Before You Start

Classroom environment is so important in the classroom. According to Joan Young, "simply put, students learn better when they view the learning environment as positive and supportive. A positive environment is one in which students feel a sense of belonging, trust others, and feel encouraged to tackle challenges, take risks, and ask questions." In this course, you will learn about the educational theories that will help you understand why classroom environment is important. You will then move onto what classroom environment is and what it consists of, and then finish off with looking at your classroom and the environment you have set up. In order to be successful in this course, you should read/watch the videos and think about things. Do not just read to read. Really think about what it means and think about your own classroom and how they relate.

Also, before you start, make sure you create an account with Proboards and FlipGrid so that you can participate in group discussions.

Module Objective

Participants will determine how they can make their classroom a positive, welcoming environment for students.

Task 1

My Classroom

Now is the moment you have been waiting for... it is time to change your classroom to make it a more positive classroom environment!

You learned about what it takes to make a positive classroom environment, you thought about your own classroom and what you do well and what you need to improve, now you get to act on what you want to improve.

If you did not think about what you want to improve, take the time to think of 3 things you want to improve when it comes to your classroom environment. Is it the physical space? The way you respond? The activities you do in the room?

Watch this video of a classroom that has the discussion about classroom environment. Think about your class and how you can have conversations like this with them to change your classroom environment.

Once you know what you want to improve, please log onto proboard and post what you want to improve in your room and why. Then, take some time to comment on 2 other peoples posts. Think about what they can do to change what they want to change.

Task 2

My Classroom

First, read these 2 articles to help you figure out how you can go about improving the 3 sections you chose.

1. Strategies to Improve Classroom Environment

2. Improving Classroom Environment

Next, write a short essay explaining what you are going to do to improve your classroom environment. In this essay, be sure to include:

1. Introduction

2. What you learned in this course

3. The three areas you are going to work on to improve and why you chose them

4. How you are going to change those three things in your classroom to make it more positive

5. Conclusion

Once you have completed the essay, the last thing to do is act. It is one thing to identify what is wrong and what you want to do to change it, but it is another thing to do it. Even though the course will come to a close, keep the checklist. In a month or so, go back through the check list to see if what you decided to do and change helped you to create a more positive classroom environment. If so, pick 3 more things to change and work on those! If not, think about what you did, how it affected your classroom, and what you can do to change it to be more positive.

Thank you for participating in this course! I hope you found it useful. Now go and change your room to make it more positive and welcoming!!

References

Strategies and Tips to Improve a Classroom Climate. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://teaching.monster.com/benefits/articles/9883-strategies-and-tips-to-improve-a-classroom-climate

Stoller, K. (2016, February 16). Top 10 Ways to Improve Your Learning Environment. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/top-10-ways-improve-your-learning-environment-kevin-stoller/