Classroom Environment and CSEL

A comfortable, but productive classroom is important for students and teachers. Classrooms should be welcoming to students, but not overly comfortable. Anderman (2002) expresses, "Creating a sense of community engenders feelings of belongingness. Students see themselves as important and valued members of the classroom" (cited in Ormrod, 2011, p. 463). I think this is a great point. Students will be more eager to participate in class discussions in a classroom that they feel they are valued members of.

Ormrod (2011) talks about establishing a goal-oriented, businesslike, yet nonthreatening atmosphere. Students should be held accountable for achieving instructional objectives but without placing them under continual surveillance. Students should feel comfortable in the classroom, but it should be conducive to learning. Students shouldn't feel so comfortable that they think the classroom is more of a "home" setting rather than a place for learning.

High School Case Study

You have started to dread your fifth period music class.  It is made up entirely of seniors who are counting the days until graduation and seem to care very little about learning.  Most of the students are obviously members of one clique or another.  Whenever they think your back is turned, they start passing notes and text messaging.  Worse, three boys have started disrupting those engaged in learning.  No matter what you say, they laugh at the students who sing tenor and soprano, especially when they are practicing their parts.  Yesterday, Tony, Jeff, and Morris started roughhousing then all three of them refused to sit down and follow the class procedures that the classroom community agreed upon at the beginning of the year. Although you have been using a set approach to handling infractions of rules, you decide it is time to change these procedures.

First I would start off by rearranging the classroom to break up the cliques. I would announce and post new rules and procedures. Students would be informed that they will not pass the class or be able to participate in the end of the year activities such as parties or trips.
If I saw a phone out in class, the phone would be taken from the student and not returned until the end of the period. If notes were passed I would collect them and read them out loud to the class- depending on their content. The class would no longer include any down time, the entire period would be filled work and rehearsals. I would also split Tony, Jeff, and Morris up. I would give them a warning about their behavior and let them know if it happened again they would be receiving a referral. Another offense would result in a parent conference and possibly a loss of end of the year activities.

References

Ormrod, J.E. (2011). Educational Psychology: Developing Learners. Boston, MA: Pearson.