How Do You Foster a Positive Learning Environment? Part 3
As a teacher your words convey an atmosphere and create the classroom environment. Genuine praise, belief, and high expectations in your students will make students believe in themselves and work harder in the classroom. Some teachers create an atmosphere of happiness all around them by their attitude and praise of their students. You will recognize these teachers because listening to them will make you smile. They get genuinely excited about students using vocabulary they have learned and about them explaining their thinking. You will hear phrases from these teachers such as, “Did you hear that? Jordan used the word dimensions and vertex! Wow! I’m going to have to put a smiley face on you.” On another occasion, this teacher I have in mind had her students ask her, “Can we stay in for recess so we can practice our 5’s times tables?” These students were so engrossed in learning from the encouragement and high expectations their teacher had for them. Focusing on building up your students will give you more positive results and leave you less worn out at the end of the day.
How Do You Foster a Positive Learning Environment? Part 2
Procedures are the expectations you have for the way your classroom runs. If you have vague procedures, then you will not have the results you desire. For example, if you want your students to quietly put their papers in the paper tray when they finish their work, you must first consider the other problems that may occur. Students may stand around the paper tray and talk. They may rush to shuffle their papers in the tray in differing directions, or they may elbow one another when they turn their papers in because they are in a hurry. Discuss these potential problems with your students, and ask students how this could cause problems…even model the wrong way to act. Then tell students your expectations and how you want them to act. Model how to walk to the paper tray, how to place the paper in the tray, what to do when there is more than one person at the tray, and how to leave the paper tray after the they have turned the paper in. Being specific about what you expect and reinforcing your expectations will yield a well-managed, positive, classroom environment.
How Do You Foster a Positive Learning Environment Part 1?
I will state the obvious. Be prepared. I will quote an intelligent administrator in my district…”If you don’t come with your plan, the students will come with theirs.” I have watched many a teacher’s backside showing to the class as they dig for the materials needed for the lesson with the next words out of their mouth to be, “why are you talking”. If students could honestly answer, they would say, ” I was talking because you didn’t give me anything to do, and you aren’t prepared.” Having all of your materials in place and in easy reach maximizes instructional time and limits disruptive behavior.
How Can Cooperative Groups Make Your Workload Lighter?
Set up your classroom in cooperative groups to make your workload easier. If each group of four students has one captain, then that captain can manage the team. Set up materials in your room in a central location. I have found this works best if you set the materials in plastic drawers which you can buy in the office supply section of Wal-Mart. In each drawer place enough supplies for that team. For an elementary classroom, I recommend having six drawers full of crayons, six drawers full of markers, six drawers full of colored pencils, and six drawers full of four sets of scissors and glue sticks. Beside the supplies also have paper trays for each subject. Direct your team captains to pick up and return the needed supplies and papers for each activity. Give each student in a team a number 1-4. To give students equal opportunities at being team captain, change the team captain number on the board each day. Reward teams who are quick to follow directions. You can keep a running tally and reward teams with the most points for appropriate behavior. Below is an example of how you might label your team captain numbers so that the numbers rotate in a circle.
| 1 | 2 |
| 4 | 3 |
