Creating and Maintaining Safe and Supportive Learning Environments - Case Study Example

Running Head: CREATING AND MAINTAINING SAFE AND SUPPORTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS Create and maintain safe and supportive learning environments Name Institution Date Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Creating and maintaining safe and supportive learning environments 3 Introduction 3 Arrangement of successful classrooms 4 Arrangement of students’ desks 5 Welcoming new students 6 The classroom environment 7 Relationship building 8 Conclusion 8 References 9 Creating and maintaining safe and supportive learning environments Introduction Safety, caring and orderliness in schools create a good learning atmosphere. Establishment and maintenance of these conditions in schools are essential because they give the students the opportunity to perform excellently in academics and it provides the teachers with environment that enable them to execute their duties to the best. A safe school is a one whose layout, policies, physical features and procedures are designed in a way that minimize the effects of intrusions and disruptions that may prevent the school community from achieving its educational mission. A safe school is characterized by an atmosphere that is liberated from fear (Adams, 2007). The feelings, behaviors and perceptions of the school community members tell that the school is a location where persons are capable of carrying out their businesses without any worry for their security. An orderly school is the one characterized by an atmosphere or responsibility and mutual respect. Students relate to teachers, staff and to each other in suitable ways. Good behaviors are evident and consequences of intolerable behaviors are recognized and corrected when necessary. Staff and students hold the responsibility for the successful running of the school. A caring school is the one which is supportive and inviting of staff and students. Staff and students are given opportunities to relate with one another in proper ways. Creating a safe and supportive learning environment from the first day in school The base for a victorious school year is laid on the initial day of school. Everything which is done on the first day in school set the pace for the rest days of the year. Taking time organizing and planning activities of the first day is one of the most important investments a teacher can make. The three major objectives of the teacher in the first school day is to establish individual expectations, get acquainted and to stimulate interests and enthusiasm in what he will be delivering to the students. The best advice from the teacher on the first day is to tell students to be prepared. By doing this, the teacher conveys to the students that he is control organized and is aware of what he is doing. Arrangement of successful classrooms Before the first school day, the teacher spends time organizing the classroom to make sure that there orderliness and maximum learning efficiency is achieved. The physical arrangement of the classroom influences the learning and behavior of the students. The placement of bookshelves, desks, cabinets and pencil sharpeners may influence student interaction, movement as well as noise, disruption and attention levels. The impact of classroom arrangement is very important to be ignored and therefore teachers must plan the classroom arrangement before the school year begins. The teachers’ goals for the class should guide his choices. Whether the teacher wishers to maximize interaction of groups with a lot of minor group activities or give lecture for most of the time, the physical arrangement can hinder or help. The students get a good image of how the year will be from the arrangement and furnishings as they enter the classroom for the first time. Apart from creating an artistic appeal, every portion of furniture redefines a section of the classroom space, pupil interaction, directing attention, of traffic flow. Overlooking the significance of even informal rearrangements within the classroom is simple (Louise, 2007). Something as easy as the position of a new pencil sharpener, a new bookshelf or a mat can bring considerable impact on the learning activities within the classroom. The atmosphere observed might be rather different from the perceptions of the students, particularly the younger students. When the students are not around, the teacher must squat down to the eye level of the student and view the room in a perspective that the students view it. The teacher must arrange any unique areas within the classroom. Most of the teachers have studying area, possibly with congested furniture, pillows or a rug. The teacher must have the essential materials and supplies organized and sorted for every studying center, writing area, art area and laboratories. The teacher should give great concentration to minimizing needless noise within the classroom. Where possible, the teacher should use quiet, soft, sound observing materials like soft sponge to clean the chalk board. Arrangement of students’ desks The solitary significant decision affecting the physical classroom atmosphere is the seating arrangement of the students. Preferably, the arrangement of students’ desks must not be permanent apart from laboratories or big lecture halls. The intention of the learning events must state the most positive seating pattern. Unless the furniture is fixed to the floor, it can be shifted in the course of the day as the session dictates. The custody of the staff ease of tidying up the classroom plays only a small part in such decisions. The customary arrangement of desks in rows has persisted because it is extremely useful for several classroom purposes. Especially, at the beginning of the year, seating of students in rows helps the teacher to observe how students behave more easily and reduces disruptions. Research has revealed that seating in rows contributes to high levels of usual activities in elementary classrooms. Where there is greater distance between the students, they are less likely to distract each other. Nevertheless, row or theater seating can assist in independent seatwork, movies, lecture and tests. If the class uses numerous seating arrangements frequently, the teacher should teach the students how to make movements from one to another as quietly and quickly as possible. The teacher should show the smaller kids how to help one another to carry furniture without dragging them across the floor. Seating students around a table or in clusters assist in group interaction. The arrangement enables cooperative learning and small group debates or discussions and also welcomes socialization and chatting. Entire class discussion is enhanced by circular, open ended rectangular or semicircular seating arrangement. Customary rows are possibly less supportive of student to student relations. Laboratories, performance classrooms and special events like story time may dictate different seating patterns or may not require desks at all The most significant task is to monitor how the seating pattern of the students influences learning. A teacher can experiment with several seating arrangements to obtain and compare different results (Brenda, 2006). Welcoming new students Arrival of new students in a new school in the first day