Positive Learning Places

1. Positive Learning Places Presented by: Dr. Demetria Ennis-Cole ennis@unt.edu University of North Texas

2. Abstract • The learning environment includes furniture, instructional resources, technology, reference material, teacher tools, and classroom management resources. These should be arranged in ways that consider learning style, environmental, and psychological factors that impact the learner. Learning Environment for Students

3. Learning Styles Influence our Ability to Acquire Knowledge • Modalities – auditory, visual, kinesthetic • We all have preferences for learning, or a dominant sensory gateway for getting information. When our preferred style is used, instruction is more effective. Learning Environment for Students

4. Learning Style Inventories 12 Dominant Inventories: • Allinson and Hayes’ Cognitive Styles Index (CSI) • Apter’s Motivational Style Profile (MSP) • Dunn and Dunn model and instruments of learning styles • Entwistle’s Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) • Gregorc’s Mind Styles Model and Style Delineator (GSD) • Herrmann’s Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI) • Honey and Mumford’s Learning Styles Questionnaire (LSQ) • Jackson’s Learning Styles Profiler (LSP) • David A. Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory (LSI) • Riding’s Cognitive Styles Analysis (CSA) • Sternberg’s Thinking Styles Inventory (TSI) • Vermunt’s Inventory of Learning Styles (ILS). Learning Environment for Students

5. Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory • Preferences for learning can be described using two continuums: active-reflective and abstract-concrete. • From this four types of learners emerge: active-abstract (converger – thinks and does); active-concrete (accommodator – feels & does); reflective-abstract (assimilator – thinks & watches); and reflective-concrete (diverger –feels & watches). • http://www.businessballs.com/freepdfmaterials/kolblearningstylesdiagram.pdf Learning Environment for Students

6. Environmental Factors that Impact Learning • Environmental Factors: • Lighting • Furniture (Comfort, Safety, Accessibility) • Temperature • Noise Level • Atmosphere • Physical Arrangement (Seating, Placement of Teaching Tools) Learning Environment for Students

7. Psychological Factors than Impact Learning • Unique Individual Factors that define and affect learning: • Positive or Negative Emotional Learning Experiences • Respected, liked, appreciated, affirmed • Past failures, devalued, expectations of failure • Emotional States • Anger, Fear, Confusion, Sadness, Happiness • Biases and Beliefs • Teacher Expectations Learning Environment for Students

8. Exercise • Clear you mind, be honest, don’t censor your ideas, and on the index cards provided list 10 words or phrases that come to mind when you think about the students you’ve taught. Learning Environment for Students

9. What Words or Phrases Came to Mind? Learning Environment for Students

10. Other Factors that Impact Learning • Cognitive Style: • Determines patterns of thought that govern how an individual reacts with others and with the environment. • The most widely used scale for measuring thinking – Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). • Constructivist in nature, clusters learners into four cognitive preferences: Extrovert or Introvert, Sensing or Intuitive, Thinking or Feeling, Judging or Perceiving (Ex:ESFJ) • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myers-Briggs_Type_Indicator Learning Environment for Students

11. C Other Factors the Impact Learning S I M T • Intelligence: • Capacity to understand & learn • Stanford-Binet (IQ) (verbal & mathematical ability) • Theory of Multiple Intelligence – Howard Gardner – Linguistic, Logical-Mathematical, Musical, Spatial, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Naturalistic, Existential Learning Environment for Students

12. Positive Learning Places “A learning space must be hospitable – inviting as well as open, safe and trustworthy, as well as free … [It] must have features that help students deal with the dangers of an educational expedition: places to rest, places to find nourishment, even places to seek shelter when one feels overexposed.” Parker Palmer Learning Environment for Students

13. Positive Learning Spaces • Welcome learners – meet & greet • Learn names – seating charts, name games • Personalize interaction – using collected information • Personal touches from home – donated sofa, plants, goldfish bowl, cleaning supplies, curtains, bean bags, scented candles, soft music, age appropriate books, magazines, technology tools Learning Environment for Students

14. Positive Learning Spaces Organize the environment: • Support learning by putting supplies and resources in convenient and accessible places • Move Computers, TVs, VCR/DVD Players to far corners or less distracting places • Position the teacher station at an angle where there is a good view of the classroom, and a bit of privacy Learning Environment for Students

15. Positive Learning Spaces • Participatory, collaborative, and connectional environments work best • An instructional philosophy that promotes both peer-to-peer and instructor-student communication works well • Immediate feedback and positive reinforcement promote student success • Routines are comfortable an agendas posted online or given to students serve as road map of the instructional activities Learning Environment for Students

16. Classroom Management: Some References http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/instructor/ClassroomOrganizingTips.htm http://www.theteachersguide.com/ClassManagement.htm http://drwilliampmartin.tripod.com/classm.html http://www.teachnet.com/how-to/manage/index.html http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/archives/classmanagement.shtml http://www.teachervision.fen.com/classroom-management/teaching-methods/5776.html http://kathyschrock.net/1computer/1computer.htm Learning Environment for Students

17. Classroom Management with Technology: Strategies that Work Train students with more experience to act as helpers Give written handouts and demonstrations to clearly explain assignment requirements and technology before giving students access to computers Bookmark sites in advance Save student research assignments for homework activities Assign tasks that students can complete during their time on the computer Learning Environment for Students

18. Classroom Management with Technology: Strategies that Work Check equipment in advance (scanners, digital cameras, printers) to make sure it is operational and have needed supplies on hand. Have computers available before and after school, and any other times students can use them Save instructional website content to the hard drive so it can be viewed offline Assign group technology projects Learning Environment for Students

19. Layout Your Classroom • http://teacher.scholastic.com/tools/class_setup/ • Use this site online to select a room shape and enter furniture, desks, and even students… Print this out and see how your classroom promotes active leaning and communication. Learning Environment for Students

20. Classrooms Source: http://www.danceandtheatre.unt.edu/facilities index.htm Denton, TX Source: http://www.aaps.k12.mi.us Eberwhite Elementary School, Ann Arbor, MI Learning Environment for Students

21. Classroom Source:http://ares.nice.k12.mi.us/Classrooms/classroom.htm Aspen Ridge Elementary School Learning Environment for Students

22. Ken Robinson quotes David Liddle • “A creative organization… has several fundamental characteristics: It is first and foremost a place that gives people freedom to take risks; second, it is a place that allows people to discover and develop their own natural intelligence; third, it is a place where there are no “stupid” questions and no “right” answers; and fourth, it is a place that values irreverence, the lively, the dynamic, the surprising, the playful.” Out of our Minds 2001, pp. 193 Learning Environment for Students

23. Summary Students bring a variety of skills, ideas, perceptions, and attitudes to the classroom. In order to help them learn, their learning environment should be arranged in ways that consider their unique learning style and both the environmental, and psychological factors that influence learning. The best learning environments are rich in instructional content, open, flexible, organized to minimize distraction and increase student and teacher interaction, comfort, and safety. Learning Environment for Students