UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY

Biglang Awa St., Corner Catleya St., EDSA, Caloocan City

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

FIELD STUDY 1
 
SUBJECT CODE: FS1

TOPIC OR LESSON: MODULE 5: Creating an Appropriate Learning Environment

WEEK: 5
OVERVIEW:
This is the first experiential course, which will immerse a future teacher to actual classroom situation and
learning environment where direct observation of teaching and learning episodes that focuses on the application
of educational theories learned in content and pedagogy courses will be made. Observations on learner’s behavior,
motivation, teacher’s strategies of teaching, classroom management, assessment in learning among others shall be
given emphasis.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
1. Encourage learners to participate actively to the activities prepared by the educators;
2. Create a conducive and healthy environment for the learners

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
1. Plan on how to effectively manage time, space and resources inside the classroom
2. Provide a learning environment suitable to the learners and conducive for learning

ENGAGE:
The teacher asks the question:
1. What is your ideal classroom environment?
2. From your past experiences inside the classroom, what is the most unforgettable one? Why?
EXPLORE:
The teacher asks the students to watch the clips.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9ynlPs_NTM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cscJcRKYxA
1. Based on the clips watched, what kind of classroom is being projected here?
2. Do you think these classrooms is conducive and healthy for the teaching and learning process? Give
the points to make your answer stand.
Explain:
The teacher discusses the lesson through lecture discussion. A video lesson can help enhance the
discussion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLKC2-WyuqU
KEY CONCEPTS
Understanding the following significant concepts facilitates deeper appreciation of the indicator and helps
you deliver lessons with a set of well-managed activities in an appropriately structured classroom. Let us now
acquaint ourselves with the following key concepts.

CLASSROOM STRUCTURE. This refers to the physical set-up of the learning environment, which generally
includes the arrangement of chairs, tables, and other equipment in the classroom designed to maximize learning.
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES. These are activities that the teacher intends to use based on the lesson objectives
which can be:
-discovery learning activities that require learners to draw on their past and existing knowledge to
discover facts, relationships, and new knowledge to be learned.
-hands-on learning activities that require physical participation of learners to construct, consolidate or
explain concepts.
-meaningful exploration that leads to learners’ full understanding of concepts and how they relate to other
concepts.
The following suggestions on management of classroom structure and activities.
1. Set clear expectations. Before starting any activity, we may set clear expectations on how learners
should perform the activity.
2. Maximize the use of school facilities. We may opt to restructure the classroom for it to become more
appropriate for the activities but if we feel the need for a wider or more flexible space, we may also
choose from a range of other physical learning environments. We may use the school covered court, the
stage, the school garden, under the shade of a big tree or any other area away from the four corners of the
classroom.
3. Be careful in choosing the activities. There may be different learning activities for a particular lesson so
we have to carefully select those which will give meaningful experiences to our learners. Learning
activities which engage and lead learners to discovery and manipulations are encouraged.
4. Be conscious about time. Time plays an important role in managing classroom structure and activities.
We may establish routines to go seamlessly from one activity to the next so as to avoid disruptions and
time stealers.
5. Make safety a priority. In the conduct of the varied activities in any physical learning environment that
we prefer to use, we have to make sure that we and our learners are safe while making learning
meaningful and fun.
A classroom with a well-managed structure and activities is a task-oriented and predictable environment.
When we say ‘classroom’, we do not limit ourselves to the four walls of the room. It can be in any place in
school or outside the school where we think the learners can engage in meaningful explorations, discoveries
and hands-on activities.
As Proficient teachers, we set up our classroom in such a way that it facilitates learning while considering our
own safety and, of course, the welfare of the learners under our care. We have our set of routines and procedures
which are the tools we use for a smooth flow of the lesson. We maximize our time with our learners by coming up
with well-planned, well thought- through activities.
Misbehavior in class is not a primary concern because we know that once our learners are engaged in
meaningful activities, they have little or no time for misbehavior. If we manage our classroom structure and
activities, we also manage the behavior of our learners.
Benefits of a Well-Designed Classroom
According to a study at the University of Salford, a well-designed classroom can boost student performance by up
to 16 percent. That means that your classroom design can have a significant impact on your students’
performance. So, it is essential to thoughtfully and clearly consider all facets of your classroom design. A well-
thought out physical arrangement of your classroom is also important for these reasons:
 Students learn to respect boundaries. For example, there are “teacher only” areas as well as the
boundaries of space a student has around his/her personal desk.
 The organization of classroom materials allows students to retrieve them quickly, which helps to decrease
unwanted behavior.
 Proper room arrangement provides predictably, which is essential for students because students thrive
when they are in a comfortable learning environment.
 Students will learn which behaviors are acceptable and expected in each specific location in the
classroom. For example, when in the classroom library, students need to be quiet, but while in the
classroom play area, students are allowed to talk.
 Students will learn to anticipate which activities will occur in specific areas of the classroom. This helps
students be mindful of how they need to behave for each specific area they are in.
Arranging Your Classroom
Before you set out to arrange your classroom, consider asking yourself the following questions:
 How do I need to structure the desks? Teacher-focused activities mean desks will be in rows or small
clusters facing the front of the classroom, while student-focused activities mean desks will be put into
groups or semicircles so students can easily collaborate with one another.
 Do any of my students have specific medical needs? A food allergy, wheelchair, etc.
 What furniture is available? Desks, tables, bookcases, shelves, etc.
 What information do my students need to know? They need to know the date, assignment, classroom
procedures, etc.
 What will inspire my students every day? Quotes, posters, classroom awards, everyday heroes, etc.
 What education artifacts do they need? Word walls, literacy resources, purposeful posters and bulletin
boards, etc.
 Have I considered a flexible seating classroom? Standing desks, bean bags, stability balls, etc.
The answers to these questions will help guide you to structure an effective learning environment for your
students. Depending upon what furniture is readily available, you will also need to structure your classroom so
that every student has a home base (or an individual learning area like their own desk), a whole group instruction
area, a dedicated teacher area, as well as a transition area where students can wait for the next activity or lesson to
begin, or at least have your space arranged so students can move about easily and comfortably without bumping
into one another.
 Essential Areas. As mentioned above, there are a few required areas that you must have in your
classroom: a home base, group instruction area, teacher workstation, and transition space. Here we will
take a closer look at how you can arrange each of these specific areas.
 Dedicated Teacher Area. Teachers need a place to call their own too. This space should be near an
outlet where you can have access to a computer, as well as out of the way but also easily accessible for
students to get to you. Ideally, your space should be near the window with your desk or small table
situated sideways, in the corner of the classroom. This way you will get the light from the window to help
you see, you are out of the way but also easily accessible to students and are able to scan the whole
classroom right from your seat.
  Home Base. Each student needs a space to call their own. Have it be an individual desk or their own
space at the table, they need something to call their home base. This space is a place where students can
do their independent work or go to when you are transitioning in between lessons.
Two factors need to be considered when deciding where students’ home base will be: if the
student has any behavior issues and the size of your classroom. Once you factor in these issues, then you
are ready to clearly assign each student a home base.
 Transition Area. The transition area can be a specific location, like the carpet, that students go to while
waiting for the next activity. What this space looks like and where it is located will depend upon your
students’ needs as well as their ages. No matter where the space is, it is important that your students know
where to go during transition periods.
In short, specific classroom features are relevant to what students are learning. Research shows that students
benefit from a well-designed, well-structured classroom. Most importantly, if you find that your students are
struggling with the design of your classroom then you must consider rearranging it.
10 Characteristics of A Highly Effective Learning Environment
1. The students ask the questions—good questions. This is not a feel-good implication, but really crucial for the
whole learning process to work.
The role of curiosity has been studied (and perhaps under-studied and under-appreciated), but suffice to
say that if a learner enters any learning activity with little to no natural curiosity, prospects for meaningful
interaction with texts, media, and specific tasks are bleak. (Interested in how to kill learner curiosity in 12 easy
steps?)

