Classroom Environment
I believe in organizing spaces to enhance learning. I give my students ownership of our classroom routines, procedures, and structure so that they naturally take leadership in learning. Collaborating with my students also establishes a relational classroom atmosphere that not only includes clear expectations but shows my students that I genuinely care about them and will support them as they learn and grow.
Our room is divided into purposeful sections: the library, the collaboration center, the tech-corner, and the resource center. Our walls are covered with student work samples and class-made anchor charts so that students can easily access examples of the skills and strategies covered in class. This helps students build and maintain knowledge, connect it to new concepts, and apply learning to other disciplines and experiences.
When students suggest changes to our environment, I listen and we modify our set-up and routines to best suit our learning. This may include rearranging desks, the arrangement of our book bins, the division of classroom jobs, or the digital tools we use as part of our daily workflow system. I find that students work more energetically towards our goals when they see that their contributions are taken seriously.
Establishing our classroom environment is a team effort, and the result is a higher level of student ownership and engagement in learning and preventative classroom management. Because students are comfortable working in our classroom, I can challenge them with cognitively demanding tasks and expect students to actively participate, accept frequent feedback, collaborate, and support each other.
Because students engaged in learning, and feel a part of our team, they are less likely to need redirection. They want to contribute rather than disengage.
All students feel valued and encouraged in our classroom. We spend substantial time learning about the power of our words and actions, the importance of respecting and caring for each other, and we actively learn how to build each other up. This takes the form of character-building activities on topics such as saying thank you, the strength of a compliment, paying it forward, providing help, honest communication, conflict management, digital citizenship, and service-learning. Also, as students find success in and out of school, we celebrate and highlight accomplishments, so our classroom is a very warm and rewarding place to learn.
Every minute we spend together in the classroom is valuable, and building an effective classroom environment maximizes instructional time. I believe in planning specifically so that my students and I have as much instructional time to work together as possible. If students need extra help, they know they are welcome before and after school and during lunch.
In the above slideshow is evidence of our student-centered classroom environment:
Reading Intervention reader's theater presented to another intervention class
"Project Duo" overview...an original plan for building character in the classroom
Class-made anchor charts from daily lessons
Students collaborating
Working "around the room"
Students eating a "picnic lunch" in the room rather than the cafeteria
Lucky book sock-decorating day...to give us a boost of confidence during standardized testing week
Pillow making day...an earned reward for meeting class reading goals
Warm-Fuzzie Friday
Our Padlet Wall of Thanks
Our field trip to Walmart after students fundraised to provide for families in need
Our field trip to an assisted living facility to play instruments
Our classroom reading nook
Collaboration and team challenges
School and classroom spirit days
Evidence of our reading workshop routines (established by students)
Cabaret...a lunchtime karaoke event
Cheering for classmates at a school running event