Your learning environments (where you are at, what you are doing, how you are doing things, and why) can impact the students' opportunities to learn. Describe how you have adapted to the learning environments in which you are working, recognizing that learning occurs everywhere, not just in the four walls of a classroom.
What aspects of the teaching and student dynamics have you taken into account? How have the previous 3 weeks helped you in developing your learning environments? Essentially, what does it take to be able to develop effective learning environments? What have you learned about developing effective learning environments for individuals with disabilities or who may be at-risk that you can transfer to "regular" student learning environments?
Learning occurs everywhere. As I was driving home from the school I stopped at a lemonade stand and I realized that these children are using some skill they were taught in the classroom, but some of the aspects of the entrepreneur adventure were learned from experience. This is the same idea in schools. Children will learn things about the common core, life skills and social skills through experience. Over the past couple of weeks I have seen that academic material is not always taught in the classroom. My students are learning about different parts of plants and so they have hung bean seeds in bags in the hall window to watch them grow. Through this activity children can relate it to gardens at their homes. I have also been taking small groups of students out into the hallways to work on math with white boards. While this is still in the school, leaving the classroom makes the kids excited and it feels like a special privileged to get to do their math. They become excited for learning and that is what teachers want. I have been sitting on the floor with the students in order to be at their level. This class has also been doing some work outside. The Children have been gathering twigs, rocks and leaves to put on the clay volcanoes that they made. This has been beneficial as children are able to use their energy that gets bottled up inside while sitting at a desk as well as learn about and appreciate their surroundings. One of the other areas where I have seen social and life skill improvement is at recess. The children are learning to interact and include all students despite various economic, cultural or ability differences.
ReplyDeleteAs I have been watching my students I realized that there is not one effective learning environment that fits all the needs of every student. It is important to mix up the way lessons are taught in order to reach all learning styles as well as keep kids excited about what will come next. A students with disabilities who is transferring into a regular classroom may have a hard time understanding the normal lecture about the parts of plant, but would understand the material if they could touch the plant. In order to create an effect learning environment, teachers need to find strengths and interests of their students and incorporate them into lesson planning.
It sounds like the teacher has really considered how the environment impacts learning, and that it isn't always the four walls of the classroom.
DeleteThe learning environment at the detention center is pretty horrid. The kids are expected to sit for and hour and half and fill in blanks on workbooks. With us there, the kids are able to ask questions about what they are working on, but for the most part they just fill in answers, not knowing if they are correct or not. The classrooms we work in are similar in looks to your average classroom, but with little resources to call upon such as textbooks or technology. I have grown accustomed to the environment and try to make myself available to the kids, with out being too much of a distraction. I will periodically address the entire class on a subject when they are looking anxious or distracted. Once I asked them why adults are always pushing education on them and we had a short discussion about it. Dr. Leytham's idea of playing games with the entire group, not just each classroom, where the kids make up the questions is fantastic and we see the kids respond very positively. The rules of the center limit how much we can do and how much time there is to do it. The goal is the help these kids achieve credit in classes they have fallen behind in or are needed to graduate, so distracting them from that must be done sparingly.
ReplyDeleteI have tried to build a rapport with the kids by talking to them with respect and helping when I can. Breaking up the monotony has been very beneficial in keeping their attention focused and showing the kids that we are not their as overseers, but as caring volunteers. We have learned over the last couple weeks what games the kids like to play, rules they want set to make it fair, and how motivated each individual is to learning. Each kid must be approached with their personality in mind. Some kids will focus just by pointing at their workbook and asking them the get back to it. Some kids will focused if you challenge them to finish a certain amount of work in a given time. The more resilient ones will not focus at all and just want to talk. With these kids I like to talk with them for a couple of minutes under the pretext that they will get back to work when our conversation is over. Many of these kids resent their school environment and many of them miss it. Developing a effective teaching environment is difficult. I feel the best way to create a positive atmosphere is to teach the kids on both sides that life may suck now, but trying to succeed on the outside with out at least a basic education is going to be far worse.
