The last five mindframes in the book 10 Mindframes for Visible Learning: Teaching for Success by John Hattie and Klaus Zierer, in my opinion, related to focus and classroom environment. Giving and accepting feedback, collaborative learning, creating clear success criteria with students, fostering an environment of trust, and focusing on the language of learning are all aspects of a successful, positive classroom environment.
I have fostered a positive classroom environment this year by promoting lots of opportunities for students to work together and practice collaborative learning skills. In the book, the authors suggested that collaborative learning is a skill that should be taught, and that elementary school is a great place for students to learn these foundational skills. I would agree wholeheartedly that collaborative learning, and the skills necessary to work successfully with others, are well worth practicing at an elementary level. Students are not always exposed to opportunities that allow them to think critically and challenge them to work with others in order to be successful. My students participated in many of these activities at the beginning of the year to build classroom community, and we still complete collaborative learning activities roughly once per week to give them the chance to continue practicing those skills. For example, students practiced the Kagan "Square Game", where they had to work in groups of four to use 16 individual strips of paper to form designs with pre-determined numbers of squares. The trick was that every four strips of paper had a different design on them, and each student was only allowed to touch his or her own strips of paper. In a situation where one student may be tempted to "take charge" and another may sit back and watch, everyone had to work together and help their group members. This was also a great way for me to promote growth mindset, because when students got frustrated we were able to have meaningful conversations about why these skills may be necessary and how they could move forward. Academically, feedback and clear success criteria are directly related in my classroom and both play a role in a positive classroom environment. When we begin a new assignment, we discuss the success criteria (or what it would look like to be successful) as a class (or sometimes as a small group, if that assignment only applies to certain students). This allows students to provide feedback and ask questions so that I can help with any misconceptions. It creates a positive learning environment because students are quickly able to assess their individual goals and levels, and this motivates them to continue challenging themselves and working towards success. Clear success criteria, whether it be checklists or other formats, also make peer-peer or teacher-student feedback simple and actionable. Just as the "IKEA Effect" was discussed in our book, my students are empowered to take charge of their own learning goals and they are able to hold themselves accountable for their own progress because they are part of each step of the process. The chapter on "the language of learning" made me think about one of the first years of my teaching career, when I read the book Choice Words by Peter H. Johnston. It discusses, in depth, how students can internalize everything that teachers say, and how as a teacher, my tone sets the tone for the whole classroom. It provided examples of how to use empowering, positive language in all interactions throughout the day. Simple changes in sentence formatting can make big impacts on students. This was a powerful read for me and I always recommend it to others. Hattie and Zierer discussed "the chameleon effect" in 10 Mindframes as when "we unintentionally change our behavior to match that of others we interact with in our social environment, including our posture, casual movements, gestures, facial expressions, and speech tempo, to name but a few examples". This is just more proof that students see and hear everything that I, as their teacher, do and say throughout the day, and this is why I always try to approach conversations with students from a place of understanding and encouragement.
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AuthorCourtney Hayes is currently a teacher at Lone Tree Elementary Magnet School in Colorado. She has teaching experience in both primary and intermediate grades, and is passionate about personalizing her instruction to meet the needs of all students. Archives
April 2021
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