Classroom

Environment and
Interactive Plan
Anna Shaffer
 Table of Topics

01 Teacher-Student Relationships 05 Culturally Responsive Teaching

02 Student-Student Relationships 06 Flexible Grouping

03 Growth Mindset 07 Interactive Strategies

04 Redefining Fair
 01

Teacher-Student
Relationships
Teacher-Student Relationships
When building a math classroom, it is important to cultivate a positive teacher-student relationship.
These relationships can have a significant impact on a students’ academic performance, overall well
being, and long term success.

● When students have a positive relationship with their teacher, they are more likely to ask
questions, seek help, and actively participate, which enhances learning for all students in the
classroom.
● Students are more likely to put in effort and persevere through challenging problems when they
feel supported by their teacher.
● A good teacher-student relationship can provide emotional support and can alleviate the math
related anxiety that many students face.
● Positive teacher relationships can have a long term impact on students’ attitudes toward math
and education as a whole.
 Fostering Teacher-Student Relationships
Beginning Of The Year
Student Interest Surveys: Administering a student
interest survey can build trust within the classroom,
make their learning relatable and personal, and can
encourage connections.
Reflected Teacher Personality: Teachers should be
encouraged to share who they are with their students.
Students can tell when a teacher is putting on a facade.
To avoid the mistrust that can come with this, teachers
should decorate their classroom with aspects of their
personalities, like their nationalities, pets, and hobbies.
Notebook Decorations: One thing that I plan on doing is
having students decorate their notebooks or binders
with a personal math theme. One struggle that math
teachers face is having math relate to students. By
having students decorate their notebooks with
important numbers or symbols, teachers can get to
know their students better and students can see a
personal connection to math.
Ongoing
Daily Check Ins: Teachers can ask students, directly or
indirectly how the student is doing. This can be done a
1-10 scale, 1-2 word explanation, or more detailed.
Teachers can be done verbally, as a worksheet question,
or in an online survey.
Attendance Questions: By asking an attendance
question, or a warm up question, students can talk about
something other than content with their teacher. This
also gives the teacher the opportunity get to know their
students on an informal basis. This can be done on a slip
of paper, a white board, or verbally.
Student Interest Survey Grouping: Teachers can use the
information from the student interest survey to form
interest based groups with their students. This shows
students the similarities between other students. For
math particularly, mixing groups can be a great way for
students to discover new problem solving methods and
alleviate the anxiety of being wrong.
 02

Student-Student
Relationship
Student-Student Relationships
Strong student-student relationships can enhance the motivation, engagement, and
learning experiences within a classroom. By actively promoting and nurturing positive
student-student relationships, you can create a classroom and school environment
where students feel valued, supported, and connected to their peers, ultimately
enhancing their overall educational experience.

➔ By implementing various strategies within a classroom, a teacher can create a

math classroom where students feel connected to their peers and are motivated
to work together to achieve their academic goals.
➔ Building these relationships can lead to a more inclusive and supportive
learning environment, which can ultimately enhance students' math skills and
overall educational experience.
 Fostering Student-Student Relationships
Beginning Of The Year
Icebreakers: Teachers can conduct Icebreakers, or “Get To Know
You” activities at the beginning of the year. This starts all the
students out on the same foot and fosters collaboration while
being light hearted.
Classroom Norms: Having students create the norms for their
classroom helps with both behavior management and fosters
collaboration with other students. Students can create norms
through whole class discussion, then a physical poster can be
hung in the classroom.
Class Mural: One thing that I feel passionate about is
integrating art and math. Having the class design and
implement a mural would be great for bonding and would
integrate two subjects that many think are polar opposites.
Ongoing
Student Shout-Outs: Students can celebrate a peer by
submitting their name for a shout out. In a middle school
classroom, I would put those who were “shouted out” into a
drawing to win extra points on a test, a free homework skip, or
another appropriate prize based on student interest.
Four Corners: Students can express their opinions about
mathematical and non-mathematical topics while being active.
Four corners, this or that, and would you rather can both
strengthen bonds and spark friendly debates between
classmates.
Reevaluating Classroom Norms: Classroom norms are meant to
be flexible and ever changing. It is important for students and
teachers to revisit the classroom norms and make changes as
needed. This gives students the opportunity to work
collaboratively and reflect on the classroom environment.
 03

Growth Mindset
Growth Mindset
A growth mindset is the belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed through learning,
persistence, and effort. When an educator has a growth mindset, they have better effectiveness
and learning outcomes from their students. Teachers serve as role models for their students.
Students are more likely to believe in their own potential when their teachers do the same.
Students are also more likely to embrace challenges when encouraged by their teachers. The high
expectations that teachers have for their students leads to increased student motivation and
achievement.

