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Standard #11

Learning Environment: Classroom Management and Engagement

Robin Kornfield

University of Alaska Southeast

ED698 Master’s Portfolio

Dr. Beth Hartley

April 15, 2023

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Learning Environment: Classroom Management and Engagement

Standard #11: Learning Environment: 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.
Engaging school days start with a positive beginning. I like to provide a personal greeting

to each student, a work assignment on the board, and communication about what to expect

throughout the workday. Students like to know what is going on and they will glance up at the

schedule and say, “Yay we have art today!” Or they shout, “Yay we get to go outside!” An

atmosphere of welcome and purpose can set the tone for the entire day.

Some classes begin with a daily talking circle, which I experience at the Alaska Native

Cultural Charter School. Students may share whatever they wish about what is going on in their

lives, or they are prompted to focus the discussion on a particular issue or idea. Reminding

students that each person will have the chance to speak, and that the speaker should not be

interrupted helps students learn how to participate in respectful conversation. Circle time is also

good for reminding students about expected behaviors, upcoming events, and to clear the air of

any conflicts that may have occurred.

An inviting atmosphere of trust, respect, optimism, and intentionality is how Fisher &

Frey (2018) describe the ideal learning environment. They emphasize that intentionally creating

a relationship with each student is “low hanging fruit” achieved far more easily and less

expensively than more complicated research-based ideas. Simple advice such as intentionally

making the effort to learn and use students’ names and to spend time learning about student

interests and activities outside of school while sharing one’s own interests goes a long way to

creating engaging and caring relationship with students. As a frequent substitute teacher, I have

found it beneficial to affix each student’s name at their desk with masking tape. The students and
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I have a temporary relationship, but we are much more comfortable with one another when I can

call them by name.

Achieving the ideal classroom environment is not easy, especially considering that each

class has one or two students who pull the attention of the teacher away from instruction. As a

second-year teacher, Ms. Parker* had a particularly challenging time with an individual fourth-

grade student and with the management of her full fourth-grade classroom. I have attached my

observation of the challenge and methods attempted as the teacher worked with the student and

the full class. https://robinkornfieldportfolio.weebly.com/learning-environment-artifacts.html

This teacher, who according to the principal, came from a large family in which speaking in loud

voices and applying punishment was the norm, did not recognize that her own behavior needed

to change as she had moved to an Alaska Native culture where the principal, Mr. Black,* said,

“When adults speak in loud voices it means they are having a very bad day.” (* names

changed.)

Mr. Black’s attempts at mentoring Ms. Parker and her mixed response to his suggestions

postponed success for the student and for Ms. Parker as a teacher. She thought she was doing her

best, using the skills that had worked for her in other settings. Yelling at her difficult student to

“Settle down!” did not achieve her intended result, and repeatedly sending him to the principal

did not help when he returned to the classroom. Eventually, she was willing to receive advice, to

lower her voice, to seek out a relationship with her student, and to explore more ways to connect.

The unfortunate reality though was that her time spent with one student took away teaching time

and relationship-building with the full class. Her attempts to control her other students backfired.

Taking the advice of fellow teachers, Ms. Parker’s attempt at group discipline with the

full class only angered the students when the behavior of one student deprived the full class of
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their favorite game at recess. The punitive technique of singling out the behavior of one person

causing punishment for the entire group, is frowned upon by Alfie Kohn, an educator who

advocates for the classroom to become a democratic community. Kohn wrote in Beyond

Discipline that while everyone is relieved when the disruptive kid gets booted out of the game,

eventually a punitive atmosphere damages the relationship between kids and adults (2013). My

own class management journey has been equally challenging.

My host teacher during my Social Studies practicum took notes, which I have attached as

an artifact https://robinkornfieldportfolio.weebly.com/learning-environment-artifacts.html,

during my delivery of a lesson to a 4th grade class at the Alaska Native Cultural Charter School.

We moved to the carpet to view a short film about the Dena’ina basketmaking tradition and we

made authentic looking birchbark baskets using thick paper rather than real bark. What my host

teacher observed as I taught the lesson is that I did not wait to make sure all students were quiet

and paying attention. I gamely introduced the project, discussed the materials and tools needed,

demonstrated how we fold the birchbark, and the technique of wrapping twine along the top edge

to hold the basket together. I never stopped to address behaviors as the sound level rose. My host

wrote, “I had to ask class to stop and listen because Ms. Robin is trying to give directions while

the kids are not looking or listening.”

