Andy Knuth

AUTONOMY

Students should have autonomy in the classroom and freedom in the way
they learn (Vatterott, 2007). This may range from students having the
freedom to read, listen, or watch to learn information. Students should have
the freedom to interact with others during the learning process as well as
decide where they want to work. Students also should have autonomy over
classroom decisions. For example, students should have some input over
classroom rules giving them more control over their classroom as the
teacher acts as a guide to facilitate this democratic process.

BELL WORK
According to Wong, one classroom management strategy is to give an opening
assignment known as bell work. This classroom procedure creates a routine
for students to start working immediately when they get to
school. Furthermore, bell work maximizes classroom time, makes students
responsible for starting their education for the day, and establishes an
environment for learning that sets the tone for the rest of the school period or
day. Bell work also reduces behavior problems as students have a routine
and their schedule is stable and predictable (Wong, 2014).

CHOICE
One of the ideal characteristics of learning activities for a studentfocused classroom allows [for] student choice (Vatterott, 2007).
Teachers need to provide students with some choice in what and how
they learn. Choice involves giving students options regarding their
learning though teachers can set parameters. Giving students choice can
be as simple as having student choose 2 out of 5 questions to answer.
Students will feel more independent in their learning while still reaching
the same goals and objectives of the class.

Andy Knuth

DIFFERENTIATION
Since every student has different learning needs and preferences, it is
critical to differentiate instruction as a diverse group of learners
requires differentiation of instructional tasks (Vatterott, 2007).
Teachers need to be able to adapt whenever possible content, processes,
or products to meet the specific learning needs of each student. In
addition students are more likely to be focused in a differentiated
classroom as the material meets the readiness, interest, or learning
profile of each student (Vatterott, 2007).

EMOTIONAL AND SOCIAL LEARNING

A classroom needs to provide a nurturing and supportive classroom
climate in order to support students emotional and social
development in addition to academic success (Vatterott, 2007). By
facilitating a nurturing and supportive classroom, teachers can help
develop and support students emotional and social learning through
explicit instruction and classroom environment; emotional and social
learning also can increase students academic motivation, abilities, and
academic achievement. It is important to support student emotional
and social learning because of the critical link between attitude and
academic performance (Vatterott, 2007).

FACILITATOR
Good teachers dont merely teach content but rather facilitate
instruction. The facilitators role is to introduce concepts, foster
sharing of content, and integrate students shared experience. No
longer is the teacher the holder of all wisdom, but learning becomes a
collaborative process between students and the teacher. Facilitation
makes learners responsible for their own learning meaning that
students construct their own learning as the teacher doesnt tell them
what to think but rather guides them to construct their own learning
(Sunnaborg, 2008).

Andy Knuth

GREETINGS
Teachers should greet each student at the beginning of each and every
day, which can simply be done with a smile and handshake. Greetings
promote positive interaction and a welcoming environment. It is
important to greet students because you connect with them [and] show
that you care that they are in your classroom (Wong, 2014). Greeting
student also helps develop students social skills that they can use in
everyday life. When teachers greet each and every student in their
classroom, discipline and bullying are diminished, and more
importantly, students are on task and doing their classroom work
(Wong, 2014).

HOME AND SCHOOL CONNECTION

It is important to create a home and school connection with the
teacher, student, and parent or guardian. This home and school
connection creates positive relationships, and the more positive the
relationship becomes, the greater the chances are for every students
success (Wong, 2014). Teachers can create a home and school
connection by maintaining open and frequent communication with
parents or guardians such as a class newsletter, website, phone calls,
or emails as well as involving them in class activities so they feel
apart of their childs learning.

INQUIRY LEARNING
Inquiry learning, the method in which students investigate their
own questions and make conclusions, is beneficial as it actively
involves students in the learning process. Inquiry learning
supports student autonomy since the student poses their own
questions that they want to investigate. In addition inquiry
learning is beneficial at teaching students critical thinking and
problem-solving skills and helping student to construct meaning by
asking questions (Wong, 2014).

Andy Knuth

JOBS IN THE CLASSROOM

Giving students jobs in the classroom helps build classroom
community where every student has a role and something to
contribute to their community. These jobs in the classroom can
range from trash monitor and supplies monitor to desk checker and
homework keeper. Students can rotate jobs so they can experience
different roles in their community. Also, classroom jobs give
students a sense of responsibility and ownership of their home away
from home and builds discipline and teamwork skills (Wong, 2014).
Students can also have a sense of pride as they each help create a
positive learning environment together.

KNOWLEDGE
Based on the theory of constructivism, students are not simply an
empty vessel for teachers to input information. Rather, students come
to class with existing knowledge, and each students prior knowledge
is unique. Students learn as they construct meaning by connecting
new concepts to existing knowledge structure (Vatterott, 2007).
Therefore, it is important for teachers to understand what students
already know and have experienced in order to connect new
information to existing information like a puzzle.

