Jessica O’Toole

I’m a student at North Carolina State University majoring in English Literature for Secondary Education. At 40 years of age, I felt called to serve in the classroom, returning to college to finish my bachelor’s degree and obtain my teaching certification. I have many valuable life experiences that influence my work as a preservice teacher, including nursing, political campaigning, life coaching, and journalism. I believe that reading opens new worlds of possibility, increases empathy, and imparts deeper meaning to life. My goal is to help students grow into confident adults, skillful communicators, and kinder human beings with an appreciation for literature. I’m thankful to NCSU for the opportunity to pursue my lifelong dream of being a teacher.

Classroom Environment Philosophy

Jessica O’Toole

College of Education, North Carolina State University

ED 204 – Introduction to Teaching in Today’s Schools

Shakealia Y. Finley, MPA

December 12, 2022

I plan to teach English Literature to secondary education students. In my view, reading and analyzing literature opens new worlds to students, increases empathy, and imparts deeper meaning to their lives. My classroom will be an imaginative, playful environment that inspires students to think creatively. I will embrace culturally sustaining pedagogies by learning from my students, inviting them to share with the classroom community, and making sure diversity is visually represented in classroom books featuring a wide array of cultures, ethnicities, languages, and life perspectives. As a teacher, I live my values: love of people and learning, building a caring and inclusive community, valuing every student, and enjoying the process.

The three most influential things I learned from this course came from the Melinda Anderson’s book, Becoming a Teacher, Liz Keinrock’s book, Start Here, Start Now, and Ibram X. Kendi’s TED talk, The difference between being “not racist” and antiracist. From Kendi, I learned to view racism as a behavior and not an identity (2020) and that my behaviors can be anti-racist or racist, but there’s no “not racist.” My instructor, Miss Finley, taught me that allyship implies action and so in my work as an antiracist educator. I focus on taking action to address systemic racism in the classroom, the school, and the community. I promote respect towards all and compassion during moments of struggle. Like Ms. Hall in Becoming a Teacher, I think helping students develop self-worth and integrity is just as important as textbook knowledge (2020). The classroom is a place to practice social skills and learn from mistakes in a positive, supportive environment. I will embrace Liz Kleinrock’s method of teaching students how to think and using the classroom as an opportunity to facilitate critical thinking about equity (2019, TED). Using differentiated instruction and universal design for learning, I will focus on making lessons accessible and engaging for each student as an individual. My goal is that students go on to be more confident in themselves, better communicators, and kinder human beings with a new appreciation for literature.

5 Belief Statements

1. i believe that learning is a collaboration between students and teachers.

Learning is not a passive activity—it requires the active engagement of students. This participation looks like students contributing to the discussion, asking informed questions, and making new connections between what they know and the new information. You will see students talking more than the teacher in my class. I ask questions and guide the discussion while students discover the answers together.

2. i believe that a relaxed, positive, supportive environment is essential for learning.

If you are feeling stress or anxiety then it is very difficult to pay attention, take in new information, retain what you learn, and contribute to class. I create a positive, friendly learning atmosphere through my demeanor as a teacher by being warm, open, and relaxed. I combat resistance and fear of failure by celebrating mistakes as learning opportunities. I use humor to diffuse tension and offer individual encouraging feedback to students. Games and opportunities for physical movement in class are used to help students relax and enjoy learning. Students will be seen having fun, smiling, and laughing. The classroom environment is adaptive and agile, taking into account students’ emotional health and the stressors they face to adjust our learning styles and activities.

3. i believe real learning isn’t easy—it’s challenging and uncomfortable.

Studies show the most effective way to retain what we learn is through active recall and spaced repetition (Karpicke & Blunt, 2011). Learning requires the formation of new pathways and connections to knowledge we already have. In my classroom you will see students being quizzed on what we’re studying throughout each lesson. You will see me guiding students, but not doing the work for them. Instead of students falling asleep at their desks while I lecture, they’ll be physically active, sitting up, eagerly investigating their books, the internet, and other resources while conversing with each other. I will vary my lessons so that the subject material is somewhat unpredictable and even out of order to promote active learning.

4. i believe every student is valuable and their unique contribution is important.

