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 * Module 1 - Building a Classroom: Creating an Effective Physical Environment**

Just as a home should meet the needs of it occupants and be a safe haven, an effective classroom must meet the needs of its students and be a space where all students feel welcome, accepted and valued. It should be a place where you know, support and cheer for each other. Successful teachers create a learning environment that inspires students to participate, take risks, and make academic progress. Turning a classroom into a supporting, engaging physical environment is much more that just hanging student work on the walls. To begin to create that positive environment you must:

This learning community is built on the foundation of meeting your students’ needs. A warm and welcoming environment is crucial for students to feel ownership of the classroom. However, the true feeling of ownership stems from active student involvement in many aspects of developing and maintaining the classroom. Encourage interaction with the environment and other students, again with structures and procedures in place. Make certain materials are accessible for student use. This not only provides for a more efficient, productive learning environment, but also sends an implicit message of trust and community ownership. It also helps build student capacity for leadership and independence. Student work needs to be displayed prominently on bulletin boards. Wall displays that represent current learning should be built over time together with students. This give learners the sense that what they do in school is important, that their efforts have meaning and they are valued. In effect, the room should become a celebration of the community’s efforts. You should inquire about school policies for displaying student work and if names or other student identification must be covered. Imagine a classroom that surrounds students in 360 degrees of learning. It should be visually engaging so work and bulletin boards in general need to be pleasing to the eye. Work that is neatly displayed and enhanced by decorative pictures and words not only increases the visual impact but can also remind students of the learning associated with the work. You’ll want your classroom to be visually pleasing as well. Be aware of design and aesthetics when decorating the walls. Use attractive posters, relevant quotations and colorful maps to make the classroom more appealing and provide interesting content for students to look at. Details as small as placing colorful construction paper behind student work can help change the physical setting from sterile to inviting. Bulletin boards should not only reflect student accomplishments but also should be employed as interactive learning tools. You can use graphic organizers rubrics, work problems, brainteasers or informative visuals of key concepts in order to support your students’ development. You should design the room to be as print-rich as possible. When planning and designing the physical arrangement of the classroom, you need to consider the safety of the students. Organize furniture, materials, and work spaced to support student learning and clearly define off-limit areas. There are a variety of elements you need to consider. You will also have to design the layout of the room so that traffic flows smoothly and students have an unobstructed view. You will want to see or approach students in different areas of the room. Think of your room as real estate with prime locations, visible and invisible spots. Make and use a seating chart that serves your teaching needs and student learning needs. Think strategically. Ultimately, your success will be a result of creating a physical environment that students own. Their contributions will drive its effectiveness and support their learning.
 * 1)   1. Make the room welcoming to your learners
 * 2)   2. Make it visually engaging, and
 * 3)   3. Provide a physical arrangement that is both safe and supportive of the learning process.
 * 1)   1. Students with different learning, physical and emotional needs
 * 2)   2. Space for different types of activities: whole group, small group, independent work, noisy or quiet
 * 3)   3. Storage of classroom materials and student access
 * 4)   4. Safe storage of personal teacher materials and student materials such as backpacks, jackets, skateboards etc.

** Module 2 ** **- Building Appreciation for Others: Promoting Fairness and Respect**

Everything you do and say as a teacher sends a message to your students about who you are, and what you believe is important, valuable and worth knowing. Your language, tone, what you say and how you say it, sends a message and creates a climate in your classroom. It is your privilege and responsibility to model and teach fairness, equity, and respect to your students. Be careful. Even though they might not show it, most students care deeply about what you think of them and can be easily hurt by language or tone that suggests you do not respect or think highly of them. Be especially careful with sarcasm or joking. Laughter is a wonderful part of a good classroom, but make sure it’s not at the expense of a student. Your example (and interference when necessary) play a critical part in teaching students to be accepting and comfortable with the differences that all students bring to the classroom. When you hear an insensitive comment, immediately make a clear, positive statement to the entire class about the importance of respecting others. (Your silence says it’s OK). Let your students know that disrespectful words or comments are never acceptable in your classroom. It is also important to be aware of your own experiences since they also impact what you think and do. Use this awareness to be sensitive to your students. One way you can facilitate students’ becoming more accepting of differences is to have early and ongoing discussions and activities about respecting others. In elementary and some middle school classrooms, in addition to discussions and specific activities, the use of songs, role-play, pictures and activities can be useful in explaining these concepts to students. Students need to see you model respectful interactions and they need to brainstorm/verbalize what respect looks like, sounds like and feels like for them. Your modeling and ease with differences will support the process of learning these skills. Your students will come to school having had some experiences in dealing with conflict through interactions with family and community. Some of their experiences will help them with conflicts in school and some will not. Part of your task in building an effective classroom community is to help your students develop cognitive and social skills, including how to deal with typical problems and conflicts when and as they arise. You can prevent conflict to some extent by having posted standards and procedures that you have taught, modeled and practiced. Even with the best planning, conflicts will arise in the classroom. Two things you can do are: 1) teach your students what to say when a conflict arises and 2) teach them how to handle conflict as a class in a class gathering/meeting. Establishing guidelines on how to handle conflict helps give students a sense of being part of a positive classroom environment. As a teacher, it is your responsibility to create a community where students feel comfortable with each other and ready to learn. Don’t underestimate the importance of building relationships with and among your students in order to promote fairness and respect in the classroom.

