EP101 Unit 4: Establishing the Physical Learning Environment Please have your books nearby. Feel free to chat with each other. We will start class at 9 PM ET!

The physical classroom…  needs to be planned prior to students’ arrival  reflects the teacher’s personality and teaching style  is the teacher’s responsibility, but paraprofessionals can assist in organizing it and can give suggestions

Things to consider  Easy access to materials for students  Easy access to materials/teaching tools for teacher  Issues of safety  Environment is interesting yet not distracting  Consider your population (age group, interests, cultures, language, special needs)  Method of instructional delivery (Burden, p )

Student involvement in physical environment  Place for their belongings  Ownership in classroom  Teach responsibility and respect of others’ belongings  Their posted work/art give them sense of worth

Decorations/Wall Space  Themes  Put up charts, pocket charts, posters for students to reference  Display student work, class rules, schedule  Let students physically label the room With all age groups you are teaching an underlying curriculum of social skills, self-esteem, independence, etc. How are these evident in your physical class environment? (Burden, p. 16)

Sample Classrooms  Whole Group instruction – carpet area entary-classroom-2.jpg Whole Group instruction – carpet area entary-classroom-2.jpg  Table Groups ol4.jpg Table Groups ol4.jpg  Kindergarten Classroom roomsetup/0405/classroomsetup aspx Kindergarten Classroom roomsetup/0405/classroomsetup aspx

RECAP (seminar discussion questions)  How do teacher’s instructional goals and activities define the physical environment of the classroom?  What considerations need to be made regarding specific needs of students in arranging the physical environment?  How would you and the teacher make the best use of wall space?

Weekly Reminders  Complete readings  View Video  View Web Resource  Participate in Discussion Board Post “essay-like” responses to the question Respond to your classmates’ posts with quality responses which encourage further dialogue  Attend seminar or complete option 2  Complete project Please refer to grading rubrics for all assignments!

Unit 4 Project Respond to the prompt succinctly in a one- to two- page essay: Paraprofessional educators work in a variety of educational settings. You may be asked to work with groups of students in a variety of curriculum areas. Select a grade level that appeals to you and imagine you are working in a public school classroom with average students. Considering the need for a motivating environment, describe how you might expect to see the room set up. Considering a developmentally appropriate environment for the age that you are thinking about, describe how you would expect to see the classroom arranged and organized. Be sure to explain why you are making the choices you describe.

References Burden, P. (2004) An Educator’s Guide to Classroom Management. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.