I am glad that you are taking full advantage of this learning opportunity for you. It is clearly a very difficult setting for everyone involved but helping the students to see beyond the 'now' is a great idea.
DeleteVolunteering for Hope Kids has given me the opportunity to have a different environment in which I interact with the children every time I have gone. The activity for this week was at Arrowhead Stables in Layton. There were about five families that showed up. One of which, had a child who needed special accommodations for his wheelchair. He needed someone to sit behind him on the horse and hold onto him because his legs could not grip the horse and he would have fallen off. Another child had a hard time walking and she needed extra assistance getting up onto the horse. The children had a good time. They were shown how to groom and saddle horses, some were given the opportunity to help with these tasks. A few of the children had to be shown how to brush the horses a few times.
ReplyDeleteI am going to reflect back to when I peer tutored for another example of adapting learning environments. I worked closely with a boy who was severely disabled, we was wheel chair bound, and half of his body did not form. Only one eye had formed and he only had use of one side of his body. He had a difficult tip gripping a normal pencil, so he had a thing that attached to his pencil so he could grip it better. He did quite well with it.
It is really important to consider individual student skills when creating lessons and how you can not only adapt the lesson, but the environment.
DeleteWorking with the individuals at TURN has taught me that learning environments have to be flexible and adaptable for individuals with disabilities. At the center, there are teaching opportunities embedded into every activity we do, whether it’s a lesson on math facts, planning and preparing a meal, or visiting a barbershop. Most lessons involve teaching important life skills and social skills. Many of the clients require assistance for their most basic needs, but teaching them how to help prepare a meal, clean up after themselves, or pay for their groceries are all opportunities for them to gain independence and exercise choice. Many of the games we play at the center have been adapted to teach and reinforce these skills. For example, in a game of BINGO, the spaces are not numbers or letters but places around the community, like the grocery store, the library, the hospital, etc., all important places for the clients to be able to identify because they use them daily. A lot of time is spent teaching them to use public transportation, because it allows them greater independence and opens up so may more opportunities for them to be involved in their communities. In this way, their learning environment is constantly changing and adapting as their needs are addressed and as they gain more independence.
ReplyDeleteMindi Cella
Learning that teaching occurs everywhere is such an important skill. TURN has clearly taught you that teaching students in the natural environment is so critical.
Delete
ReplyDeleteHaving an effective learning environment is crucial in the classroom. I believe it needs to be established early. I plan to make the expectations clear early on and to "set the mood" of the classroom so the students know what is expected of them throughout the year. First impressions are important and if you set the rules early, stop bad behavior and make directions clear I believe there will be a better opportunity to learn. I have had to adapt my behavior at youth impact in many ways. I feel like I need to be more harsh and direct with the kids there. I am usually pretty passive and allow children to get away with things because I think they need to learn some things on there own but with the youth impact children I feel different. They are much more mature then other kids there age because they have had to grow up fast. (For example, One of the 12 year old girls there named M is in charge of her little brother and all all the chores of the house. She says things that surprise me everyday and she handles situations very well. She acts like she is 16 and is worried/talks about things that didn't even cross my mind when I was her age.) I feel like because of this, it is important to treat them like they are older and capable of proper behavior. I have adapted to the learning environment at youth impact and have made it better by handling negative attitudes and including every child so it is positive and productive.
I have never been around at-risk students until this assignment of volunteering at youth impact. It has had a huge influence on my previous thoughts about students and teaching. I am now much more aware of these students and I have a better understanding of how to handle them. A positive environment is SO IMPORTANT in a classroom especially for student like these because it could be the only positive environment they are exposed to. Most of these kids do not have wonderful home lives and for them to be able to come to school to learn and just think about being a kid for a little while is amazing! Youth Impact may not be the perfect program and not have as much funding as they need but it is a safe happy place for the children to come and escape their worries. Once again, I cant emphasize this enough, but I really love this program and the kids in it!
