Creating Productive Learning Environments

In my Service Learning placement I have great opportunities to make connections with the concepts I am learning in my education class. I am understanding that giving choices to students is very important for their motivation and success. There has been times my cooperative teacher has offered her students a choice. Just last week, she placed four different poems on the board. The students were asked to choose one poem to rewrite and draw a picture about. This gave the students freedom to make their own choice, which I could see encouraged them and they were excited about the assignment. 

It is very important to make your students feel loved and safe. In my Service Learning placement my teacher knows how important this is for creating a classroom community. At the beginning of the school year the teacher explains the classroom rules. Rule #1 Respect others, respect yourself, respect your school. Rule #2 Listen when your teacher is talking. Rule #3 Be safe, be kind, be honest. Rules teach the children the teacher cares, and if she cares about them they know they are loved  and she wants them to be safe. 

To establish good classroom behavior the teacher must first establish a positive relationship with each student. To accomplish this each student must feel important to the teacher. When the student speaks, the teacher should always listen without interruption. This shows the student the teacher cares. When the teacher observes the positive behavior of a student, the teacher should always point this out to build the students' self-esteem. It is so important to get to know the students, show them you care, and support them. They will feel they belong and will trust the teacher. A student that knows they are safe and loved will give respect to the teacher and to the class which in turn will create good classroom behavior.

Classroom Rules