Thomas Steele

EDUC 508
Environment and Philosophy Plan Part 1

a) Learning Student Names - The first strategy I would use for learning my students’
names is to assign them to lab stations. In my class, everyone will need to have a
partner for labs anyway, so assigning them to a specific lab station, where they can
keep their lab materials, will work on basically the same principles as having assigned
seats. Assigned seats provide the teacher with an easy way to keep track of who’s who
with a seating chart, so that they don’t have to constantly ask students what their name
is, which can hurt the relationship you are trying to foster between students and
yourself. For older students, however, having assigned seats can make them feel like
they are being treated like children. Assigning them a “workstation” instead of “seats”
may help alleviate some of the negative connotations that go with this. In her book,
Secondary Classroom Management, Weinstein states that students who feel like they
are being treated “like babies” are more likely to ignore teacher instruction and openly
work against the teacher in some situations, so not making it obvious that they have
assigned seats could be helpful in trying to avoid making my students feel like that
(Weinstein, 2010).

I feel like the best strategy for learning student names is frequent interaction with
them. Asking them questions, getting involved with their work, and any other kind of
interactions with them where you can call them by name and get to know them and see
how they work is more than likely the quickest way to help cement their names in your
head, because you now don’t just have faces to go with the names, you have
personalities that you can associate with them. This will also help support that positive
relationship that Weinstein talks about. Between this and the “seating chart that’s not a
seating chart” it should be relatively easy to quickly learn names.

b) 1- ​See Next Page

Physics 101
Mr. Steele Name____________________Date_________

Who are you?

(Who? Who?)

1) What is something that interests you about Physics? Why did you take my class?

2) What is something you’d like to learn about in this class?

3) Write down something that you find interesting about yourself. Go ahead and really
brag!

4) Are you interested in any sports? Do you play any or have any favorite teams?

5) What about music? Who are your favorite bands? Do you play any music? (Brownie
points if you got the subtle music reference hidden on this sheet)

6) Do you have any interests that you’d like to share that I haven’t asked about?
2 - I think that one of the best resources for learning about students is parent-teacher
conferences. You can learn a lot about students and the environment from both what
the parents do and don’t say, and can get a little more insight into the background that
they come from without asking students questions that would be inappropriate. Open
houses are another version of this same type of interaction that can provide insight as
this often lets you see the student ​with​ their parents. A big drawback to these types of
information gathering sessions is that it may be difficult to schedule meetings with
parents who work full time. A good work-around to this can be email or video
conferences, although that also presents the problem of some families not having
access to those types of resources.

c) Showing Care and respect to my students

1) Assign students responsibility but allow them to feel that they have freedom - I
can help to promote this by allowing them the opportunity to conduct independent
work if they would like, as group work can sometimes be very stressful to
students, assigning them roles within the classroom or their group that they need
to carry out, and holding them to high standards (Weinstein, 2010, p. 73).
2) Be understanding - I can demonstrate this by listening to what my students have
to say with interest instead of acting like they have nothing important to say,
empathizing with them if they are expressing any sort of issues with me or having
difficulty with class material, showing confidence in the fact that they can
accomplish the goals that I set for them, being patient and open with them, and
trying to find ways to settle any differences within the classroom instead of
handing them off to the school administration to handle (Weinstein, 2010, p. 73).
3) Ready to offer help - I can demonstrate this by assisting students whenever I
can, showing an interest in their accomplishments, being friendly (not too
friendly) and considerate towards students, and doing my best t inspire
confidence and trust so that the students will believe that I am a worthy resource
to trust with their academic well-being (Weinstein, 2010, p. 73).

d) Creating a community of learners in my classroom -

1) Believe in students’ capabilities and attend to alterable factors - Students carry a lot of
baggage with them, whether from home or school, that as a teacher I will have little
control over. Things like family problems, arguments with friends, and even just their
backgrounds can have a major impact on how they perform in school. Many teachers
make the mistake of, at one point or another, letting any internal biases they may hold
be known to their students, which can have a big effect on how students perform. One of
the biggest things I can do to help combat this is to remember that every student has the
capability to learn and achieve. Remembering and believing this changes the way you
 interact with your students, and it is something that they can very clearly pick up on. In
remembering that all students can learn, I can focus on my students’ strengths instead of
their weaknesses, and teach to these strengths in a way that will be more meaningful to
and supportive of the students (Arends, 2011, p. 161).

