Harmony Turner
Standard 3: Learning Environments
The teacher works with others to create environments that support individual and collaborative learning, and that encourage positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self motivation.
Overview of Standard
In looking to Standard 3 as a whole, I can envision its deep-rooted purpose: to actively and responsibly ensure that the entirety of learners' environments, to include those outside (family, culture) as well as inside (peers, self-directed) the classroom, are conducive to the diversity present for all students, pertinent to the structure and accessibility of materials and content, and nurturing towards the inevitable relationships being built within such a learning community. The teacher must be able to listen and observe, while equally guiding and directing students through purposeful, safe, collaborative, innovative, curious, and equitable experiences. In doing so, students' successes can be seen and felt collectively (interpersonal) as well as independently (intrapersonal).
Artifact #1
Journal Rhymes
Descriptor: 3(i): The teacher understands the relationship between motivation and engagement and knows how to design learning experiences using strategies that build learner self-direction and ownership of learning.
In support of Standard 3, I am presenting a photograph depicting a sample of student work from a language arts lesson that I recently taught. Pictured is the result of a student's efforts to utilize a manipulative that I made, in order to support each learner's understanding and application of rhyming. This sample of student work demonstrates how I, as the teacher, made a connection between student motivation and engagement by relating the materials to our current theme: heart health. In addition, by equipping students with the tools (heart sliders) necessary to accomplish their goal (journaling rhymes), I was able to prompt and support learner self-direction and ownership. Self-direction is seen in how the students needed to work with their manipulatives independently to discover, read, and write rhymes. The ownership of learning came as the students immediately saw the justification of their work, and resulting understanding, as written words and pictures in their journals.
Note: I put two stars over the student's name to protect privacy.
Artifact #2
Photo: Mobile Assemble Day
Descriptor: 3(a) The teacher collaborates with learners, families, and colleagues to build a safe, positive learning climate of openness, mutual respect, support, and inquiry.
In order to provide a rationale for this artifact, I first need to set the scene. Over the course of my solo teaching, the students chose one of four ocean animals to study (Hawaiian monk seal, humpback whale, shark, or Honu (green Pacific sea turtle). One of the projects I planned, included the collaborative efforts of students, their families, and my cooperating teacher: a mobile assembly. That is, on a designated day/time those parents who could join us for the afternoon, were invited to come and help their child, and other children, assemble a mobile depicting the habitat, predator, and food connected to the students' chosen animal of study. Prior to this day, students took home a flyer (see also pictured below) asking parents to support their children's projects. During the crafting process, everyone worked well together. To further promote a safe, positive learning climate of openness, mutual respect, support, and inquiry, at the conclusion of the day, everyone sat in a circle and each student had a chance to go in the middle, share his/her mobile, and take a bow. The energy in the classroom was filled with respect, kindness, curiosity, and pride.
Several completed mobiles that were part of classroom display (bulletin board).
Homework flyer sent home prior to mobile creation day.