Enhancing the Classroom Environment

1. Enhancing the Classroom Environment Prepared and Presented by: Lupita Monsevalles, M. Ed. Presented to A-STEP Alternative- South Texas Educator Program Interns

2. Enhancing the Classroom Environment

3. Enhancing a Positive Classroom Environment There is an abundance that a teacher can do to foster learning, equity, excellence and promote a safe, engaging classroom climate. Excellence Warmth Understanding

4. Enhancing a Positive Classroom Environment Create a climate and tone of warmth and safety. Focus on group-building activities to help create the trust and safety essential for active, collaborative learning. Know your students and understand their needs. Teachers should get to know each student and his or her individual skills and necessities; get familiar with their interests and intellectual potential. Understanding the cultural background and personality of each student is a key step to building a successful teacher-student relationship.

5. Four Major Categories to Consider When Enhancing the Classroom Environment Manage Student Discipline Be Prepared Use Preventive Management Implement Supportive Management

6. Enhancing a Positive Classroom Environment Visit your assigned campus before school / classes commence Become familiar with the school organization: policies & procedures schedules (P.E., Conference, Lunch, Duty, Daily Classroom Schedule resources (equipment availability) instructional materials staffing (meet your grade level/dept., teams) curriculum (request set of Teacher’s Editions, scope and sequence, testing calendar) community involvement activities extra curricular activities campus climate/map Campus wide discipline procedures Become familiar with Faculty Handbook (Student Handbook) Request a copy of your class roster Send Postcards welcoming your students Be Prepared

7. Use Preventive Management Take charge: Have a clear discipline plan set up with both rewards and consequences. Explain the plan to the students on day 1 and review it throughout the first week. Send home a copy of your discipline plan. Have parents read it with their child and request for parents and children to sign and return a contract stating that they agree to the rules.

8. Use Preventive Management Take charge: Establish safety procedures (for all activities) Establish classroom routines/procedure for: entering and exiting the classroom restroom rules transitioning distributing/collecting class/homework equipment/supplies What to do when tasks are completed Answering questions BEING AWARE: *Prevent student misbehavior before it happens *Constantly be aware of what all students are doing (Teach on your Feet not on your Seat!) *Be aware of all possible “trouble spots”

9. Use Preventive Management Keep students busy and engaged: Before your first day of school, have plenty of activities prepared for emergency use Constructive inactivity gives reason to navigate… A class full of idle students won’t all sit quietly for 10 minutes waiting for you to figure out what is next.

10. Use Preventive Management • Possible techniques to keep a sound discipline: • - Treat students equally and set the same rules and requirements for all, regardless of their grades and results. • All discipline problems should be addressed immediately rather than left to become more complicated. • Threats and angry outbursts will not help maintain discipline, especially when threats are not supported by action. • Punishments should be proportional to misbehaviors and should comply with school policy and rules. • - Classroom rules should be reasonable and clear to students.

11. Use Preventive Management Keep up the pace *Manage transition of one activity to another withoutinterrupting the flow *Use sponge activities Provide variety and challenge * Vary kinds of activities * Students must be engaged in the lesson * Use different teaching materials, visuals, computers, etc. * Challenge students through questioning techniques (Bloom’s Taxonomy) * Implement rigor, relevance, and relationships in lesson Manage Time (Wong and Wong 1998) *Allocated time (teacher instruction/student learning) *Instructional time (teacher actively teaching) *Engaged time (student involved in a task) *Academic learning time (time teachers can prove that students learned the content or mastered the skill) * Keep track of time during the lesson * You dismiss the class—not the bell

12. Use Preventive Management Get peer support Insist on a mentor or at least a peer teacher. Make a good friend whom you could go to for advice.

13. Use Preventive Management Get Parental support Use your parents as much as you can. Stay in constant contact (notices, email, phone, person to person, etc.)

