National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center (http://www.nflrc.iastate.edu)
Alumni Connection Newsletter - January, 2005 - Iowa State University, Ames,
IA
Document Source: http://www.educ.iastate.edu/nflrc/news/200501/
Establishing a Climate for Learning
Welcome to the January 2005 electronic newsletter of the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center!
Have you ever left your classroom at the end of the day with the feeling that you just closed the door on utter chaos?! Do you ever dread returning for fear of being scorched by the blistering bursts of lightening that leap from the eyes of students whose faces are covered in storm clouds? Do you cringe at the thought of being soaked by the raindrops of a thousand, unexpected incidents of misbehavior, or wonder if the raindrops will turn into major crises that will fall like hailstones, leaving gigantic dents in your plans for the day? Do you ever wonder if you will be able to chisel through another five inches of icy indifference that would try even the most stalwart of trees, or worry if you'll have the strength to persevere through the stinging sleet of yet another blizzard of comments like, "I hate this class! It is SO boring! Mr. So-and-so's class is having a party today, but we never get to do anything fun in here!"? If so, then it is probably January in YOUR classroom too!
Although we cannot "control" the strong social, emotional, intellectual, psychological, or societal forces at play within our classrooms any more than we can "control" the weather outside them, we can learn to recognize and understand the natural patterns that always underlie the dynamics of such seemingly chaotic conditions. As we do so, we will anticipate "weather-related events" more accurately, prepare for them more adequately, and equip ourselves with the professional tools required to manage them more effectively.
In this issue of the Alumni Connection, we encourage you to spend some time examining the weather conditions in your classroom (think Eskimos), and hope to help you draw on both personal and professional resources in a more intentional way so that you can better shape the climate of your classroom (think snow) for the ultimate comfort and security of you and your students (think igloos)!
Cherice Montgomery, Newsletter Editor
Marcia Rosenbusch, Director, National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center
Creating a Classroom Culture That Nurtures Learning
How can I establish a physical climate for learning?
"Meaning is not something you stumble across, like the answer to a riddle or the prize in a treasure hunt. Meaning is something you build into your life"
Although our environments have the power to shape us, we also have the power to shape our environments. The items that cover the walls of our classrooms, the manner in which the furniture is arranged, and the activities that occur there all emanate from the very core of who we are and directly affect the kind of learning that can and does take place there. So, what kind of igloo (classroom climate) have you created? Is it built of blocks that were thoughtfully cut from your philosophy of teaching and learning, or did you just dump a bunch of snow in a pile and call it good? How does the design of your "igloo" influence what your students think and talk about, how they act, and how they feel? Was it purposefully constructed so that when students, parents, colleagues, and administrators walk in, they have an instant sense of who you are, what you value, how you expect them to behave, and the topics that you and your students are exploring together? If not, try reframing your "igloo" with a new floor plan [1] that better matches the objectives of your lesson, or dress your classroom for the weather by experimenting with the use of bulletin boards [2] as teaching tools. If you need some additional inspiration, try a Google image search [3] for "bulletin board" and browse your way through lots of new ideas!
How can I create a classroom culture that nurtures learning?
"People have to feel needed. Frequently, we just offer a job and ‘perks.’ We don’t always offer people a purpose. When people feel there is a purpose and that they’re needed, there’s not much else to do except let them do the work"
A classroom culture that supports learning depends on establishing and nurturing delicate balances between strong forces that frequently conflict—such as a teacher's need to maintain an orderly environment and a student's desire for acceptance by a social group, a teacher's responsibility to teach content knowledge and a student's need to find personal relevance and meaning in that content, or the behaviors valued by our educational system and what students' life experiences have taught them is worth valuing. Teaching in the Undertow: Resisting the Pull of Schooling as Usual [4] is an intriguing article that contains practical ideas for negotiating delicate balances between control, freedom, and content. Do you wonder how your classroom stacks up? Compare it with these Characteristics of an Effective Classroom Culture [5]!