2) Build on student interests and intrinsic values - Every student has a differing set of
interests which, if utilized properly, can be used to make the learning environment more
interesting and engaging for students. This can be accomplished through relating
lessons to student lives, using student names, and making materials vivid and novel.
Frequent use of student names helps to capture their attention and makes the learning
process feel more personalized to each of them. I can also use these interests to paint
more detailed scenarios within which we can set our lessons. An important caution that I
need to keep in mind with this however, is that taking it too far can turn into pure
entertainment, where students are getting nothing of educational value. Because of this,
it is important to find a balance between relevance and keeping things educational
(Arends, 2011, p. 162).

3) Structure learning to accomplish flow - Doing this helps students to be totally involved in
lessons and activities, and gives those lessons a palpable feeling of cohesiveness. In
order to accomplish this flow, I need to know my students so that I can adjust activities to
be challenging for their respective skill levels. One of the pitfalls of this is that if I make
the activity ​too​ challenging, my students could become disinterested or develop a feeling
of defeat, so the activity needs to respond to the student. In addition to this, I need to
make sure that any goals I establish for an activity are done so in a very clear manner.
Making it easy for the students to see what outcomes they are working towards not only
establish clear expectations, but help to extend student engagement in the activity being
done (Arends, 2011, p. 163).

Arends, R.I. (2011). Learning to teach (9th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.

Weinstein, C.S. (2010). Middle and secondary classroom management: Lessons from research and
practice (4th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Thomas Steele
EDUC 508
Environment and Philosophy Plan Part 2

A) Three Theories of Motivation - Behavioral theory is one of the theories of motivation

that I intend to keep in mind when teaching. This theory is defined by the direction of
behaviors through “external” events and reinforcers. A reinforcer is an event that occurs
in tandem with a behavior, the presence of which reinforces the desired behavior.
Reinforcers can be positive or negative. Positive reinforcers are stimuli that are
introduced, such as rewards, to encourage behavior, and negative reinforcers are
stimuli which reinforce a behavior when they are removed. A good example of a positive
reinforcer is giving a dog a treat when they do a trick on command. An example of a
negative reinforcer is sending a student out of class if they are disruptive. The student
sees that being disruptive gets them out of class, so they continue the behavior.
Negative reinforcers and punishment are not the same thing. Punishment reinforces
good behavior by providing unwanted consequences for bad behavior, which is different
from negative reinforcement (Arends, 2012). Keeping this in mind while teaching will
provide me with extra tools to help both keep students engaged, and guide my own
behavior. I have to be wary of using any negative reinforcement as it may encourage
the opposite of what I want to happen. Use of positive reinforcement is a simple way of
giving students a stake in whatever is going on in the classroom at that time.

Cognitive theory is another motivational theory that I plan to keep in mind as a

teacher. Simply put, cognitive theory pushes the idea that individuals are spurred to act
or not act based on their thinking. This thinking revolves heavily around their
pre-conceived beliefs that they hold about the situation or subject at hand. The piece of
this that is most important to me as a teacher is actually somewhat of a sub-theory,
attribution theory, which states that an individual’s motivation is directly tied to their
perception of the causes behind both their successes and failures. This often can lead
to misconceptions about their own abilities, efforts, the difficulty of the subject at hand,
or can even make them think that their success is dependent only on luck. A reason that
this is so important to me as a teacher is that I have been in the shoes of the student
who does not want to answer because they believe they don’t know the material, or has
gotten choked up by being forced to give an answer to a teacher when i had no
confidence in my ability to do so. This can make the classroom feel like a hostile
environment and is detrimental to learning. Keeping this theory in mind will also be
valuable in helping me to consider student actions before reacting (Arends, 2012).
 The final motivational theory I plan to keep in mind when teaching is social
cognitive theory. This theory states that motivation comes from two places: chances of
success, and the reward for said success. Arends (2012) uses the example of a student
working on a project for the local science fair. If the student believes that their project
has a good chance of winning an award, and if that award is something the student
wants, then they will retain a high level of motivation to complete the project to the best
of their ability. This ties directly into the idea of maintaining a good relationship with my
students. Holding them to high standards and expressing the fact that I believe they are
able to achieve those standards is a very important part of establishing a good
relationship with them, but according to this theory it is also directly tied to their
motivation as well (Weinstein, 2010).

