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Creating a Positive & Productive Classroom Environment

It is every teacher’s responsibility to create a classroom environment that is conducive to learning. Although, students are responsible to make their own commitment to learning, educators must ensure that all students learn what they need to learn. A key factor to achieving this is for educators to make their lessons interesting in ways that engage their students. Having a variety of teaching methods assists the teacher in achieving different goals. Assessments must be authentic, appropriate to the learning task, and reflective of what the student has actually learned or accomplished. Overall, in order to enhance each student’s achievement to its full potential, every educator must be a master planner, teacher, facilitator, communicator, organizer, guide, and role model.

Technology requirements

All teachers identify task requirements, apply search strategies, and use current technology to efficiently acquire, analyze, and evaluate a variety of electronic information.
Technology Used:
1) Email- I use my email to communicate and correspond with staff, parents, and students.
2) Class Dojo- I use this technology to communicate with parents about student behavior and to communicate via messenger when needed.
3) Smartboard- I use the Smartboard to teach and demonstrate lessons via technology. My students are able to use it to show mastery of certain concepts.
4) Eduphoria- Eduphoria is used to record data and important information about students behavior, their test scores, and modification plans if needed.

Competencies

005

The teacher knows how to establish a classroom climate that fosters learning, equity, and excellence and uses this knowledge to create a physical and emotional environment that is safe and productive.

This competency addresses the need for teachers to be able to recognize and identify both internal (nature) and external factors (nurture) that affect learning. These factors include but are not limited to the following: a students personality characteristics, their self-concept and sense of self esteem, their self-discipline, their ability to handle or cope with stress, and their general outlook on life. With this being said, it is important for teachers to maintain a climate that promotes the lifelong pursuit of learning. Instilling skills that will be helpful throughout life is essential. An effective teacher creates a physical environment conducive to achieving the goals of the school, the classroom, the teachers, and the students. Lastly, it is important to ensure that routines and transitions are managed so that minimal disturbance occurs during class time.

006

The teacher understands strategies for creating an organized and productive learning environment and for managing student behavior.

An effective teacher maximizes the amount of time spent on instruction. Losing 5 minutes of instructional times at the beginning of class and at the end of class everyday, when calculated, is equivalent to: a whole period a week, four classes a month, and 25 periods a year. Teaching procedures increases learning time because students are able to make transitions more quickly. Learning to work and plan together is important for students and can be done by incorporating collaborative or cooperative learning strategies. Optimal heterogeneity requires a balance between enough difference among members of the group or team to trigger conflict and yet maintain a mutual interest and intelligibility to allow dialogue and cooperation. Instilling the five basic elements associated with collaborative learning is key to having effective groups in your classroom. The five basic elements are, Face-to-Face interaction, positive interdependence, individual accountability, social skills, and group processing. An interesting, carefully planned curriculum is one of the best ways to prevent most discipline problems. Having a discipline system of classroom rules, consequences, and rewards, which are applied consistently to every student also helps in preventing disciplinary problems.

my classroom layout

Many of my students are very fond of, "The Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series" and therefore I wanted to incorporate this into my classroom. I've learned that showing interest in what your students like, increases engagement and student interest in your course. Before my students walk through the door, they are excited to see what we are learning that day!
This is one of the many motivational quotes found throughout my classroom. I love inspirational posters because they encourage and motivate students in their learning. This quote is an excerpt from Langston Hughes's poem, "Harlem." It presents the question, "What happens to a dream deferred?" and poses various solutions that peak the student's desire and interest in their own personal dreams. I specifically placed this poster above the door, so that my students can see this before they leave and remain motivated/focused on their goals.
 The Reading Center, Bookshelf, & Writing Bins
As a 6th grade ELAR teacher, I've learned that students love color and welcoming environments. I have three 90 minute courses and each class is sectioned off by color. The stacked bins are used for each students journal writing.
When students enter my classroom, they follow the following procedures:
1. Turn in homework in the bin
2. Get their writing journal from the appropriate bin
3. Begin PCA journal writing on the board
4. Read & Discuss the Lesson for the day, Learning Target, Language Objective, Essential Question, and Exit Ticket for the day
5.Begin the lesson
6. Turn in Assignments for the day- If due
7. Complete the Exit Ticket
8. Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) in the reading center (to the left, bean bags and other seating is not pictured above)
9. Students are then dismissed when the teacher releases them.
Great Work Display Wall & the Word Wall
Showing off student's work is a great motivator! My students loving seeing their work on the display wall because they feel appreciated because their hard work has paid off. I have also observed that the display wall is a great encouragement for lower performing students or slackers. This wall creates an extra push for them to work harder because they too want their work displayed.

The Word Wall to the left is used to display the academic vocabulary according to 6th grade ELAR TEKS. We study new words weekly and display the words of the week on the wall. Students are required to use academic vocabulary in their speech and writing in our class.