One thing that I hear all the time is “I’m not a math person.” I’ve heard it from professors, friends,
students, family members, and even myself on several occasions. I think anyone can be a “math
person” if they’re given the right instruction. Education is continuously changing and new
methods and strategies are constantly being created and implemented. Just because someone
isn’t a “math person” right now doesn’t mean they never will be. It just means they haven’t found
their spark yet.
Fostering a Growth Mindset Covertly
Praise within a classroom directly relates to a teacher’s opinion on mindsets. A teacher with a
growth mindset is more likely to praise the hard work of a student while a teacher with a fixed
mindset will be more likely to praise the individual. While teachers generally try to uplift students,
they can inadvertently cause damage to their students’ vision of themselves. When students only
see themselves being praised, rather than their work, they begin to believe that the work doesn’t
matter. This will make students less likely to pursue challenges, which stunts their learning
opportunities. Teachers should steer clear of phrases like “you are so smart” or “ you did the best
you could”, since these can stifle a student’s learning potential. Teachers should instead say “I’m
proud of how hard you worked” or “I think you can improve on this topic by doing x, y, and z.” By
encouraging hard work, practice, and effort, teachers can help students build a growth mindset for
themselves.
 Fostering a Growth Mindset Overtly
Using role models is a great way continually foster a growth mindset.
Teachers can introduce students to mathematicians and scientists who
faced setbacks but persevered to make significant contributions. Students
can independently research mathematicians or scientist that feel relevant to
them, or that come from a similar culture or background.

1. The Assignment: Students will create a poster highlighting a

mathematician or scientist of their choosing. They should preferably
be a lesser known individual.
2. The Creation: Students will work as individuals or partners to create
their posters. This could be done in class or outside of class for
homework.
3. The Product: These posters will be presented to the class and then
displayed around the classroom and will feature the individual’s
academic successes and a summary of their lives.
 04

Redefining Fair
 Redefining Fair
Redefining fairness and strengthening differentiation in the context of education is essential for creating a more inclusive and
effective learning environment that accommodates the diverse needs of all students. It would be silly to say that every child
has the exact same needs in every classroom. “Fairness” has traditionally been seen as equality, meaning that every students is
treated the same. We should change our mindset to see fairness as equitable, meaning that every student gets what they
need as an individual.

For a math activity to introduce the topic of fairness, I would pass out index cards to each student. The student will write out
their full name and will count the number of letters in their whole name. For example, I would have 17 letters in my whole
name. Students will then form groups with other people who have the same or similar numbers. Once they are in their groups,
they will share a fun fact or origin story about their name. Once everyone has shared a fact about their name, will have a short
discussion relating the activity to how the class will work in terms of equity and fairness. Even though everyone in your group
had the same number of letters, all of our names consist of different combinations of letters, with names from different
backgrounds. Some people might take longer to write out their name, simply because their name is longer. This doesn’t mean
their name is any less valid.

