Learning Environments – Tara Montague

The Learning Environments standard requires teachers to create learning environments that foster cultural sensitivity and support student learning. The Learning Environments standard is important because it enables teachers to create a student-centered environment that engages students in meaningful learning and helps students develop important skills that will serve them inside and outside of the classroom. The following artifacts utilize these important skills and demonstrate my understanding of Learning Environments.

One way I demonstrate understanding of this standard is by creating a physical environment that empowers and encourages my students. I do this by decorating my classroom with posters and that reflect positive and inclusive messages, giving each of my students jobs that give them the opportunity to be actively involved in provide individual contributions that allow them to collaboratively support the classroom community.

These decorations encourage positivity and self-motivation.

I encourage my students to think of themselves as leaders and experts to give them a sense of ownership.

Giving each student a job gives them an active role in ensuring that the classroom functions well.

My picture book investigation of slavery and its effects provided a nuanced, age-appropriate, and culturally sensitive way for students to explore the complicated subject of slavery.

My understanding of the standard is demonstrated in the activities I implemented in my 4^th grade lesson plan about the Civil War in Virginia. One activity I designed was an examination of slavery though the study of picture books depicting the perspectives of slaves and the sociopolitical complexities surrounding the institution of slavery. Slavery is a topic that can be difficult to teach in a way that is culturally sensitive and nuanced, but many picture books offer straightforward and age-appropriate portrayals of the atrocities of slavery. Examining slavery through picture books makes students aware of the realities of slavery and it gives them the opportunity to explore the ways in which it shaped American history and culture.

My self-evaluation checklist establishes standards for debate behavior and gives students a chance to reflect on their performance.

Another aspect of my Civil War lesson plan that exemplifies the standard is my use of collaborative performance-based assessments. For example, I designed a project in which students collaboratively researched and discussed arguments for and against secession in a fishbowl-style debate to demonstrate their understanding of Northern and Southern perspectives on secession. In addition to collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and communication skills, the activity also includes opportunities for self- and peer-evaluation, which allow students to practice self-directed learning and effective cooperation strategies.