St. 4 - Learning Environment

Effective Learning Environments

Management and monitoring of time, relationships, students, and classrooms to enhance learning, including the ability to:

4.1

Engage students in meaningful learning experiences while maximizing the use of instructional time;

4.2

Structure the classroom environment to promote positive peer interactions and positive self-esteem, to ensure that each student is a valued participant in an inclusive learning community;

4.3

Construct a learning environment and grading process where both teacher and students have high expectations and mutually understand what is expected of each other to foster optimal achievement of all students;

4.4

Design and implement a classroom management plan that utilizes respectful disciplinary techniques to ensure a safe and orderly learning environment, (e.g., instructional procedures utilizing the concepts presented in the State Board of Education’s Positive Behavior Support Policy 2006), which is conducive to learning and takes into account diverse needs of individual students;

4.5

Understand and uphold the legal and ethical responsibilities of teaching (e.g., federal and state laws and SBE policies pertaining to positive and effective learning environments, appropriate behavioral interventions, student retention, truancy, child abuse, safety, first aid, health, and communicable disease);

4.6

Use a variety of teaching methodologies and techniques (e.g., lectures, demonstrations, group discussions, cooperative learning, small-group activities, and technology-enhanced lessons), and objectively assess the effectiveness of various instructional approaches and teacher actions for impact on student learning;

4.7

Establish a learning environment which invites/welcomes collaborative teaching practices;

4.8

Differentiate between assessment and evaluation procedures and use appropriately.

4.1

Each day is Kindergarten is exciting and full of routines.  Children thrive on these routines, so I created a visual schedule board for the students to refer to when I am asked, "what's next" or "what are we doing today?".  Not only does it help the students, it helps me in knowing how much time is left while in a lesson, and whether the lesson is on track to conclude when the next scheduled activity is to begin or whether I need to tweak the timing of the lesson.  Pictures are associated with the word as Kindergartners are for the most part in the pre-reading stage at the beginning of the year.  This standard, 4.1, is illustrated in the photographs of the different days schedules.

4.2.

Each day there is time for "free choice" play.  This time, although not direct instructional time, is full of indirect social instruction.  Students are learning how to communicate their wants with each other and how to be productive within the classroom setting.  They are learning how to share and get along with all everyone as well.  The picture gallery illustrates standard 4.2.