Standard #3: Learning Environments.
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.
The first step to creating any learning environment is to make the environment feel safe, to make it feel like a place where students are not afraid to state there opinions on a subject, ask questions over material, and ultimately respond positively to a teachers efforts of engaging the class. In a music class it’s no different. When my students play I want them to play on their instruments and not be afraid to make a mistake, because making mistakes are crucial to any learning process, but students have to try first before they learn from their mistakes.
I have a long way to go and a lot to learn about developing a safe learning environment. Since I have only ever taught to a group of peers and even then only twice, I feel like I have very little experience with this standard. However I do have plans for when I do get to be a teacher and have to develop a learning environment. I plan on being a the kind of teacher who is always able to maintain control over his or her class but still be the teacher that students like to be around (a trait I feel important for band directors to have, as music courses are generally electives). Accomplishing this will hopefully make students see me as an authority leader, but still feel comfortable and not threatened in my classroom, which I believe is a huge first step to creating a safe and positive learning environment.
Over the next few years at ball state I hope to learn from many classes how to better manage a classroom to develop a good learning environment. But I do believe that the best form of learning is through experience, and since the development of a safe learning environment is a longer term goal than others I know that when I start student teaching I will quickly learn the best way to develop a safe place for students to learn.
I have a long way to go and a lot to learn about developing a safe learning environment. Since I have only ever taught to a group of peers and even then only twice, I feel like I have very little experience with this standard. However I do have plans for when I do get to be a teacher and have to develop a learning environment. I plan on being a the kind of teacher who is always able to maintain control over his or her class but still be the teacher that students like to be around (a trait I feel important for band directors to have, as music courses are generally electives). Accomplishing this will hopefully make students see me as an authority leader, but still feel comfortable and not threatened in my classroom, which I believe is a huge first step to creating a safe and positive learning environment.
Over the next few years at ball state I hope to learn from many classes how to better manage a classroom to develop a good learning environment. But I do believe that the best form of learning is through experience, and since the development of a safe learning environment is a longer term goal than others I know that when I start student teaching I will quickly learn the best way to develop a safe place for students to learn.