Creating
Productive
Learning
Environments
ED 1010
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Characteristics of Productive
Learning Environments
• A focus on learning
– Effective schools: Academic focus
•
A focus on learners
– Classrooms as learning
communities
– Personal and social development
– Positive classroom climate
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Classroom as
Learning Communities
• Inclusiveness: all students participate
and believe they can succeed.
• Respect for others: students respect the
teacher and other students.
• Safety and security: students feel safe
and protected. Blind Caterpillar: Team Building
• Trust and connectedness: students
count on each other for help and
assistance.
Make a Machine
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Personal Development
• Self-discipline and motivation to
learn
• Organizational skills and goal setting
• Personal and moral responsibility
• Control of personal impulses
• Self-awareness in terms of personal
strengths, needs, and values
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Social Development
• Students’ ability to interact with
and get along with others
• Perspective taking: the ability to
understand the thoughts and
feelings of others
• Social problem solving: the ability
to resolve conflicts in ways that are
beneficial to all involved
Conflict Resolution Scenario
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Social Skills That Develop in
Productive Learning
Environments
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Perspective taking
Social problem solving
Respect for others
Working cooperatively with
classmates
• Empathy and compassion
• Appreciation of diversity
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Positive Classroom
Climate
• Emotional and physical
environment of a classroom
– Pleasant surroundings
– Displays respect students
– Procedures for a safe and orderly
classroom
– Respectful and friendly
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Essential Human Elements of
Productive Learning
Environments
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Caring
Personal teaching efficacy
Positive expectations
Modeling and enthusiasm
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Communicating Caring
• Learning students’ names quickly and
calling on students by their first name
• Greeting students daily and getting to know
them as individuals
• Using effective nonverbal communication
such as making eye contact and smiling
• Using “we” and “our” in reference to class
activities and assignments
• Spending time with students
• Demonstrating respect for students as
individuals Formations
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Personal Teaching
Efficacy
• Belief that you can make a
difference as a teacher
• Internal locus of control
• Transfers to students
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Positive Teacher
Expectations
• Teachers’ beliefs in students’
capabilities to learn
• Ways that teachers communicate
positive expectations
– Emotional support
– Teacher effort and demands
– Interactive questioning
– Feedback and evaluation
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Modeling and Enthusiasm
• The tendency of people to observe
and imitate others’ behaviors and
attitudes
• Demonstrate interest and
enthusiasm in topic
• Model appropriate behavior
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Classroom Management
• What impact does classroom
management have on learning?
• As you have observed, have you
seen good and bad examples of
classroom management?
• What made it “good”?
• What made it “bad”?
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Classroom Management
Goals
• Developing learner responsibility
• Creating a positive classroom
climate
• Maximizing opportunities for
learning
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Dimensions of
Classroom Time
• Allocated time: amount designated for a
particular topic or subject
• Instructional time: amount left for
teaching after routine management and
administrative tasks are completed
• Engaged time: time students actually
spend actively involved in learning
activities
• Academic learning time: amount of time
students are both engaged and
successful
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Elements of
Successful Management
• Preventing problems through
planning
– Rules
– Procedures
• Intervening effectively
• Handling serious management
problems
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Common Classroom Activities
Requiring Procedures
• Entering and leaving the
classroom
• Handing in and returning papers
• Accessing materials such as
scissors and paper
• Sharpening pencils
• Making trips to the bathroom
• Making up work after an absence
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Guidelines for
Effective Rules
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State rules positively.
Emphasize rationales for rules.
Minimize the number of rules.
Monitor rules throughout the
school year.
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Guidelines for
Effective Interventions
• Intervene immediately.
• Direct the intervention at the
correct student(s).
• Use the least intrusive intervention.
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Serious Management Problems:
Violence and Aggression
• Most management problems are minor
and involve day-to-day logistical and
cooperation issues.
• Steps to follow when serious problems
arise
– Stop the incident
– Protect the victim
– Get help
• Teachers are legally required to
intervene when problems occur.
• Seek the advice of administrators and
veteran teachers.
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Effective Classroom Management
in Urban Schools
• More challenging because of student
diversity and large class sizes
• Essential components for effective
management:
– Caring and supportive teachers
– Clear standards for acceptable
behavior
– Structure
– Effective instruction
Video
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Benefits of Involving
Parents
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Greater willingness to do homework
Higher long-term achievement
More positive attitudes and behaviors
Better attendance and graduation rates
Greater enrollment in postsecondary
education
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Strategies for Involving
Parents
• Communicate early, positively, and
often
• Try email communication
• Get to know students
• Use newsletters and individual
notes to emphasize positive
student accomplishments.
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Communicating with
Parents
from Diverse Backgrounds
• Cultural diversity, SES, and
caregivers for whom English is not
the first language all pose
communication challenges.
• Effective teachers make a special
effort to reach out to these parents.
• Sending home homework
guidelines and suggestions are
effective in involving parents in
their children’s education.
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