Chapter_3

=//To Teach: The Journey of a Teacher//=

Chapter 3: Creating an Environment for Learning

In this chapter, Ayers discussed his thoughts on creating a classroom where students desire to learn - something we obviously hope all of our teachers strive to do. What do you do in your classroom that reflects some of what he is proposing?

Ayers seems like he has everything covered. Not one inch of his classroom environment goes wasted. I do wonder about the size of his classroom. He had a lot of things going on. He seems to have had a huge library and half a kitchen, lucky guy. Anyway, I will be the first to admit that my classroom isn’t perfect, but I do reflect some of what he is proposing. Ayers states “people learn best when they are nurtured and challenged” (Page 73). Daily I will nurture and encourage my students. I do this by posting their work up front, celebrating when they receive a good grade on a test, and simply by talking to them about their strengths, as well as weaknesses. Then I challenge my students by increasing their IEP goals when it is appropriate. Another way I reflect what Ayers is proposes is by allowing learning to be "active." When my students have a writing goal I teach them to write descriptively by reviewing some vocabulary, but also by actively studying what they want to write about. For example, when a student was assigned to write about her time spent outside I took her out there to help her focus on what was happening and what she saw. Next, I too have my classroom set up in a way that supports different learners and increases a desire to learn. I have areas for group and peer learning. Also I have a one-on-one station and an area for computers and IPods. I call it my technology center. These areas are set up in the best order (I can think of) to minimize distractions and promote a fair and accessible education for a multiple of diverse learners. In addition, one idea that Ayers has in which I feel I need to address more is the “discovery” learning. I spend so much time trying to close discrepancies between my resource students and the general education students that I don’t let my students discover as much as they could. Sure they have opportunity and accessibility, but providing them more time to discover different things might drive positive results. - Josh Saba

Thanks Josh, and your last statement is so true of many of us. We spend so much of our time closing gaps that we forget to enrich and "push" those that already get the concepts we are working towards. (Dr G)

I agree with Josh S. Where in the world does Ayers find the space, money and time to do all these wonderful things? It sounds like he is a teacher with a gigantic classroom with all sorts of space, all kinds of time to just drop what he is doing and research the owl outside their window (p. 70), and has lots of money for all these items used for his “closet bursting with stuff we might need in order to extend or support our work”. (p.72) It really sounds too good to be true. As I was reading it, I found myself becoming more cynical.

Back to the question of: “What do you do in your classroom that reflects some of what he is proposing?” There are a lot of similarities in our classrooms. I have a bulletin board of student achievements that we celebrate as a students work is being displayed on the board. I have the learning centers where students can engage in activities that interest them during my reading groups. Lots of multicultural books on my bookshelves: historical men, woman, native Americans, African Americans, diverse cultural and religious customs or holidays and many more. I do the bridge lesson in science along with towers, bubble gum science research and more. Technology is always available to students with computers. Sometimes music is heard during independent study. I have a box (not a closetful) of art supplies that we use when the need calls for it.

There are many similarities in my classroom that closely reflect the activities in Ayers classroom. But my biggest question is: Where does he find the time to do all these engaging activities in his classroom? Does his state have any tests they have to prepare for? Does he stick to the curriculum? Where are all the other elements of teaching? (Jeni Roadcap)

Jeni Specifically love your last paragraph. I know you aren't really expecting answers, but remember that Ayers probably didn't have state mandated tests "back in the day"! I would hope that he sticks to the curriculum though; since he writes about that later in his book!! ha (Dr G)

It sounds like a lot of us had the same initial thought when reading this chapter; his classroom must be extremely large! Ayers speaks of creating many different stations in his room and I would like to admit that I do the same but the reality is I am barely able to fit the 32 students in each class period. Does that lack of space mean that we do not do engaging activities? The answer to that question is no, but we are limited on what we can do. I agree with Ayers when he says “All real learning requires activity on some level” (p 67). Students tend to have a more valuable learning experience when they are active participants in their learning. Hands-on and engaged approaches to learning typically create a classroom setting that is more conducive to learning for the student where students are nurtured, challenged, and pushed to take risks.

