Organizes Space, Time, and Interaction
Description of Standard: Good teachers create classroom environments that are conducive to learning. English teachers should provide a safe and inclusive environment for interaction that promotes intellectual engagement and opportunities for all students to grapple with significant questions in the discipline. English teachers recognize that discourse is the engine that drives learning. Classroom interaction is a result of planning wisely, with the intersection of students and content in mind. This involves staying focused on relevant information and activities, and warrants attention to the physical classroom environment, the use of time, and the purposeful use of appropriate technology.
Abstract: Effective teaching requires a safe, friendly, and comfortable classroom environment. Throughout my internship year, I recognized the importance of purposeful routines and structure, the trade-offs of numerous classroom technologies, and the impact of different classroom arrangements and designs. The following artifacts represent a few of the classroom routines, seating arrangements, materials, and technologies I used to support my learning objectives and students’ intellectual engagement.
Routines: Classroom Calendar & Daily Objectives
Classroom routines are important for a variety of reasons. They can give the classroom a sense of structure, facilitate teaching and learning, and even simplify classroom management. To demonstrate my use of classroom routines, I have provided a screenshot of our English 12 classroom calendar and a picture of one of my daily objectives. Every Monday, I open the electronic Google calendar and discuss the weekly activities and assignments. This way students know what to expect, and they can plan accordingly and see how we are progressing within the unit. Absent students can also access this calendar from home and catch up on readings and other assignments. Moreover, I highlight the daily objective(s) at the beginning of each lesson and explain to students how we are going to work towards each objective through the upcoming activities and assignments. I am explicit about our learning goals so that students know why each day matters. Thus, both the calendar and the daily objectives provide structure in our classroom and promote student learning.
Environment: Organizing the Classroom Space
Below, I have provided a small variety of pictures that illustrate some of the different classroom arrangements and visual tools I used to support my instruction and lessons. I believe that the classroom environment should be dynamic! I frequently move desks around to fulfill the needs of each lesson and activity. For instance, if the beginning of class calls for teacher modeling, I will have the students sit in columns and face the front of the room. Then, for small group and more student-centered activities, I will ask students to move the desks together in turtle-shaped clusters, which encourage more collaboration and discussion among students. Additionally, the classroom walls reflect each unit’s key topics and concepts. The Figurative Language Word Wall (for English 12) and Heart of Darkness Concept Map (for AP English) are both instructional tools and visual reminders of their respective unit’s content, and students are encouraged to take gallery walks and pictures for their own academic purposes. In these ways, my classroom environment reflects my instructional goals, the daily objectives, and the academic content.
Incorporating Technology: ePortfolio Project*
The ePortfolio rubric and tasks artifact illustrates the meaningful incorporation of technology. The ePortfolio Project is designed to provide a platform for students to reflect on their learning and share their accomplishments and insights beyond the walls of the classroom. I gave students a list of online platforms to choose from, and I encouraged students to personalize their websites. At the end of each unit, students are required to complete one or more ePortfolio tasks relating to the unit’s essential themes, questions, or skills. Using their ePortfolios, students published multimedia and reflected on their previous assignments and learning processes. Therefore, this project promotes metacognition and digital literacy skills, which are invaluable in our increasingly high-paced, technological society.
*This artifact was created in collaboration with my mentor teacher.
Click here to watch my "How to Create a Weebly" instructional video.
Click here to watch my "How to Create a Weebly" instructional video.