Rationale 1:
Culture of Improvement
The learning environment that I fostered in my classroom during my first four weeks of Student Teaching at Moss Elementary focused on student improvement. This focus was introduced to me in my language arts field placement experience. This approach is important to me because not all students come to the classroom from the same educational background or life experience. Focusing on grade level achievement benchmarks at a school like Moss where the student population consists of refugee and immigrant populations does not serve the students’ needs. Fostering a culture of collaborative improvement in all areas such as behavior, sports, creative arts and teamwork as well as improving in the mastery of core academic subjects allows students who, due to circumstances outside of their control, feel a sense of accomplishment equal to those who are more likely to achieve academically. To encourage this collaborative learning environment, I implemented a Super Improver Wall based on the principles taught in Chris Biffle’s Whole Brain Teaching model. The Super Improver Wall allows students to see where they have improved in comparison with other students improvement track and encourages healthy progression between all ability levels. I will continue to use this self-motivating, socially encouraging tool in my future teaching experiences.Rationale 2:
Student-led Classroom Management
During my student teaching placement at Quail Hollow Elementary, I was able to practice guiding my students toward a classroom management approach that they developed as a group. Students were taking a long time to transition between activities and were frequently getting off-task. I lead them in a whole group discussion where we identified why this was not an effective use of their time and how it was detrimental to their learning. As a group, they decided to come up with a word that they could use with each other that would help them to remember that conversation. The word they chose was TEAM. From that time onward, when students could tell that they were distracted or taking to long to accomplish a task, they would often say TEAM to each other. That would allow the students to regroup and get back on task. This student-led classroom management approach proved to be highly effective and encouraged positive social and collaborative interactions. This is the type of classroom environment I will aim to achieve in my teaching career.
Standard 3 Learning Environments
© William Eggington 2019
The teacher works with learners to create environments
that support individual and collaborative learning,
encouraging social interaction, active engagement in
learning, and self-motivation.
Mr.Eggington
© William Eggington 2018