Like Ayers, I too like to display my students work in my classroom and in the hallway around my room. I had a friend who is not in education come into my classroom at the beginning of the year and when he walked in the first thing he said was that it looked like a box of Crayolas had exploded in my room. I laughed a little because it kind of did. We had just completed our map making unit by creating a map of our school and adorning the walls in my room and the hallway were the student maps full of color. It was exciting to see the students eager to show their parents the map they had just created when we held our fall conferences.

As Ayer says “the purpose of school is to open doors, open worlds, and open possibilities for each person to live life fully and well…..schools have a specific responsibility to educate for active citizenship and democratic living” (p. 74). Ayers speaks of all the different activities that he likes to do in his class but what I really want to know is where does he find the time to do all these activities? While I realize he was teaching at a time where the curriculum restrictions and timelines were not as rigid, there was still material to be covered. I know if I were to allow my students to play with blocks all day, while I am sure they would love it, I would not be building in them the necessary skills and abilities to participate in our ever-changing society. So where is that happy medium between meaningful activities and more of a filler for classroom time? (Joe D)

﻿As I was reading Chapter 3 and Ayers' description of his classroom it reminded me a lot of a Montessori-type setting. I have had conversations about the Montessori schools with a few of my colleagues - one of which used to work at one in Colorado. I know they aren't exactly the same as what Ayers describes, but the basic idea of discovery learning is similar. I have 320 students in my room at some point during a 6 -day cycle, so this approach wouldn't work as neatly for me. However, there are some elements from Ayers' classroom that I can relate to my own.

First, I agree with Ayers at the beginning of the chapter when he states "The learning environment is a complex, living reflection of a teacher's values." I know in each classroom I've made I try to create a positive atmosphere in my room. Whether is means putting up Star Wars posters in a 7-8 choir room or moving the xylophones and rhythm instruments out of a closet and on to a student-accessible shelf - I try to make my room a place where kids feel comfortable to create. Music can be a very scary and intimidating place for certain students - asking students to create their own movement to a dance delights certain children and strikes fear into the hearts of others. On p. 66 Ayers says, "Students see themselves reflected in my classrooms." Currently in my room there are shelves filled with "beat buddy" stuffed animals for the little tykes, Recorder Karate goals for the upper grades, and student compositions made by my 4th grade students on display.

Second, on p. 68 Ayers talks about how learning "requires practice, correction, and self-correction...if that work ties in with a sense of purpose, it can be deeply satisfying." To me this idea correlates to what my elem. band students are currently doing. My 6th graders are working to prepare a solo for Solo Night in a few weeks. I have a lot of very motiviated 6th graders right now who want to do well on their solos. They are practicing hard and fixing mistakes - they come to their lessons with me eager to hear their song with the piano accompaniment and find out how they can make it better. I can't motivate them that well for just a regular lesson, but having that bigger goal gets them to look up unknown fingerings and seek out feedback from their teacher. When they get their ballots back in a few weeks they will be very satisfied with what they have accomplished. The students think they just gave one good performance, but I know that they gained so much more from this experience than just those five minutes with the judge. (Kerri)

Thanks for some great examples Kerri. (Dr G)

What did I do as a teacher to change the classroom environment? As I read this chapter, I felt like some areas I did absolutely nothing. On p.64, Ayers says "Kids see, in school, that learning is linked to age more than anything else and that growth, development, and wisdom are neatly divided into nine-month units." He goes on to talking about units, courses, periods and grade levels. I did not often explicitly look for interdisciplinary connections. As I said in an earlier wiki post, I tended to be overly content-driven. He talked about the choice to display student work (p. 66). Yet again, this was something I did maybe two or three times in six years teaching high school math.

One of the things I did do was allow students to sit and work where ever they preferred during group work and independent practice. Students often commented on course evaluations and informally that they saw class as an opportunity for "everyone to work together" rather than a competitive experience.

