Chapter 13 Module 37 Creating a Positive Learning Environment

teachers establish routines to cover the following areas:

- Administrative routines, such as taking attendance - Student movement, such as entering and leaving or going to the bathroom - Housekeeping, such as watering plants or storing personal items - Lesson-running routines, such as how to collect assignments or return homework - Interactions between teacher and student, such as how to get the teacher's attention when help is needed - Talk among students, such as giving help or socializing

five examples of rules for secondary students:

- Be prompt and prepared. Prompt means being in class on time, but also moving quickly into and out of group work or other tasks. Being prepared means having the right materials (the type of pen, pencil, paper, notebook, texts, and so on) and the right attitude for learning. - Respect and be polite to all people. This covers fighting, verbal abuse, and general troublemaking, but emphasize as well positive examples of respect and kindness. All people includes the teacher and substitute teachers. - Listen and stay seated while someone else is speaking. This applies when the teacher or other students are talking. - Respect other people's property. This means property belonging to the school, the teacher, or other students. Take care of others' property, ask permission to borrow, and return borrowed items in good shape. - Obey all school rules. As with the elementary class rules, this covers many behaviors and situations, so you do not have to repeat every school rule for your class. This reminds students that the school rules apply in your room too and gives you the chance to talk about which school rules are particularly important in your class (no cell phones, no texting . . .). It also reminds the students that you will be monitoring them inside and outside your class. Make sure you know all the school rules. Some secondary students are very adept at convincing teachers that their misbehavior "really isn't against the rules." ***These rules are more than ways to maintain order. having explicit rules about respecting others in the classroom predicted the number of students who participated in class discussion, so it seems clear that respect is a gateway to student engagement with the academic material and class dialogue that supports learning.

four examples of general rules for elementary school classes:

- Respect and be polite to all people. Give clear explanations of what you mean by "polite," including not hitting, fighting, or teasing. Examples of polite behavior include waiting your turn, saying "please" and "thank you," and not calling names. This applies to behavior toward adults (including substitute teachers) and peers. - Be prompt and prepared. This rule highlights the importance of the academic work in the class. Being prompt includes the beginning of the day as well as transitions between activities. Being prepared means having the right materials and the right mental attitude for success. - Listen quietly while others are speaking. This applies to the teacher and other students, in both large-class lessons and small-group discussions. - Obey all school rules. This reminds students that all school rules apply in your classroom. Then students cannot claim, for example, that they thought it was okay to chew gum or listen to music on their smart phone in your class, even though these are against school rules, "because you never made a rule against it for us." ***Whatever the rule, students need to be taught the behaviors that the rule includes and excludes. Examples, practice, and discussion will be needed before learning is complete.

Personal Territories

A personal territory is your own (usually assigned) seat. - A front seat location does seem to increase participation for students who are predisposed to speak in class, but a seat in the back will make it more difficult to participate and easier to sit back and daydream. To "spread the action around," teachers move around the room when possible, establish eye contact with and direct questions to students seated far away, and vary the seating so the same students are not always consigned to the back.

what are natural or logical consequences

DEF: instead of punishing, have students redo, repair, or in some way face the consequences that naturally flow from their actions - Separate the deed from the doer in your response. The problem is the behavior, not the student. - Emphasize to students that they have the power to choose their actions and so avoid losing control. - Encourage student reflection, self-evaluation, and problem solving. Avoid teacher lecturing. - Help students identify and give a rationale for what they could do differently next time in a similar situation. *****The main point here is that decisions about penalties (and rewards) must be made early on, so students know before they break a rule or use the wrong procedure what this will mean for them. I encourage my student teachers to get a copy of the school rules and their cooperating teacher's rules, and then plan their own.

The Guidelines: Establishing Class Routines should help you as you plan.

