Standard 4 - Learning Environment

Description: This is my classroom website. This will be duplicated and edited depending on which subject I would potentially teach in the future. This will provide students with a resource for where to find information regarding me, our classroom, and the course. I made website prior to becoming a teacher and through my journey to getting to my first classroom, I am sure there will be changes that need to be made. As I continue to grow as a professional, I expect that this site will grow as well. That might mean editing pages, changing pages, or adding other pages based on what I believe needs to be added or taken away. 

Connection to Illinois learning standard 4: Creating this website is relevant and a large part of the Illinois Professional Teaching Standard 4-Learning Environment because it gives the student and parents an inside look at what my class will be. It is very important that the rules, expectations, procedures, etc. is information that all my students and their families should have access to. This proves that I understand multiple indicators "know how to assess the instructional environment to determine how best to meet a student’s individual needs" which is necessary per knowledge indictors (4E). "understands principles of and strategies for effective classroom and behavior management" (4A). "knows strategies to implement behavior management and behavior intervention planning to ensure a safe and productive learning environment" (4G).This page will help the student to know what the tone of the classroom is going to be for the duration of the course.

Self-evaluation: Creating a classroom website was extremely important to my growth as a student moving into a career in education because there are things that I was aware of but didn’t know could be specified or customized to my liking. I realized how necessary it is to create specificity for those who need it. The idea of creating my own classroom environment and setting the tone for my class is something that once established should be the road map for all my students to understand how to be successful in my classroom. I remember as a student that my teachers had specific expectations for all students. Due to technology not being as advanced in the past, I would have loved having a website that I could refer back to anywhere I had the internet available. As a teacher, don’t want students to feel that it is my way or nothing. I want them to feel that this is their classroom as well and to be successful, there are specific responsibilities that all of use should follow to make sure success is achieved.

Classroom Layout

Description: The classroom is set up in rows that face my desk and the white board. This way I can see at all students are staying on task and can see the board and projection screen. This also allows for me to walk around without any obstructions in my way and it is safe for students to enter and exit the room in case of an emergency. 

Connection to Illinois learning standard 4: A classroom that has an organized arrangement will create a positive learning environment. The classroom room arrangement provides control to the teacher to put students in the best possible environment to help increase growth. This relates to the performance indicator, "modifies the learning environment (including the schedule and physical arrangement) to facilitate appropriate behaviors and learning for students with diverse learning characteristics" (4P). Students are more likely to have decreased behavior issues when they are placed in a structured classroom.

Self-evaluation: Creating a layout was extremely important to my growth as a student teacher. At first I was letting student sit where they wanted, and the desks were going moved around. I learned very quickly that I need to have a seating chart for students to control the tempo of the class. There were some students that I needed to make sure were not sitting next to each other because they would never get any work accomplished. I also made the change of not allowing students to moved desks around unless I told them to do so for group or partner work/assignments. Doing this gave me complete control of the class and I was getting more students to participate and stay on task. This made me realize that the learning environment is truly a powerful thing when teaching.