Cooking. Plants. Wow! Josh S. was right. This guy seemed to have all of his bases covered. In the book, Ayers said, "Even though we long for community - for places of common vision, shared purpose, cooperative effort, and personal fulfillment within collective commitment - we most often settle for institutions" (p. 75). Looking back on my six year classroom career, I think this sentence describes my classroom. I settled for a classroom rather than a learning environment. As a district administrator, I wonder how I can help teachers move past the same mistakes I made? (Matt T.)

Matt: If it worked for you and your students, it wasn't a "mistake". But maybe the learning experience that you have since gone through can be utilized to help your future teachers understand what might be missing - even when it appears nothing is! (Dr G)

What do I do to create a well developed learning environment? First, I want to start off saying that Ayers must have an unlimited budget or hit the lottery, because he has a room full of all the technology he wants!

Now back to reality, given what we have to work with and anything else that I can acquire from other teachers, grants, and other buildings. Ayers states, “environments tell us what to do.” Very true, how can you expect someone to have any desire to focus on learning when you have a room that is filled with trash? Students in my class have a chance to sit with a partner and an opportunity to collaborate with another group of two on a daily basis. This type of atmosphere promotes open communication between students(inquiry based). There are tables around the room spread out enough to have a more private conversation. Another attribute of my room are the posters of successful people and what they did to become that way. Finally, I like to give the students an idea of what we are working on, so I big concepts posted throughout the room.

My classroom room is full of student work, I have four bulletin boards and all of them are consistently being changed depending what we are focusing on this helps shape the environment, the students see that their work will affect what the environment looks like and what is suppose to take place in this type of an environment. (Josh J.)

Josh- Your points make me immediately think of one of the key observation areas for walk-throughs - "walk the walls"! A tremendous amount of information about the teacher can be observed in a few short minutes by observing the surrounding! (Dr G)

I was also surprised at the space and set-up that Ayers seemed to have. Cooking and creating, private places to read, etc.?! Outside of the 28 student desks in my room, there is very little space for anything else! I did agree with the importance that Ayers put on environment, though. I feel that this is something I have improved on over the years. I am big on visuals, so most of my room is covered with historical or inspirational posters. As a high school teacher, I erroneously thought it was belittling the kids to be hanging up all sorts of student work. I wrongly believed that it was more of an "elementary" thing. However, I thankfully learned that displaying high-schoolers work can be motivational to them, and even be used as a tool to create discussion based on varying viewpoints held by other students. We make political cartoons, propaganda posters, biographical posters, etc. It is gratifying to see students react positively to and question the work of other students. Attempting to interpret political cartoons and agreeing or disagreeing with the premise of a propaganda poster represent higher order thinking skills that are created just through the simple act of posting student work. I wish it hadn't taken me a couple of years to figure that out. (Travis D.)

Travis: Thanks for admitting your "secondary bias" towards displaying student work. I would assume that what you shared is a common belief, and your comments certainly help to dispel that myth! (Dr G)

// My high school classroom is a fairly traditional set up. I do have several shelves of books to which my history students can avail themselves. I will post student work from time to time. We do draw upon technology as the opportunity presents itself. Students are provided choice on many assignments so that they can pursue topics of interest to them. But the biggest part of the 'hidden curriculum' of which Ayers speaks is my attention to the free exchange of ideas. Beginning on day 1 students are asked easy questions and allowed to provide feedback. The cognitive level of the questions grow throughout the semester. This is encouraged almost daily so that several weeks into the semester students are provided an atmosphere to wrestle with complex ideas, to verbalize those ideas, and to exchange ideas with each other. I model, as frequently as I can, an inquisitive and curious attitude - always wanting to learn more, know more, and try on new ideas. Students appear to appreciate this atmosphere, and it is a joy to see them grow in their ability throughout the semester. (Rick) //

// Rick // //Sounds as though that "hidden curriculum" ought to be something practiced in everyone's classroom?! (Dr G)//

My room is constantly on the change. From student work to posters to maps the walls are ever changing. My room setup changes as well as I sometime need students to be looking at a white board or flip to seeing a wall of maps. When previous students come into my room (while wandering around, typically during P/T conference time) normally the first thing out of their mouth is "you changed the room around." Movement is encouraged in my classroom including much group work. Junior Scholastic magazine is a constant reading tool that students enjoy picking up and reading when finished with an activity. Many often go back to previous month issues to read a story that they didn't get to. I have a fairly open discussion room, not very often will you see hands raised to get a chance to talk. Discussion is a wonderful learning tool and I have an ongoing post-it note pile of questions that students want to get to. Even for 7th and 8th graders they do a decent job of staying near our topic level and we have good conversations that normally lead to other questions. (Aaron B.)

