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Running head: The Classroom Environment

Domain 2: The Classroom Environment

Kayla M. Gluchowski

Drexel University
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Domain 2: The Classroom Environment
Domain 2: The Classroom Environment

The classroom environment is an open canvas.  Within this environment, we

have the privilege to mold, shape, and inspire our country’s future minds.  As educators,

it is our responsibility to ensure that we create a learning environment that is positive,

organized, and facilitates meaningful learning.  In the following paragraphs, I share my

plan that I intend to implement in my future classroom and parts of that plan that I am

currently utilizing in my student teacher, virtual classroom.

Within the second domain of Danielson’s framework, are five components.  The

first component (2a) involves creating an environment of respect and rapport.  Within

the first day and week of each school year, I will take the necessary steps to foster a

strong rapport with the students by establishing five universal classroom rules. These

rules include: One, follow directions the first time they are given.  Two, keep hands, feet,

and objects to yourself.  Three, change tasks quickly and quietly.  Four, respect the

property of others.  Five, practice kindness by respecting yourself and others (How to

Succeed in Teaching Without Really Crying).  Students will spend the first day

discussing these rules and learning appropriate/inappropriate examples.  Students will

spend time within that initial week practicing and modeling the classroom rules.  As a

fun activity, students will be put into groups to get to know their peers.  The students will

be instructed to design a short skit of an appropriate and inappropriate example of a

classroom rule and perform these skits to their peers.  This will not only showcase their

understanding of the classroom but, also will design a sense of community with the

students within the very first week.  Students will be encouraged to clap enthusiastically

for one another’s classroom rule skits.  Within this week, we will also focus on many
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Domain 2: The Classroom Environment
activities where students can showcase their most cherished interests.  It is important

that I learn each student’s interests so that I can interrelate these interests with the

learning curriculum.  This will ensure that my students are motivated to learn.  These

activities will also be carefully planned to show not only their interests, but also give me

information on their current reading, writing, and math levels.  For example, within the

first week of school I may ask the students to write one sentence about what they like to

do.  For example:  I like to ride my bike.  If I was a second-grade teacher, I would be

looking to see if my students have an uppercase letter at the beginning of the sentence

and a period at the end.  I would be looking at how they “kid” spelled certain words to

help determine phonetic needs.  My expectations of this activity would be different from

first to second grade, as well as other grades.

Within the classroom environment, it is important that I create a culture for

learning (2b).  It is imperative that my students understand the importance of my work

and their work during our time together.  I will establish a culture for learning by setting

high expectations on day one.  When students arrive in the classroom on their first day,

they will see a huge bubble letter sign that says:  “We can do hard things.”  Although it

is a sentence that some may say on a regular basis, an author by the name of Glennon

Doyle has coined the phrase in one of her books.  Doyle uses this phrase in her

personal life, professional life, and with her children when they face challenges.  This

quote alone is powerful and sets the stage each day by reminding myself and the

students that we can overcome our daily challenges.  The students will actively

participate in the decoration of the class sign.  Students will take turns writing their

name in big letters and putting their handprint on the sign.  Each day the students come
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Domain 2: The Classroom Environment
to class, they will see the sign, their name, and their hand print next to their peers.  The

first thing they will be reminded of each day is that we can do hard things.  

I will challenge and set my expectations high for each student while equally

facilitating a positive and supportive learning environment.  I will communicate passion

for each subject/lesson and express to the students why the information is not only

important, but fun to learn.  Students will be expected to reach higher levels of thinking

but will also have the ability to fail and learn from their mistakes.  For example, in a first-

grade math lesson where students are learning ways to make 10 within a ten frame, a

certain student may say 7 and 4 make 10.  Instead of saying the words, “no” or “that’s

not right” and calling on a different student for the answer, I prefer to challenge the

student to continue to work on the problem with my guidance.  That said student would

be then guided with blocks and a ten frame to help show that 7 and 3 make 10.  The

students within my classroom will learn very quickly that my room is a room for

investigations, inquiries, trial and errors, and unavoidable mistakes/failures.  However,

they will also learn quickly that these mistakes/failures are valuable and help guide them

to correct answers and/or a better understanding of the learning material.  Positive

reinforcement and recognition will be a constant theme within my room where students

are expected to give great effort and showcase persistence through each

lesson/inquiry/investigation.

A major component to consider within the classroom environment is classroom

management (2c).  I will design specific classroom procedures that help the classroom

run smoothly and effectively.  Instructional groups will be created based on the student’s

needs, levels, and personality.  I will design purposeful and cooperative groups where
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Domain 2: The Classroom Environment
students work together or independently.  With careful modeling, I will be able to set the

expectation that little supervision should be needed during these times.  In order to

better manage transitions, I will color code large groups, small groups, and independent

work on the board.  Students will know, based off of colors, where to start and how to

continue throughout the period seamlessly.  There will always be color coded plans on

the board for students to reference.  Students will learn to look at the board, reflect on

their work, decide if they should be doing something afterwards (by referencing the

color-coded list on the board) before coming to me to ask what they should do next. 

