Performance Based Project 6 – The Learning Environment
Component 1:
You will explain your vision of the ideal learning environment for the age and subject you intend to teach in a 3 – 5 page original paper (12 point font, double spaced) The paper should be professionally written and typed using correct grammar and spelling. Use the response template, Download response template to respond to each question.
How do you create and maintain a mutually respectful and collaborative class of actively engaged learners? Include how you respond to student needs and incorporate student strengths and personal experiences.
What strategies will you use to build relationships with your students?
How will you physically organize the classroom to ensure flexibility and accommodate the learning needs of all students including those with disabilities? Consider things such as the three zones of proximity and furniture.
Explain how your behavior management plan (see below) supports this vision.
Support the strategies you choose with research. For example, you could say something like “According to the work of Dr. I.M. Authority, primary students need structure to feel secure. Therefore, our day will be structured in the following ways…” Please note that you will not pass the project if you do not properly cite your research. You can use any recognized style format (APA, MLA, Chigago) with which you are comfortable.
Component 2:
After fully explaining the environment you wish to create you will consider how you will accomplish this. You will create a behavior management plan using the template provided. Your behavior management system should help create and maintain the environment explained in the paper. The behavior management plan must include the following:
Three to five positively worded rules that you can consistently enforce.
Expectations (3 – 5) that encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning and instill a culture of individual and group accountability.
Procedures for at least 3 common classroom tasks (Examples: handing back graded work, turning in make-up work, handing out materials, going to lunch, sharpening a pencil, etc.) Once you are teaching you will have more than 3. These should be fully explained and able to be followed by the target age group. Include the expectations for student behavior.
Sample Solution
Performance Based Project 6 – The Learning Environment
Mutual respect in the classroom encompasses more than the interaction between students and the teacher. An atmosphere of mutual respect means that students also treat each other properly. The result is a classroom where more learning takes place as students feel safe, motivated and, of course, respected. Achieving this atmosphere takes considerable effort on the part of the teacher as well as the students. Once established, however, students will usually work to maintain the positive classroom environment. One way to do that is to establish clear classroom expectations from the first day of school. Post your classroom rules and procedures on the wall where they are clearly visible. Students will be expected to respect you, each other, themselves, their work and property.