Each student’s unique personality, background, culture, and talents contribute to a vibrant classroom community. I model unconditional positive regard while supporting students in building their self-worth and integrity. I create opportunities for students to contribute to class in a variety of ways depending on their communication styles and interests. You will see students deciding what they are comfortable sharing and contributing in unique ways through writing, material art, music, acting, orating, etc. I reward progress, not perfection or an ideal standard. Students support and encourage each other with their words and their engaged attention.

5. i believe the classroom is a place for community building.

Students spend more time in the classroom than anywhere else, which offers the opportunity to practice social skills and learn how to contribute to a community. As their teacher I can foster an inclusive, supportive environment where we’re all in this together by modeling this behavior and positively reinforcing those who listen, help, and take responsibility for how their actions affect others. I include learning activities that help students form bonds and find common ground. You may walk in my classroom and see a student offering to help one of their peers or a group of students working together to come up with solutions to a problem. You will see students taking turns listening, asking questions, and contributing their ideas.

Part 2: Scenarios

Section 1: Making Connections

Scenario: It’s the first week of school, you have extended time with your homeroom, and you want to use this time to build relationships with this group of students. Plan a “get to know you” activity or lesson.

My Lesson is, “Interview Your Neighbor.” Students will work in pairs asking a list of interview questions and present their findings to the class. I will incorporate differentiation into this lesson by giving students options for recording their interview in different formats to share with the class, such as writing the answers down, composing a poem or song, creating a pictorial collage, idea mapping, drawing a comic, or anything else they can think of and complete during class with the available materials. Instead of having the students present to the whole class I will have them introduce each other in small groups inspired by musical chairs. When the music starts the students know it’s time to move to another group and do the introduction again.

• • • What’s your favorite food?
    • What’s your favorite school subject?
    • What’s your favorite book, movie, or tv show?
    • Where were you born?
    • What do you like to do for fun?
    • What’s your favorite holiday and why?
    • What’s one thing you find interesting about you?
    • Who do you admire?
    • If you were in charge for a day and could do anything you want, what would you do? How would you spend the day?

Section 2: Instruction

Scenario: Andrei just moved to the United States from Serbia and speaks very limited English. Develop a plan for how you will support the emerging bilingual students in your classroom.

My plan for supporting emerging bilingual students focuses on 5 areas: classroom environment, educational materials, student centered learning, community building, and assessment. I believe that many of the things I do in the classroom to support emerging bilinguals are also helpful for the entire class. As a culturally sustaining practitioner, my focus is on valuing the contribution of every individual student, doing all I can to support them, and preparing all students for a pluralistic, multilingual, multicultural society (Paris, 2012). Clear communication and building vocabulary in all classroom activities is beneficial for everyone.

My plan begins with setting up the classroom environment. Classroom signage will be translated into the languages spoken by students in the class, especially classroom rules, agreements, and routines. I will use student centered learning practices to get to know my students, find out what motivates them to learn, and encourage them to teach me as well. To make all students feel welcome and celebrated I will display culturally diverse literature, posters, photos, and learning materials that reflect their backgrounds as well as others. In my procedures I will focus on routine, consistency, and communicating the same information in different ways. Inspired by my instructor, Miss Finley, I will find ways outside of language to communicate information to students, such as color codes, shapes, and other symbols. When creating lesson plan goals, I will use UDL principles with the aim that every student in the classroom can meet the learning goal by focusing on the intent of the lesson and giving multiple ways to learn and complete assessments (Vanderbilt University, 2022).

On an individual level, I will work with students to identify goals, understand their learning preferences, seek out resources within the school, and create a plan for the semester. We can create a journal for the student with resources and vocabulary supports that they can reference during class (Gupta, 2019). I will work with the student to ensure they have the supports and accommodations they need to understand the lessons, such as computer translation software, digital materials, specifically translated lessons, extra time and modified assignments. Using surveys and asking questions to find out the student’s background knowledge on classroom lesson material prior to teaching, builds upon what they already know and utilize their funds of knowledge to facilitate learning. I bring differentiation into my teaching by utilizing different learning modalities, including visuals, interactive models, audio, interactive games, and texts. (Gupta, 2019). By working with the school resource team to engage with the student’s family on their terms, I will be better able to understand the student’s needs and tap into their supportive resources. Seeking to learn about the family’s culture, values, and unique perspective will help me better understand the student and create rapport with the family. I will offer the student a variety of ways to complete assessments, including verbally, writing in their preferred language, fill in the blank, or simplified choices. I will use asset-based thinking in all student interactions and encourage a community of support in my classroom where students learn from each other and help each other.