When you are ready to involve your students, you may enjoy the metaphorical approach to Building Classroom Culture and Community [6] that this 5th grade teacher takes. If you are interested in more concrete ideas for teaching and reinforcing trustworthiness, respect, fairness, caring, responsibility, citizenship as a means of establishing classroom culture, check out Creating the Classroom Culture [7]. Secondary teachers may find Building Community in the Classroom [8] more helpful. It provides detailed explanations of activities for teaching students to express their opinions respectfully, to come to consensus regarding decisions, to listen with respect, and to appreciate and integrate differences.
How can I use principles of effective classroom management to support a classroom culture that fosters learning?
"The motivation for all personal behavior is to produce a sense of 'FEEL GOOD,' a sense of inner peace and well being. . . . In the observation of human behavior, one will notice every human act is a response to a personal need"
Like preparing for adverse weather, establishing and supporting a classroom culture that nurtures learning is not something that happens by coincidence. Visit this page for a quick overview of important things to consider as you work to establish purposeful classroom routines and procedures [9], or drop by Discipline by Design [10], an excellent page that offers 11 principles for effective classroom management, information on how those principles fit into Stages of Discipline [11], a list of Techniques That Backfire [12], and suggestions for proactive classroom control [13].
The phenomenal site, You Can Handle Them All: A Reference for Handling 117 Misbehaviors at School and at Home [14], approaches classroom management from the perspective that misbehavior generally stems from unmet needs. It provides teachers with an extensive list of common misbehaviors and their primary causes, explains the needs that such behaviors reveal, details characteristics typical of students who exhibit them, outlines ways that such actions tend to affect others, offers strategies for addressing the misbehaviors and the unmet needs that cause them, and suggests mistakes to avoid when doing so.
The Classroom Management Resource Site [15] is a wealth of resources and information on different elements of classroom management. Of particular interest are the links on Successfully Negotiating a Power Struggle [16] and Managing the Cooperative Learning Exercise [17]. Although an orderly learning environment and carefully designed activities are critical to establishing a classroom climate that is conducive to learning, it is also important not to overlook the learners themselves! Motivation and Motivating in the FL Classroom [18] summarizes research on motivation in the FL classroom and explores its implications for the development of a classroom climate that supports language learning.
Are you having trouble keeping it all straight? Then this summary of research on both Schoolwide and Classroom Discipline [19] practices from the NW Regional Educational Laboratory may be just what you need. It includes a brief description of several discipline programs, information on ineffective strategies, and a practical list of research-based principles and practices related to classroom management.
Collaborating to Create a Climate for Learning
How can I use cooperative learning to involve students in contributing to a classroom culture that stimulates learning?
"I can participate in creating something I do not control"
Cooperative learning is one way to more actively involve students in contributing sunshine instead of storms to the climate of the classroom. Creating an Effective Foreign Language Classroom [20] is an incredible site that has all sorts of ideas and examples of ways to use cooperative learning and other related approaches and techniques. If you enjoy it, then you'll also like Cooperative Learning Activities for the Foreign Language Classroom [21]. Scroll down toward the bottom for lots of ready-to-use activities in French, German, and Spanish.
How can I use service learning and project-based learning to engage students, parents, and community members in a climate that promotes learning?
"On a group of theories one can found a school; but on a group of values one can found a culture, a civilization, a new way of living together among men"
Our perception of the world around us, and our behavior in it, is shaped by what we value. Breakdowns in classroom culture can often be traced to conflicts in the way parents, teachers, and students view the school environment—conflicts that arise as a result of the fact that they value different things. (Consider, for example, the difference in the way that students react to the idea of a snow day, versus the way their parents respond to one!) One way to begin to align these differing values and perceptions is to involve communities, parents, and students in projects that encourage them to work more collaboratively. Take this online quiz to find out just How Collaborative is Your Classroom? [22]
Would you like to include more collaboration in your classroom? The George Lucas Foundation's Instructional Module for Problem-based Learning [23] is full of links that will take you through a step-by-step explanation of how to implement problem-based learning, and comes complete with video clips, PowerPoint presentations, articles, and ideas to help you do so. University instructors may find this article that discusses issues and concerns related to implementing problem-based learning in large, introductory college courses [24] more helpful.
