Classroom Structure & Climate

PSIII:

With PSIII being 100% me, it means that I could set up the class and the standards to my liking. Using my previous experiences and in consideration of the standards that my mentor teacher has had with her classes, I developed my own style.

 

The standards were as so: (In Phys Ed) Students would change quickly upon arrival and doing the warmup that was written on the whiteboard. Once students have finished the warmup, they are to sit in the center circle of the gym as they wait for the rest of the class to also finish the warmup. This acts as a form of collective peer pressure to encourage students to do the warm up quickly and move on to the lesson. Once everyone has finished the warmup, I blow 4 whistles which signal students to get to their squads for attendance at the allocated position. Students would sit in rows based on alphabetical last name (usually 6 to a row). After attendance, the students would focus their attention on the second whiteboards which had the daily lesson on there. I would read out the lesson plan for the day and then show students what I want using demos so that students can both looks and listen to what is required of them. After a quick demonstration, students would be given a couple minutes to practice what was just shown before progressing into the main part of the lesson.

 

Similar to my PSII experience, the whistle was my main tool as the attention getter. Again, 2 whistles meant that I wanted students attention and 1 whistle meant to "GO" when we were playing a game. 

I set up an environment that allowed students to experience and at times fail at a particular skill before adjusting and providing help to individuals or as a mass message to the class on particular things that need to be addressed.

 

CTF Fitness classes were set very different from the Phys Ed expectations. Students would meet in the workout room fully changed and prepared for an active exercise. The climate for this class was that of enjoyment but also of working hard. Activities that these classes consisted of were a run around the town, run around the trace, inside (video) workout and yoga.  

 

Health 9 was treated as a student-centered and student-oriented classroom where students were in charge of their learning. The topics we talked about required them to think of personal examples and reflect on how individuals respond to situations and scenarios.

 

In all classes that I teach and/or being associated with, I try and create an environment that allows students to relax and enjoy their time. That means communication and instruction through humor, relate to students on issues/topics, along with having a goofy relationship with students that allows students to get out of their sheltered zone and enjoy their time.

 

 

 

 

PSII:

 

From week 1, the standards were set. In Phys Ed, the students knew that upon arrival, they were to sit in the allocated area for attendance. After attendance, the students would do the warm-up that was written on the whiteboard. Throughout my time, it was very rare that I had the gym to myself, usually 2 or 3 classes in the gym together ranging around 40-60 kids at any given time. With large numbers in a gym class, getting students attention had to be precise and standard for everybody. The use of the whistle was something that my UC recommended so that I save my voice as projecting my voice is difficult to maintain over time and may eventually strain it or lose it. The rules set were as follows: 2 blows of the whistle meant stop everything and listen. 1 whistle meant "GO" on whatever activity we were doing. 

 

 

In K + E  Science, the physical structure of the room was set in traditional fashion with rows, one behind the other. The climate was one of maximum involvement as notes were read out with and by students. Each slide I would have a student read a paragraph and then paraphrased back to the class using their own words so that they are not just reading but also comprehending what they just read. As in every class, there are students that love to volunteer and read and there are others that dread reading out loud for various reasons. Students had the option to pass on a read but at least one (sometimes twice) a week each person would read out loud a bit of the lecture notes to the class. A lot of what we did was shared work, notes, and experiments. I wanted to set an environment that feeds off student involvement and works in the form of inquiry, allowing students to explore their passions within the unit and also provide personal examples to aid in the conversations.

 

 

 

 

PSI:

 

From day 1, it was obvious that the structure and the environment of the classroom were developed with care and with great guidance. Students knew their roles and expectations which made my job all that easier. As days progressed, my roles as the student teacher were beginning to transform into a head teacher role where due to their great foundation, I could simply go on with the teaching necessities and only deal with the occasional minor problems.

 

I believe that my mentor teacher at Mike Mountain Horse School is really talented in many ways but shines the most in creating a positive learning/classroom environment. Each student that she teaches know her expectations and what is needed to be done to reach the standards. It was something that was really sweet to see and because of this, when it was time for me to take on a lesson, the standards or “norms” as Mrs. C calls it were the same. As the weeks progressed, my teaching slots and transitions were really smooth as in the students reacted no differently to my teaching as if it was Mrs. C at the front of the class.

 

In all, the classroom structure and climate were build on a solid foundation and upon my arrival into my PS1, the structure and climates just kept on raising and becoming more and more of a norm. There are many things that I took out of my PS1 in this department, but I believe that the initial relationship building that I did in my first week helped dramatically into the continuation of building a positive learning environment.