Learning Environment Impact
For students to feel comfortable in a classroom setting, the teacher must intentionally design systems and structures allowing for safety and risk-taking. According to Herrera and Murray (2011), CLD students face far more than a language obstacle as one of the greater hurdles is the sociocultural dimension. In this dimension, students face psychological challenges such as “ambiguity, prejudice, and discrimination” (pg. 12). Knowing this factor outweighs all others, I seek to offer a classroom that balances that dimension. Over the course of the semester, I have established several rituals and routines that make for a productive and respectful classroom environment.
- Students are seated in cooperative groups of three and are expected to work collaboratively the majority of the time in the classroom
- The Write-to-Learn and Classroom Talk strategies are employed on a daily basis enabling students to have moments to think individually, share those thoughts in a small group, and ultimately share out for the whole class. These strategies allow students several chances to express their thinking, hear other’s thinking, and refine their thoughts in a small group setting before being asked to share out for the whole class.
- When students do share out to the whole class, instead of calling on an individual student, I will designate a group to answer and give wait time for the group to confer and then let one student answer for the group. The pressure is then taken off of the individual and placed on the group.