For a more apprentice-based approach to community collaboration, take a look at the article Bridging Classroom, Culture, and Community: Implications for Situated Learning [25]. Scroll down to the Examples of Situated Practice section to see how other teachers have collaborated with professionals in their communities to develop contextualized, inquiry-based activities that attend to issues of culture, career preparation, community service, and connections with the media.
If you would prefer to engage your students in more service-based activities, you'll want to skim How to Make Service Into Service Learning [26], a page that discusses ways in which teachers can turn community service into opportunities for learning. Be sure to scroll down to the Some Examples of Service Learning section for examples that are specific to world languages.
Designing Programs That Foster a Climate for Learning
How can I collaborate with teachers from other countries to design programs that extend learning?
"The least of learning is done in the classrooms"
Learning can extend far beyond the physical environment of the walls of our own classrooms. If you are ready for a change in the "weather conditions" of your classroom, you might consider taking your students on a trip to another climate! Teachers and indigenous students from 19 schools across four continents collaborated to do just that by sharing traditional art and stories from their cultures through The Indigenous Global Art Project [27]. You may also wish to take a look at this multi-media site that chronicles how teachers from a K-12 program in Portland, Oregon, collaborated with teachers from Japan to combine partial-immersion, technology, native speakers, and student exchanges into a dynamic program that extends learning to real-world contexts [28].
How can ESL programs be used to improve the climate for learning for the students they serve?
"Without a sense of caring, there can be no sense of community"
Although every snowflake is different, it is easy for students with special needs to melt anonymously into the masses.
Classrooms Where Students Learn English as a Second Language: What the Research Tells Us [29] is a well-organized site that offers numerous, research-based suggestions for creating a classroom climate that nurtures ESL students. If you are wondering what those suggestions might look like in action, explore these anecdotes shared by teachers and administrators from all different grade levels that illustrate the techniques they have tried to help all students feel a sense of belonging as they worked to create a culture for learning [30] at both the classroom and building levels.
Weak interpretive skills and poor pronunciation can make it difficult for ESL students to participate in a community of learners, but Randall's ESL Listening Lab [31] offers a variety of conversations and texts, indexed by level of difficulty, that ESL students can use to strengthen their skills. Students may also wish to stop by the English Club for ESL Learners [32] for all sorts of useful links and interesting lessons.
Cultural traditions can also be mystifying to EFL learners. Visit The English Global Village [33] for holiday-specific ideas and activities, and while you are there, be sure to take a trip on the ESL Resource train and drop by the news room to explore engaging, media-based activities for your students! When you are tired of traveling, take a break and check out the menu at Dave's ESL Café [34].
Content-specific terms can pose numerous problems for ESL students as well, and content area teachers who are not trained in language acquisition or methodology may not know how to help. Yu Ren Dong's article, Getting at the Content [35], provides a number of practical examples and strategies for several different content areas that are easy to implement and sure to make a difference! You might also consider passing along Working Effectively With English Language Learners [36], a page which contains concrete strategies for improving instruction for English language learners, strategies for becoming more culturally competent, and a list of resources for working with English language learners.
Using Technology to Create a Climate for Learning
How can I use technology to support a climate for learning?
"Technology can support relationships, but it cannot create them"
Communication is an important part of any community of learners, and technology can serve as a useful tool for supporting all three modes of communication (interpersonal, presentational, and interpretive). The wide array of multimedia projects on the Students Find Their Voices Through Multimedia [37] web site may give you some ideas for ways that your students can use technology to explore and communicate about social issues, while A Sampler of International Web Projects [38] will take you to brief descriptions of a number of projects that expand the classroom to include the entire globe!
