Building Student Success
Positive Learning Environment
These are a few things I think about when it comes to my classroom...
​What are some elements of a successful and positive learning environment?​
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Classroom Layout - safe, good traffic flow, and promotes learning
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Learning Centres - have a purpose in the curriculum, engage students, meet different learning styles.
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Learning Activities - created for different learning styles and needs of students
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Library - have a selection of text that reflect culture and diversity and capture the interests of students
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Classroom Organization - calming and supports a positive learning environment
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Display and include diverse and cultural resources and learning materials
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Student perspective fosters a sense of ownership - display student work, ask for student input to encourage caring for their classroom
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What conditions can I control as a teacher?
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Providing a safe, welcoming, equitable, diverse, and inclusive learning environment
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Provide a variety of resources and materials to support learning
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Creating lessons that engage students
What do I need to be successful?
To be successful I need access to a variety of books, texts, media, manipulatives, natural materials, and professional development opportunities to keep learning fresh and up to date.
REFLECT: What does your positive learning environment look like?
Assessments
Keep diverse learning styles in mind.
Effective and diverse assessment strategies support students by responding appropriately to their learning needs. Integrating multimodal assessments provides flexible and creative ways for students to show what they know to ensure successful learning experiences are part of their academic journey.
Assessment strategies for diverse cultural backgrounds:
Dynamic forms of assessment.
These include assessment ongoing communication between teacher and student, portfolios, journals, stories, or through oral discussion between student and teacher.
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A good balance low stakes / high stake assessment.
"Mix it up" for students by using observations and forms of formal assessment to show academic growth.
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Learning matches the academic goal.
For example, if a student requires help to understand what is being asked, that is not what is being assessed - that is part of the learning process.
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Provide descriptive, forward-looking feedback.
This guides students in their learning and provides ongoing feedback in order for them to be successful.
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Learning Activities.
Gives students opportunities to practice a new concept or skill; this will inform you of what the student is learning and where they need additional support.
Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
Culturally Responsive Teaching supports a multicultural lens by creating a welcoming learning environment that invites all aspects of culture and language into the classroom. Lessons are created and planned with student strengths and interests in mind to enhance learning through meaningful connections that are relevant and inclusive across all cultures.
Project Based Learning
Project Based Learning (PBL) engages students as they work collaboratively with peers to gain knowledge about a specific topic. Students become experts by gathering information and sharing it with their classmates. This framework will capture the attention of your multilingual students and supports them on their academic journey.
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PBL supports language, literacy, and social / emotional development across all areas of the curriculum.
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The following article helps guide you through the PBL planning process.
Inquiry Based Learning
Engage students in learning by asking questions to learn more about a topic. Inquiry based learning supports a culturally diverse classroom with flexible and creative ways to explore and discover across different cultures.
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The following 'wonder bubble' lesson could be adapted to fit any inquiry question.
Learning Centres
Learning centres engage students with interactive activities which allows them to practice new skills and knowledge. Multicultural students benefit from learning centres because it provides opportunities for conversation which develops everyday language and social / emotional skills.
Learning centres create a safe environment that lowers the affective filter, therefore supporting positive learning experiences and second language acquisition.