Illinois Professional Teaching Standard Five | Learning Environment

The competent teacher uses an understanding of individual and group motivation and
behavior to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active
engagement in learning, and self-motivation.

Description:

The artifact I chose for this standard is a classroom rules assignment for a Special Education
course, created in Fall of 2010. This assignment required me to create a list of expectations,
procedures, rewards, and consequences for a hypothetical classroom. Also included is an
explanation on how I would implement these policies along with a reflection on the
assignment.

Meeting the standard:

This artifact addresses the standard because classroom expectations and procedures set the
tone for the learn environment. These policies do not focus on discipline, but they dictate
what happens in my classroom on a daily basis. When students are expected to act in a
certain way and go about the class period performing certain tasks, they will generally follow
the rules if they have been taught how to do so. The process of developing a learning
environment is establishing a tone for the classroom where students can not only behave, but
participate in the classroom. This assignment sets the framework for the classroom, but the
key will be to implement these ideas along with designing quality activities and lesson which
will work in tandem to engage students.

How this demonstrates my development as a teacher:

This assignment challenged me to think about my classroom in a realistic manner. In fact, this
artifact made me realize that I am going to have the opportunity to implement these ideas
into an actual classroom very soon. With that idea in mind, I thought about the classrooms I
had seen and how procedures and expectations were utilized. From that pool of information, I
chose what I thought would work best with my style and teaching methods. Through this
project, I also realized that the tone set by these regulations is the first component of
successfully teaching student – if expectations and procedures are not established and the
classroom is mismanaged, there will be little effective teaching and learning.
 Joe Delinski
SPED 405
Delinski,
10/27/2010 Joseph

M r . D elin sk i’s C la ssr oom :

8 t h G r a d e S ocia l S t u d ies
E xp ect a t ion s:

1. R esp ect is t h e n a m e of t h e ga m e.
2 . H a ve fu n .
3 . P a r t icip a t e ( You h a ve a n op in ion , a n d I wa n t t o h ea r it !)
4 . C om m u n ica t e
5 . B e clea r a n d lou d wh en you sp ea k .
6 . L ist en ( a n d t h in k b efor e you sp ea k ) .
7 . B e P olit e ( P lea se, t h a n k s, a n d a ll t h a t good st u ff) .
8 . C om p let e you r h om ewor k on t im e.
9 . U se com p let e sen t en ces.
10 . B r in g you r st u ff ( if you d on ’t , k n ow wh er e t o fin d t h e b a ck u p s)
a n d som et h in g else t o d o ( in ca se you fin ish t h is ea r ly) .
11. I f you n eed t o get ou t of you r sea t , m a k e su r e it ’s a n a p p r op r ia t e
t im e t o d o so.
12 . F ood a n d d r in k is ok a y in m y cla ss, b u t if you b r in g in foo d t h a t I
lik e, I m igh t st ea l it .

P r oced u r es:

1. S a y h i.
2 . C om e on in .
3 . H a ve a sea t .
4 . R ea d t h e p ost ed a n n ou n cem en t s a n d get ou t m a t er ia ls ( or r et r ie ve
t h e t h in gs you ’r e m issin g fr om t h e b a ck u p a r ea ) wh ile I ’m t a k in g
a t t en d a n ce.
5 . W a it for m e t o t ell you wh a t ’s h a p p en in g t od a y.
6 . P ick u p or r eceive t h e m a t er ia l for t h e d a y.
7 . G et t o wor k ( E it h er on t h e a ssign m en t , r ea d in g, n ot es, or cla ss t a lk ) .
8 . H a n d in you r wor k for t h e d a y ( if I t ell you t o) a n d h om ewor k fr om
t h e d a y b efor e in t o you r p er son fold er .