b) Motivating my students - One strategy I can use to keep my students motivated in the
classroom is to make sure that I provide each and every one of them with multiple
opportunities to succeed. This is tied very closely to cognitive theory. If, for example, an
assignment was written in a way that made it seem too difficult to my students, they
may just shut down when asked to complete it because they don’t believe they are
capable of doing so (Arends, 2012). In not tailoring my assignment to my class, I am
removing opportunities for them to succeed by creating obstacles. Recognizing when I
may not have taught the material as thoroughly as I thought I had and correcting this
mistake is another example of how I can provide more opportunities for them to
succeed. Even simple things such as keeping a box of pencils and erasers at the front
of the room for them to use, or circulating around the room to make myself more
available to students can be considered as opportunities (Weinstein, 2010).

Another strategy I can utilize is to help students see a positive correlation

between effort and outcome. This is directly tied to social cognitive theory, because if
students believe that they know how to succeed at a task, they will be more motivated
to put in the necessary effort to do so (Arends, 2012). This can be done through simple
little actions such as pointing out to a student when their quiz scores have improved
because they were participating in class more or perhaps that their quiz scores have
dropped since they started taking notes. Doing so can help to make it more obvious that
there is a concrete connection between effort and results, and can be used to
encourage an existing improvement in motivation or even to turn around a student
whose motivation is declining (Weinstein, 2010).

A third strategy I can use in the classroom to help encourage students to be

motivated is simply to be enthusiastic about the material I am teaching. Let’s face it, if a
teacher isn’t interested in the material, how can they reasonably expect the students to
be? A teacher showing no enthusiasm or excitement does nothing but tell the students
that even the teacher thinks the material doesn’t matter. Showing genuine interest in the
material by sharing personal stories that pertain to it, encouraging creative questions,
and even admitting to the class when you don’t know the answer, then showing them
how to find it, shows the students that you have a stake in the material being taught and
that you enjoy it. If you enjoy the material and make that well known, at least some
students are likely to realize that there must be something worth paying attention to.
Being enthusiastic and energetic can also change the feel of the room, and make it a
more positive atmosphere, which also helps to foster engagement and motivation
(Weinstein, 2010).

Arends, R.I. (2011). Learning to teach (9th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.

Weinstein, C.S. (2010). Middle and secondary classroom management: Lessons from research and
practice (4th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Thomas Steele
EDUC 508
Environment and Philosophy Plan Part 3

A) Classroom Layout:

B) Rationale for the organization of my classroom -

1) Security and shelter - The designs of this room adhere to security and shelter in several
ways. I have placed all of the storage areas away from student seating so that no danger
is presented by any stored materials or failure of the storage area. I’ve also placed the
emergency shower/ eyewash close to the seating and at the front of the room for easy
access. The round desks are easily accessible by any wheelchair-bound students.
Posters decorate the room, and it has a carpeted floor (spills are a non-issue because
we don’t utilize chemicals in a physics class) which helps contribute to the “softness” of
the room, and makes it feel more friendly (Weinstein, 2010).
2) Interaction among students - This class and the labwork which it entails are very
collaboratively-focused. This means that I require a lot of discussion and interaction
between the students. This is why I’ve chosen round tables for student seating instead of
individual desks. The round tables, which seat six to a table, encourage discussion and
interaction, and don’t shut anyone out of the conversation simply by seating
arrangement alone. The table design improves upon the idea of desk clusters, and
 swiveling seats make it easy to turn and face the teacher during lecture periods
(Weinstein, 2010).
3) Symbolic identification - The classroom is decorated with posters, and the desk setup is
obviously not that of a normal lecture based class. The chem tops on the desks are also
clearly indicative of a science classroom (Weinstein, 2010).
4) Task Instrumentality - Each of the storage shelves at the far left of the room is organized
by unit, and are set low on the wall for easy student access. The seating arrangement,
with only six students to each of the large round tables, allows the large projector screen
at the front of the room to be easily seen. While running a class, I will be spending most
of my time floating between tables, so my desk is pushed out of the way towards the
front of the room, and exists only for storage of my own personal materials and to run
presentations from. The five desks are spaced openly, so that it is easy to move around
through the room (weinstein, 2010).
5) Pleasure - The classroom environment is arranged in what I would like to believe is a
pleasing way. It is very open and does not feel cramped, encourages social behavior,
and does not feel like a typical classroom setting. The alternate setup may be off-putting
to students at first, but students will most likely warm to it quickly, as it is not as boring
and stationary as the standard rows of desks (Weinstein, 2010).
Thomas Steele
EDUC 508
Environment and Philosophy Plan Part 4

