Creating Productive Learning Environments

1. Creating Productive Learning Environments ED 1010

2. Characteristics of Productive Learning Environments • A focus on learning • Effective schools: Academic focus • A focus on learners • Classrooms as learning communities • Personal and social development • Positive classroom climate

3. Classroom as Learning Communities • Inclusiveness: all students participate and believe they can succeed. • Respect for others: students respect the teacher and other students. • Safety and security: students feel safe and protected. • Trust and connectedness: students count on each other for help and assistance. Blind Caterpillar: Team Building Make a Machine

4. Personal Development • Self-discipline and motivation to learn • Organizational skills and goal setting • Personal and moral responsibility • Control of personal impulses • Self-awareness in terms of personal strengths, needs, and values

5. Social Development • Students’ ability to interact with and get along with others • Perspective taking: the ability to understand the thoughts and feelings of others • Social problem solving: the ability to resolve conflicts in ways that are beneficial to all involved Conflict Resolution Scenario

6. Social Skills That Develop in Productive Learning Environments • Perspective taking • Social problem solving • Respect for others • Working cooperatively with classmates • Empathy and compassion • Appreciation of diversity

7. Positive Classroom Climate • Emotional and physical environment of a classroom • Pleasant surroundings • Displays respect students • Procedures for a safe and orderly classroom • Respectful and friendly

8. Essential Human Elements of Productive Learning Environments • Caring • Personal teaching efficacy • Positive expectations • Modeling and enthusiasm

9. Communicating Caring • Learning students’ names quickly and calling on students by their first name • Greeting students daily and getting to know them as individuals • Using effective nonverbal communication such as making eye contact and smiling • Using “we” and “our” in reference to class activities and assignments • Spending time with students • Demonstrating respect for students as individuals Formations

10. Personal Teaching Efficacy • Belief that you can make a difference as a teacher • Internal locus of control • Transfers to students

11. Positive Teacher Expectations • Teachers’ beliefs in students’ capabilities to learn • Ways that teachers communicate positive expectations • Emotional support • Teacher effort and demands • Interactive questioning • Feedback and evaluation

12. Modeling and Enthusiasm • The tendency of people to observe and imitate others’ behaviors and attitudes • Demonstrate interest and enthusiasm in topic • Model appropriate behavior

13. Classroom Management • What impact does classroom management have on learning? • As you have observed, have you seen good and bad examples of classroom management? • What made it “good”? • What made it “bad”?

14. Classroom Management Goals • Developing learner responsibility • Creating a positive classroom climate • Maximizing opportunities for learning

15. Dimensions of Classroom Time • Allocated time: amount designated for a particular topic or subject • Instructional time: amount left for teaching after routine management and administrative tasks are completed • Engaged time: time students actually spend actively involved in learning activities • Academic learning time: amount of time students are both engaged and successful

17. Elements of Successful Management • Preventing problems through planning • Rules • Procedures • Intervening effectively • Handling serious management problems

18. Common Classroom Activities Requiring Procedures • Entering and leaving the classroom • Handing in and returning papers • Accessing materials such as scissors and paper • Sharpening pencils • Making trips to the bathroom • Making up work after an absence

19. Guidelines for Effective Rules • State rules positively. • Emphasize rationales for rules. • Minimize the number of rules. • Monitor rules throughout the school year.

20. Guidelines for Effective Interventions • Intervene immediately. • Direct the intervention at the correct student(s). • Use the least intrusive intervention.

21. Serious Management Problems: Violence and Aggression • Most management problems are minor and involve day-to-day logistical and cooperation issues. • Steps to follow when serious problems arise • Stop the incident • Protect the victim • Get help • Teachers are legally required to intervene when problems occur. • Seek the advice of administrators and veteran teachers.

22. Effective Classroom Management in Urban Schools • More challenging because of student diversity and large class sizes • Essential components for effective management: • Caring and supportive teachers • Clear standards for acceptable behavior • Structure • Effective instruction Video

23. Benefits of Involving Parents • Greater willingness to do homework • Higher long-term achievement • More positive attitudes and behaviors • Better attendance and graduation rates • Greater enrollment in postsecondary education

24. Strategies for Involving Parents • Communicate early, positively, and often • Try email communication • Get to know students • Use newsletters and individual notes to emphasize positive student accomplishments.

25. Communicating with Parents from Diverse Backgrounds • Cultural diversity, SES, and caregivers for whom English is not the first language all pose communication challenges. • Effective teachers make a special effort to reach out to these parents. • Sending home homework guidelines and suggestions are effective in involving parents in their children’s education.