Learning Environment

Classroom organization makes me giddy like a schoolgirl!!

     Seriously though I turn into a complete obsessed middle schooler when I talk about my classroom layout! On Pinterest I already have a board dedicated to my classroom with numerous bulletin board and classroom decoration themes. I understand that it is important to not turn learning activities into "cute" projects. BUT the classroom decoration should be nothing less than "cute"!! I think this idea has largely been shaped by my resident assistant experience at the University of Tennessee. Through this experience my creativity was challenged. From it I now see bulletin boards and decorations in a new light.
  Now, the learning environment is a very serious key to a classroom. It is one thing that should be thoughtfully designed but I don't think that means it has to lose its "cute". In my classroom I want students to feel that they are in a safe and exciting environment. I want my students to fall in love with learning so my classroom must be a place that they love to visit! This means that yes I will spend too much money and time on silly decorations. Yet, I know it will pay off because I've seen how much more students enjoy their environment when there are decorations. I don't want this to be something that I push off and just throw together last minute! Instead I plan on spending my summer preparing and planning for my theme each year. I also want to separate the classroom into different sections. I've watched a few videos of different classroom set ups and I really enjoy those that have different "learning sections". Ideally I would like to separate my classroom into a lecture "work site", a reading corner, and the messy lab.
   The first section the "work site". In this section is where I would like to put the students desks. Having them near a whiteboard, chalkboard, or smartboard. This is where we will spend a lot of time working math problems or other lessons that need a heavy lecture instruction. Then I want a nice comfortable reading area with a small classroom library. Around the reading area I would like to hang the students most recent projects. This way if a student is to get distracted from their reading they will be looking at past projects and having to read the reports. This way even in their distractions they are still reading. I have a huge emphasis on reading and think that it is important to create an environment that matches that. Then I want an area for when we do messier projects, likely in science. This will hopefully have a big table that way each student isn't getting their desks dirty. This area can also be used for big group talks instead of always using the reading area.
    In my classroom I think it is important to use a lot of colors. I want to start a theme each semester and have the whole room decorated accordingly. For example if it was Dr. Seuss there would be characters throughout the room. Maybe Cat in the Hat reading a book near the reading corner, the lorax above the teachers desk holding up a paper, or thing 1 and thing 1 holding the rules of our classroom. Then I would also use colorful pom-poms hung near the ceiling to create a fun environment. Most importantly I want a lot of the decorations to be colorful quotes that are encouraging. This way when students are observing they are learning because they are being forced to read. I just don't think that classrooms have to be the typical boring white with store bought posters of pencils and erasers. I know I don't find that appealing when I walk into classrooms so why would children!

Case Study: 

Elementary Education Case Study

You engage your third grade students in cooperative learning activities at least twice a day, changing heterogeneous group members once every four weeks. You have agreed upon routine procedures that your classroom community uses within their small groups, including the roles and responsibilities of group members. Lately you have noticed that one small group always seems to have difficulty grasping material and completing their project in an acceptable manner.  You observe this group carefully and find that Lisa seems to be the catalyst for their problems.  She gets angry with others if she does not get the job she wants and refuses to do her part in contributing to the group’s learning.  She constantly interrupts others in her group.  She does not pay attention when her group prepares for class presentations. 

   Now this is a sticky situation. First, there is the problem of Lisa and her unwillingness to completely indulge in the material. I need to evaluate what her motivation for not wanting to contribute. Then there is the problem of her disrupting the other students and their risk of falling behind because of one students actions. At first glance I really wanted to pull Lisa apart from the group and talk to her individually but then I need to think about what this would do to the other students in her group. One one hand they would be able to complete their work but they would still be down one partner. 