14. Use Preventive Management Organize Yourself Find an organization system that you can live and work with and STICK with it. Organize Your Students Don’t assume your students know how to organize themselves. Show them how to organize their notebooks and folders. Show them EXACTLY what you want/expect.

15. Implement Supportive Management Be Positive Children don’t care how much you KNOW until you show the how much you CARE. Have a positive attitude about learning and growing: negativity fosters negativity See the good points in all situations (see glass half full not half empty) Model your expectations: Practice what you preach Turn negative situations into “teachable moments”

16. Implement Supportive Management Be Genuine Be transparentBe tolerant and accepting of all studentsHave empathy for students Respect Students Effective teaching does not require that all students like You; however it is crucial that they respect You. You also do not need to like all of your students; YOU just need to be professional and a leader. Students do not need to be friends with You, they need to respect You and learn.

17. Implement Supportive Management Respect Students (respect is not given…it is earned) Be respectful of students in order to earn their respect Do not embarrass students in front of classmates (remain calm and use a business-like tone) Classroom interaction should be based on respect and self-esteem. Students should learn to both give and receive respect. BE fair, honest, and consistent

18. Implement Supportive Management BE the TEACHER and a LEADER ▪ Being a friend relinquishes authority ▪ Balance warmth with firmness Get to know students’ names ▪ Use name tags ▪ Use place cards on desks ▪ Use a sitting chart

19. Implement Supportive Management Get to know your studentsKnow a little about your students A survey can be administered at the beginning of the school year Listen to your students Listen attentively to students’ answers, questions and opinions

20. Implement Supportive Management • Be Aware of Student Differences • Know the cultural differences of students • Use your teacher voice • Your voice communicates your enthusiasm, interest, variety and excitement • Your voice projects firmness • Say what you mean and mean what you say. • Use non-verbal communication • Use body movement and eye contact in a positive, acceptable way • Give feedback to students • Give authentic feedback to students • Praise students for responses • Praise students for good and appropriate behavior

21. Managing Student Discipline Classroom management: deals with how things are done, Procedures and routines to the point of becoming rituals CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT is the TEACHER’S responsibility Discipline deals with how people behave is an impulse management and self-control DISCIPLINE is the STUDENT’S responsibility CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT is enhanced when procedures are:1. explained to students,2. modeled for students,3. practiced by students,4. reinforced by practicing again, and periodically (when necessary)5. practiced again. (Oftentimes practicing something one time does not put it into long-term memory.) When procedures are learned, routines are established.Routines give structure to instruction.

22. Managing Student Discipline It's Easier to Get Easier Many teachers make the mistake of starting the school year with a poor discipline plan. Students quickly assess the situation in each class and realize what they will be allowed to get away with. Once you set a precedent of allowing a lot of disruptions, it can be very hard to start better classroom management and discipline techniques.

23. Managing Student Discipline 2. Fairness is Key Students have a distinct sense of what is and what is not fair. You must act fairly for all students if you expect to be respected. If you do not treat all students equitably, you will be labeled as unfair students will not be keen to follow your rules. Make sure that if your best student does something wrong, they too get disciplined for it.

24. Managing Student Discipline 3. Deal with Disruptions with as Little Interruption as Possible When you have classroom disruptions, it is imperative that you deal with them immediately and with as little interruption of your class momentum as possible. If students are talking amongst themselves and you are having a classroom discussion, ask one of them a question to try to get them back on track. If you have to stop the flow of your lesson to deal with disruptions, then you are robbing students who want to learn of their precious in-class time.

25. Managing Student Discipline 4. Avoid Confrontations in Front of Students Whenever there is a confrontation in class there is a winner and a loser. Obviously as the teacher, you need to keep order and discipline in your class. However, it is much better to deal with discipline issues privately than cause a student to 'lose face' in front of their friends. It is not a good idea to make an example out of a disciplinary issue. Even though other students might get the point, you might have lost any chance of actually teaching that student anything in your class.

