Practice.
Well, it probably wouldn't astound anyone to know that I haven't actually given a whole lot of thought to the "learning environment" of my classroom, either first year or second year -- well, not in those specific terms, at least. Since day one I have been trying, desperately, to keep my head above water in a brand new career with one hundred and fifty odd kids asking all the questions and eight administrators demanding all the paperwork. From understanding my curriculum's lesson plans to scheduling, department meetings, PD, grading and trying to fit in tutoring sessions with my students, I haven't really put a lot of thought into questions like, "What kind of learning environment should I go for this year?" I spent much more time making my classroom look cute, even though the florescent lights eventually ruin everything (see right).
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Fortunately, however, it is of my opinion that the learning environment in my classroom is probably a much more natural and fluid concept than I might imagine, and I believe that natural changes I have made throughout my two years have probably helped my learning environment on their own more than I think. To me, it's not so much what you plan to do for your students but rather what you wind up actually doing with them day to day that helps them to succeed, whether planned or not.
My classroom's learning environment, therefore, is simply made up of the resources I offer to my students, whether that's emotional support or educational guidance, that hopefully lead to a positive, uplifting, and student-centered classroom environment. I have taken great time, although sometimes not intentionally, to make sure that my classroom is welcoming and accessible to all of my students (see left: use of Remind app to increase my availability to my students and parents). It is very important to me that all of my students know that I am on their side one hundred percent of the time. Sometimes, however, in order to do this, I have had to hand out "tough love" and provide structure to their education and behavior that my students aren't immediately pleased with, but I can tell that it is, nevertheless, effective. One example of this is that I've stepped up my game with consequence tracking from year one to year two (see right), and the students are none too pleased.
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On the other hand, though, I had a student that had been doing very well in my class, then suddenly started to miss assignments and not come to school (or at least not to my class). I tried talking to her, making due dates flexible, and offering after school assistance to pull her grade up, but she was resistant and verbally short with me when I offered help. Another one of her teachers created an assignment for her students to write a thank you note to a teacher. The teacher sent me the following email from this same student:
Sometimes, I don't think that I do enough to provide a positive, uplifting learning environment for my students, and I know sometimes I fail particular students for various reasons. But that email helped to remind me that I am creating a positive learning environment for my students -- at least some, and at least some of the time. My goal is to become more consistent with this and to make sure that all my students receive the same benefits from my class, but this, I hope, will come more with time. It takes a while to learn the needs and learning styles of over one hundred and fifty students, especially when I have students coming and going from our school and from/to my classroom almost every week. I think the longer I teach, the better I will be able to understand how to reach each student and I can change accordingly. Some, like the student above, seem at first to not want to benefit from the learning environment I have created. But, like her, perhaps they just need some time to realize that I am actually trying to help them (i.e. sometimes a poster board project for an assessment equals way better than an essay) (i.e. x2: sometimes you need to employ a creepy Elf on the Shelf for help -- see right).
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Lil Freddie observing his domain.
And doing creepy things. |
The big resources I would use to help create a more positive learning environment are hard to come by, however. Sure, it would be nice to have more access to technology and books to read, but what I could really use to help enhance my classroom's learning environment and my practice is more patience, more open-mindedness, and more understanding from me of or to my students. I realize that I haven't been doing this long, and more and better changes are sure to come, but the students have already radically changed the way I think about learning. I have been characteristically resistant to changing my original notions about teaching, but the kids have a way of making you have to change to keep up. And when all else fails, at least the meme game is strong...
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