    I would first assess Lisa. Since she is my student I will be familiar with what her learning techniques are and her motivation. From this I would want to device a way to get her motivated to participate in different roles rather than the one she is comfortable. I would also know if this problem is resulting from Lisa being afraid or unsure of her own capabilities or if it is just a method of apathy and not wanting to learn a new role. If it was the first than I think it would be easier to engage Lisa. I would pull her aside and ask her why she likes this specific role the most and if she is nervous about the other roles. If she admitted to being nervous about the other roles I would give her encouragement. Then I would want to model with her what these roles look like. This would mean participating with the group that day. Sitting specifically Lisa and helping her adapt. If it is the latter though their is a bigger problem. I think I would then approach it from the idea of showing Lisa that her friends need her help. Maybe if I oculd do a short "restorative justice" circle. Having the group together and each talk about how her monopolizing positions makes them feel and expressing what they would like to see from the whole team. This would hopefully show Lisa that her friends want to participate in all the activities but it makes it hard to them when she throws fits or isn't listening. Then this would also hopefully connect LIsa with her group and make her feel apart of it. This would then hopefully make her want to pay attention because she feels a sense of responsibility to the group. This would also create unity amongst the group and hopefully foster a little more friendship! 

Motivation

      Candy, promises, standards, parties, friends, parents, and grades all of these things can act as motivators. It can be tricky to motivate students because we all have a personal spectrum and attributes that motivate ourselves. My personal motivation comes from high intrinsic motivation, character traits, cognitive capabilities, my sociocultural affects, and social acceptance. I have a high intrinsic motivation to learn and grow that stems form my desire to be the best that I could be. This also is influenced by my sociocultural factors of my parents and their standards and expectations that their children succeed because they know we are capable. Being raised in an environment that expected my to succeed gave my the intrinsic motivation that I could and the self efficacy that it was possible. I also am motivated as a student because of social influences. I want to have an education and strengthen my brain to communicate and interact with the social circles around myself. I don't want to find myself slipping behind my intellectual peers so I push myself to continue to learn and grow so that I may have something to contribute to my community. I also believe that my personality makes me a type of perfectionist, a goodie-two-shoes, and an overachiever. I don't know why but it the necessity to succeed has been engraved into who I am that it takes a large amount of work to not try my hardest and then some. In the classroom I am worried that I won't be able to adequately motivate my students who are not intrinsically motivated. Since I am on such an opposite spectrum I am worried that I will be able to encourage them. I think in my classroom I will substantially apply the behaviorist theory and Sociocultural theory of motivation with my students. With the behaviorist theory I will apply this by heavily using compliments and rewards as motivators for my students. This means that I plan on establishing a set, clear list of standards. So that from there I can praise my students with verbal and stickers when they are participating correctly and attentively. I think praise is really important in motivating children and encouraging them that they are capable to accomplish their educational goals. I want to focus more on rewards that encourage intrinsic motivation. I am not a fan of punishment because there tend to be more negative effects than positive.
           I also want to develop a sociocultural environment in my classroom that implements the idea that education is important. I understand that many of my students will be coming from homes where education is not a high priority and that it will be up to myself and other teachers to show them just how important education is. I want to create an environment where students are encouraged and challenged. That students learn from day one that they are able to be whoever and whatever they want to be, but that to succeed they must do their best in education. This will come from my attitude and outlook on education that I share with the children. It will come from daily reminders that they are great and can succeed if they just put in the work.
       I know that these theories will be difficult at time to implement. They will take intentional planning and reevaluting. But I think that it is very important to help my students succeed!

Assessments: They have to happen, the question is just how?

     Assessments...Such an anxious word. The word itself seems daunting. Yet, I believe that it doesn't need to be that way. I believe that schools have degraded education down to just "passing" tests. I feel that with my own education all I was ever assessed on was in a test, worksheet, or fill in the blank assessment. Which if I'm being honest I'm not sure these actually assessed if I'd gained knowledge of the bigger picture. Yet, after reflecting on this chapter I realized not all assessments are daunting and can break from the typical test or worksheet mold. 