//My classroom can be busy with various activities going on at various times as well. I do a lot of "extra" activities with my students like planning a 5K Walk/Run every year and creating school shirts to promote school spirit.// //My students participate in a tasting party every year to experience the tastes of different cultures, but they make the food at home themselves and bring it to school to share with their classmates. These offer different experiences for the students, but they can also be very time consuming. I agree that Ayers' classroom sounds like a great learning environment, but the age of students has a lot to do with the variety of stations he has around his room. i.e. building blocks station, sand station, drawing station, etc. (Katie F.)//

After reading this chapter I decided I want to be in Ayer's classroom. WOW! what an exciting place to grow and learn. Obviously he is not in grad school, doesn't have children at home or a family to take care of, isn't on a million extra committees, and does have an unlimited amount of space and money. OK, I temporarily feel better. In all honesty, none of these are very good excuses and I obviously need to do a better job of creating an environment for learning. Ayer's states that when you walk into a space you get a feeling so I decided to see if I could identify that feeling in my own classroom. When you walk into my classroom I believe you get a feeling of community. The desks, which I have asked numerous times to be switched to tables, are in groups always. However, todays groups probably won't be the same tomorrow. My hope is that the students learn that we all work together and learn to work with everyone. The students have jobs that are posted that they must attend to, if they are going to be gone they find a substitute or if they have something else that needs to be done they find a replacement. Outside of the classroom and abundance ofstudent work is hung and ever changing. That way everyone can see what we are up to. However, there isn't much work up in the classroom, I need to do a better job of this. I believe you also get a calm, peaceful feeling. Common areas are neat and tidy, pleasing to the eye (at least my eye). Colors are bright and inviting. Nothing is too busy and there isn't alot of junk stacked on shelves, corners, etc. Bulletin boards are constantly changing and being added to by myself and students. There isn't as much free choice or center time as Ayers would like. That being said the kids are involved in discovery learning, and there is usually some type of experiment going on. Both formal and informal. I would really like to find a better place for my library with more pillows, rugs, chairs, etc. I have some but could use more. Something that says come on in and open a good book. I have work to do, now I just have to find the time to do it! (Erin Burmeister)

Erin: Reading this made me immediately think of how we can all benefit from reading the thoughts of other educators, and then evaluating our own situation. Even when we believe the "situation" is good for students, the best educators know it can be improved upon. Well said! (Dr G)

I loved this chapter! I totally related to Ayers talking about the preschool classroom and all the different areas to learn and play in! I am fortunate to have a pretty good sized room this year; this has not always been the case in the past. I have many different centers for the students to play in and different types of toys and real items in each center. For example: in my dramatic play center I have wooden appliances, plastic food and dishes, dolls, grow-up dress up clothes and phones that parents have donated. In my art center I have many different types of materials that they can construct a masterpiece! At the beginning of the year I limit the use of scissors and glue because for some students have never used scissors or glue prior to coming to preschool. I try to change the items in the centers on a regular basis to keep the students engaged and to let them have experiences with materials they have never seen or used before or are not allowed to use at home. (Amy)

Chp. 3 (Katie Owens)

“I believe that people learn best when they are challenged as well as nurture.” (p. 73). Your students have to know that you care for them and that you are invested. If your students know that you care for them they will work hard for you. Also, you will be able to challenge them in different ways, push them into the best students. I love being able to have a couple of my students in my room for lunch, this is a great time to let your students know you care. With some of my boys in my class they get to come to my classroom to play card games that are secretly working on math skills but we are having a blast in the process. They little things like this allow your students to be nurtured and challenged at the same time.