These students completed nice baskets and I have archived a photo of the students and

their completed project https://robinkornfieldportfolio.weebly.com/learning-environment-

artifacts.html. The students did learn about the Dena’ina basketmaking tradition, but learning to

wait until the students were listening and paying attention to instructions has been one of my on-

going teaching challenges. Ever since that experience, I have been observing and asking each

teacher I work with about their recommendations for creating a productive learning environment.
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Not all strategies that have worked well for other teachers have been successful for me.

During my student teaching, while struggling with a classroom that did not respond to my pleas

to lower the sound level, I took the advice of my mentor who suggested that I take one minute

away from recess every time the class did not quiet down when asked. I tried that technique only

to be called in to the principal’s office when the grandmother of one of the students called in to

complain about unfair treatment. “Not all students were being noisy,” she said. “Why should

everyone suffer?” This very technique of taking something, valued time in this case, away from

the students is mentioned by Kohn as ineffective (2006) as it disrupts the relationship between

the punished and punisher.

My mentor teacher and I decided to take the advice of Jones and Jones (2016) to engage

the class in defining the standard behaviors that are required for a successful learning

atmosphere. The students helped us make a list of rules they would agree to follow. All students

signed the final document, and we posted it on the wall. The contract was edited a bit before final

posting, but the contribution from the students is as follows:

“Our class family believes that learning is our priority.

We agree to keep our voice levels at the level needed.
We agree to show respect to our teachers and peers.
When the silent signal is used, we will show respect and be ready for instruction.
As a class family we agree to acknowledge that extra noise and silly actions
distract our peers.
Our pledge is to work hard, learn together, and respect all.
This leads to a SUCCESSFUL 4th grade.”
Grade 4, 2022-2023

Once the contract was posted we were able to nod to it or to remind students about their

agreement. I did not notice a huge behavior change in the students, but the act of participating in

the definition of a successful learning family is an important starting point.

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I have benefited from veteran teachers who have described their transition from the

overwhelmed phase of beginning teacher to their ideal classroom management techniques as

requiring on-going effort. I have taken the advice of my practicum mentor who keeps a journal

where she records ideas that work, challenges she has had to address, and successes along the

way. Like her, I have begun collecting and practicing new skills and ideas, and to record my

progress. Working as a substitute teacher has given me the opportunity to assess each classroom,

to be flexible and responsive, and to refine my classroom management techniques. I have

ordered a doorbell, which is one of the best ways I have found to signal that it is time to quiet

down or to transition to the next activity.

I like the term Vito Perrone (1991) attributed to Lillian Weber, who is known for using

the whole building at her P.S. 84 school in New York, including the halls, as classrooms. Weber

described the learning environment as the surrounds. To me the surrounds includes not just the

classroom, but also the way into the school, the welcome one sees on the faces of both adults and

children, the representation of thoughts and creative work that is seen on the walls, and a

learning space that is colorful, active, and safe.

Students love to learn by taking a walk around the school to look for geometric shapes or

to gather leaves that they later use in an art project. They love to huddle together in a corner of

the classroom. They learn they are part of a big community by visiting important places in the

like the port, a museum, the courthouse or the “big library.”

My goal is to learn the best ways to create a surround that is so engaging that neither

parents nor their children want a day of class to be missed because the environment is not only

challenging, but it is also enjoyable for students, teachers, and everyone else who contributes to a
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well-run school. Taking the advice of Perrone, my intent is to accomplish learning as a

cooperative enterprise between learners, teachers, parents, and the surrounding community.
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Resources

Fisher, D. & Frey, N. (2018). Engagement by design: Creating learning environments where

children thrive. Corwin.

Jones, V. & Jones, L. (2016). Comprehensive classroom management: Creating communities of

support and solving problems. Ed. 11. Pearson Education Inc.

Kohn, A. (2006). Beyond discipline: From compliance to community. 10th Anniversary Edition.

ASCD.

Perrone, V. (1991). A letter to teachers: Reflections on schooling and the art of teaching. Jossey-

Bass, Inc.

Smith, D., Fisher, D. & Frey, N. (2015). Better than carrots or sticks: Restorative practices for

positive classroom management. ASCD.