Ana Morillo

Inquiry into Student Learning Critical Task

I believe that classroom management should be structured,
positive, and meaningful. By structured I mean that consequences are
enforced consistently when rules are broken, expectations, norms and
procedures are followed accordingly, and students are held
accountable for behaviors. In all of this, positivity should be
communicated thus strengthening relationships between peers and the
teacher. Meaningful management means having an outcome of
learning values, skills and attitudes necessary for appropriate behavior.
Linda Alberts idea of Cooperative Discipline connects to my beliefs.
The principle teaching of The Three Cs-capable, connect, and
contribute- are essential in helping students feel a sense of
belonging(p. 69). This connects to my beliefs because when
management is structured, positive, and meaningful, students are
learning skills and having opportunities to work cooperatively during
which they are capable, connecting, and contributing. This is seen in
my field experience classroom and aligns with my beliefs of
cooperative discipline. I have observed and facilitated in reinforcing the
Criteria for Success: 1) I can show my work with a chart, diagram or
picture 2) I can select a strategy and use operations to show my work
3) I can show every single step I used to solve my problem 4) I have
evidence to prove how I solved my problem. Criteria for Effective

Listening entails: 1) I will turn my body towards the speaker 2) I will

ask questions 3) I will be able to summarize 4) I will check for accuracy
5) I will ask my group if they understand 6) I can restate anything my
group discusses (FEAP 2c). These demonstrate Alberts three Cs
because in this management procedure group norms are created to
structure appropriate behavior. Students are capable of explaining and
clarifying, they are connecting to each other by supporting and
accepting others, and lastly they are able to contribute ideas and
positive self-esteem. Establishing these norms helps students feel a
sense of belonging because in these moments students are engaged
with each other and have opportunities to feel important in the
classroom. These procedures are facilitated every day and are
structured so that students are aware of their expectations when
sharing and when listening to a group (FEAP 2b). The Criteria for
Success and Criteria for Effective Listening are both positive and
meaningful because the wording is positive and shows every student is
capable of doing it. The listening criteria includes ways for students to
stay engaged and they are accountable for their learning as well as
their peers learning. This connects to my belief of classroom
management being structured, positive, and meaningful.
There are many different aspects to consider when talking about the
learning environment of your classroom. One would be the use of
space. In the 5th grade classroom I have been interning in, I can see

that this teacher uses her instructional teaching strategy as a way to

arrange her classroom. Because this teacher uses a lot of group work,
the seats are arranged in groups. The seats have been moved various
times since August, but she is always keeping the theme of groups.
When moving the students seats, she is always keeping in mind their
individual learning needs(FEAP 2h). As the year has gone by she has
learned crucial things about each student that gives her a better idea
of where to seat them. Not only have we learned more about their
learning needs, but also about their personalities that also affect where
they sit and by whom. Ensuring that the students are seated with other
students that they work well with is very important because it goes
along with making sure they are comfortable in their seats and in the
classroom. Therefore multiple changes have been made to give each
student the best chance at learning and being seated somewhere they
feel comfortable and will be most effective. This is how the needs of
my learners are supported by the arrangement of the desks. For
example, the students that that are prone to inattentiveness are those
seated closer to the front, including the student, E.J., with ADHD. Not
only is this particular student in the front, but we also tend to his needs
as a learner and accommodate him whenever possible. For example,
he is given a regular eraser when working with the white erase board
instead of the cotton glove that the other students use(FEAP 2i).This
is because the glove distracts him and he is better off with a regular

eraser that will not increase his inattentiveness. E.J. and other
students who are often distracted are sitting on a wobble chair. This
seat allows for them to focus on sitting on the chair and will help keep
them focused on the particular task or lesson.
According to James Levin and James F. Nolan (2014), An
effective seating arrangement allows the teacher to be in close
proximity to all students(p. 153). This classrooms seating
arrangement is effective because not only are the table groups turned
to a point so that every student can see the instructional presentation
but the teacher can see each student and reach to each of them
without disturbing others. This supports the needs of my learners
because all of the students are given the same opportunity to
physically see the instruction while seated as well as not being
disturbed due to all of the desks being easily accessible by the teacher
and students. http://anamorillo2.weebly.com/level-3-blog/task-6 In this
blog I wrote about rearranging the seating arrangement, I also included
the original seating arrangement and then the new one that I took part
in making. I tagged FEAPS 2a, 2f, and 2h.
My classroom consists of a very diverse group of learners who all
have one thing in common: they love helping each other learn. They
are so involved with their peers that discussion and peer teaching is
highly encouraged. This impacts how we structure the classroom
environment and instruction in order to meet their needs because we