-Kennedy Haggard
Kennedy, I am so proud of the connection you are making with the students at YI, but more importantly how you are using this experience to really understand how it connects to your future as a teacher. The goal of this experience was for you to begin to understand that you don't always get to choose who shows up at your classroom door and what you might do to best meet their needs. I think you are really figuring this out!
DeleteAt Youth Impact, they have a very relaxed and structured environment at the same time. The kids are in control of whatever they want to do, but they also have to be responsible and take care of the things they are using, or what until the activity is available. This teaches the children that they are responsible for their learning. When they do things they enjoy, it is much more meaningful to them. I have seen learning taking place in every room at youth impact. It may not always be gross motor skill, reading, mathematical, or any one specific learning domain, but there is defiantly a lot of social and emotional growth happening every time I am there, along with anything else. I feel the way Youth Impact is set up, fosters this emotional/social learning. All of the kids there take care of each other, and learn how to interact with each other.
ReplyDeleteThis has shown me that when I set up my classroom, I don’t just want to set it up so that it fosters developmental growth in the cognitive setting, but the environment needs to be set up to foster social and emotional learning as well.
Today, I started volunteering in a SPED classroom; this environment was set up very differently. Everything was set up to keep the children sitting, and busy. There was nothing interesting on the walls to distract the children, and there were book shelves separating parts of the room so the children did not get distracted by what other children are doing.
At first I thought it was kind of a bad set up, but then I talked to the teacher about it. She said she has many students she has coming in and out during the day, with only a limited amount of time with each student, and many of the students have ADHD. She said that if the class room was not so restricting that her students would get distracted very easily and she would lose valuable time with them trying to get them just to sit down and focus.
The last four weeks have taught me that the environment needs to be set up to work for many different types of children. I can’t just cater to one type of student and hope it will work for everyone. I have also learned that the environment is very important when it come to the students, because the act and behave differently accordingly.
What a great contrast between the two environments. I am glad you are able to see how the needs of students really do impact how we arrange not only the lessons we teach, but the way we set up the environment that will contribute to the success or failure of those environments.
ReplyDeleteAshlee Scott
ReplyDeleteI feel I finally connected with the older kids at Youth Impact!
I feel a positive learning environment is important to help students succeed. I feel it needs to be full of things the students enjoy doing. I decided I needed to step it up and try a different approach to building relationships with the kids at Youth Impact. I brought an activity to share. The activity was making butterflies with clothes pins for the bodies, pipe cleaners for the antennas, googly eyes, and small clear bags full of Skittles for the wings. I brought plenty of supplies and tried to make the table look colorful and fun. I was thrilled to see so many of the kids excited to do my activity! The older kids also enjoyed the activity and wanted to make two! I loved visiting with them. We laughed and enjoyed each others company. Many of the kids thanked me and expressed how cute the activity was. This made me feel so good! I am already preparing another activity for when I go again next week.
I feel I needed to adapt to the kids learning environment at Youth Impact. I needed to share with them an activity that was interesting and fun. I agree learning can take place anywhere we just need to be open minded and adjust things to fit the needs of the students.
The environment at Youth Impact is great for learning. At first, one might think that it is a noisy and busy place, but this has been my fourth visit there and I see that learning does occur in many different environments. The kids there are constantly playing games and on the computers. I have made a relationship with one boy and he loves to go to the park and play baseball. While we were there, one of the kids made it to third base. One of the younger boys looks around and said “guys he is 2/3 of the way home”. Then he sat there for a minute and then said “wait, no he is 3/4 of the way home”. You don’t have to be in a classroom to do math, you can actually do it on a baseball field! Even though the kids might not realize it, they are incorporating their classroom knowledge into everyday life, even when they are just goofing off and playing around. This got me thinking that when teaching it is important to know that kids learn differently and helping kids with fractions can come about in many different ways. Sometimes it is taught in pieces, but you could definitely use a baseball field and things like that to teach those kids who are struggling. I learned that learning comes in so many forms. When we play bumper pool the little kids know and have taught me even, that if you hit the ball at a certain angle, it will go into the hole the first time. I have noticed that no matter where you are, at the park or playing games like bumper pool or mini golf, there are lessons to be taught and things to be learned. To form an effective learning environment it is very essential to provide things they relate with and things that are fun. Doing fractions was fun for the kid playing baseball because it applied to something that he liked. I think when providing things that kids relate to for those who have a disability or struggle when compared to “regular” students, they can learn better. I will use my baseball example again, if you have a boy who is autistic, for example, and loves baseball you can center your teaching and that students learning on baseball or any other thing that they like or can relate too. Learning does come in many forms…and it is great to notice that kids don’t just stop learning or applying knowledge to things just in the classroom!