26. Managing Student Discipline 5. Stop Disruptions with a Little Humor Sometimes all it takes is for everyone to have a good laugh to get things back on track in a classroom. Many times, however, teachers confuse good humor with sarcasm. While humor can quickly diffuse a situation, sarcasm may harm your relationship with the students involved. Use your best judgment but realize that what some people think as funny others find to be offensive.

27. Managing Student Discipline 6. Keep High Expectations in Your Class Expect that your students will behave, not that they will disrupt. Reinforce this with the way you speak to your students. When you begin the day, tell your students your expectations. For example, you might say, "During this whole group session, I expect you to raise your hands and be recognized before you start speaking. I also expect you to respect each other's opinions and listen to what each person has to say."

28. Managing Student Discipline 7. Overplan Free time is something teachers should avoid. By allowing students time just to talk each day, you are setting a precedent about how you view academics and your subject. To avoid this, over plan. Write additional activities into your lesson plans just in case your main lesson run short. When you have too much to cover, you'll never run out of lessons and you will avoid free time. You can also fill up any left over time with mini-lessons.

29. Managing Student Discipline 8. Be Consistent One of the worst things you can do as a teacher is to not enforce your rules consistently. If one day you ignore misbehaviors and the next day you jump on someone for the smallest infraction, your students will quickly lose respect for you. Your students have the right to expect you to basically be the same everyday. Moodiness is not allowed. Once your lose your student's respect, you also lose their attention and their desire to please you.

30. Managing Student Discipline 9. Make Rules Understandable You need to be selective in your class rules (no one can follow 180 rules consistently). You also need to make them clear. Students should understand what is and what is not acceptable. Further, you should make sure that the consequences for breaking your rules are also clear and known beforehand.

31. Managing Student Discipline 10. Start Fresh Everyday This tip does not mean that you discount all previous infractions. Start teaching your class each day with the expectation that students will behave. Don't assume that because Julie has disrupted your class everyday for a week, she will disrupt it today. By doing this, you will not be treating Julie any differently and thereby setting her up to disrupt again (like a self-fulfilling prophecy).

32. The Effective Teacher Motivateshigh academic engagement and competence Exercisesexcellent class management Fostersa positive, reinforcing, cooperative environment Demonstratesteaching skills in context Makesconnections across the curricula

33. THE ABCs FOR FIRST YEAR TEACHERS Admit your mistakes -- and learn from them. Be firm but flexible. Communicate with parents. Develop a homework policy -- and stick to it. Empower your students; don't just lecture to them. Find time to attend after-school events. Get to know all the teachers in your school and make friends with the cooks, custodians, aides, and secretaries. Have the courage to try something else if what you're doing isn't working. Institute a clear discipline policy -- and enforce it consistently.

34. THE ABCs FOR FIRST YEAR TEACHERS Have the courage to try something else if what you're doing isn't working. Institute a clear discipline policy -- and enforce it consistently. Just listen -- both to what the kids are saying and to what they're not saying. Keep a journal. Learn your school's policies and procedures. Model desired attitudes and behavior. Non carborundumignorami. (Don't let the imbeciles wear you down.) Overplan. Prepare interesting lessons.

35. THE ABCs FOR FIRST YEAR TEACHERS Quit worrying and just do your best. Remember that you teach students first, then you teach whatever academic discipline you learned. Stay alert. Take pictures. Understand that the learning process involves everyone -- teachers, students, colleagues, and parents -- and get everyone involved. Volunteer to share projects and ideas, and don't be afraid to ask others to share their ideas with you.

36. THE ABCs FOR FIRST YEAR TEACHERS Work within your limits. Xpectthe unexpected -- and plan for it! Yell if you need support. Zero in on your strengths, not your weaknesses. (Remember -- nobody's perfect!) Enjoy! You are about to embark on the most wonderous “roller coaster” ride you’ll ever experience. Website for ABC’s of First Year Teachers: www.education-world.com