a) Establishing clear rules for the classroom -

1) Be respectful​ - This means being aware of the personal space of other people, accepting
that others may have different opinions than you and that’s okay, not interrupting when
others are speaking, and above all, treating your peers as you want them to treat you.
We want this to be a safe and welcoming environment (Arends, 2012)
2) Follow all posted safety guidelines - ​The safety procedures are on that giant poster for a
reason*, they are important for the well being of each and every person in this room.
3) Adhere to homework deadlines - ​Due dates for homework are given so that you and your
lab partner have plenty of time to use the ideas introduced in the homework to
successfully and fully complete lab activities. Not completing the homework by the
assigned time hurts not only you, but your partner as well (Weinstein, 2010).
4) Please be on time to class - ​Many of the experiments that we run in this class take a
long time. If you come to class late, you are not only distracting others, you are depriving
yourself of the time necessary to complete the day’s activity, and you may unfairly be
sticking your partner with all the work.
5) Respect the authority of the bells - ​The bells define when class starts and when it ends.
Make sure to pay attention and act like class has started once the first bell rings, or I’ll
have to disrespect the bell and keep you past the end of class. Don’t make me
disrespect the bell.

*See the attached safety poster below

b) These rules will be introduced to the students at the beginning of the year, on a handout.
Each one will be discussed thoroughly and any questions about the rules will be answered to
the best of my ability. For the rest of the year, a poster containing these rules and one
containing the safety procedures will hang next to each other at the front of the room to serve as
a constant reminder.

Arends, R.I. (2011). Learning to teach (9th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.

Weinstein, C.S. (2010). Middle and secondary classroom management: Lessons from research and
practice (4th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Thomas Steele
EDUC 508
Environment and Philosophy Plan Part 5

Establishing Routines and Procedures -

● Weekly homeworks are due every Friday and will be returned, graded, the
following Monday
● Each student has a homework folder that sits at the front of the room on my desk.
Graded homeworks and other assignments will be placed in these folders for
students to pick up as they are returned
● No late homeworks will be accepted. Lates will be recorded as an incomplete
● I start taking attendance as soon as the bell rings, please be on time or I will have
to mark you as tardy through the online attendance submissions.
● During class, please wait to ask to go to the bathroom until we are either in
between activities or I have stopped lecturing. If it is an emergency or you are
having health problems, please don’t hesitate to ask to go to the nurse.
● The closest fire exit is left out the door and down the hall. If we should have a fire
drill, exit the room calmly and quickly, and find me once you are outdoors.
● We do not need computers often, so please do not have them out during work
time unless instructed to do so. If you have finished your work early and had it
checked by me, by all means, take them out.
● One person from each group will be assigned to gather materials during
activities. This is to keep things relatively calm in here, so please only be over at
the materials station if you are the one who has been instructed to gather
materials.
● We use small whiteboards for some activities. Please make sure that the boards
are clean and the markers are capped before returning them to the storage area.
● Bookbags may be kept beside you for storing personal items such as laptops, but
if I find that having them there is becoming a distraction, you will be asked to
place them in the back along the wall.
● Cell phones are not permitted in class. If I see a cellphone, the first time is a
warning, and the second time you will be asked to set it on my desk for the
remainder of class.
● Please try to maintain a relatively low volume during discussions. Much of what
we do in here is discussion based, so not letting things get too loud will be
necessary for all groups to interact effectively.
Thomas Steele
EDUC 508
Environment and Philosophy Plan Part 6