** Module 3 - Building Collaboration: Promoting Social Development and Group Responsibility **

When you think back to your own school experiences, you probably remember more about your social experiences and development than you do about particular content. The teachers who left a powerful impact on you probably taught you as much about life and how to be a responsible person as they taught you algebra or pioneers. In your classroom you are teaching much more than content. You are also teaching and modeling how to be a leader, how to interact and behave with people from all backgrounds, cultures and races. You are helping students learn how to share ideas and disagree respectfully, how to work together cooperatively, how to tolerate differences, and how to take risks. Through all of this, you want all students to feel valued and respected. You create this environment through a teacher-orchestrated program of cooperative skill-building and practice with opportunities for leadership and self-reflection. These lesions and experiences will not only help your students while in your classroom, but they will also serve students well for the rest of their lives. Developing Leadership in Students: There are many ways and reasons to develop student leadership. First, running a classroom is a lot of hard work and the more students can do for you the more it helps them and you. For example, students can help with class jobs such as setting up supplies for an activity, cleaning up, hole, punching, stapling, book distribution/collection, desk arranging, filing and much more, depending upon the age of the student. You might have rotating assigned jobs or use a reward system where students can earn extra credit points, free time, homework passes, etc. It’s amazing what students of any age will do for a compliment, reward, or to feel honestly valued and needed. Another reason to offer leadership opportunities is that students need to be able to practice, make mistakes, and learn how to be leaders. Good judgment comes from experience; experience comes from bad judgment. Students will often pleasantly surprise you when given the chance to lead for example, they might lead a jigsaw activity, model an activity, create and deliver a mini-lesson, be a peer role model, tutor a lower grade or a struggling student, be a class expert in spelling, cartooning, creative titles, or create a class bulletin board. Find out what students love and do well. Try brainstorming leadership possibilities with your students and, as always, think and start small. Take it a step at a time. Establishing Learning Groups: Just as you might feel excited, anxious or nervous in a new group or classroom, your students might experience those same feelings. Your students might be an established group and you might feel like a newcomer or outsider. In either case, students look to you and need you to set the tone for this learning environment. It is your job to make sure that all students feel safe, comfortable, and willing to take risks. Many students (especially English Language Development students, special education students, and/or extremely bright and or/shy students) will not participate at all in class until they are sure that they won’t be teased, belittled, or categorized as “stupid,” a “teacher’s pet,” or some other unwanted label. You must invest class time to break social tension, build class rapport/respect, and teach and model cooperative skills and appropriate group behavior. Do not assume that students know how you want them to behave; teach them the behavior you desire. Remember, assigning is not teaching. You cannot put students into groups and say, “cooperate.” You need to explicitly teach, model, and practice your standards for cooperative interaction. Again, think and start small and use established structures like Think-Pair-Share, small group projects/presentations/problem solving, Cooperative Triangles, Partner Drawings, Shared Writing, heterogeneous groups which are beneficial in many ways. First, students can tap into each other’s abilities and strengths. Second, this helps break down any social, cultural, gender or racial cliques. Finally, students are developing important social skills so they are better prepared to work with diverse groups in future school settings, the workplace or the community. As always, other teachers are your best resource. When you’re ready to try learning/cooperative groups, talk with and observe other teachers at your site, consult with your advisor, and get a handbook written by and for the teachers. There are many available. Helping Students Become Self-Directed Learners: Some students will come to you with incredible study habits, organizational skills and self-motivation (even in the primary grades), but many will not. In order to maximize instructional time and student achievement it is important to expect, insist upon and teach good study and learning habits. Do not assume that your students know how to be a good student. Talk with them about what good learners do; it’s not magic, luck, or even brains that determines successful learners but a combination of things that can be achieved through practice. There are many ways to promote and encourage self-directed learning. Consider having students assess their own strengths and challenges in your class/curriculum then write learning goals for themselves which they will monitor throughout the year. Use rubrics to have students self-assess or score for a variety of behaviors or skills and to set short or long term goals based on their assessment. Younger students may need to discuss class goals or assess themselves using icons. Student portfolios, student-led conferences and reflective writing are also powerful ways to put the responsibility for learning in the student’s lap. It is possible for students to create a best-work portfolio, write a reflective essay on what they have accomplished and learned that quarter, present their portfolio to their parents and set future goals. For high-risk students, weekly progress sheets might be the place to start. Whenever possible, give students choice in assignments or activities and turn over as much control as you can (or is appropriate) to them. You might start by having a choice of activities if they finish early with a class assignment. Make students responsible for checking assignments and grades using a progress sheet, record log, or some other tracking device. Let them know what they need to learn so they can identify what their next steps are. As you plan your year, keep the goal of developing student independence and responsibility in mind.

