The atmosphere a student is expected to learn in has an effect on that student’s learning outcome. The structure of the classroom: physically, organizationally, and psychologically can be summed up as that classroom’s learning environment.
The third InTASC standard, Learning Environments is meant to hold teachers accountable for cultivating a positive, safe, student-centered, and respectful learning environment by utilizing routines and procedures. Though there are many ways to demonstrate the standard of Learning Environment, three of the most essential ways are though: maximizing instructional time and minimizing disruptions, facilitating a classroom community, and respecting student diversity.
I demonstrate the Learning Environments standard by maximizing instructional time and minimizing disruptions through the use of effective procedures and routines in my classroom management plan. Having clear procedures saves valuable instructional time.
Facilitating a classroom community is another way I meet the Learning Environments standard. I support a community in the classroom by creating student jobs. Jobs give my students a sense of ownership, establishing our classroom as a community of which each student is an active and important part.
I also exhibit the Learning Environments standard through referring to my students as scientists, historians, and authors validating the wide variety of possibilities open to each of my students. During my conflict and solution/ resolution unit I told my students that they were authors, this empowered my students to view themselves as such and resulted in the creative solutions in this create your own solutions graphic organizer.
For more information on this standard please see my paper on the Learning Environment Professional Practice Standard.