Creating Productive Learning Enviornemnts

Topic: What are the procedures the teacher uses to make everything run smoothly in the class?

During my field work, I was able to observe countless little procedures that had to be met in order to make a regular classroom function, let alone a contained classroom.  Although "Mrs. Kay" only had 11 students in her class they needed more rules and expectations than a classroom full of 30 students.  The most important procedure that "Mrs. Kay" used to run her class was numbers, when I say this I talking about the number of teachers present in the classroom and with the students at all times.  In this particular classroom things worked out best when there were 3 or more teachers in class; one at the reading table, one at the math table and at least one at workshops.  When I first went to "Mrs. Kay's" class I thought, wow this is a lot of teachers, but in certain situations more than one person is needed to monitor the students and more importantly, it boosts their learning.

The second most important procedure "Mrs. Kay" used in her class was the color system.  At the beginning of the year each student was given a color to represent them in class.  The student's colors were then put all over the room, they were on their name tags, in their cubbies, on their folders, crayons, math books, the chore list and most importantly on the floor to line up and leave class.  The reason I say most important is because if there was one thing the teachers fought more than anything it was the line. It was always a race to be first in line, the student would cut in front of each other, push each other and yell when they didn't get their way.  There were certain things the teachers would do to help the students behave in line such as only taking the students who were quiet to recess first until the rest of the class could quiet down.  The teachers would also take the whole class back to the room and start over when everyone was quiet.

Overall "Mrs. Kay's" classroom ran pretty smoothly.

Best Teaching Practices

Topic: What strategies does the teacher use to actively engage the students? How effective are these?

"Mrs. Kay" has been teaching for many, many years all of which she has spent in special education.  I have learned countless things from her, the most important thing in my opinion has been her positive attitude.  This might not be a physical teaching tool, but I would watch a student in her class act out and say hurtful, mean things and "Mrs. Kay" would never fail to respond in a warm and kind way that would have a calming effect both on herself and the student.  Was it effective?  Very, all of the student had come to love her and it created an environment where the students learned so much more than they would have had she not reacted to situations the way she did.  Another tool I have seen "Mrs. Kay" use ,along with other teachers, is classroom responsibility everyday during opening exercises.  Each student in "Mrs. Kay's" class was assigned a color at the start of the school year and these colors were used to help keep students aware of their roles in the classroom without help from the teacher.  Was it effective? Yes, I think the students enjoyed having their own responsibilities and consequences for not being prepared for their daily class duties.  Also, it help keep the students attention during opening exercises.

Another great and inspiring trick "Mrs. Kay" used was teachers choice.  During the week, if the students were well behaved "Mrs. Kay" would offer teachers choice every Friday were she would spend time with the class as a whole watching a short movie, sharing an interactive story, learning a new song, or my personal favorite, cooking.  Was it effective?  Yes, again "Mrs. Kay's" positive attitude would come into play, but the students would have so much fun with her learning something new that she was so excited about.  Her excitement was contagious.  Lastly,  I know I have discussed this strategy before, but it works so well for the particular group of students "Mrs. Kay" teaches and that is centers.  Throughout the day in her class the student rotate from the reading table to the math table to workshops where they practice important skills in counting, spelling, and writing.  Was this effective?  Probably more so than any other tool "Mrs. Kay" used because it gave the students more free range to decide what they wanted to do first in workshops and always kept their mind moving.

The Roles of The Teacher

Topic: What do you think is the most important role a teacher plays? Why?

I think there are numerous roles a teacher plays within the school, the community, and most importantly the classroom.  These are such roles as being a leader, a counselor, a coordinator, and a friend.  All the roles of a teacher are both significant and powerful.  As a teacher we have to do what we can to help better the community and its schools.  This might include tutoring children over the summer to help raise their reading level or participating in a city council meeting about a new library.  No matter what a teacher might be doing to help his or her students, it all boils down to what I consider to be the most important and powerful role a teacher can play, and that is setting a good example.

I think that being a good example to your students really encompasses almost every role a teacher can play.  A particular habit comes to mind when I think of my own 5th grade teacher and that is reading.  In my short time spent in the classroom I have notice that a majority of students today would rather play with an ipad or on the computer than pick up a book and read.  What better way to encourage your students to read then to practice what you preach.  I also feel like setting the example of learning is very important, during my field work "Mrs. Kay" always made it point to share something she loved learning about and her excitement was contagious.  Being a good example might seem like a more general role of a teacher, however most everything a teacher does is witnessed by students or community members everywhere they go.