The 2005 Year of Languages [39] is a project sponsored by ACTFL that seeks to use technology and the media to develop a nationwide community of foreign language educators, businesses, and community organizations that will work together to raise public awareness about the vital importance of language education. This article will tell you more about Why We Need the 'Year of Languages' [40]. You can support this important initiative by using the 2005 Year of Languages Participant Kit [41] to encourage your local community to participate, as well as by involving your students, parents, and community in monthly activities [42] throughout the year. Visit the Bulletin Board [43] for ideas and activities that teachers from teachers around the country are using to promote language learning.
QUOTES TO PONDER
". . . we teach who we are"
“The ultimate expression of generosity is not in giving of what you have, but in giving of who you are”
"Snowflakes, leaves, humans, plants, raindrops, stars, molecules, microsopic entities all come in communities. The singular cannot in reality exist"
"I've come to a frightening conclusion: that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or de-humanized"
MEMORIES OF IOWA
Although you might not realize it, the NFLRC is surrounded by strong communities that are firmly rooted in the rich soil of diverse cultural traditions. Iowa Roots [45] is a site that will allow you to tap into the abundant, international folklife of Iowa by listening to Iowa folk radio, including interviews with an Amana rug weaver and cook, a Bosnian dancer, an Italian iron worker, a Meskwaki tribal elder, Norwegian woodcarver, members of the Ballet Folklórico, and a Tai Dam musician, among others.
REFERENCES
Ackoff, Russell L., quoted in Moncure, Michael. (1994-2004). The quotations page. Retrieved December 18, 2004, from http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/26363.html
Allen, Paula Gunn, quoted in Quotes on community involvement, service, and volunteerism. (n.d.). Retrieved December 18, 2004, from http://www.studentlife.uoguelph.ca/service/documents/CommunityInvolvementQuotations.pdf
Angelou, Maya, quoted in Learning to give: An action of the heart, a project of the mind. (2004). Retrieved January 8, 2005, from http://www.learningtogive.com/search/quotes/Display_Quotes.asp?subject_id=52&search_type=subject
Block, Peter. (2003). The answer to how is yes: Acting on what matters. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. ISBN 1-57675-271-2.
Burgess, Anthony, quoted in Words4ever. (2002-2005). Retrieved December 18, 2004, from http://www.words4ever.com/listQuotes.php?subject=198
Cole, Johnnetta B., quoted in Quotes on community involvement, service, and volunteerism. (n.d.). Retrieved December 18, 2004, from http://www.studentlife.uoguelph.ca/service/documents/CommunityInvolvementQuotations.pdf
Ginott, Haim, quoted in Bubleit, Gunter. (Since 1996). TeachOn. Retrieved January 8, 2005, from http://www.teachon.com/zizi/quotes/alphabetical/pages/quotesg.htm
Kelly, Vesta M., quoted in Quotes on community involvement, service, and volunteerism. (n.d.). Retrieved December 18, 2004, from http://www.studentlife.uoguelph.ca/service/documents/CommunityInvolvementQuotations.pdf
Lundin, Stephen C., Paul, Harry, & Christensen, John. Fish! NY: Hyperion. ISBN 0-7868-6602-0.
Madwed, Sidney, quoted in Moncure, Michael. (1994-2004). The quotations page. Retrieved December 18, 2004, from http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/9022.html
Merton, Thomas, quoted in Moncure, Michael. (1994-2004). The quotations page. Retrieved December 18, 2004, from http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/27606.html
Palmer, Parker J. (1998). The courage to teach. NY: Jossey-Bass. ISBN 0-7879-1058-9.
