Chapter Two

1. Chapter Two Creating a Community of Learners

2. What Determines the Culture of the Classroom?

3. Classroom Climate Teachers help determine the classroom climate by: • Their interaction with students. • The amount of authority they exercise over their students. • The instructional decisions they make.

4. 3 Types of Teachers • Burnouts: - Emphasize teacher-determined rules - Experience conflict between teachers and students • Altruists: - Emphasize warm and supportive teacher-student relationships - Experience little to no conflict with students 3. Technicians: - Emphasize productivity and achievement - Experience little to no conflict with students

5. 3 Types of Relationships Among Students • Cooperative Interdependence - Students are encouraged to work in groups • Competitive Interdependence - Students are encouraged to work against each other • Individualistic, or No Interdependence - Students are encouraged to work alone

6. Life in Classrooms Teachers can enrich classroom life by: • Possessing effective communication skills. • Listening to their students. • Promoting cooperative interactions among students.

7. Four Stages of Group Development Stage 1: The teacher formulates and discusses classroom rules with students. Stage 2: The teacher encourages student participation and communication. Stage 3: The teacher and students set clear goals and agrees on deadlines. Stage 4: All group members accept responsibility for the quality and life of the group.

8. How Can You Create a Positive Learning Environment?

9. The Caring Classroom Teachers can establish a caring classroom by: • Helping all students learn to their fullest potential. • Demonstrating care when speaking and listening to students. • Teaching students how to care for others.

10. The Physical Environment of the Classroom Teachers can improve their surroundings by: • Displaying their students work. • Providing a comfortable reading or resource area. • Organizing desks and other furniture in ways that promote cooperative interactions.

11. Classroom Organization One way teachers can organize the classroom is by grouping students by ability: • Between-class ability grouping -assigns students to classes on the basis of ability or achievement. 2. Within-class ability grouping -divides students into homogeneous small groups for instruction. It is used widely in elementary classrooms.

12. Cooperative Learning Another way teachers can organize the classroom is by grouping students together for cooperative learning: • Small groups (4-6 students) work together on learning activities. • Assignments require that students help one another while working on a group project. • Group members contribute to group goals according to their talents, interests, and abilities.

13. Delivering Instruction Teachers can accomplish instructional goals by: • Motivating students to learn through authentic learning tasks. • Planauthentic learning tasks that enable students to see the connections between classroom learning and the world beyond the classroom.

14. How Time is Used • Allocated time: the time teachers allocate for instruction in various areas of the curriculum. • Time on task: the amount of time students are actively engaged in learning activities. • Academic learning time: the amount of time a student spends working on academic tasks with a high level of success. 4. Opportunity to learn (OTL): time teachers should use to provide all students with challenging content through appropriate instruction.