CREATING AND MAINTAINING A CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT

Creating and Maintaining a Classroom Environment Conducive to Student's Learning

Creating and Maintaining a Classroom Environment Conducive to Student's Learning

Introudction

In order to teach everybody's children, classroom teachers must create powerful learning environments that support varied instructional approaches and give students different ways of interacting with and learning from one another. These environments are emotionally, socially, and physically safe for learning, and they encourage students' growth and development. Creating these environments calls for us to know a wide variety of cooperative learning strategies, which are reflected in the workshop activities, and to effectively design and manage our classrooms. (Cheng, 2004)

It is necessary to create a proper classroom environment in order for students to learn from one another in flexible working relationships and increase their capacity to master new knowledge and make thoughtful, meaningful connections from lesson to lesson. It lets teachers create instructional areas-such as unique learning, interest, and media centers-and thus offers students varied learning opportunities that can accommodate their learning needs and special interests. As children learn from each other in a variety of ways, the effective use of classroom space can support the use of a variety of learning experiences at the same time. This, in turn, contributes to the development of self-regulated, lifelong learners.

Well-designed classrooms are characterized by high levels of student cooperation, academic success, and task involvement. Teachers work to develop intrinsic motivation as a locus of control-creating lifelong learners in the process. That is why effective classroom environments create multiple learning opportunities capable of addressing students' diverse needs and enhancing their satisfaction and academic performance.

Teachers who want to develop effective classroom managements must begin by examining the nature of their relationships with students. Rather than being a distraction, these relationships must be actively cultivated in order to promote students' social and moral development and to make the teacher more effective in teaching academics.

The classrooms must be learner-centered, knowledge-centered, and assessment-centered, all while interacting with the classroom- and external-community.

The classroom environments meet the instructional needs of students by exposing them to a variety of highly motivating and stimulating multilevel instructional activities. Teachers should devote time to assessing their own classroom design at various times of the year.

Student Involvement

Involving students in the classroom provides the sense of ownership in their learning. It is easier to keep most students engaged in a lesson when they are participating through discussions, labs, projects and other student centered activities. Once engaged, students create their own respectful classroom environment through their interactions with the teacher and other students. When the teacher models respectful behavior as well then students further their understanding of how to show respect. (Brekelmans, 2002)

Another way to involve students is through classroom meetings. In a class meeting students should feel comfortable asking questions, providing their opinions and also supporting their classmates. The meetings should also provide students with the opportunity to make decisions about some classroom rules and expectations, such as seating charts.

Classroom Expectations

Whether provided by the teacher or created by the class, classroom ...