Learning Outcome #4:
Manage Classrooms Structured in a Variety of Ways to Promote a Safe Learning Environment
As a graduate student, I was exposed to many different classrooms and many different styles of structure through both reading and experience. I was lucky enough to have a wonderfully structured classroom to enter during my first student teaching placement, which eased my transition into the role of teacher; however, my second student teaching placement, in an urban district, challenged me because there was little to no classroom structure when I began my placement. Creating a safe and effective learning environment proved to be challenging, but I was successful at creating and promoting my classroom as a safe environment for students to learn in.
I began developing structure in my classroom with a list of expectations and guidelines. Before creating my own guidelines, I took into consideration school policies and incorporated them appropriately. Another strategy that helped me develop an authentic and safe environment was having students write to me to introduce themselves. I wrote back to each student with personal comments and questions, addressing each student as an individual, not as a part of a group. This activity allowed me to learn about my students and allowed my students to recognize that I have an interest in who they are as people, not only as students in my classroom.
Allen N. Mendler, school psychologist, educator, and author of What Do I Do When?, suggests that initially developing strong relationships with parents is yet another way to make the classroom a safe and welcoming space: “As a parent, I prefer teachers who listen more than they talk at parent-teacher conferences. I like knowing that they care about what I think, and that my views about my child will be taken into account in the classroom” (144). He also notes, “Many parents are more cooperative with those teachers whom they believe like their child and see both the good and the bad” (144). As a teacher, I will work to have positive, constructive relationships with the parents and guardians of my students.
I will base my classroom structure on various resources and experiences, but I will always refer back to the texts that created a foundation of classroom structure for me.
Classroom Structure Texts:
Work Cited
Mendler, Allen. What Do I Do When...? Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree, 2007. 144. Print.
Image from http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/District75/Departments/SchoolSafety/default.htm
I began developing structure in my classroom with a list of expectations and guidelines. Before creating my own guidelines, I took into consideration school policies and incorporated them appropriately. Another strategy that helped me develop an authentic and safe environment was having students write to me to introduce themselves. I wrote back to each student with personal comments and questions, addressing each student as an individual, not as a part of a group. This activity allowed me to learn about my students and allowed my students to recognize that I have an interest in who they are as people, not only as students in my classroom.
Allen N. Mendler, school psychologist, educator, and author of What Do I Do When?, suggests that initially developing strong relationships with parents is yet another way to make the classroom a safe and welcoming space: “As a parent, I prefer teachers who listen more than they talk at parent-teacher conferences. I like knowing that they care about what I think, and that my views about my child will be taken into account in the classroom” (144). He also notes, “Many parents are more cooperative with those teachers whom they believe like their child and see both the good and the bad” (144). As a teacher, I will work to have positive, constructive relationships with the parents and guardians of my students.
I will base my classroom structure on various resources and experiences, but I will always refer back to the texts that created a foundation of classroom structure for me.
Classroom Structure Texts:
- What Do I Do When? by Allen N. Mendler
- Going with the Flow by Michael W. Smith and Jeffrey D. Wilhelm
- Literacy with an Attitude by Patrick J. Finn
- Creating a Therapeutic Classroom: A Teacher's Guide to Meeting the Needs of All Students in the Classroom by Gina Heyen
Work Cited
Mendler, Allen. What Do I Do When...? Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree, 2007. 144. Print.
Image from http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/District75/Departments/SchoolSafety/default.htm