LEARNING
Teachers should frequently utilize cooperative learning, which
involve learning tasks that are highly structured,
interdependent, has individual and group accountability for
learning, and constructed with students with mixed
abilities. The groups success in cooperative learning relies on
every student completing their task. Cooperative learning is
critical as it has positive effects on student achievement,
interpersonal relationships, and student self-esteem
(Vatterott, 2007). It also has positive effects on students in a
multiethnic classroom as cooperative learning helps desegregate a classroom.

Andy Knuth

MOTIVATION
Intrinsic motivation is motivation that is driven by internal
rewards. Teachers need to design learning environments and
instruction that focuses on supporting students intrinsic motivation. By
supporting students intrinsic motivation, students are more likely to be
engaged in their learning for the sake of learning without external
rewards. By supporting students intrinsic motivation, teachers also
increase students self-esteem and personal learning interests.
Furthermore, intrinsic motivation is important because if you are
intrinsically motivated, youre going to keep learning as you move up
and so you are in this lifelong learning mode which is what we strive
our students to be (Csikszentmihalyi, 2002).

NEEDS-BASED ENVIRONMENT
It is important when creating an environment that supports student
academic success to be aware of and respect students developmental
needs. Each student has basic human needs for survival, love, and
belonging as well as other needs regarding identity, competence, and
achievement (Vatterott, 2007). Teachers must address survival,
physical, power, and love and belonging needs in order to maximize
learning. By addressing these needs, teachers will create a safe
learning space for students, understand and support their physical
development, provide students the opportunity to be in charge of their
learning and classroom, and develop positive relationships with the
teacher and peers.

OPPORTUNITIES TO RESPOND
Throughout instruction, teachers should give students a variety of
opportunities to respond. This can be done as simply as a thumbs up
or down or students having individual whiteboards. Teachers who
give students more opportunities to respond during instruction
produce more student learning and have been effective at reducing
disruptive behavior and increasing on-task behavior (Haydon,
Borders, Embury, & Clarke, 2011). In addition teachers who provide
numerous opportunities to respond throughout instruction also
improve social behavior. Finally, by providing more opportunities to
respond during instruction, it will promote a positive learning
environment, which will encourage a positive student-teacher
relationship.

Andy Knuth

PLAY
Play in the classroom has numerous positive benefits for students. Play
supports social and emotional development as students increase their
social competence and emotional maturity (Isenberg & Jalongo, 2014).
Specifically, play supports students social development by allowing them to
practice their nonverbal and verbal communication skills, respond to other
students feelings and experiences, and understand others points of view by
discussing and resolving conflicts. Play also supports students emotional
development by developing their ability to self-regulate or control their
emotions through experiences as well as compensate for situations by
adding forbidden acts to pretend play such as a child eating a cookie for
breakfast (Isenberg & Jalongo, 2014). Play also supports physical
development of fine and gross motor skills by allowing students to use their
body, which will provide them more bodily awareness. Finally, play
supports creative development as students utilize their imagination, which
helps students perform better at school tasks and develop a problemsolving approach to learning (Isenberg & Jalongo 2014).

QUESTIONING
Questions can be useful tools for meaningful, higher level learning
(Vatterott, 2007). Posing questions to students can challenge students
thinking, evaluate understanding, or be used for memory recall. There
are many different levels of question, which is acknowledged by Blooms
Taxonomy. Questions can be structured for knowledge, comprehension,
application, analysis, synthesis, or evaluation though teachers should
strive for higher-order thinking. It is important for teachers to create a
positive learning environment for students to feel comfortable enough
to know that if they get the answer wrong they will still be treated with
respect.

RELATIONSHIPS
It is crucial that students develop relationships with the teacher as well as
their peers. First, teachers need to develop a healthy relationship with
their students in order to make sure that each student knows that they are
cared for. By establishing a positive relationship, the teacher and students
will have quality time to work, learn, and talk with one another
(Vatterott, 2007). With a caring relationship, students will begin to trust
the teacher and can work together to maximize their academic success.
Students also need to develop relationships with their peers. By having
positive student-student relationships, students are more motivated to
come to school and learn as well as develop students social skills.
Teaching students about cooperation, honesty, friendship, and courage
can develop both types of relationships.

Andy Knuth

SELF-ESTEEM
In order to maximize student academic success teachers need to
support their students self-esteem. This can be done by greeting
students by their name and having reoccurring contact with them as
much as possible. In addition small group work allows for students
to receive peer feedback so students can further develop positive
self-esteem. Teachers can also build self-esteem by designing
lessons that maximize student social interaction and provide
opportunities for students to voice their opinions. Furthermore, as
frequently as possible, individual students should be recognized for
specific skills, abilities, and accomplishments (Vatterott, 2007).

