Environment



		EDL725 : The Class : Rating Scales : Environment : Environment

Creates and Maintains a Learning Environment

The teacher plays a key role in creating the learning climate and keeping the classroom running smoothly through effective classroom management techniques, routines, and structures. Because we tend to remember emotional events years into the future, what teachers do or fail to do can impact the lives of children in significant ways.

Perhaps you can recall a favorite teacher who made you feel special, capable, and worthy of attention. This may have been the teacher who actually inspired you to become a teacher. Actor Jim Carey upon receiving his academy award thanked his seventh grade teacher for influencing his career because she allowed him ten minutes at the end of class for a stand-up presentation if he paid attention and did not distract others during class time. On the other hand, you may recall a teacher who made you or another student feel embarrassed, ashamed, or unworthy of assistance.

This scale assesses six competencies that are consistent with the language as stated in the Arizona State Standards for Teachers.

One important behavior is communicating enthusiasm for student learning. In a worst-case scenario, what would you observe in a teacher who has the lowest possible rating on enthusiasm? Yes, apathy, lack of eye contact, no movement around the room, and lack of energy may all come to mind. A teacher with a medium to high rating would demonstrate more gestures, variations in vocal delivery and movement, dancing eyes, and higher energy. Showing enthusiasm is often more elusive for beginning teachers who developmentally are more concerned with self and content. Yet, it is important to keep bringing it up. Focusing specifically on enthusiasm because it is so effective in engaging student in learning.

In addition to enthusiasm, students respond favorably to caring teachers. Students easily detect how much a teacher cares about them personally and their learning. That is not to suggest that students want a teacher to a "buddy" but that they respond to genuine friendliness and interest in their ability to learn and to change behavior.

Caring and climate go hand in hand. What is the learning climate in this classroom? What does it say about the need for sensitivity to the needs and feelings of the student?

Creating and maintaining a positive atmosphere in the classroom is the number one area that novice teachers find most troublesome. They fear confrontations and have yet to refine the skills necessary to manage group and individual behavior. In addition to rules, they need to know efficient routines, clear procedures, monitoring checks, and appropriate consequences. They need a big picture of possible options for a variety of situations. In some cases they need to diffuse emotions and need to lower their own emotional rise by creating a needed break.

While a teacher may express the desire to put "Georgie or Sally" in another classroom, it rarely happens. Georgie is most likely going to be in the classroom for the remainder of the school year and Sally is never absent, so it is best to learn to deal with these students effectively for their benefits and that of the other students. This may mean, however, eventually excluding him or her from the classroom if the disruption is so severe that the teacher cannot teach and/or the students cannot learn as a result.

Student teachers often report that their best days are when their mentor teachers are absent. Their self-confidence soars and their enthusiasm rises when they experience being in charge. As long as the mentor is in the classroom, the students continue to defer to him or her. So, it is preferable to leave the student teacher alone to solo at least twenty to thirty minutes at a time and four to five times a day versus two to three hours once a day. However, if you leave the building, it is essential that you arrange with another teacher to be the "first line of support" in case of need or emergency. Communicate this information precisely to the student teacher and to the other teacher. Check with the principal in all matters and be sure to follow the school policies.

Now you will have an opportunity to assess one teacher’s classroom management by viewing, scripting, and analyzing Dennis. He is a student teacher in an eighth grade classroom and is in his fifth week of student teaching.

To complete this Topic successfully, please complete the following activities in the order shown below:

VIDEO: Zork

GROUP ASSIGNMENT: Creates and Maintains a Learning Environment

Once you have completed these activities you should:

Go on to Implements and Manages Instructions and Assessment
or
Go back to Rating Scales

E-mail Dr. Gloria Smith at gjs8@jan.ucc.nau.edu
or call (480) 854-7673