Silone, Ignazio, quoted in Moncure, Michael. (1994-2004). The quotations page. Retrieved December 18, 2004, from http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/9536.html
LINKS IN THIS DOCUMENT
| try a new floor plan for your classroom |
|
| [2] |
Experiment with Bulletin Boards |
| [3] |
try a Google image search |
| [4] |
Teaching in the Undertow: Resisting the Pull of Schooling as Usual |
| [5] |
Characteristics of an Effective Classroom Culture |
| [6] |
Building Classroom Culture and Community |
| [7] |
Creating the Classroom Culture |
| [8] |
Building Community in the Classroom |
| [9] |
purposeful classroom routines and procedures |
| [10] |
Discipline by Design |
| [11] |
Stages of Discipline |
| [12] |
Techniques That Backfire |
| [13] |
proactive classroom control |
| [14] |
You Can Handle Them All: A Reference for Handling 117 Misbehaviors at School and at Home |
| [15] |
Classroom Management Resource Site |
| [16] |
Successfully Negotiating a Power Struggle |
| [17] |
Managing the Cooperative Learning Exercise |
| [18] |
Motivation and Motivating in the Foreign Language Classroom |
| [19] |
Schoolwide and Classroom Discipline |
| [20] |
Creating an Effective Foreign Language Classroom |
| [21] |
Cooperative Learning Activities for the Foreign Language Classroom |
| [22] |
How Collaborative is Your Classroom? |
| [23] |
Instructional Module for Problem-based Learning |
| [24] |
implementing problem-based learning in large, introductory college courses |
| [25] |
Bridging Classroom, Culture, and Community: Implications for Situated Learning |
| [26] |
How to Make Service Into Service Learning |
| [27] |
The Indigenous Global Art Project 1997-1998 |
| [28] |
dynamic program that extends learning to real-world contexts |
| [29] |
Classrooms Where Students Learn English as a Second Language: What the Research Tells Us |
| [30] |
Culture and Character |
| [31] |
Randall's ESL Listening Lab |
| [32] |
EnglishClub.com |
| [33] |
The English Global Village |
| [34] |
Dave's ESL Café |
| [35] |
Getting at the Content http://www.ascd.org/portal/site/ascd/template.MAXIMIZE/menuitem.459dee008f99653fb85516f762108a0c/?javax.portlet.tpst=d5b9c0fa1a493266805516f762108a0c_ws_MX&javax.portlet.prp_d5b9c0fa1a493266805516f762108a0c_viewID=issue_view&javax.portlet.prp_d5b9c0fa1a493266805516f762108a0c_journalmoid=429c39beffdc0010VgnVCM1000003d01a8c0RCRD&javax.portlet.begCacheTok=token&javax.portlet.endCacheTok=token |
| [36] |
Working Effectively With English Language Learners |
| [37] |
Students Find Their Voices Through Multimedia |
| [38] |
A Sampler of International Web Projects |
| [39] |
2005 Year of Languages |
| [40] |
Why We Need the 'Year of Languages' http://www.ascd.org/portal/site/ascd/template.MAXIMIZE/menuitem.459dee008f99653fb85516f762108a0c/?javax.portlet.tpst=d5b9c0fa1a493266805516f762108a0c_ws_MX&javax.portlet.prp_d5b9c0fa1a493266805516f762108a0c_viewID=issue_view&javax.portlet.prp_d5b9c0fa1a493266805516f762108a0c_journalmoid=429c39beffdc0010VgnVCM1000003d01a8c0RCRD&javax.portlet.begCacheTok=token&javax.portlet.endCacheTok=token |
| [41] |
2005 Year of Languages Participant Kit |
| [42] |
ACTFL's Calendar of Events |
| [43] |
Year of Languages Bulletin Board |
| [44] |
just look at what they can do when they stick together |
| [45] |
Iowa Roots |
This Newsletter was pepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education under Title VI grant #P229A020023. The publication of products and website URLs in this newsletter is provided for informational purposes only and does not imply an endorsement by the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center, Iowa State University, or the positions or policies of the U. S. Department of Education.
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