Learning Environment

This was a lesson that was created for my cooperating classroom during my time of student teaching on February 17, 2023. It contains a lesson on subtracting within 1,000 and it is centered in a second grade classroom. The goal of this lesson was to show students different strategies for subtracting, but in a clear communicative way. This lesson also focused on what behaviors are appropriate when working individually so that we (as a class) can reach the goals of completion/understanding of the topic. 

This lesson was of great importance in the classroom because although the topic of the lesson was math, it focused on the mutual respect between the students that was necessary in completing the academic task. This lesson “create(d) clear expectations and procedures for communication and behavior” (4J) by setting out clear rules and creating more rules for the class to follow in order to achieve the goal of completing the task. This lesson is meeting this goal as the structure sets clear expectations for the students not only within the academic standards, but the social-emotional as well. 

From this lesson, I was able to gain a great understanding of how important it is to have clear standards and expectations for the students in order for the students to feel respected and to reach the academic goals. Structure is always an important attribute to lessons, but with this lesson I was able to gain a better understanding that it is necessary for every lesson to be able to run well and for the students to behave appropriately. In my future classroom, I will continuously keep the structure of my classroom organized in order to create the best learning environment for the students.

This image shows a seating chart that I created for the month of March for my cooperating classroom during my time of student teaching in 2023. Each month I would create a new seating chart in order for the students to get to know other students, help control behavioral issues, and to experience a new environment. In this month, I tried a new technique of having the students in rows rather than tables to allow for lesson distractions from being in a table.

This new technique of a seating chart allowed me to create a “...healthy environment that maximizes student learning” (4I). I was able to do this by spreading out the behavioral issues and placing students in areas that would help them reach their full potential in learning. By creating this environment, I was able to see what works and what didn’t work in helping the students reach their highest level of concentration and engagement in the classroom. It is of great importance to create this type of environment so that the class is able to run smoothly with active engagement, mutual respect, and positive social interaction within the classroom. 

Although a seating chart may seem simple, it is of great importance and is a key component in a classroom. I was able to understand this with the four months that I was able to create these different seating charts and how valuable it is to put the students in the best fitting spots. It is very important to hold onto this understanding as I go into my future practice because how the classroom is set up is the foundation of how the classroom will run.