a) Preventing behavior problems -

1) Establishing a clear set of rules - Having a specific set of rules to lay out for the students
at the beginning of the year and reiterating them throughout the year makes clear cut
standards for them to adhere to. Without a good set of rules, student behavior can vary
wildly, leading to a number of problems (Arends, 2012).
2) Making rules and procedures explicit and clear - Another thing I can do to help prevent
misbehavior is to set very clear standards and regulations for the students, and be clear
that there will be consequences if these rules and regulations are not followed.
Misbehavior is not always intentional, and can simply come from a misunderstanding of
what the rules for the space are, so if I make these very clear, it will help to prevent any
accidental abuse of them. Adding clarity to the consequences as well will help to
discourage some students from intentional misbehavior (Arends, 2012).
3) Being consistent with enforcement of rules - Making sure that I follow through with
consequences for the breaking of any of the classroom rules is also a helpful strategy for
preventing misbehavior. Letting the students know that there are consequences is one
thing, but having them see that I act on those consequences makes it clear that I am not
just posturing, misbehavior will not be tolerated. I can’t waver in the severity of any
consequences either, because this inconsistency may lead students to think that even if
they misbehave and get caught, they might be able to negotiate less severe
consequences (Arends, 2012).
4) Pacing the class well and keeping it moving forward - Keeping the day’s lesson or
activity moving along at the proper pace lessens the chance that any students will act
out. This is because it limits down time when they are not busy, and keeps them
occupied. Doing this means having to make sure that transitions between sections of the
day are smooth. Jumping back and forth between thoughts is a good way to derail the
class. I have to learn to keep students on topic and on task as well, as sometimes they
will try to intentionally delay or derail an activity.
5) Knowing when to take over an activity if it seems to be getting out of hand - Sometimes
student-guided activities don’t work out the way you want them to. A student or multiple
students may have caused the class to get off topic, or the activity itself may not be as
well thought out as you planned and is causing confusion. It is at this point that you need
to know to take over the running of this activity, and have the class follow you instead of
working on your own. This gets them back on task and focused on what they should be
focused on (Arends, 2012).
6) Giving students responsibility and holding them to it - Accountability is a powerful ally in
the classroom. Assignments and requirements for those assignments should be made
very clear to the students, and they should be held to the assigned deadlines. Feedback
should always be clear and constructive. For in-class work, finding a non-intrusive way of
monitoring student progress is important for staying aware of how each of your students
 are doing. Doing all of this helps to ensure that learning is more likely to occur, and holds
the students to a specific set of standards (Arends, 2012).

b) Responding to misbehavior -
1) Responding quickly to incidents - Response time is key for any in-class incidents. The
longer you let a misbehavior go on, the longer you risk it getting worse or disrupting the
rest of the class (Arends, 2012).
2) Keeping pace of class moving or raising it slightly - For very minor incidents (this is left
up to my own judgement) the behavior can be fixed by simply moving forward with class
and not acknowledging it. Sometimes even raising the pace of class is enough to get the
student back on task (Arends, 2012).
3) Moving closer to the student misbehaving - For simple incidents, such as a student
texting in class, they can be remedied simply by moving closer to the student. Don’t
acknowledge the behavior, this will draw attention to it. However, by moving closer to the
student, it signals to them that your attention has shifted to them and they are no longer
going to get away with the behavior (Arends, 2012).
4) Making eye contact with the disruptive student - This method can draw slightly more
attention, but is also more deliberate and sends a stronger message to the student: ​I see
you.​ In many cases, that may be enough to signal to the student that they should stop
whatever they are doing (Arends, 2012).
5) Stopping class to correct the behavior - For more serious incidents, it is difficult to deal
with them without drawing attention to them. This is something that must be accepted. If
the student is starting to disrupt class, it is time to speak directly to them to address the
behavior. If the behavior persists, moving them to a different area of the classroom may
be necessary. Avoid removing from the room unless it is absolutely necessary, as this
can just reinforce the behavior (Weinstein, 2010).

