Lindsay Mccraith's Mini Course: Classroom Environment
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Overview and Purpose
Many aspects play a role in the success of students. It is the job of the teacher to ensure success in various ways. However, the education system and the way we teach are continuing to change in order to adapt to society and our student's needs. In this course it will address the crucial aspects of classroom environment and the impact it has on our students. Understanding what classroom environment is, is not only important for teachers' teaching but also very important for students' academic and mental needs. Knowing what, why, and how to create a positive classroom environment can be the difference between just passing and learning. "Learning occurs when experience causes a relatively permanent change in an individual knowledge." (Woolfolk, 2005, p. 190) (Larson and Lockee, 2019) Implementing an engaging and positive classroom environment is what keeps students motivated and gives them confidence to continue to strive for greatness. As well as creates a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment to make them feel safe but also allow teachers to effectively manage a classroom. This course is intended to provide that information to teachers and future educators who want to know just how to make that positive classroom environment possible.
The goal of this course is to educate, current and future educators on what the classroom environment is, why it is so important, and how to implement it.
Needs Assessment
What is to be learned: Educators taking this course will learn how to implement strategies and teachings to adopt and implement a positive classroom environment. Participants will learn the importance of fostering a classroom community, the differences between a positive and negative environment, how to implement strategies and teachings and activities to design a positive classroom environment.
About the learners: The learners of this course are educators, who are just starting their education/career or teachers who are looking to learn more about what classroom environment means and how to implement it. This is to support student's community and comfortability to allow them to be more successful students.
Existing efforts to address this gap: Research has shown that the correlation between the environment and engagement of a student significantly affects their motivation. (Larson and Lockee, 2020) With this, if students don't feel that sense of community and comfortability their motivation decreases, which then allows the gap to increase. It is important to create a classroom environment that allows students to succeed. This mini-course focuses on what and why classroom environment is a crucial part of students academic success.
Intent statement: We are educators who want to make an impact for our students, but how? This mini-course will help to teacher future and current educators on the impact that create a positive classroom environment can make.
Performance Objectives
Learners will be able to:
- Define classroom environment, with specific examples and aspects including culture, atmosphere, and language. I can explain and define what classroom environment is.
- Identify differences between negative and positive environments. I can understand the effects of a negative and positive classroom.
- Determine the correlation between management and engagement in relation to the classroom environment. I can explain the importance of management and engagement in the classroom.
- Explain teaching strategies and practices to implement to create a positive classroom environment. I can learn new strategies to teach to create a positive classroom environment.
Course Units
This mini-course includes the following units. Click the title of a unit to go to its page.
Unit 1: Introduction: What is classroom environment?
After this unit participants will be able to:
- Define what classroom environment is and the elements involved.
- Understand the aspects that align with classroom environment.
Unit 2: Positive vs Negative Classroom Environment
After this unit participants will be able to:
- Determine key factors that are important in creating and implementing a positive classroom environment.
- Explain and provide examples of what a negative classroom environment is and the effects it has on students.
Unit 3: Management and Motivation
After this unit participants will be able to:
- Understand the correlation between management and environment in a classroom.
- Describe and apply strategies to increase engagement within the classroom.
After this unit participants will be able to:
- Understand what community building is and activities to implement in the classroom.
- Determine the importance and ways to incorporate family engagement in students learning.
End of Course Project: Classroom Environment Philosophy
Extended Resources
- Larson, M. B. and Lockee, B. B. (2020) Streamlined ID: A Practical Guide to Instructional Design. New York, NY: Routledge.