the students can act with Reader’s Theatre or have discussions with peers about a favorite book. In doing this, my goal is to foster student interests and weave them directly into each lesson so that they become engaged in what they learn. In the same ways as engagement, motivation keeps students challenged and wanting to know more. When the teacher is motivated about a certain topic, there is no doubt her students will become motivated learners themselves. I am a firm believer in humor in the classroom so that students can remain relaxed enough to become fully engulfed in the activities they are involved in. In the end, motivation and engagement are two of the single-most important steps to developing a passionate learner.

My management also includes using rewards and penalties, but in a limited fashion. Keeping in mind our growing classroom community, I would enhance the students’ self-management strategies by using a system that makes the students aware of their behaviors and how they affect the community as a whole.

Diverse Learners

Stereotypically, a diverse learner is someone who has outstanding needs different from the norm that may or may not require specific instructional accommodations. These students might include an English Language Learner, a student with severe ADHD, learners that are gifted and talented, Title I readers, or those with IEP’s due to behavior or learning disorders. As a future general and special educator, it is my personal goal to always see my students as whole individuals who are not defined by their differences. It is true that their differences are a part, but certainly not the whole to the people they are trying to become.

It is difficult to address diverse learners specifically when there is no real classroom situation because each individual learner requires something different from the next. But the most important tool I’ve learned to utilize in these situations is differentiated instruction. Creating, implementing, and accommodating instruction so that it best matches those students who fall far outside the normative lines is one of the most effective methods when they are fully integrated in the general education setting. For me, this may mean placing a special folder in the room that has ‘challenge work’ that students can do to earn extra credit once their assigned work is completed. This challenge work will not be limited to only TAG students, but at the same time will be available to them as supplemental instruction. For an LD math student I could simply reduce the number of problems she does, perhaps just the evens or odds. My ADHD student could work in his “private office”, where he stands folders up on his desk so that he doesn’t become distractible from extraneous stimuli. The BD student would benefit from a behavior contract or a behavior management plan, where specific behaviors are outlined for the student to work on. If that student has a good class period, he would most likely receive points, checks, starts, etc. on a chart that he keeps with him as a reminder. Differentiating instruction in these ways allows for the positive rapport between my students and I to continue growing, despite any instructional obstacles we may need to jump. All of these accommodations would depend on the individual student, and I would then tailor them to meet the child’s specific academic needs.

Aside from individualized instruction, I strongly feel that cooperative learning groups are one of the best routes to take to address both diverse learners and enhancing a classroom community. There are so many benefits to cooperative group learning: student to student interaction to build trust and community; positive interdependence, where students look to one another for assistance; individual accountability, which in turn affects the class as a whole; pro-social skills; and tolerance. Students within varying ability levels should be grouped together so they all have an opportunity to learn from and teach to their peers.

My ultimate dream as a future teacher is to eventually teach in a full immersion school based on both international and American curriculums. I have visited such schools numerous times, and am fully aware of the many cognitive, social, and academic benefits that a multicultural education has on young children. As a teacher I will welcome cultural diversity into my classroom with open arms, and consider each and every one as learning opportunities for myself and my students. Promoting global and multicultural awareness will highly impact our classroom community because it fosters unique perspectives and teaches an immeasurable amount of tolerance. In an ever-growing cultural society, students will be more successful in the world when they are completely aware of, and share a mutual respect for, the cultures that are surrounding them. I hope to entail many aspects of culture and language into all of my lessons, as well as feature students in “Star of the Week” or “Show and Tell” to teach us about their background. I want my students to understand that their culture is not the only way of life, and I want to instill in them a sense of pride about who they are and where they come from. I cannot emphasize enough how important I believe a multicultural education is for students today, and I am ready and willing to welcome such an education into my future classroom.

Violence Prevention

Violence to any degree in my classroom will not be tolerated. Since it is my goal to create a community where students can feel safe to learn, accepting any severity of violence would defeat my hard work toward achieving this goal. It is my responsibility to lay the groundwork for my students’ community, and in order for them to even begin growing as a class they need to feel safe in school, in the room, and especially around one another. One way to proactively prevent violence involves the whole class discussing and creating specific guidelines about violence and bullying in (and outside of) our classroom. After that, with my assistance the students and I will create specific consequences for violence and bullying that increase with severity of behavior, and ultimately end with higher authorities becoming involved (such as the principal). These rules and consequences should be established right at the beginning of the year and should remain consistent so that if a behavior ever did occur, the appropriate consequences would be carried out immediately.

Providing opportunities for my students to cooperatively work together often, similar to diverse learners, is a proactive method for violence prevention. As I previously mentioned, these groups allow students to work with everyone, not just their friends, in a positive and enriching environment that cultivate respectful relationships with peers. Programs such as Character Counts or bullying prevention programs that are school-wide are another strategy for preventing violence. With reminders and mini-lessons these programs teach students to respect one another in hopes that educating them about violence will decrease it. If serious situations ever occurred involving any of my students despite my attempts to educate them about prevention, I would definitely seek assistance from school counselors or the principal when necessary.

With my educational philosophy I hope to achieve a safe, community-based learning environment where my students’ interests and academics can flourish in a positive way. All of the elements of classroom management I have mentioned will undoubtedly shape the mold for that safe community, as well as help the days run smoothly for my students. Differentiating instruction, utilizing cooperative learning groups, and crafting multicultural aspects into my curriculum are all areas I will address that will contribute to creating a positive learning environment. I want to recognize my students as individuals and make them aware that they are strengthened because of their uniqueness. Humor will be a staple in my room, because a simple smile eases so many worries, and my students should feel care free of worries and excited to learn. Most of all, I want to instill in my students a love and passion for learning. I believe that all of this can be done inside the safe, welcoming environment of my classroom.