Guide Questions: Learning Targets:
• What are classroom structures? • Identify classroom structures
• How do classroom structures • Explain how classroom structures
nurture and inspire student nurture and inspire students
achievement? • Determine classroom structure
• What specific strategies promote strategies and techniques that
active student engagement and teachers can use to promote student
self-management? engagement and self-management
given specific contexts
UNIT 2: CONTENT MANAGEMENT
Approaches, Strategies and
Techniques in Learning
Environments
HOW CAN CONTENT IN LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS BE BEST MANAGED?
Components of Learning Environment
B. Classroom Management
Froyen and Iverson (1999) stated that classroom management focuses on three
major components: Content Management, Conduct Management and Covenant
Management.
❑“Content management occurs when teachers manage space, materials,
equipment, the movement of people and lessons that are part of a curriculum or
program of studies”.
❑“Conduct Management refers to the set of procedural skills that teachers
employ in their attempt to address and resolve discipline problems in the
classroom”.
❑“Covenant management focuses on the classroom group as a social system
that has its own features that teachers have to take into account when
managing interpersonal relationships in the classroom”.
What is Classroom Structure?
- is a term used to describe the Concentration Areas
actual physical layout of a
classroom, organization of
materials in the classroom, and Physical Classroom
the extent to which classroom lay-out Rules
expectations and routines are
explicitly defined and taught.
Classroom Smooth
Routines Transition
Effective classroom arrangement
• refers to the placement and
organization of the room’s physical
elements (e.g., seating, materials)
to help establish a learning
environment that facilitates
effective instruction and student
growth.
Importance of effective classroom arrangement
Well-designed and organized classroom environments:
• Increase academic engagement
• Decrease the likelihood of inappropriate student behavior
• Facilitate appropriate social interactions among students
• Positively affect student performance
Be Mindful!
• Student learning needs (e.g., students who learn better in
groups, students who prefer visual aids)
• Instructional formats (e.g., independent work, group work,
class discussion, presentations)
• Various seating arrangements (e.g., rows, clusters, U-
shape)
• Use of classroom and hallway walls (e.g., to display rules,
content-specific strategies, word walls, exemplary student
work)
Do Don’t
Arrange the room to best support whatever activity is at hand. This Use the same room arrangement no matter what the activity (e.g.,
might mean clusters for group work, rows for independent work, seats arranged in clusters during discussions and tests).
and U-shapes for discussion. Arrangements can vary depending on
the activity, and different areas of the classroom can be used for
different purposes.
Arrange classroom furniture to create a smooth traffic flow that Place bookcases, file cabinets, or other pieces of furniture in areas
allows the teacher and students to easily move throughout the that may block students’ view or create visual obstructions for the
room. teacher.
Place frequently used supplies (e.g., pencil sharpener, notebook Place frequently used materials in areas that are easily congested.
paper, trash bin) and instructional materials (e.g., calculators, lab Challenging behaviors are more likely to occur when students or
equipment, textbooks) in easy-to-reach locations. teachers routinely bump into each other, one another’s
belongings, or furniture.
Post materials that support student learning (e.g., rules, routines, Cover every inch of your classroom’s walls with posters, images,
word walls, math equations, exceptional student work) on walls and other decorations that don’t support student learning. This
that are easy for students to view from all parts of the classroom. can be overwhelming and distracting for students.
Create additional space for movement (e.g., wider aisles) as well as Keep any unnecessary furniture and equipment in your classroom
special equipment storage for students who may use wheelchairs that may limit classroom space and restrict student movement.
or walkers.
Setting up a structured classroom space.
Physical Lay-out
• the placement and
organization of the room’s
physical elements (e.g.,
seating, materials) to help
establish a learning
environment that facilitates
effective instruction and
student growth.
Elements to creating an effective physical classroom structure
1. Clearly define traffic
patterns in the classroom:
✓Keep high traffic areas free
of congestion
Elements to creating an effective
physical classroom structure
2. Arrange the desks and furniture in the
classroom so that you can see students
at all times and you have easy access
to all areas of the classroom.
Furniture should also be arranged in a
manner that optimizes common
instructional activities:
✓ Be sure that the teacher has access to
all students
✓ Be sure all students are easily seen by
the teacher
✓ Be sure students can easily see
instructional presentations and displays
✓ Keep frequently used teaching materials
and student supplies readily accessible
Organizing Your Classroom A Preemptive Strike 1. ARRANGING
CLASSROOM n Keep high traffic areas free of congestion n Be sure that
the teacher has access. - ppt download (slideplayer.com)
Elements to creating an effective physical classroom structure
3. Clearly label all
materials in the classroom
and organize them to
ensure they are easily
accessible when needed.
Marzano, Robert J. The Art and Science of Teaching: A Comprehensive Framework for
Effective Instruction. Alexandra, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development, 2007. Print.
Elements to creating an effective
physical classroom structure
4. Create and teach systems for turning in work and retrieving
graded work
Because every classroom has its own individual needs and character,
there is no one best way to create a structured learning
environment:
✓ Student learning needs (e.g., students who learn better in groups,
students who prefer visual aids)
✓ Instructional formats (e.g., independent work, group work, class
discussion, presentations)
✓ Various seating arrangements (e.g., rows, clusters, U-shape)
✓ Use of classroom and hallway walls (e.g., to display rules, content-
specific strategies, word walls, exemplary student work)
Matching room arrangement with instructional format
CLASSROOM Seating
Arrangement
THREE TYPES OF SEATING
17
ARRANGEMENTS (WEINSTEIN,
1979)
Traditional Rows or
Columns
Row seating: Desks are place
in either vertical or horizontal
straight lines
TYPES OF SEATING ARRANGEMENTS (WEINSTEIN,
18
1979)
Cluster seating: A group
of four desks touching
each other on the same
horizontal lines and the
right and left vertical lines
of the desk
TYPES OF SEATING ARRANGEMENTS (WEINSTEIN,
19
1979)
Horseshoe seating:
Desks arranged in a
way that resembles
like a horseshoe
Presentation title
FACTORS IN ARRANGING SEATS 20
- Available space of for the tables and chairs
- Number of students/ class size
- Age of the learners / Grade level
- Types of learners (i.e. fast learner)
- Teaching style
- Learning activities for the day
- Profile of the learner (disability/with special needs/ with impairments/with
behavioral problem –hyperactive student etc)
- comfortability (needs and interest)
Smooth Transition
What is Transitions?
• occurs whenever you have to leave one
activity/lesson/event and enter another.
• Change between activities, multiple settings, programs
• Example: it could be leaving math and entering reading,
going from recess to lunchtime, or even switching
classrooms.
• Transitions occur throughout the day but most
commonly at the beginning and end of periods.
Why is it Important?
• Transitions are time consuming
• Idle waiting = challenging behavior
• They can be stressful and
frustrating
• The ability to transition is a critical
skill
Strategies to support Transitions: Before the
transition
• Minimize the number of
transitions.
• Plan for what adults will do
during transition times.
• Teach children the expectations.
• Provide verbal and nonverbal
cues.
Strategies to support Transitions: During the
transition
• Engage children.
• Allow time to finish
projects.
• Plan for “quick” finishers.
• Individualize support.
Strategies to support transitions: After the
transition
Provide positive
attention and
feedback to
children.
Promote independence
during transitions
• Allow children to
transition independently.
• Teach children to
help one another.
• Help children
self-monitor during transitions.
Reinke, W. M., Herman, K. C., & Sprick, R.
(2011). Motivational interviewing for effective classroom
management: The classroom check-up. New York, NY:
Guilford Press.