** Module 4 - Building Responsibility: Establishing and Maintaining Behavior Standards **

Student behavior impacts learning. One of the most important jobs you face as a teacher is to create and maintain a positive classroom environment for you and your students. It’s not easy; it takes time, consistent effort, and constant reworking. But it is key to creating a positive learning culture. First and foremost, you must believe that your students can behave and then expect them to behave. You might be part dill sergeant, part counselor, part cheerleader, part inspirational speaker, or part parent. But you must establish classroom standards and systems that enable and encourage your students to meet high expectations of behavior. It’s important to set the tone and establish rules of behavior right from the first day of school. You are building a learning community where you and students will feel secure, safe, and respected. When you create your classroom rules, here are some guidelines that will help: - Review the need for rules with your students - Include students in the process somehow - Provide a rationale and specific examples for each rule - State each rule in positive, clear language - Include consequences for both following and breaking the rules - Keep the number of rules to a minimum (no more than 5 or 6) Rules are general standards of conduct (e.g. Be respectful of others) because they have general application (unlike procedures which are particular to an activity). Because of their general nature, many students are not going to understand their application unless they are discussed and explained. In other words students need to know what a rules looks like in practice. The roles should be stated positively with the conduct you desire in the classroom, not with the negative statements of conduct you do not wish to see in the classroom (Be respectful to others instead of Don’t be mean to others). Once you have generated the rules and consequences, you must explicitly teach them and remember to review and reinforce them throughout this year. The best approach to behavior management is to be proactive and assertive. First, try to now your students and make a connection with each of them every day, even if it is just a smile, hello, handshake or high five. Students like to be recognized for who they are. Making time to say hello each day demonstrates a respect for them and conveys and interest; both things you want to foster. Then, know which behaviors can be ignored (i.e. they don’t interfere with learning or compromise the rules) and then ignore them. Remember to recognize and name good or appropriate behavior. “Thanks Julio for waiting patiently for me.” “Nicole, you are using good organization skills in planning this assignment.” “Antwon, you are showing good judgment by using this strategy here.” To be sure, there will be behaviors which cannot and should not be ignored. For example, if a student is off-task (talking to another student), your first response should be to ask, “What is the task?” If we assume positive intent on the part of the student, we might think s/he is asking for clarification or direction (task-related conversation). Be consistent! Remember, for better or worse, you are “training” your students to behave certain ways. Sometimes, when students are not following the rules or expectations, it is because the teacher has not enforced them consistently. Think back to college Psych 1, and the experiments on the intermittent reinforcement. (That’s where the mice pressed a lever for food. If the food appeared consistently, they only pressed the level when they were hungry. If the food appeared randomly, or inconsistently, they went berserk and pressed the lever over and over, like someone banging on a soda machine when the can fails to drop.) For example, if you want students to raise their hands to speak during a discussion, yet you often respond to students who call out, you are really teaching students to call out. So pay attention to your actions and responses and be firm, fair and consistent. It will pay off, especially in the spring! Know what action you are going to take with each type of behavior. Have a plan for dealing with violence, defiance, disrespect, talking out, interrupting, sleeping, etc. Be clear with students as to which consequences will apply before the need arises. If students know and understand the reasons for your actions before you take them, then they will feel that you are fair. When giving consequences, you do not want to jeopardize the long-term relationships you are building with your students. Therefore, don’t give any consequences you are unwilling or unable to enforce. Say what you mean and mean what you say! Make the consequences reasonable and related to the behavior. At times, you will simply want to talk to a student one-on-one about behavior out of the earshot of others. A phone call home to a student or parent can be very effective. At other times behavior will warrant a class discussion or it might involve having to teach skills or provide other perspectives in order for students to change behavior. You might have students in your class that come with a Behavior intervention Plan, which will require you to employ certain strategies as outlined in the Plan. These students are most often students with special needs, and you might have taken part in the development of that plan when you attended the individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting. It is important in these cases to understand the disability and how it relates to behavior. Talk with that student’s case manager (in most cases a special education teacher) for ideas and support in managing the student’s behavior. You might have students assess their own behaviors and set goals. Or, when students break a rule, have them fill out a simple worksheet, that asks them to explain the rule they broke, what they could have done differently, and what their consequences/next steps will be. Older students can fill it out. Younger students can talk through the form. Above all, behavior management depends on consistency, clarity and fairness. If your consequences are too complicated or too severe, you will lose consistency and therefore, authority. If your rules are unclear, you will have many more infractions. Finally, remember that students who are involved, engaged and feel a part of the classroom community are much less likely to act out during class.