Arends, R.I. (2011). Learning to teach (9th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.

Weinstein, C.S. (2010). Middle and secondary classroom management: Lessons from research and
practice (4th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Thomas Steele
EDUC 508
Environment and Philosophy Plan Part 7

A) The importance of collaboration with families -

1) Working closely with families of students can give you an insight into the student’s needs
and hidden talents in a way that talking to the student cannot. Through interaction with
family members you can get a sense of the background that the student comes from, the
kind of home environment and values that they have, and even interests of theirs that
you may not have been aware of. This is especially valuable because this insight allows
you to adjust the way you interact with the student and be more sensitive to their needs
and abilities.
2) Working collaboratively with families is a great way to keep the family members in the
loop and make sure that they know what is going on with their child. A lot of problems in
the classroom can stem from a disconnect between the teacher and the parents, often
caused by the student not wanting to deliver things like behavior letters or permission
slips to their parents. Keeping the family in the loop about what is going on in the
classroom, how their child is doing, and where his strengths and weaknesses are gives
you an extra resource in helping to reach the student and foster academic improvement.
If the parents are aware of any issues, they may be able to solve, or at least help solve,
them better than you as a teacher can.
3) Establishing a close relationship with families can sometimes provide you with
unexpected classroom resources. If a student has a parent who is knowledgeable or
even works in a field that is relevant to your class, having a good collaborative
relationship with them could allow you to ask for them to come in and act as a primary
source of information for your students, as well as someone who has a different
perspective on the subject than you do. This can lead to better, more meaningful
learning experiences for your students than what the lesson may have otherwise held.

b) Strategies for working effectively with families -

1) Try to establish a connection between the classroom and the parents early on. Sending
out a message at the beginning of the year that allows parents to opt in to a weekly
email that informs them of what their children are doing in the classroom that week is a
good way to do this. This allows any parent that is interested to stay on top of their
child’s academic experience, and also provides a good opportunity for parents to alert
you ahead of time of any potential conflicts or problems that may be present. This also
can allow parents to know things like what homework their child is supposed to have
done each night, which may help the student stay on top of their work.
2) Make yourself available to families as often as you can. Keeping a flexible schedule is an
important piece of helping to establish a good working relationship and working
effectively with families. Teachers with limited schedules can often find problems in
scheduling parent teacher conferences with parents who may work most of the day.
Being open to other methods of discourse such as email or video conferences, and even
 home visits can be very useful. This also shows the parents that you are dedicated to
doing whatever you need to help their child, which can make a world of difference when
trying to collaborate with families.
3) Attend as many school events as possible. Being a recognizable face to the families and
members of the school community helps to build up the relationships you develop with
them and their willingness to work with you. This familiarity also helps build you up as a
trustworthy member of the faculty.

c) Initiating communication with families -

Parents and guardians,

I have the privilege this year of being your children’s teacher for Physics 101. As
I believe it is important to keep family in the loop with whats going on in the classroom, I
wanted to take this chance to share my contact information with you. My cell number is
555-555-5555 and my email is ​emailme@genericemail.com​. Every year, I provide an
opportunity for any interested parents to add themselves to an email list I have. Each
week, a summary of what will be happening in the classroom gets emailed to everyone
on this list to keep them in the know. The summary includes upcoming homework, tests,
activities, and unit changes that will be happening that week. Anyone interested in being
on this email list, just email me with “update list” in the subject line.
We’ll be covering a huge range of topics in physics this year, and your children
are going to get a great number of opportunities to do some really fun and innovative
projects that really get at the core of what’s important about physics. I’m looking forward
to working with each and every one of them, and hope that we all have a great year!