Section 3: Professionalism

Scenario: Every day you eat lunch in the workroom with the other teachers on your grade-level. There are several who like to spend the time gossiping or talking negatively about the students. How do you talk about a child’s background in a supportive way vs. gossiping?

It is tempting for teachers to use deficit language when they feel frustrated, tired, or overwhelmed. Deficit language casts the student in a negative light, compares the student as lesser than others, and deflects responsibility away from the teacher. The words we use affect the way we think. Deficit language both expresses and perpetuates deficit thinking, which focuses on problems instead of the potential and resources within the student (Finley 2022).

I believe that every child is valuable, and their unique contribution is important. I also believe that a positive learning environment is essential. I am committed to avoiding deficit language and instead using asset-based vocabulary. This starts with my mindset. I will always assume positive intent from students and approach them with curiosity instead of judgement. If a student has not achieved the learning goals, I will take responsibility for the fact that I have not been able to reach them yet. When talking about a student’s background I will focus on their strengths which can be built upon (Finley 2022). I also need to focus on solutions instead of judgements. In class session 6 we learned about person first and identity first language. This concept can be applied to speaking about a student’s background by valuing them as a person first and following that with asset language, for example, “Naureen loves math and painting. She moved to the U.S. a few months ago from Pakistan. She speaks Urdu and is learning English. I’ve been exploring ways to communicate with Naureen by using colors and numbers that are also helpful for the rest of the class. It’s exciting to watch Naureen progress and share her gifts with the class.”  

In conclusion, working on my classroom environment philosophy over the course of this semester has helped me see my progress as I learn and grow in my journey to become a teacher. Over the course of the semester, I have learned that teaching is so much more than standing in front of students and lecturing from a podium—it’s about seeing students as individuals, creating a supportive environment, building a classroom community around diversity, and collaborating with families. I’ve learned many new tools and skills, including Universal Design for Learning, differentiation, culturally sustaining pedagogies, equity and anti-racist pedagogies, and inclusive teaching practices. My goal is that students go on to be more confident in themselves, better communicators, and kinder human beings with a new appreciation for literature. To achieve this goal, I am committed to valuing each student and encouraging their contributions, creating a relaxed, supportive, and fun learning environment, building community in and around the classroom, and culturally sustaining practices. I am eager to continue this learning journey and look forward to putting my classroom environment philosophy into action as a teacher.

References

Anderson, M. (2020). Becoming a teacher. Simon & Schuster. Kleinrock, L. (2021). Start here

start now: A guide to antibias and antiracist work in your school community. Heinemann.

Finley, S. Week 6. (2022, September 26). [PowerPoint slides].

Ghupta, A. (2019) Principles and Practices of Teaching English Language Learners.

International Education Studies, Vol. 12, No.7, 49-57. https://doi.org/10.5539/ies.v12n7p49

Karpicke, J.D., & Blunt, J.R. (2011). Retrieval Practice Produces More Learning than

Elaborative Studying with Concept Mapping. Science, Vol 331 (Issue 6018) pp. 772-775.    https://doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyy

Paris, D. (2012). Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy: A Needed Change in Stance, Terminology,

and Practice. Educational Researcher, 41(3), 93–97. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41477769

TED. (2020, June 17). The difference between being “not racist” and antiracist | Ibram

Kendi. Retrieved 2022, Nov 20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCxbl5QgFZw

TED. (2019, March 15). How to teach kids to talk about taboo topics | Liz Kleinrock.

            [Video] YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9-urSR19SI

Vanderbilt University. (2022). Universal Design for Learning, creating a learning environment

that challenges and engages all students. Iris Center. Retrieved from December 9, 2022, from https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/udl/challenge/#content