make sure to include time for peers to work together to solve a

problem, answer each others questions, and share their thinking with
each other. We also encourage students to challenge each other as
well as be accountable for their peers learning.
In the first week of school, the students took part in creating the
classroom rules. My CT had the students engaged in rule-making
because she believes that they deserve to create rules for their
classroom in order to feel like they belong and have a place. This also
holds the students more accountable for following these rules and
following the procedure for when the rules are broken. This is
something I would like to enact once I have my own classroom. This
belief connects to Linda Alberts principle teaching: Teachers should
work cooperatively with students to develop a classroom code of
conduct. The code of conduct stipulates the kind of behavior expected
of everyone in the class(p. 69). The first step was creating a list of
rules that would be necessary to create a positive community in their
classroom. My CT had her own idea of rules that should be included
and at the end had her own suggestions to add and allowed for the
students to agree/disagree. These rules are posted in the classroom
and are referred to as a reminder when reinforcing behavior. The clip
chart in the classroom set up consequences. This clip chart is used as a
consequence throughout this school, so the students were familiar with

it when they entered. Some behaviors that result in a clip moving down
are yelling out, not being kind, and not being on task.
This classroom focuses a lot on peer teaching, so there is a Criteria
for Success and Criteria for Effective Learning posted in the
classroom that describe the procedure for peer teaching and what the
student will be doing while peers are up at the board. According to
James Levin and James F. Nolan (2014), Functioning skills are groupmanagement skills aimed at influencing the types of interactions that
occur among group members. These skills include staying focused on
the task, expressing support and acceptance of others, asking for help
or clarification, offering to explain or clarify, and paraphrasing or
summarizing what others have said(p. 182). Enacting the Criteria for
Success and Criteria for Effective Listening procedures and rules are
supporting students in functioning successfully and develops group
norms that lead students to be engaged in learning activities, strive
toward learning and achievement, and interact with each other in ways
that will facilitate the development of positive self-esteem(James
Levin and James F. Nolan, 2014, p.182). Creating these group norms to
structure appropriate behavior is influencing positive peer interactions,
support and opportunities.
FEAP 2: The Learning Environment. To maintain a studentcentered learning environment that is safe, organized,

equitable, flexible, inclusive, and collaborative, the effective

educator consistently:
2a: Organizes, allocates, and manages the resources of time,
space, and attention
Example: http://anamorillo2.weebly.com/level-3-blog/task-6
2b: Manages individual and class behaviors through a wellplanned management system.
Example: http://anamorillo2.weebly.com/level-3blog/category/feap-2b
2c: Conveys high expectations to all students.
Example: The students in my field experience classroom are all
held to high expectations and these two charts keep them
accountable. They are reminded of these criterion before sharing with
the class and when involved in group work.

2d: Respects students' cultural linguistic and family

background.
Example: http://anamorillo2.weebly.com/level-3-blog/line-up-task
2e: Models clear, oral, and acceptable communication skills.
Example: http://anamorillo2.weebly.com/level-3-blog/task-3
2f: Maintains a climate of openness, inquiry, fairness and
support.
Example: http://anamorillo2.weebly.com/level-3blog/category/feap-2f
2g: Integrates current information and communication
technologies.
Example: In my level 2 internship I created a technology infused
lesson plan. The technology was used to make the information more

viewable for my students as a whole. We were able to use the

worksheet as a class when it was projected on the Elmo. This
technology also allowed for the lesson to be more interactive because
students were drawing in their answers on the white board.

2h: Adapts the learning environment to accommodate the

differing needs and diversity of students.
Example: http://anamorillo2.weebly.com/level-3-blog/task-6
2i: Utilizes current and emerging assistive technologies that
enable students to participate in high-quality communication
interactions and achieve their educational goals.
Example: http://anamorillo2.weebly.com/level-3blog/category/feap-2i

The way I describe my philosophy aligns with my enactment in

my classroom. My facilitation of the learning environment impacts the
learners in my classroom because I am able to give them a structured
learning experience filled with positive peer opportunities that teach

them lifelong skills. My actions in the classroom have impacted

students meeting the objectives set for them socially and
academically because accommodating their learning needs with
assistive technology and adapting the learning environment has made
them feel more comfortable in their classroom. Students are now able
to communicate better with their peers and feel connected. I focused
on my students who got distracted easily, and those students
inattentiveness has improved due to the wobble chairs given to them
and this has also improved their learning. Enacting a positive peer
collaborative management system has impacted my students socially
by increasing their self-esteem and encouraging them to reach their
full potential by challenging themselves as well as others.