Teacher Work Sample 9

Learning Environment

Having a positive environment in the classroom allows for students to feel like a valued member of the learning community. Maintaining a positive classroom environment allows students and teachers to work productively without distractions. The classroom environment includes the classroom arrangement, atmosphere, teaching methods, rules and consequences. Students should feel free to express their opinions and hold discussion in a safe physical and emotional environment. To ensure positive classroom management, behavioral expectations need to be developed for the classroom and for individual students, as well as consequences, and intrinsic and extrinsic reinforcements. By allowing the students and teacher to create the classroom rules together it ensures the students know and follow individual and classroom rules. Creating rules as a class effort it allows the students to understand the rules and consequences, having the students sign the rules as a contract ensures they know the correct way to perform and that they promise to abide by the rules. Creating rules as a class ensures the students clearly know the rules and if the rules are broken they can be refer back to the signed contract. Rules need to be reinforced daily to ensure the students understand the severity of consequences. When allowing the students to create rules as a class it allows students to feel safe while in the classroom and during discussions. While it is beneficial to allow the students to create classroom rules together, the teacher also needs to add additional rules seen fit or mandatory by the school. Creating classroom rules help maintain a safe and positive learning environment for the students. All the classroom rules created must be applied and reinforced to ensure classroom management. When creating classroom rules with the students I will ensure that specific rules are included: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Raise your hand before speaking Listen and follow directions Keep your hands and feet to yourself Do not leave your seat without permission Respect your classmates and your teacher

During the first week of school the students will continue to practice classroom rules and routines. For the first week of school routines will be modeled, followed by guided practice, and then individual practice by the students. For the first week the students will spend an extensive amount of time each day reviewing the rules and routines of daily classroom procedures. This will ensure the students are following the classroom rules and routines from the first day of school. Providing the students with an extensive amount of time and practice the students should not have to be reviewing the rules and routines again until January. After Christmas break the class will spend the first two days reviewing the classroom rules and daily routines again.

The classroom and individual rules are to be followed daily by the students. If a student fails to follow rules the teacher needs to refer to the hierarchy of consequences set for the classroom. Classroom rules will be enforced through consequences to students who do not follow rules. The consequences need a hierarchy for the students behavior. If a student chooses to break the rules they will be informed and fully aware of the consequences that can accrue from behavioral issues. In my classroom I plan to use a hierarchy of consequence to maintain classroom behavior. The students will be given one warning before time is taken off their recess. If a students choice to continue, their guardians will be given a call. If the students still choose to misbehave they will be sent to the principals office. 1st time a rule is broken: Warning 2nd time a rule is broken: 5 minutes off recess 3rd time a rule is broken: 10 minutes off recess 4th time a rule is broken: 15 minutes off recess 5th time a rule is broken: No recess 6th time a rule is broken: No recess and silent lunch 7th time a rule is broken: Principals office and call home

The rules developed are to hinder students privileges not their education. If students decide to break any rules they will be only be taking away from own privileges. The students are provided with a recess which is an incentive for good behavior. The students who misbehave during instruction time will have time taken away from their recess. The students who continue to misbehave will not only lose their recess but also have silent lunch and a call home will be made. The students will be given an opportunity to misbehave once and not lose any recess time. This allows the students to change their behavior in the classroom before beginning to losing recess time. The consequences of students actions are based on the students performance in the classroom. If the students breaks a basic classroom rule created on the first day of school the students will refer to the hierarchy of consequence. If a student breaks the rules that cause the classroom to become an endangered area immediate action must be taken, the student will be sent to the office and a call home will be given. The students privileges of working in groups, completing group activities, and other rewarding activities will be revoked for a week. The student will still complete assignments but will not be included in hands on or discussion activities. Positive and negative reinforcements should be given to students to increase or sustain appropriate behavior in the classroom. By providing positive and negative reinforcements in the classroom it acknowledges students behavior and allows them to correct their behavior. Thanking students for continuing to perform good behavior allows student to know what they are doing correctly and continue with the behavior. Without interrupting the lesson or calling a specific student out, students attention can be easily brought back towards the lesson numerous ways. Simply carrying a stack of post it notes allows the teacher to communicate with the student by placing notes on their desk. A note can share a short message about the students positive or negative behavior that may be disrupting others. Using sticky

notes to relay messages can also be used to send positive notes to students such as, good job, keep up the good work, great behavior. During instruction time if a student does not continue on task, standing beside their desk or tapping on their desk will let the students know they are not doing what they are supposed to. Referring to students who are following rules reinforces others what they should be doing. This sends a positive message to the students behaving appropriately and gaining attention back from the misbehaving students. Students who continue to show good behavior throughout the week should be rewarded with school wide reward systems or even school supplies. Classroom assistants allow students to feel a need in the classroom. By assigning each student a daily duty the students will build responsibility and pride in their task. I will assign jobs to students by random, if the students does not want to keep the task drawn at random they can easily pass it to the next person, each student is only allowed one pass. The assigned jobs can be changed throughout the school year to better fits students interest and behavior.

The class will hold the same daily routine, the students will be given specific times during day they are allowed to use the bathroom, sharpen pencils, and transition from classes. The students will come into the classroom and the first task will be to make their lunch choices. The students will then get their breakfast and continue towards their desk. The students will begin by looking on the board for supplies needed in their desk for the day. The students will then begin on their morning work which will be presented on the Smartboard. After completing their morning work each students will be given a chance to share something with the class. The students will have a post-it note on their desk every morning; the students will be able to write something they should like to share such as I have a football game tonight. This will allow students to share thoughts, opinions, or facts about themselves to the class and the teacher. This allows the teacher and students to get to know their peers and eliminates talking and behavior issues in the morning. To allow students to collect work I will create a folder system that will be located on the side of the students cubbies. Each student will have two sealed folders in their cubbies. One will be labeled Test papers and the other will be labeled daily work. The students will receive daily work in one folder; this allows students to receive homework, class work, or other materials at one time instead of throughout the day. When test papers are sent home, one day a week, the students will take their sealed folders out of their cubbies and will take it home for their parents to sign all test papers. The students will then return their test folders back in their cubbies when returning to class the next day. When lining up for recess, lunch, or related arts the students will be instructed how they should line up, quietly, keeping your hands to yourself, standing appropriately, and not breaking any rules. While lining up if the students continue to break the rules everyone will sit down and begin again. If one student decides to break the rules the whole class will sit down and begin again. The process will repeat itself until the students are finally lined up and ready to transition the proper way. This causes class to have to be cut short but through time the students will learn and understand the process and the time spent on performing this task will decrease. Throughout the school year the students will need to follow the directions of how to transition to and from classes and if they forget or begin to break the rules the

process will need to start from the beginning. Using this method ensures the students are ready to transition to and from classes without any distributions or behavioral consequences. To ensure student safety during fire and tornado drills the class will practice routine drills. The class will administer drills once a month as a morning meeting. This will keep the students up to date with the procedures used during a drill and will eliminate any confusion during a real fire or tornado drill. Classroom environment is an important component that must provide a safe and engaging environment. Classroom management, consequences, routines, and safety issues are need to have a cooperative learning environment.