ReplyDeleteWhile volunteering with hope kids, the learning environments were not even close to the traditional classroom setting: four walls, desks, chairs, whiteboards, etc. We went out and did things to get them active, moving, and having fun while still having fun learning. One experience that comes to mind the most when talking about learning outside of the classroom is at Arrowhead Stables. You can sit down with students and teach them all about horses and how to take care of them, but when you actually do it hands on the learning becomes so much more real and permanent. Seeing the way the students reacted to seeing a live horse was amazing. For some, this was their first time experiencing anything like that. For others, it was another opportunity to bring back memories and make new ones. I was observing one little boy (A) as he was talking to one of the handlers about what it means to brush and groom a horse. A was completely intrigued by what the handler was saying and I could see the connections being made between what she was saying and how it relates to the actual live horse. It showed me that learning can happen anywhere and at anytime.
ReplyDeleteDeveloping effective learning environments can be challenging, but is necessary for the student success within the classroom. Creating an environment where everyone can feel safe, loved, and wanted is an important aspect to creating that effectiveness. Setting strict rules and expectations also adds to the student success. Providing opportunities for students to learn and experience things hands on is also a way to create the positive and effective learning environments. Hope kids has shown me that learning can happen outside of the classroom, especially when the kids least expect it. To them, it's summer time and this is just another activity that they get to go to. It's cool to see them progress in such a short time.
The kids at Youth Impact are learning many things in the environment that they are surrounded by. It is far from a classroom setting, although there is a study hall area that is set aside for homework during the school year. The facility is a a large center with different areas where the kids can interact with each other and the adults who work and volunteer there. One thing that they are learning is how to interact with peers of different backgrounds and age than themselves. There is a wide variety of differing backgrounds and types of people. They learn how to play games together and do crafts together. Another thing that they are learning is how to resolve conflicts and issues that may arise. On my 4th visit, I played card games with a group of kids. While playing, a girl, L, came over and sat by one of the girls, S, who had been playing with us and started telling S which cards to play and basically taking over the game for her. S became frustrated and wanted to stop playing. She finally said, "L if you want to play, wait til we finish this round and then we will deal you in, but let me play my hand now." I felt that she handled the situation very well and in a mature manner. There are the kinds of skills that these kids are learning in their fun, chaotic environment.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteAdapting to the learning environment was rather simple because the kids are given so much free choice. I had simply to ask the objective of the activity. The dynamics at Youth Impact are pretty diverse. What I loved about the program is that the majority of the students wanted to be there. They are highly engaged in the learning process. Understanding this enabled me to consider how fortunate I was to be there. I have learned a lot about establishing positive learning environments in the past 3 weeks. I have learned that giving students some free choice and involving them in activities that are rewarding and challenging they do better. Essentially, positive learning environments are established when the teacher knows the perfect balance of “controlled chaos.” I have learned in work in with at-risk students that developing a positive learning environment comes from developing positive relationships wth the students. The way to do this is not always by asking typical questions like “How was school?” “Who is your favorite teacher?” I often received better responses by asking things like “Will you show me how you built that?” or “What is your favorite story? Why do you like it?”
ReplyDelete