** Module 5 - Building an Organized Community: Planning and Implementing Routines and Procedures **

Support student learning by carefully planning and implementing classroom procedures and routines. Procedures support instruction. Remember, “Think it through.” Picture what the lesson will look like and what students will be doing. Identify what essential procedures are needed to make this lesson work, and to keep students safe and engaged. For example, how do you want them to distribute materials, when and how will they show you and others their work, and what will clean up or closure look like? You want students to be informed about and practice classroom procedures and routines. We know through research that our brains seek patterns and we learn best when we are comfortable, know what to expect and when our basic needs are met. When students enter your room, they need to know what the routines are. For example, they need to understand exactly what you expect them to do when the period begins or how to turn in homework. Think about what your students need to do and establish/review procedures before they ask you (to use the bathroom, to go to the counselor, to make a phone call, to clear up a tardy, to go to the office, to sharpen a pencil, to use the computer, etc.) Especially critical times you want to prepare for are beginning the class, transitions during the class, and ending the class. You do not want your students to rush out when the bell rings. How will your class be dismissed? YOU determine how that will happen. Just because you’ve all agreed on the rules doesn’t mean that behavior doesn’t break down from time to time. What doesn’t work is for you to break down from time to time! Remember, you are in charge of and responsible for what happens in your classroom. To be effective, you must assert your authority with students in a consistent, fair and balanced way. You will need to help your students learn the classroom routines and procedures by modeling, teaching and practicing the procedures. Follow the procedure together with your students. Students should know what it looks like when procedures are and are not followed. Students should be able to restate in their own words or demonstrate their understanding of the procedure. After your students practice the procedure independently, discuss what made it work, and where students think changes or improvements should be made. In order to help your students internalize procedures and routines, you need to talk through those procedures with them. Students will then be able to do the procedures independently and to know why. Allowing student input provides for effective modification of procedures and routines. The more input students have, the more they will connect with the effective running of your classroom.

** Module 6 - Building Efficiency: Using Instructional Time Effectively **

Effective and productive transitions and transition activities help you and your students. They keep things moving smoothly and can give you time to do things like take roll or confer with an individual student. They can give students a feeling of security (“I know this routine; I can do this”), signal a change in curriculum, or give students the chance to preview or review a lesson or activity. Used well, transitions can significantly increase instructional time and reduce classroom disruptions, two highly desirable outcomes. If you waster time when transitioning from one part of a lesson or from one part of the school day to another (looking for materials, getting organized, or doing other unrelated instructional tasks), you are teaching your students to waste time as well. Keep your students on task through active involvement. Develop transition activities for regular transition times, e.g., coming into the classroom in the morning, from lunch or physical education. Practice transition routines with your students. Transitions are appropriate when change is taking place; you want to allow closure for one activity and preparation for the next activity. One way to teach transitions is to post what students should do when they complete one activity and transition to another activity. You promote self-directed learning when you post “Next Steps.” While keeping the routine of transition activities, make sure you provide a variety of activities so that students also enjoy a change of pace. Variety is the spice of life! Before you teach a lesson, think it through. How much time will this lesson require? What essential time blocks will students need? How will those time blocks fit into your school period or day? Day to day time blocks need to be consistent to establish a structure for learning. Students will know what to expect and/or how to plan their time in your class. Remember that effective use of instructional time requires more than just using up the minutes with instruction. Maximize the time your students have with you by providing content and activities that are appropriately challenging. Move beyond recall questions and incorporate critical thinking into your lessons. When students are sufficiently challenged, they will be more engaged and will make more effective use of their time in the classroom. Effective pacing of instructional time helps ensure that students are engaged. If you plan ahead by thinking through how long lessons will take, you are able to develop a stronger delivery of instruction. Always plan more than you think you will need that day. Utilizing a timer can also help keep you and students “on track.” However, stay flexible so you are able to react when a change occurs or when pacing changers are needed. For example, when you are checking for understanding and discover students are not understanding/comprehending what is being taught, it will be much easier for you to rethink your delivery when you have actually though about your plans in advance. You can’t be prepared for every eventuality, just like it’s good to have some extra cash on hand when the credit card doesn’t work, it’s good to have an idea of how to adjust a lesson that’s not working. Listen to students’ voices. Students will tell you when things aren’t working well for them. If they need more or less time, they’ll let you know. You can use a suggestion box, a poster with Post-Its, end of lesson reflections, informal assessments, or weekly learning journals to get student feedback. Their thoughts will help you plan instructional time to meet their needs.