is a traumatic event for several students. The students are usually anxious whether they will be enrolled in the new school, if they will be academically competitive with their new classmates, and the way their new teachers will handle and treat them. The teacher should make a unique effort to make sure that new students feel welcome. Within the elementary classroom, the teacher must invite the rest of the students to suggest things that should be done to make a new student feel welcome and invited. This is particularly useful if the teacher has prior knowledge that a new student will be joining the class. The teachers spends a little time to get gather few ideas about the background of the student. The teacher should request for a meeting with the new student in the course of the day so that they can have an informal talk and know one another better. Several teachers come up with a short questionnaire for the new student to complete giving details of family information, extra curricular activities, interests and the previous course work. He teacher may consider uniting the new student with a trustworthy student friend or director who can direct on the procedures and routines of the class. The friend can show the student around the school compound and make introduce him to the rest of the students (Louise, 2007). The teacher offers the new student some time to get assimilated in the class and school community before demanding for attention and this makes the student comfortable in the new environment. If the new student seems to be shy, the teacher should not make public announcement of her or his arrival. If the student is comfortable after some time, the teacher can spend some time and let the student to inform the rest of the class a little on her or his background, family and interests. The teacher considers inviting the parent or guardian of the new student to make introductions and get more information on about the student. The parents and guardians of the new student are invited to the school for a conference and this makes them feel belonging to the school community. The teacher can have numerous welcome folders to give to the new students as soon as they arrive and this displays a sense of caring. Apart from the school and classroom routines and rules, the teacher includes a personal letter or note welcoming the student. To assist the new student to feel more comfortable and contented with the new class, the teacher can look for a thing that will acknowledge or praise the student. The teacher tells the rest of students to wear a name tag during the first days after the arrival of the new student so that they can be easily recognized and identified. The classroom environment The physical arrangement of the classroom can invite learning and minimize off task behavior. The teacher can experiment with changing the room setup, putting into consideration the arrangement of the desks. The teacher must be creative in arranging the classroom. He must not be bound by the customary configurations where everything is set in a rectangle. Bookshelves and filling cabinets must not be necessarily positioned adjacent to the wall. Placement at right angles to the wall can produce more study area and redirect traffic. The teacher must plan the traffic patterns to be created. High traffic areas such as pencil sharpener locations should kept away from obstruction. When a student desk is instantly in front of the pencil sharpener, the student is liable to disturbance when the other students want to use the pencil sharpener (Franklin, 2009). When a class has small groups, their chairs should be placed in a direction that enables the students to face away from the entire class. This makes sure that the students are not distracted by the rest of the class and it enables the teacher to closely monitor the students. The classroom should be kept tidy and the students are instructed to pick litter before they leave the room. A dirty and cluttered environment is not conducive for learning and may bring conflicts among the students. The classroom door should be closed to eradicate ambient noise from the hallway and close the windows where possible. Hard surfaces can be covered with sound absorbing materials like carpet to minimize noise when students are walking. Relationship building Positive student-teacher relationship offers the base for successful constructive and instruction classroom management. Research has revealed that a warm, close relationship among students who are prone to engage in bad behaviors and the teachers eliminates the chance of violent behavior by the students in future. The teacher must be careful in maintaining suitable boundaries and evade compromising situations with students. The teacher should avoid ignorance, harsh tones and sarcasm which can have negative effects on the students self esteem and this may lower their academic performance. The teacher is supposed to punish students who misbehave so that they do not repeat the same mistake in future. The teacher should condemn the bad behavior but not the student (Zeidner, 2009). Conclusion A safe and supportive learning environment enables the students their academic goals in school. A good relationship between the teacher and students gives students the confidence to freely interact with the teachers and ask questions when they encounter a problem. Proper arrangement of desks in the room reduces disruptions among students and minimizes congestion giving the students a spacious environment for learning. Welcoming of new students displays that the new school is inviting and welcoming and this enables the new students to feel confident and comfortable within the new school. Placement of learning materials in their appropriate places eases traffic flow and minimizes distractions among the students. References Brenda, P. (2006). Teaching dance as art in education. Pennsylvania: Human Kinetics Press. Franklin, P. (2009). Creating School Cultures That Embrace Learning: What Successful Leaders Do. London: Routledge Press Adams, C. (2007). Not getting along? Instructor Journal 116(7), 47–50. Johnson, L. P. (2008). The caring teacher: Tips to motivate student learning. Columbia. Noguera, P. (2007). How listening to students can help schools to improve. Theory into Practice, 46(3), 205–211. Ryan, M. (2008). Ask the teacher: A practitioner’s guide to teaching and learning in the diverse classroom. 2nd Edition. Boston Louise, J. (2007). The fourth R in education: Relationships. Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 78(5), 22 Christine, E. (2001).The art of teaching the Bible: a practical guide for adults. Geneva: Geneva Press. Louise, M. (2007). Comprehensive classroom management: creating communities of support and solving problems.8th Edition. Virginia: University of Virginia Press. Veron, F. (2008). Leading with Character. Boston: Macmillan Publishers. Patricia, S. (2000). Transforming Teacher Education: A Minnesota Framework for Mathematics and Science. Minnesota University Press. Minnesota. Michigan Fitness Foundation, MFF. (2001). The role of Michigan schools in promoting cooperative learning. Michigan. University of Michigan Press. Zeidner, M. (2009).What We Know about Emotional Intelligence: How It Affects Learning, Work, Relationships, and Our Mental Health. New York. Read More