    Informal vs. Formal Assessments 
      Informal assessments are those that the students are unaware of. Which myself was unaware of as student. This happens when the teacher is monitoring the room during group time. Or when the teacher asks questions of the classroom during a lecture or reading. Another example would be a teacher taking record of how well students read their read alouds. This would be a type of assessment I would use in my 1st grade classroom often. The student would not be aware but I would be taking mental notes (and maybe actual notes) of if they were understanding the story by their inflections, speed, and awareness of punctuation. I would also be taking note of their progression with reading. 
      Formal Assessments are those that are planned ahead with a specific date, time, and topic. Students are aware of when this assessment is happening. They are able to prepare in advanced for the assessment because they know the specific topic or topics the assessment will cover. This would be like a planned quiz to see if students understand how to subtract. It could also be a test that covers chapter 1 in science. The idea is that the students are aware of when, where, what, and how the assessment is occurring. 

   Paper-Pencil vs. Performance Assessment
      Paper-Pencil assessments are those that require a student to write an answer down on a sheet of paper. This happens on quizzes, short essays, fill in the blank worksheets,and etc. This is where to test the knowledge of the student you are having them write down their understandings. I would use this assessment with math problems, getting students to practice their writing, and answering plot based questions about a story. 
      Performance assessments are the assessments that require the student to demonstrate physically their understandings. I would use this in my classroom to check children's pronunciations and ability to read aloud. This could be done in front of the class or individually. I think I could also use performance assessments with science lessons. Having students create experiments about a lesson. 

    Traditional vs. Authentic Assessment
      Traditional assessment are the type of assessments we think of normally when we hear the word assessment. These are the quizzes, multiple choice tests, fill in the blank, short answer, matching, graphing, etc. Typically these tests are objective and have one right answer. These assessments also typically take little time to administer and are easier at grading because of the objectivity.I would use this type of assessment all throughout my classroom. One specific example would be for end of the chapter multiple choice tests. 
     Authentic assessments is where the students are asked to describe their knowledge through real life scenarios. A way to use this in my classroom would to help with learning Math. I knew a teacher who asked students how many grapes would be make up a peach and they had to determine the answer by using their theories but in a new environment. I think this type of assessment is beneficial because it causes the students to think of what they learned outside of in the classroom. 

   Standardized Tests vs. Teacher-Developed Assessments 
     Standardized tests are those assessments that are not designed by the teacher. These assessments are typically developed by outside sources and used to determine achievement in terms of the state standards. These are usually only used once a year with tcaps and then less and less as students get older. The only time I would use this in my classroom would be when mandated by the state for tcaps and such. 
    Teacher-Developed assessments are the tests and quizzes that are made by the teacher for their specific classroom. I like to think that I will use a majority of teacher-developed tests in my classroom. These are important because it allows the teacher to make sure that what the students are being tested is material that was gone over in class. It also allows for better understanding of the questions for the students. The students will understand the wording better because it will be in the style of their teacher. I also think that using teacher developed assessments in my classroom will help to make sure that I am keeping things related and on topic. Otherwise I may over look items if I was to use someone else's test. 

  Criterion-Referenced Vs. Norm-Referenced Assessments
    Criterion-Referenced assessments are assessments that are used to pin point the exact concepts that students are misunderstanding. These type of assessments are used for math,spelling, map quizzes, and theories in science. These are the type of assessments that have clear answers and a concrete score. For example there are 20 questions so there are 20 points. After these type of assessments the teacher is able to see what exactly each individual student is understanding or having trouble with. These types of assessments will be used weekly in my first grade classroom. From math worksheets to spelling tests. 
   Norm-Referenced assessments are those that compare students to the rest of the classroom. These assessments rank the whole classroom from highest to lowest. These are tests that are comparing each student to the other students who took the test as well. An example would be the ACT. This test ranks the students based on how well they did up against other students. Where as the criterion-references assessments compare students to a rubric. I can't think that this type of assessment would be necessary for a first grade classroom. Maybe for some statistic test for an outside source. But not for my own personal educational development of my students. 

    Assessments are important in the role of educating students. They allow the teacher to reflect and determine if their strategies are working with their students. It also allows the teacher to see the development of their students. These assessments are used interactively amongst one another. For example a paper-pencil assessment may be used to create an authentic assessment. Assessments do not have to be daunting objectives. There are also many ways to change your assessments to create the best learning environments for individual students.