Students will develop daily routines to help take attendance, lunch, etc.  They will have

a morning routine that they must do when they come to the classroom.  Within this

morning routine, will be weekly jobs assigned to students.  For example, if your weekly

assigned job is “materials and supplies manager”, when you finish with your attendance,

lunch order, and other items within your routine, you would then move to your

classroom duty and pass out the supplies and materials that the teacher set aside for

the day.  The classroom routines and weekly jobs will be reviewed, practiced, and

modeled for the class within the first week of school.  Routines are imperative for

managing classroom success.  When routines are smooth and functioning, little

instructional time is lost.  Decreasing the amount of instructional time lost within a day

by implementing consistent routines is an important goal for my future classroom and

success.

In order to establish a well-functioning classroom, specific procedures need to be

created in order to manage student behavior (2d).  To manage student behavior, I

believe it is important to design an atmosphere where students feel safe enough to take
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Domain 2: The Classroom Environment
risks but business-like enough to understand that productivity is essential.  Students will

learn what they are permitted to do and what their classmates should do within the first

week of school.  Students will learn my five universal rules listed above.  However, rules

only go so far.  To manage classroom behavior, I will implement a “consequences” chart

and a “reward” chart.  Both charts will be explained to students on the first day of school

and hang on the wall in a very visible place for motivation.  The consequence system

will not be linear.  For example, I will not be giving warnings, taking away half of recess,

or taking away entire blocks of recess.  I believe in teaching, not punishing.  I will

implement a consequence system that helps teach the student as opposed to punish

them.  For example, if I gave a warning to a student who is drawing all over their desk,

they are likely to repeat the behavior.  What have they learned?  If I take away their

recess for their behavior, what have they learned?  I will teach them what their

consequences would be in real life if they choose to do specific actions.  For this

particular student, their punishment may be to clean off their desk.  This teaches the

student that when they make a mess of items, especially items that are not theirs, they

must clean it up.  My consequences will be consistent but broad enough to address

most undesirable behaviors.  Within the consequence chart, will be two levels.  If a

student breaks a rule, I will choose one of the following:  Loss of free time, removal of

the group, repeat the procedure, fix the damage.  If the student continues the

undesirable behavior, I will choose a consequence from level 2:  phone or note home,

meeting with the teacher, parent, and child, or a school administration meeting.  This

nonlinear consequence system gives me the flexibility to select the consequence that

will help teach the student.  If a child decides to sprint to the front of the line from their
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Domain 2: The Classroom Environment
desk, as opposed to walking nicely, I may ask them to repeat the procedure (walking to

line up).  

Along with consequences, come rewards.  My classroom will have an emotional

rewards system as opposed to a materialistic reward system.  I prefer to find a way to

motivate students through emotional, positive rewards.  With such little time to develop

socioemotional skills or confidence within the classroom, emotional rewards are an

outstanding way to promote successful listening.  Next to the five universal rules chart

and the consequences chart, will hang the “rewards” chart.  On this rewards chart,

students will have the ability to select their reward.  The rewards include a positive note

home to parents, a positive call home to parents, permission to sit at the teacher’s desk

for one class period, permission to sit next to a friend for one class period, ability to

choose the yoga video for the day, a sunshine letter to the student (a personal and

positive letter I write to the student, not the parents).  For everyday rewards, students

can choose between a smile, a high five, a praise, a fist bump, etc.  Envision parents

receiving positive calls from their teacher, as opposed to solely negative calls.  Imagine

how a student will feel when they read their sunshine letter that tells them all the

wonderful things they do in our classroom and how great of a person they are. 

Consider the motivation a student may experience if they had the option to sit next to

their friend or at the teacher’s desk for a period.  The goal is for the positive and

emotional rewards to promote an intrinsic desire or need to follow the five universal

classroom rules.  Please see appendix A for an example of a positive emotional

reward.  This particular student wanted me to write a message to her mother via the

communication app we use with families.  

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Domain 2: The Classroom Environment
The physical space within my future classroom will be flexible yet purposeful.  I

will want to promote a physical environment that varies in design depending on the

learning curriculum at any given time.  Because my classroom will be a primary

classroom, it is important for me to create centers, reading corners, a space for

activities, etc.  To begin the year, desks will be in groups of four, facing each other. 

Students will have an assigned seat in these groups of four, but I will be changing these

assigned seats throughout the year to adapt to different personalities and learning

abilities.  Students will be encouraged to recommend furniture adjustments and/or shifts

to better fit small-group instruction, different work, or discussion.  There will be times

where the desks are changed to a “U” shape.  This will be utilized when students are

performing created skits, plays, or giving speeches.  My classroom will have a reading

corner where they can choose books and read during independent reading time.  This

will also be the corner that I read books aloud to the students.  The books in the

classroom library will be sorted by reading levels.  Students will receive three letters,

that I will adjust accordingly when needed.  They will receive the reading level letter they

are at, the reading level letter before their spot, and the reading level letter after their

level.  For example, a student who is at a reading level K should choose books with J,

K, or L on them.  The students will self-regulate and decide what they want to read that

day.  Some days, a student may choose to read at their current level, or they may

choose to challenge themselves.  The reading corner will be a safe space for students

to grow their reading skills while diving into personal or new interests.  

