Journal # 6

 Educational Psychology Chapter 11:  Effective Learning Environments 

Journal #6 

Chapter eleven focused on effective learning environments. Throughout this journal entry I will be discussing and responding to the following questions. 

• How did you feel about the concept?
• How is this concept significant concerning the context of your classroom?
• How might you use what you learned to become a better teacher?
• If this event sparked additional questions, what are they and what actions will you take to address them?
• After researching your additional questions, what information knowledge and or skills did you gain?  

My feelings about effective learning environments

I feel that effective learning environments speaks for itself. Learning can’t take place in chaos. The strategies that I read about can be used in most teaching situations no matter if it’s elementary, middle, or high school learning environment. Slavin writes, there is not magic or charisma to make you an effective classroom manager (p. 280). The Of course, these should be used at the teacher’s discretion for age appropriateness.   During the reading I found that effective classroom management is a great way to get student engagement and build connections in the learning environment. Research showed me that classroom management is defined as providing an effective learning environment includes strategies that teachers use to create a positive, productive, classroom experience (Slavin, 2021, p.280). Research also showed me that discipline is methods used to prevent behavior problems or to respond to existing behaviors so as to reduce their occurrence in the future (Slavin, 2021, p.281). There cannot be one without the other. One thing that I learned is the power of nonverbal proximity.  After reading the text I learned, if a student has something that or she should not have during these non-verbal cued communicate the same message “I see what you are doing”, I don’t like it, please get back to work (Slavin, 2021). I don’t know why this was so eye opening, but it was. The way that this simple movement represents this message is a great tool that I plan on using continuously. 

Effective learning environment are significant for everyday learning and development for the teacher. I have found that having good classroom management leads to more successful learning results. I’ve experienced effective learning environments. Over time I learned ways to better the experience for myself and the students. Everything must be put in place to create a learning environment that is geared to support the students’ academics. It is important to maximize instructional time but I cannot orchestrate my classroom like the military or like a drill Sargent. This includes my attitude and enthusiasm in the classroom. There are many interruptions that take place during an instructional day that a teacher cannot avoid such as fire drills, schedule changes, announcements, etc. However, there are some interruptions that are in the teacher’s control. Avoiding interruptions takes planning (Slavin, 2021, p. 283). Interruptions that are within a my control typically happen within the learning environment during instruction such as visitors walking into the classroom, students asking questions when the teacher has not finish explaining, or sidebar conversations about things that are not on subject. Putting rules and cues in place before this is the best way to prevent these types of instructional interruptions. When testing I put do not disturb signs, we are testing, and etc. 

Ther are many ways that effective learning environments can be created. Slavin states, “setting up an effective learning environment is a matter of knowing a set of techniques that any teacher can learn and apply (p. 280)”. A large part of creating an effective learning environment is related to the planning through managing time to execute. Effective learning environments can be used in a variety of ways. The one that stands out the most for me is time management and routine procedures should be aligned with each other to manage effective instruction. Some classroom routines and procedures to consider are procedure for instruction, transitioning, and classroom order. Giving students responsibilities to student helpers is an opportunity for this implementation. For example, table monitors can be used to collect their classmates work when the students are done (Slavin, 2021) and place them in the return basket or the teacher’s designated area. Another example is to have student helpers take messages to the front office, erase the board, and any other time-consuming tasks (Slavin, 2021). The instructional layout is another way to create classroom procedures. I typically start my class with a pre-instructional activity. This is a slide on the PowerPoint posted on the interactive white board when the students walk in. This slide tells the students what they need for the day. For example, yellow book (Ga Studies book), textbook, pencil, one sheet of paper, etc. If I teach more than one content, I will create one for each. This prepares the students for the opening and content without me having to say anything. Dr. Bell stated, “as the students come in the room, I have a check sheet where I circle their names to make sure they are here”. During this time, I take the attendance as well. 

Slavin, R. E. (2021). Educational psychology: Theory and practice (13th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Pearson Education.