Brittany Jackson

EDUC-540-130

Domain 2 – The Classroom Environment

How will you create an environment of respect and rapport?

This level (2a), Creating an Environment of Respect and Rapport is, admittedly, where I feel I
struggle the most. I’m finding that at 13 and 14 years old, many of my students are still discovering who
they are and how they want to be perceived. My boys are the most rambunctious of the genders. They act
“like boys”, constantly pushing and touching and making inappropriate (sometimes funny, sometimes
mean) remarks about each other. They have an energy that, in my opinion, and from my observations,
most likely stems from sexual unawareness and/or maturity. Having grown up with two younger brothers,
I find myself numb to some of the behaviors and conversations I overhear and oversee. I’d really like to
get to a place where I am able to acknowledge and communicate my/classroom expectations with my
students without too much disruption to my lesson and in a way manner they respond to. I have had
successful one-on-one conversations with students about their behaviors, but not yet as a whole class.

I find that most students respond well the positive reinforcement. So, when students behave and
respond in a way that is productive and in align with classroom expectations, they receive a raffle ticket.
At the end of each class, 3-5 raffle tickets are drawn at random and those students receive a “punch” in
their “punch cards”. This punch card system is a grade-wide PBIS initiative. Every month, the top half of
punch-earners get a pizza party! To date, we have one pizza party and I’m finding that my students are
more eager to get punches now that they know what’s at stake. The raffle ticket and reward system is
definitely something I will use in the future. Encouraging positive behavior is fine for me, it’s addressing
the negative behavior where I feel I’m falling short. I’ve heard of some teachers taking away raffle tickets,
but I’m not sure if that would be fair to the kids. I’ve sent positive emails home but have not sent out
emails addressing negative student behaviors. This might be a strategy I try if needed.

How will you establish a culture for learning?

2b, Establishing a Culture for Learning, focuses on instilling the importance of the content and
setting expectations for learning and achievement. My passion for math is the reason I’m pursuing this
career in the first place. There is no shortage of excitement exuded when I talk about the subject (except
for maybe geometry or tig). I will continue to instill the importance of math in my students by relating every
unit to real-life. Authentic instruction is important. Every time a student can make a connection to a
concept or problem, the more likely they will be to pursue understanding.

Since I’ve become more involved in the classroom, I’m finding that I do more modeling of thinking
than I do teaching of math. My students can be so unsure of themselves at times, even when I know they
know the information needed to solve the problem. Working with them one-on-one, modeling how to
decipher a math problem, what words or information to extract and how to process that information in an
order that makes sense takes up the crux of my time and effort during independent practice. Many times,
students will ask for help when they haven’t even started the thinking processes. I always make sure to let
them know that they have to try, to not be afraid of being wrong and that they can do it! I’ll stand with
them for support as they work through the problem and most of the time they get it right! If they don’t, I
work through it with them and highlight misconceptions. Then I’ll stay with them as they do a similar
problem to make they’ve retained what we discussed.
What procedures will you establish for managing the classroom? What procedures will you
establish for managing student behavior?

In order to manage classroom procedures and student behavior, procedures and expectations
must first be established. It’s important that my students and I come up with and/or discuss a set of
classroom rules. Ensuring that this process is a class-wide discussion promotes accountability amongst
students for their behaviors and attitudes. Rules and expectations should be posted in clear view and
reference frequently.

In my class, my mentor has the classroom expectations and best practices for mathematical
thinking posted on the wall. At the start of the year, we went over what it all means. One set of
expectations she references often are those for noise levels. On a scale of 0-3 (0-silence, 1-whisper,
2-normal voice, 3-shouting) she incorporates the numbers into instruction. For example, she’ll say
something like “I expect you all to be working at a 0” or in the halls during transition periods, she’ll tell
students that they should be no louder than a 1 so as not to disturb other classes in session. The school
also has its expectations posted in hallways throughout the building. R.A.M.S: respect, accountability,
mindfulness, and safety (also the school mascot). Again, at the beginning of the school year, the principal
held a school-wide meeting to discuss what each of the expectations means in different settings and
during different times.

How will you organize the students for learning?

Organizing my classroom is definitely one of the things I’m most excited to do. Even before
joining PTR, I would watch videos on YouTube of teachers decorating and organizing their classrooms.
I’m big on small group work in math so I will want my desks clustered, if possible, or an area for students
to work in small groups. I’m finding that I also like light, but in my class now, having the lights on makes it
difficult to see the SMARTboard. On the other hand, having the lights off encourages students to rest their
heads and lose focus during instruction.

Since I will be handing out raffle tickets throughout class periods, desks and tables would need to
be situated in a way that makes it easy for me to move freely. Also, having a space to post student work
and achievement is important. In my class, we have a “High Scores” board that is changed every week.
Students who earn the highest points on either of the two math programs we use to assess learning have
their names and total points posted. I find that this promotes healthy competition among students and
reinforces the positive behavior of doing homework.