Determine procedures for student upkeep of desks, classroom equipment, and other facilities. Decide how students will be expected to enter and leave the room. Establish signals for getting students' attention, and teach them to your students. Set routines for student participation in class. Determine how you will communicate, collect, and return assignments.

general rules

Having a few general rules that cover many specifics is better than listing all the dos and don'ts. But, if specific actions are forbidden, such as leaving the campus, then a rule should make this clear

When establishing rules, what should you consider

In establishing rules, you should consider what kind of atmosphere you want to create. What student behaviors will help you teach effectively? What limits do the students need to guide their behavior? The rules you set should be consistent with school rules and also in keeping with principles of learning. - For example, we know from the research on small-group learning that students benefit when they explain work to peers. They learn as they teach. A rule that forbids students to help each other may be inconsistent with good learning principles. Or a rule that says, "No erasures when writing" may make students focus more on preventing mistakes than on communicating clearly in their writing

Effective Managers for Secondary Students

It appears that many of the differences between effective and ineffective elementary school teachers are the same at the secondary level. Again, effective managers focus on establishing rules, procedures, and expectations on the first day of class. - these standards for academic work and class behavior are clearly communicated to students and consistently enforced during the first weeks of class. Student behavior is closely monitored, and infractions of the rules are dealt with quickly. - In classes with lower-ability students, work cycles are shorter; students are not required to spend long, unbroken periods on one type of activity. Instead, during each period, they are moved smoothly through several different tasks. In general, effective teachers carefully follow each student's progress, so students cannot avoid work without facing consequences

If you design interest areas for your class, keep the Guidelines: Designing Learning Spaces in mind.

Note the fixed features, and plan accordingly. Create easy access to materials and a well-organized place to store them. Provide students with clean, convenient surfaces for studying. Avoid dead spaces and "racetracks." Arrange things so you can see your students and they can see all instructional presentations. Make sure work areas are private and quiet. Provide choices and flexibility. Try new arrangements; then evaluate and improve.

Characteristics of rules

Rules should be positive and observable (raise your hand to be recognized).

Creating a Positive Learning Environment

Sometimes students become disruptive because the work assigned is too difficult. And students who are bored by lessons well below their ability levels may find more exciting activities to fill their time. In one sense, teachers prevent discipline problems whenever they make an effort to motivate students. A student engaged in learning is usually not involved in a clash with the teacher or other students at the same time. All plans for motivating students are steps toward preventing problems. And what do we know about learning? We know students need clear goals and examples, practice and review, active participation, and the chance to form connections. Learning to live productively in classrooms is no exception.

Developing rights and responsibilities rather than rules makes an important point to students.

Teaching children that something is wrong because there is a rule against it is not the same as teaching them that there is a rule against it because it is wrong, and helping them to understand why this is so" - Students should understand that the rules are developed so that everyone can work and learn together. I might add that when Ken has had some very difficult classes, he and his students have had to establish some "laws" that protect students' rights

interest areas

The design of interest areas can influence the way the areas are used by students. - changes in interest areas that helped the teacher meet her objectives of having more girls involved in the science center and having all students experiment more with a variety of manipulative materials. In a second study, changes in a library corner led to more involvement in literature activities throughout the class

Since different activities require different rules..

This can be confusing for elementary students until they have thoroughly learned all the rules. To prevent confusion, you might consider making signs that list the key rules for each activity. Then, before the activity, you can post the appropriate sign as a reminder. This provides clear and consistent cues about participation structures, so all students, not just the "well behaved," know what is expected. Of course, you'll need to explain and discuss these rules before the signs can have their full effect.

what are rules

Unlike routines, rules, which specify expected and forbidden actions in the class, are often written down and posted. - They are the dos and don'ts of classroom life.

The physical organization of a class has an effect on student

behavior and learning

Clusters of four or circle arrangements

best for student interaction. Circles are especially useful for discussions but still allow for independent seatwork. Clusters permit students to talk, help one another, share materials, and work on group tasks. Both arrangements, however, are poor for whole-group presentations and may make class management more difficult.