Ayers and I see eye to eye on many of the general ideas he has for making the classroom environment a learning laboratory. A briefly explained tour of my classroom space and description of the environment will echo the learning laboratory concept. Starting in the CAD (Computer Aided Drafting) lab, you would see a kayak, rollerblades, Fisher Teckniks (for building test fixtures), cabinets full of digital electronics kits and equipment. The purpose of the kayak is for a team of students to use in order to engineer a cooler/storage system that attaches to the cockpit. The rollerblades similarly were brought in for students attempting to refine the braking mechanism for the rollerblade. In the hallway between the CAD Lab and the classroom you will find a library of magazines and texts that I have collected pertaining to technical areas and projects that I teach and beyond. From there you will enter my classroom where the bulletin boards are organized with data pertaining to classes and industry along with pictures of students and their exemplary projects. From the classroom, heading south into the wood shop you will see tools and projects adorning most of the visible area. This space is a bit busy to look at, but well organized just the same. In the back of this room you would see a 16’ boat being handcrafted along with a chest that borred study-hall kids are producing (no credit, students are driven by interest!). If you continued your journey eastward you would walk into a metals/building trades shop. Again the room is busy with safety signs, tools, and projects. Currently there are four 15’ wall sections being erected for a new press box at the soccer complex. Beyond the press box you would see an early 70’s scooter and motorcycle. These are individual projects that are not taught at Denver, but again students are using their study-halls in rebuilding these vehicles. These are a few of the 94 projects currently taking shape in my classroom. To keep the idea of a learning laboratory at the student’s mental forefront, I have made it my focus to acknowledge projects and ideas that push the envelope. I do not want, or embrace mediocrity in my classroom. I do the extra work and make arrangements to make things happen for my students. If they see me showing work-ethic they typically will mimic my actions. I use the classroom and laboratories as a stage for driving interest. The kayak, pictures, deer stands, gun cabinets, motorcycles, and everything in between are simply enticements of student interests. (Joe Bormann)

Joe: A 16' boat being crafted? Wow, and to think I thought of myself as an IT teacher who thought "out of the box"!!! (Dr G)

//As many of you have already stated, it seems as though Ayers has a large amount of space and an even larger supply of resources and materials for his classroom.//

//In our SCR classroom we tried to give with a minimalist look, very little on the walls. We have two bulletin boards, one with SCR reading strategies and another with charts where the students are expected to graph how many books they’ve read. We started the year with tables and switched to desks for classroom management reasons. We, of course, have a whiteboard in which we display the agenda for the day along with the homework expectations. On another wall, we have a large book case where the books are displayed, faced out, so the students can see the covers. This bookcase is something we keep well organized, books by lexile levels, and inviting for students. As I said before, we really tried to not have the room be “too busy.” Everything on our walls and on our shelves, in some way, pertains to reading and specifically SCR. (Whitney Bowen)//

// So just curious Whitney - if I asked a student(s) in the SCR classroom what sparked their desire to learn, would they speak of the physical environment or would it be something internal caused by the teachers? (Dr G) //

I really agree with Ayers here on the importance of the environment. First impressions can last a lifetime, so I know I want my kids and their families to have a “good” first impression of my room and environment. I also want the room to reflect who I am. That is why I have UNI flags and UNI signs all around the room. I also display students’ work around the room. Yes, it is my room, but without my kids I am nothing. I want them to be proud of what they do, so I display it. I am also one that does not make a huge deal of mistakes. Heck, I misspell words on the board, project the wrong item on the projector, or tell them to turn to the wrong page. Everyone is human and makes mistakes. I hope my kids feel the same way, and that a mistake is nothing more than a learning opportunity. I am also a very relaxed teacher, and joke a lot with the students. I wouldn’t say I run my classroom very loosely, but I usually stay pretty relaxed. I don’t want my students to feel my classroom is a place to be nervous. My room is a safe, relaxed place they can enjoy and learn. (Derek Philips)