Grove City College, PA
2a Creating an Environment of Respect and Rapport
-
Teacher interactions with students, including both words and actions. We need to make sure our students feel safe, valued, and appreciated in our classroom. We need to be able to read the room to see if everyone is understanding. Teachers must humble ourselves and apologize if something was misunderstood.
-
Student interactions with other students, including both words and actions. To help our students develop respect between one another, we as teachers must be a model of respect ourselves. We need to teach our students to respect one another and you.
2b Establishing a Culture for Learning
-
Importance of Content and Learning. We must make sure our students are understanding the content, but we must relate it to their lives. Teachers should help students see the connection between the things they learn in school and life outside school. We should take advantage of teachable moments.
-
Expectations for Learning or Achievement. High expectations should be provided so that students will reach them and want to reach them. Make sure students are aware that they are capable of high expectations and challenging work.
-
Student pride in work. I will have a space for students to hang up what they are proud of. We need to help them reach high expectations, which can lead to student pride.
2c Maintaining Classroom Procedures
-
Management of instructional groups. We want to make sure our students are collaborating and cooperating with other students. I will make intentional groups, having students of all different academic capabilities in a group. There are several different ways we can effectively group students and each way is different for each student or class.
-
Management of transitions. We should make sure we are effectively transitioning from one subject to another. A good way to do this is let them know that the time is up for that subject and they need to start moving into the next subject.
-
Management of materials and supplies. Students should know where the supplies and materials that they can use are located. In all my classes, there was a specific student supplies section where students could have the materials if they needed them or borrow them if need be.
-
Performance of non-instructional duties. There should be little duties for students to have to practice building them up in leadership and responsibility. Some examples of this being shown in a classroom would be a line leader, a paper passer-outer, or a someone who is appointed to collect papers.
-
Supervision of volunteers and paraprofessionals. In my classes growing up, we had writing workshop on Fridays. Parents could volunteer to come in and help out the students with their handwriting and writing. I would love to do this in my classroom as well. It worked really well for my teachers and for the students. It also gives parents the opportunity to be a part of their kids and other kids' lives.
2d Managing Student Behavior
-
Expectations. Have student input on expectations, but they must also realize that teachers will have high expectations for them. We must be consistent in our expectations for our students.
-
Monitoring Student Behavior. We must have eyes on the back of our head and be aware of how students are acting in our classroom. We need to cultivate a classroom of kindness and respect between our students and ourselves. Sometimes, it is appropriate for students to monitor their peers work.
-
Response to Student Misbehavior. We must be kind in our response to students. Kindly point out to them what they are doing wrong and guide them to what they should be doing.
2e Organizing Physical Space
-
Safety and Accessibility. We must make sure our classroom is safe for all of our students. If there is a student in a wheelchair, we need to make sure there is enough space for them to move around. Our classrooms must be a safe space emotionally as well.
-
Arrangement of Furniture & Use of Physical Resources. All resources should be accessible to everyone in the classroom, including the teacher. I would love to have cute and comfy chairs in the back of my classroom in a reading area.