Malina Runion

FEAP 2

2. The Learning Environment. To maintain a student-centered learning environment that is safe, organized, equitable, flexible, inclusive, and collaborative, the effective educator consistently:

a. Organizes, allocates, and manages the resources of time, space, and attention;

During my line-up procedure, I managed time by watching the clock to make sure we were lining up quickly and on time.I managed space by ensuring the line wasn't too crowded, that we were at the door and ready to go, and that everyone was in their spot and doing their job. (Door holder, basket holder, etc)I managed attention through my attention getter - "Class Class?", "Yes, yes?".

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b. Manages individual and class behaviors through a well-planned management system;

Through using the color-chart system, I managed individual behaviors by positively rewarding students who were exhibiting wanted behavior with clipping up on their color charts.Class behavior can also be influenced in this manner - other students are seeing me positively reinforce their peers, so they will also attempt to meet wanted expectations so they can receive the same treatment.

http://malinarunion.weebly.com/blog/inquiry-cycle-4

Below is an artifact (photograph) of one of the management systems in my classroom. Students receive three warnings for behavior, then their color may be changed. A conversation always follows to ensure the student understands why their color was changed. There is always opportunity to be moved upwards on the color chart, and even an opportunity to become "home run hitter" for instances such as showing kindness to other classmates, helping others, or doing the right thing.

c. Conveys high expectations to all students;

During our independent reading circle, I conveyed my expectations by modeling respect - I told my students that an easy way to show respect is to look at the speaker and remain quiet. I modeled this for them and also reminded them to remain respectful throughout the activity.

http://malinarunion.weebly.com/blog/inquiry-cycle-5

Below is an artifact (photograph) which shows a daily way that my expectations are conveyed to all of my students. Every morning, the day's objectives are written on the board. Students will start their day understanding what content is ahead of them, and the degree to which they are expected to complete that content (for example, my science objective in this photo shows students that they are expected to plan and draft a writing piece – not revise, edit, or publish).

d. Respects students’ cultural linguistic and family background;

With my weekly chart paper questions that I used in the classroom as part of my inquiry, I asked questions that were relevant to students' personal lives. With this activity, I made an effort to find out more about my students by asking them questions such as "What is one thing not many people know about you?" and "If you could have one wish, what would it be and why?". The responses to these questions fostered conversations with many students about their personal experiences at home and with their families. I could then show my students positivity and ask them further questions about their home lives. This helped me to form deeper relationships with these students.

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e. Models clear, acceptable oral and written communication skills;

When presenting my own book during our independent reading circle, I modeled projecting when speaking and how to effectively give a book "hook". When students speak softly and

others cannot hear them, I remind them that they should use a projected voice so that everyone can be able to learn about their book.

http://malinarunion.weebly.com/blog/inquiry-cycle-5

Below are two artifacts from a Writer's Workshop mini-lesson on Acrostic Poems. After displaying the first, I had my students try to figure out what animal the poem was talking about. After they had some time to discuss, I presented the second poem and asked them to then try to find out what kind of animal the poem was about. I used written communication to express the idea that the first letters of each line in an Acrostic Poem form a word. This allowed my students to understand the craft of writing Acrostic poems.

f. Maintains a climate of openness, inquiry, fairness and support;

I encouraged all of these things during my read aloud. Openness and inquiry - I assured my students that their work wasn't getting graded and that I was simply interested in hearing their thoughts and opinions.Fairness and support - when I agreed or disagreed with a student, I used accountable talk and encouraged them to do the same. If students would not agree on an answer together, I told them to explain each of their answers using evidence and encouraged them to "hear out" the other side.

http://malinarunion.weebly.com/blog/inquiry-cycle-3

Below is a photo from my class' STEM fair project. As a class, we conducted our own science inquiry where students worked together to come up with the answer to a science investigation. Our STEM fair board shows a climate of support because our class nominated certain students to draw and label the steps to our science investigation, pictured in the center of our board. My students supported each other throughout the steps of collecting our data, drawing and labeling our steps, graphing our results, and publishing our findings at the regional STEM fair.

g. Integrates current information and communication technologies;

I integrated communication technologies with my tech-infused lesson by having my students write to each other on a web server. This allowed them to communicate with one other in real-time on a document. I also integrated Kahoot into my lesson, which allowed students to communicate to me their understanding of the lesson and whether or not they felt like they could personally relate to the lesson.

http://malinarunion.weebly.com/blog/critical-task-technology-infused-lesson

Below is a photograph from a lesson where we used Skype to video chat with a meteorologist who works for NASA. Using Skype as a communication technology, our students were able to ask an expert questions about severe weather and space travel. We talked about "current information", such as the effects of hurricane Irma and recent spring thunderstorms on our ability to launch rockets into space.

h. Adapts the learning environment to accommodate the differing needs and diversity of students; and

In a lesson where I had to form equal groups of students for an activity, I attempted to accommodate the differing needs of my students by deciding which students could be grouped together at the back table. This had me take into account which students worked well together, could sit at a place other than their desks, and could support one another.

Below is an artifact (photograph) of the planned Daily 5 stations during our morning reading routine:

During this time, we adapt our learning environment to accommodate the needs of students. Students who need additional reading help may meet with me at the back table to complete individually picked tasks, students may read to themselves at a safe spot around the room, and students who need practice with things like fluency and comprehension may also work at an I-Ready station.

i. Utilizes current and emerging assistive technologies that enable students to participate in high-quality communication interactions and achieve their educational goals.

I use a lot of sticky notes in my classroom. My students have a stack of them in their desk and they always take them out to write down thoughts or questions they might have. In my read aloud, seen here: http://malinarunion.weebly.com/blog/supervisor-observation-reflection-read-aloud I use the sticky notes as a way to privately collect students' answers.

Below is an artifact (screenshot from my iPhone) of an instance where I used my cell phone as a recording device to assist a student with verbalizing her thoughts before starting a writing piece. As she verbalized her thoughts and heard them played back to her, she was able to identify important details to include in her writing plan.