COYNE 1

Tracie Coyne

15 September 2017

ECED 429

TWS 9

Teacher Work Sample 9

Learning Environment

Environment

Physical Arrangement

My classroom will be arranged in a way the promotes independence, freedom of movement,

and student collaboration. I will have my classroom furniture placed in an open concept to ensure

multiple students will be able to work near each other or together and that everyone will be able

to move comfortably around the room. There will also be places in the room that allows the

students to work independently. I will organize my classroom by each subject area, keeping in

mind which subject areas will result in the most traffic. For the areas with the most traffic I will

place them farthest from each other to ensure that there will be adequate amounts of work space

and moveable pathways throughout the classroom. The largest, most open space will be in the

middle of the room to allow for whole group, small group and individual work space. There will

be enough room for multiple students to have space to work at tables and on the floor depending

on what they are working on. Students will have a place to hang their book bags and coats as

well as a folder to place their work in that will be their own spot. All the furniture that the

students will use will be a size that is inviting, and easily accessible to the students.

Availability of Supplies and Equipment

I will keep the classroom organized so that all the equipment and supplies students will use
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will be readily accessible to them for all their lessons. This allows students to go about their

learning with little to no interference from the teacher.

Procedures

The first couple of weeks of school will be spent teaching the procedures of the

classroom. Some of the procedures will include how to come into the classroom, how to greet

adults and their classmates, and put their belongings away in their places, wash their hands, and

begin work. Other procedures will include how to behave during lessons, how to line up, how to

walk and behave around the school, and end of the day pack up. The rest of the school year will

be spent practicing and reinforcing these procedures.

Respectful Culture

Ground Rules

In my classroom, ground rules will be designed by how I would like the classroom to be and

how the school rules are. Some of these rules will be that the students are to be courteous, polite,

and respectful in and out of the classroom. Ground rules will be model by the adults in the

classroom daily. I will act the way I want my students to act. I will talk to them with the

appropriate volume, tone and with situationally appropriate and proper language daily. I will

give whole group and small group lessons demonstrating how to do things like walk in the

classroom or the hallway, be courteous and respectful of others’ work or other people, how to

complete lessons, and have manners by saying “please” and “thank you”. I would also adapt

those group lessons to be individual lessons if a student needed extra practice. I will use verbal

reinforcements in my classroom like “I like the way you are sitting ready to learn…” or “I liked

how quiet you all were walking in the hallway…”.

If the group lesson will be completed on the carpet I will teach my students a song to deter
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them from fiddling with their hands. The song goes as such, “Open, shut them, open, shut them.

Give a little clap, clap, clap. Open, shut them, open, shut them. Put them in your lap.” Students

will perform the hand movements as they sing along.

Teaching, Practicing and Reinforcing Social Skills

Like with ground rules, I will model social interaction. I will talk kindly with my students

and ask them for their help or if they would like to do an activity and remind them that we should

act this way will all our friends. While teaching social skills, I will relate my instruction to what

they already know. For example, if students are placed in groups, I could have them discuss

problems they may have had and point out that this is because of lack of communication among

them. I will incorporate student collaboration into the instructional time. This will allow students

to interact as they work if they stay on topic. Their friends can help them if they do not

understand the lesson being taught, but they must be courteous about helping. For example, they

must ask their classmate if they need or want help and if the classmate does not then the student

knows to leave them alone. Some of the social skills that will be taught are: asking for help,

communicating clearly, apologizing, resolving conflicts politely, sharing and taking turns.

By teaching, practicing and reinforcing social skills I can help reduce problematic behaviors

in the classroom and increase appropriate student interaction. This will help maximize my

instructional time. Hopefully these skills will follow my students outside of the classroom and

through their higher education.

Managing Student Behavior

Addressing Student Behavior

First, I will go over the rules with my students during the first two weeks of school. This
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will lay down the ground rules of how they should act during lessons, interact with other

students, and how to behave inside and outside of the classroom. These ground rules will be

taught, practiced and reinforced daily. The teacher will always model how the students should

act. I will do my best to avoid calling the student out directly. If the behavior is something that

can be addressed in private later, then I will pull the student aside and have a conversation with

them about what they did and how to adjust their behavior. During this conversation, I will

ensure that the student knows that their behavior is their responsibility and make them

responsible for how they can adjust their unfavorable behavior. If it is something that needs to be

address right away I will first do so without disturbing the whole class. This could mean giving

the student a look, putting a finger over my lips if they are talking, or standing near them. If this

does not stop the behavior I will call the students name and have a conversation with them after

the lesson. If the behavior is severe, further action can include calling the parents.

Expectations

Optimizing Instructional Time

I will optimize my instructional time by reviewing my weekly lesson plans and planning an

idea of what lessons I will want to teach that day and week, and which lessons I need to see my

students doing. For example, in a Montessori class I will need to see my kindergarteners working

on at least one challenging math and language lesson a day. Having a plan will keep me from

constantly having to improvise or think on instruction on the fly. I will also have checked my

lesson materials before teaching a lesson and have them ready to use. Another way I will

optimize instructional time is, as stated above, to teach, practice and reinforce social skills. This

is optimize my instructional time by decreasing unfavorable behavior and promoting appropriate

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classroom and school behavior.

Academic Expectations

I will organize goals to ensure high and demanding academic expectations for all my

students. The goals will be set both individually and for the whole class. For individuals, this can

include expecting them to practice and master lessons, improve behaviors, expand focus, follow

directions, or to use classroom materials correctly. Whole class goals can include following

procedures, improve academic knowledge, improving behavior, collaboration.