TRUST
Teachers need to develop positive relationships with their students
that are based on trust. It is important because people learn from
those they trust (Wong, 2014). Students must trust a teacher before
they will learn from them. Teachers can gain trust from their
students by creating an environment that provides opportunities for
students to feel successful. Also, consistency helps build trust as
students know and can predict what will happen daily in the
classroom; they can trust that their environment is reliable and
predictable. Furthermore, a safe and nurturing environment helps
build trust so students feel like they can learn, grow, and be
successful.

UNDERSTANDING

Teachers measure student understanding though students

understand concepts at various levels. Many teachers believe that
students understand concepts because they can provide
memorized definitions. However, this can be far from the truth as
understanding requires more than just knowing about or being
familiar with a concept (Vatterott, 2007). In order to make sure
students understand concepts they should be given opportunities
to utilize, apply, and adapt their understanding in a variety of
contexts. Students should be able to utilize what they learned in
multiple ways to provide a greater depth and understanding of
concepts.

Andy Knuth

VOICE
Students should feel like they have a voice in their classroom.
They should feel like a valued member of their classroom
community. Creating a classroom community where every
member has some input helps celebrate diversity in opinions.
Students are able to learn from the diverse experience of their
peers. When every student has a voice in classroom decisions
and during instruction, it helps meet student needs for
membership as they have begun the process of creating a
community of learners within their classroom (Vatterott, 2007).
Students also are able to better work together and feel free to
share their opinions as they create a learning community.

WELCOMING
Teachers need to create a welcoming learning environment in
order to foster a comfortable learning community. Students
need to feel comfortable in their classroom physically, socially,
emotionally, and mentally. Teachers can build a welcoming and
inviting classroom by creating a safe space for students to learn.
This can be done by promoting a nonviolent school atmosphere
by developing the sense of a caring community with all people
in the school (Vatterott, 2007). Students should feel safe in the
classroom from physical, emotional, or academic threats as
removing threats from the classroom is one of the most
important ways teachers can create a comfortable learning
environment (Vatterott, 2007).

EXPECTATIONS
Teachers need to set positive, high, and expectations for
their students. Teachers can set positive expectations for
their students by addressing a student by their name, saying
please and thank you, smiling towards students, and
display a warming and caring persona. Also, teachers who
communicate high expectations to all their students obtain
greater academic performance than those teachers who set
low expectations (Wong, 2014). Students also need to be
clear of the expectations in order for them to be successful.

Andy Knuth

YOUR CLASSROOM
Each student should feel like they have some ownership in their
classroom. They should feel like an integral part of their team.
The classroom should feel like one big team that works together
to achieve academic success. By providing students with a
caring classroom and team community, students will acquire
positive moral attitudes and social skills (Vatterott, 2007). The
classroom should feel like a community where each student
helps create and maintain the space. Students gain
responsibility in creating and maintaining the classroom as well
as develop social skills such as teamwork as they have to work
together for academic success.
ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT
According to Lev Vygotsky, the zone of proximal development is
the region of learning that can be achieved with the assistance
of a teacher or peer. The teacher can differentiate instruction
by identifying a students zone of proximal development,
helping the student reach that zone, and having the student
master that zone in hopes that the teacher will no longer be
needed. One of the main benefits for students in identifying a
students zone of proximal development is that instruction will
challenge students with reasonable tasks that stimulate
thinking and motivate efforts to learn (Lui, 2013). By
identifying a students zone of proximal development and
challenging them with appropriate instruction, each student
will grow and achieve as much as possible.

Andy Knuth

Works Cited
Wong, H., & Wong, R. (2014). The classroom management book. Mountain View,
California: Harry K. Wong Publications, Inc.
Vatterott, C. (2007). Becoming a middle level teacher: student-focused teaching of
early adolescents. Boston: McGraw Hill.
Sunnarborg, M. (2008, January 1). From teacher to facilitator. Learning Solutions
Magazine.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Motivating people to learn. (2002, April 11). Edutopia.
Retrieved November 20, 2014, from http://www.edutopia.org/mihalycsikszentmihalyi-motivating-people-learn.
Haydon, T., Borders, C., Embury, D., & Clarke, L. (2011). Using effective instructional
delivery as a classwide management tool. Using Effective Instruction, 17, 1217.
Isenberg, J., & Jalongo, M. (2014, April 30). Why is play important? Social and
emotional development, physical Development, creative Development.
Retrieved November 20, 2014, from
http://www.education.com/reference/article/importance-play--socialemotional.
Lui, A. (2013, February 17). Teaching in the zone. Retrieved November 20, 2014,
from http://www.childrensprogress.com/wpcontent/uploads/2012/05/free-white-paper-vygotsky-zone-of-proximaldevelopment-zpd-early-childhood.pdf.