Mr. Steele
Generic Highschool
Thomas Steele
EDUC 508
Environment and Philosophy Plan Part 8

a) Making the most of classroom time -

1) Maintain activity flow : This means avoiding things like hopping back and forth between
thoughts or subjects. Minimizing “stimulus bounded events,” which are tangents or trains
of thought that are triggered by something that happens in class and can pull you off
task, is essential. Be clear and concise. Do not overstate things or give incomplete
thoughts like “it can also be [blank], but we’ll get to that later (Weinstein, 2010, chapter
7).
2) Minimize transition time: This means having very clear separations between activities,
i.e. “Now that we’re done with [blank] we’ll move on to [blank].” Make clear to students
that a transition between activities is coming, don’t just spring it on them. Use
established routines for these transitions, familiar equals faster (Weinstein, 2010,
chapter 7).
3) Hold students accountable: Make assignments and explanations very clear to students
to avoid any misunderstanding. Keep track of how they are doing on assignments and
offer assistance if needed. Use established procedures such as consistent homework
due and return dates. Keep clear records of all student submissions. All of this is to
make sure that no errors occur on your end (Weinstein, 2010, chapter 7).

b) Managing independent work -

1) Assign work that is meaningful and relevant to students. Examine what the purpose of
the task at hand is, how that could connect to the student’s life, and if that connection
would be easy for the student to see. Connecting it to student interests not only gives the
student a more obvious stake in their own learning, but is more likely to keep them
engaged and on task (Weinstein, 2010, chapter 9).
2) Check to make sure that the task will encourage critical thinking and problem solving.
These are two elements that lend themselves well to student engagement, and helps
them to build necessary skills. It also helps them to maintain focus if they have a singular
goal to achieve or problem to solve (Weinstein, 2010, chapter 9).
3) Students each have varying achievement levels. Make sure to tailor assignments to
each of these levels. If a student perceives an assignment as too easy or too hard, they
are likely to shut down and become disengaged from the work (Weinstein, 2010, chapter
9). Keeping them in their zone of proximal development helps to ensure this
engagement (Vygotsky, 1978).

c) Managing small group work -

1) Choose the type of group work that is appropriate for the task at hand. Multiple types of
group work exist, such as peer tutoring, cooperative group, and complete cooperative,
and each has its place. Don’t use peer tutoring for a group lab, for example, as no
students in the group should be considered as any more expert on the subject than any
 of the others. In this example, cooperative group would be best, with each student
assuming different roles to complete the task at hand (Weinstein, 2010, chapter 10).
2) Make sure that you choose the appropriate size for the group. In most cases, large
groups do not work well. Medium to small groups can vary in effectiveness, depending
on the task at hand. For example, for lab work, the ideal group size is two people, but
this group size may not work as well for something like a group project or presentation,
where there are many roles that need to be filled, such as researcher, creator, presenter,
etc. (Weinstein, 2010, chapter 10).
3) Assign students to groups. Allowing students to choose their own groups may often be
what they want, but is not always best. If the teacher structures the groups, they can put
weaker students with stronger ones, keep “troublemakers” apart, and help to mitigate the
anxiety that some students may have over trying to pick a partner or get into a desired
group (Weinstein, 2010, chapter 10). Structuring the groups can also help to scaffold the
learning of the students in the group, as placing weaker students with ones that are
stronger in the subject can provide the support and motivation for the weaker students to
better their understanding of the subject (Slavin, 2015).

d) Managing full-class recitation and discussion -

1) Distribute chances to participate in the discussion. This can be done by randomly
drawing names in any way, using a seating chart to get students who havent yet done so
to contribute, or even some kind of turn taking system. Using a way that isn’t biased
works best, so that it doesn’t seem like you are picking on any one student or ignoring
them (Weinstein, 2010, chapter 11).
2) Provide extended time for students to think about answers. Tell them that you don’t need
an immediate answer, or give a set amount of time for them to think before accepting an
answer. Asking for written responses instead of verbal ones is another great way to
accomplish this. Not only does this offer more chances for students to participate, some
students may get the material just as well as others, but simply need more time to
process it. Giving them that time helps reinforce their understanding of the material and
their confidence in themselves (Weinstein, 2010, chapter 11).
3) Make sure to provide plenty of feedback to students. For correct answers, make sure to
affirm them, taking more time to do so if the answer was given hesitantly. For wrong
answers, touch briefly on the fact that it was incorrect and help correct the student’s
misunderstandings. Make sure that feedback is meaningful and constructive. “You got
that wrong, so you should study harder” is not a helpful response (Weinstein, 2010,
chapter 11).