In any given math classroom, you’ll see a variety of different needs and interests. Teachers should strive to challenge every
student and push them towards success. By treating students equitably, each student will have the chance to succeed.
 05
Culturally
Responsive
Teaching
Culturally Responsive Teaching
Culturally responsive teaching is an approach that recognizes and values the
diverse cultural backgrounds and experiences of students. A culturally responsive
classroom seeks to create an inclusive and equitable learning environment where
all students can succeed. Culturally responsive teaching in a math classroom helps
students see the relevance of mathematics in their lives and promotes a more
inclusive and equitable educational experience. It acknowledges the strengths and
contributions of all students and helps bridge the achievement gap in
mathematics.
Application
➔ Teachers should start by acknowledging their own biases and stereotyping. This can aid in
developing your own cultural awareness. Many school districts provide professional
development that dive into this topic.
➔ Teachers should ensure that the curriculum is inclusive. This can be done by incorporating
examples from various cultural perspectives. Along with this, teacher should strive to find
relevant and relatable content to spark an interest within students. For math, this could be
using statistics from a local industry or using local sport stats in problems.
➔ Teachers should also be encouraged to supply multilingual resources if linguistically diverse
students exist in the classroom.
➔ Teachers should recognize the various levels of readiness that exist within a math classroom.
Teachers can administer pre-tests to assess prior knowledge and formative assessments to
gage comprehension.
 06
Flexible
Grouping
Flexible Grouping
Flexible grouping is an instructional strategy strongly tied to differentiation, where
students are put into groups based on their specific learning needs, abilities, interests, or
other factors. This approach allows teachers to tailor instruction to a diverse range of
students. Flexible grouping in a math class is a dynamic approach that recognizes that
students have unique learning needs and abilities. By implementing this strategy, you
can create a more engaging and effective math classroom where students are
challenged and supported at their individual levels, leading to improved learning
outcomes for all. Students are also given the opportunity to work with students they
don’t often interact with. This fosters collaboration between students of different
backgrounds towards a common goal.
 Application
Strategy Why?

Think-Pair-Share Think-Pair-Shares work great as a mid lesson check-in. Students will first be asked a question.
They can either write down their answer or think to themselves. They will then turn to a partner
or small group to share their answer. After a few minutes of deliberation, students will share
their ideas with the class. For a math class, I could ask students to solve a practice problem
during direct instruction. The could attempt to solve it themselves for a few minutes, then they
can turn to their partner to compare answers or ask for clarification. Finally, these groups will
share out their methods for solving and answers with the class.

Stations Following direct instruction, stations are a great way for students to practice content with their
peers. This gives students the opportunity to ask questions in a safe environment, which
strengthens learning and student relationships. In a math classroom, this could be especially
good when using manipulatives or when working on a worksheet. This could also be a fun
review activity.

Compass Partners Compass partners are a great first day activity that can span throughout the whole school year.
Students will be handed a paper with a bunch of blank name spots. They will then be asked to
stand up and find partners for each “category” listed. The traditional Compass partner
worksheet will have the cardinal and secondary directions listed. The teacher can refer back to
these throughout the year to as a simple student-chose partner system. This could be used best
for a collaborative worksheet or a small partner project.
 07
Interactive
Strategies
Interactive Strategies
Adolescents are at a pivotal period in their physical and mental growth. It is
important for students to remain active and engaged in the classroom so students
don’t become bored, disinterested, or overchallenged. In chapter 5 of “Differentiation
in Middle and High School”, it is stated that students have a hard time staying
engaged for a full lecture. It is important for teachers to keep this in mind when
planning a lesson. One thing every student should strive for is active participation
from all students. In a math classroom, teachers should encourage questions and
group work. It is proven that students learn better by practicing, peer teaching, and
discussions. While direct instruction is a priority, we need to give students time to
have their own “Ah-Ha” moments.
Application
Strategy Why?

Around The Room/Gallery Walks
A series of math problems or solutions are displayed
around the classroom. Students will move around the
room to examine and discuss each problem or
solution. This is a great way to get students up and
moving.

Incorporating Manipulatives Physical objects, such as counters, blocks, or

geometric shapes, to help students visualize and
manipulate mathematical concepts is especially
helpful for teaching concepts like fractions, geometry,
and algebra. This can be especially helpful for
students who prefer more tactile methods of
learning.

Math Journals Students will keep math journals to record their

thought processes, explanations, and reflections on
mathematical problems. This can help them reflect on
their own processed and improve their
problem-solving skills.
Sources
● Edweb. “Differentiation, Assessment and Grading: Redefining Fair.” edWeb, 28 Dec. 2018,
home.edweb.net/differentiation-assessment-grading-redefining-fair/.
● Wright, Pete, et al. “Progressive pedagogies made visible: Implications for equitable mathematics teaching.” The
Curriculum Journal, vol. 33, no. 1, 2021, pp. 25–41, https://doi.org/10.1002/curj.122.
● Doubet, Kristina, and Jessica A. Hockett. Differentiation in Middle & High School: Strategies to Engage All
Learners. Hawker Brownlow Education, 2016.
● Ullman, Ellen. “7 Strategies for Differentiated Math Instruction.” Strategies for Differentiated Math Instruction |
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 31 July 2023, www.hmhco.com/blog/strategies-for-differentiated-math-instruction.