Planning Spaces for Learning

classes, and they should respect the inhabitants of the space. This respect begins at the door for young children by helping them identify their classroom. One school that has won awards for its architecture paints each classroom door a different bright color, so young children can find their "home" - Once inside, spaces can be created that invite quiet reading, group collaboration, focused lectures, discussion and debate, or independent research. If students are to use materials, they should be able to reach them.

procedures and routines

describe how activities are accomplished in classrooms, but they are seldom written down; they are simply the ways of getting things done in class. Carol Weinstein and her colleagues DEF: prescribed steps for an activity

Horizontal rows

hare many of the advantages of the traditional row and column arrangements. Both are useful for independent seatwork and teacher, student, or media presentations; they encourage students to focus on the presenter and simplify housekeeping. Horizontal rows also permit students to work more easily in pairs. However, this is a poor arrangement for large-group discussion.

Personal territories and interest areas are

not mutually exclusive; many teachers use a design that combines these types of organization. Individual students' desks—their territories—are placed in the center, with interest areas in the back or around the periphery of the room. - This allows the flexibility needed for both large- and small-group activities. Figure 37.3 shows a secondary classroom that has individual desks (personal territories), but still works well for teacher presentations and demonstrations as well as small-group work.

In terms of classroom arrangement, there are two basic ways of organizing space:

personal territories and interest areas.

In the poorly managed classrooms,

the first weeks were quite different. Rules were not workable; they were either too vague or very complicated. For example, one teacher made a rule that students should "be in the right place at the right time." Students were not told what this meant, so their behavior could not be guided by the rule. Neither positive nor negative behaviors had clear, consistent consequences. After students broke a rule, ineffective managers gave a vague criticism, such as "Some of my children are too noisy," or issued a warning, but did not follow through with the threatened consequence. In the poorly managed classes, procedures for accomplishing routine tasks varied from day to day and were never taught or practiced. Instead of dealing with these obvious needs, ineffective managers spent time on procedures that could have waited. - For example, one teacher had the class practice for a fire drill the first day, but left unexplained other procedures that would be needed every day. Students wandered around the classroom aimlessly and had to ask each other what they should be doing. Often the students talked to one another because they had nothing productive to do. Ineffective teachers frequently left the room. Many became absorbed in paperwork or in helping just one student. They had not made plans for how to deal with late-arriving students or interruptions. One ineffective manager tried to teach students to respond to a bell as a signal for attention, but later let the students ignore it. All in all, the first weeks in these classrooms were disorganized and filled with surprises for teachers and students alike.

In the effective teachers' classrooms

the very first day was well organized. Nametags were ready. There was something interesting for each child to do right away. Materials were set up. The teachers had planned carefully to avoid any last-minute tasks that might take them away from their students. These teachers dealt with the children's pressing concerns first. "Where do I put my things?" "How do I pronounce my teacher's name?" "Can I whisper to my neighbor?" "Where is the bathroom?" The effective teachers were explicit about their expectations. They had a workable, easily understood set of rules and taught the students the most important rules right away. They taught the rules like any other subject—with lots of explanation, examples, and practice. Throughout the first weeks, the effective managers continued to spend quite a bit of time teaching rules and procedures. Some used guided practice to teach procedures; others used rewards to shape behavior. Most taught students to respond to a bell or some other signal to gain their attention. These teachers worked with the class as a whole on enjoyable academic activities. They did not rush to get students into small groups or to start them in readers. This whole-class work gave the teachers a better opportunity to continue monitoring all students' learning of the rules and procedures. Misbehavior was stopped quickly and firmly, but not harshly.

The fishbowl or stack special formation

where students sit close together near the focus of attention (the back row may even be standing), should be used only for short periods of time, because it is not comfortable and can lead to discipline problems. On the other hand, the fishbowl can create a feeling of group cohesion and is helpful when the teacher wants students to watch a demonstration, brainstorm on a class problem, or see a small visual aid.

If you are going to involve students in setting rules or creating a constitution,

you may need to wait until you have established a sense of community in your classroom. Before students can contribute meaningfully to the class rules, they need to trust the teacher and the situation

As soon as you decide on your rules and procedures,

you must consider what you will do when a student breaks a rule or does not follow a procedure. It is too late to make this decision after the rule has been broken. - For many infractions, the logical consequence is going back to "do it right." Students who run in the hall may have to return to where they started and walk properly. Incomplete papers can be redone. Materials left out should be put back. You can use natural or logical consequences to support social/emotional development by doing the following