Additionally, I will be incorporating a “peace corner” (see appendix B).  The

peace corner will be a space a student can go to when they are feeling a powerful
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Domain 2: The Classroom Environment
emotion.  Whether that emotion is anger, sadness, feeling overwhelmed, etc., the peace

corner will be able to address their needs.  The peace corner will be filled with color

coded feeling charts where the student can learn how to express themselves and their

emotion.  They will be able to choose a picture to color based on their emotion and/or

have writing sheets to write about their emotions.  I will also include socioemotional

books and picture books for them.  Students will quietly receive a “peace corner” pass

from me when I believe they would benefit from a break away from the group (see

Appendix C).  They will receive this quietly to avoid any unwanted attention from peers

and to inhibit possible distractions.  Students will learn that when I place this on their

desk or quietly hand this to them, that they should stop what they are doing and spend

some time in the peace corner with their feelings.  The peace corner is intended to be a

pleasant and inviting space for students to develop their socioemotional needs, learn

how to communicate with them, and learn how to regulate/control them. 

It is my hope that my future classroom will have up-to-date technology such as a

smart board and/or iPad for the students.  I will incorporate age appropriate technology

as much as possible.  Students will have the option and will be encouraged to utilize this

technology in many ways.  For example, if I request students create a short skit  on

appropriate classroom behaviors and inappropriate classroom behaviors, they have the

option of creating the skit, recording the skit, and showing their skit via the smart board. 

Students who wish to create and perform their own skit in front of the class without

technology could do so also.  Aside from technology, my classroom will be inclusive and

will have inclusive physical resources that are accessible to all students.  Sensory and

developmental tools will be available at all times.  I will promote active seating with
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Domain 2: The Classroom Environment
wobble chairs, balls with feet, yoga balls within chairs, etc. (see Appendix D).  My

students will be encouraged to use fidget tools and many other sensory tools to help

them focus.  We will have content activities specifically designed to help students create

their own fidget tool, should they find using one helpful.  For example, we usually

celebrate dot day in primary school by making arts and crafts with dots.  We see how

many different things we can make with one dot throughout the week.  Please see

Appendix E for a DIY fidget tool students could make while working with dots.  In this

example, we could use the beads as “dots” and students could count/choose their

beads and create their own fidget tool to help them with their learning needs.  The goal

is to have the students feel proud of their work and want to utilize something they have

made for themselves.

My classroom environment plans will enhance my teaching and the student’s

learning process.  Because I have a flexible classroom setup with furniture and a

flexible yet consistent method of consequences/rewards, I have the ability to adjust and

weave whenever needed.  My flexibility, though still meticulously planned, allows for

changes at any given moment.  This is important because each year, I will have

different students who need different accommodations.  I will be able to reflect on what

works and what does work.  On the first day of school, I will set the precedent that this is

an investigative classroom, not just with our learning material, but with ourselves too. 

We will learn what works for our class, together as a team.  The student’s learning

process will be enhanced by my implementation of emotional rewards, the peace

corner, the use of technology, and the ability to showcase their learning through many

different ways (i.e. performing the skit in person or showing a record version of the
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skit).  The emotional rewards will help motivate the students on a positive and intrinsic

level.  Sometimes, these emotional rewards will not only impact the student, but it will

impact the family too.  When a student receives a positive call home, families will also

reap the benefits of an emotional reward system.  The peace corner and our ability to

focus on socioemotional development will help create a safe learning space where

students can be encouraged to challenge themselves.  

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Domain 2: The Classroom Environment
Appendix A
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Domain 2: The Classroom Environment
Appendix B
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Domain 2: The Classroom Environment
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Domain 2: The Classroom Environment

Appendix C
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Domain 2: The Classroom Environment

Appendix D
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Domain 2: The Classroom Environment

Appendix E
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Domain 2: The Classroom Environment

References: 
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Domain 2: The Classroom Environment

Danielson, C. (2014). The Framework For Teaching (2013 ed.). Charlotte Danielson.

How to Succeed in Teaching Without Really Crying, Establishing Rules and 

Consequences: Step-by-Step Through Week One.  Produced by InService 

Works, in How to Succeed in Teaching Without Really Crying (Northbook; IL: 

InService Works), 28 mins.

Stephney, S. (2014, October 15). How to Create a Classroom With Respect &

Rapport. Retrieved October 20, 2020, from

https://www.education.gov.gy/web/index.php/teachers/tips-for-

teaching/item/1141-how-to-create-a-classroom-with-respect-rapport