Slavin, R. (2015). Student centered and constructivist approaches to instruction. In R. Slavin ​Educational
psychology: theory and practice.​ (pp. 199-205). New York, NY: Pearson.

Vygotsky, L. (1978). Interaction between learning and development. In L. Vygotsky, ​Mind and Society.
(pp. 79-91). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Retrieved from:
http://www.psy.cmu.edu/~siegler/vygotsky78.pdf
Weinstein, C.S. (2010). Middle and secondary classroom management: Lessons from research and
practice (4th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Thomas Steele
EDUC 508
Environment and Philosophy Plan Part 9

Avoiding Potential Errors On My Part -

1) One of the biggest errors I have to make sure not to make in the classroom is the
reinforcement of negative behaviors. Doing things like sending a student out of the class
for acting out only makes it more likely that the student will act out again, because they
see that it means they get to leave the classroom. I need to learn to meter punishments
and consequences appropriately, in a way that does not provide negative reinforcement,
but instead teaches them that correcting their behavior removes the consequences
(Arends, 2012).
2) Do not let a misunderstanding of the material persist. If the class is doing an activity and
I notice that they are missing or incorrectly understanding a concept, the worst thing I
could do is wait until the end of class to correct them. The longer I let a
misunderstanding in class persist, the more it becomes cemented in the brains of those
using it. This makes it much harder to correct later on, and can lead to more and more
compounding misunderstandings of the material (Arends, 2012).
3) I do not want to lecture too much. Science, especially physics, is a very hands-on,
interactive subject, and the worst way that I can try to foster understanding in my
students is to hand them concepts and facts on a note sheet instead of letting them
discover them on their own. At best, lecture based teaching is just asking students to
memorize and not bother understanding, and that is not the kind of teacher that I want to
be.

Arends, R.I. (2011). Learning to teach (9th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.
Thomas Steele
EDUC 508
Environment and Philosophy Plan Part 10

Culturally responsive classroom management -

1) One thing to keep in mind when designing a culturally responsive classroom

environment is the different backgrounds that students come from. No one student has
the same story, and their backgrounds, culture, home environment, and friend group all
can contribute to the way they learn. This is one of the reason why it is so essential to
get to know your students and their family. As a teacher, I need to make myself aware of
my students’ skill levels so that I can tailor instruction, classwork, and assessment to
them and their needs (Slavin, 2015). Given the fact that the best way for students to
learn is within their zone of proximal development, structuring their educational
experience this way is the best way to help them get the most out of school (Vygotsky,
1978).
2) Another important piece of the culturally responsive classroom is remembering that as
the teacher, you come from a place of privilege and hold a lot of power. I have to be
careful not to talk about things like vacations if I have students who are from low
socioeconomic backgrounds and may not be able to afford vacations. I need to be
careful to remember the different backgrounds that exist in my classroom and not try to
teach them from my own cultural frame of reference, because what is familiar to me may
not be as familiar to others (Slavin, 2015).
3) As a teacher building a culturally responsive space, I need to remember that I am an
advocate and an ally. If the boys in class are cutting off the girls in discussion, I need to
make sure to provide the girls opportunities to speak. If I think a student in my classroom
is feeling marginalized or out of place, I need to initiate a discussion with them to find out
in what ways I can help. As a teacher, it is my responsibility to give a truly equal
educational experience to all who enter my classroom (Slavin, 2015).

Slavin, R. (2015). Student centered and constructivist approaches to instruction. In R. Slavin ​Educational
psychology: theory and practice.​ (pp. 199-205). New York, NY: Pearson.

Vygotsky, L. (1978). Interaction between learning and development. In L. Vygotsky, ​Mind and Society.
(pp. 79-91). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Retrieved from:
http://www.psy.cmu.edu/~siegler/vygotsky78.pdf