Many teachers force students to ask questions at the outset of units or lessons, often to no avail. Cliché questions
that reflect little understanding of the content can discourage teachers from ‘allowing’ them. But the fact remains
—if students can’t ask great questions—even as young as elementary school—something, somewhere is
unplugged.

2. Questions are valued over answers. Questions are more important than answers. So it makes sense that if
good questions should lead the learning, there would be value placed on these questions. And that means adding
currency whenever possible—grades (questions as assessment!), credit (give them points—they love points),
creative curation (writing as a kind of graffiti on large post-it pages on the classroom walls), or simply praise and
honest respect. See if you don’t notice a change.

3. Ideas come from a divergent sources. Ideas for lessons, reading, tests, and projects—the fiber of formal
learning—should come from a variety of sources. If they all come from narrow slivers of resources, you’re at risk
of being pulled way off in one direction (that may or may not be good). An alternative? Consider sources like
professional and cultural mentors, the community, content experts outside of education, and even the students
themselves. Huge shift in credibility.
And when these sources disagree with one another, use that as an endlessly ‘teachable moment,’ because
that’s what the real world is like.

4. A variety of learning models are used. Inquiry-based learning, project-based learning, direct instruction, peer-
to-peer learning, school-to-school, eLearning, Mobile learning, the flipped classroom, and on and on—the
possibilities are endless. Chances are, none are incredible enough to suit every bit of content, curriculum, and
learner diversity in your classroom. A characteristic of a highly-effective classroom, then, is diversity here, which
also has the side-effect of improving your long-term capacity as an educator.

5. Classroom learning ’empties’ into a connected community. In a highly-effective learning environment,

learning doesn’t need to be radically repackaged to make sense in the ‘real world,’ but starts and ends there.
 As great as it sounds for learners to reflect on Shakespeare to better understand their Uncle Eddie—and
they might—depending on that kind of radical transfer to happen entirely in the minds of the learners by design
may not be the best idea. Plan on this kind of transfer from the beginning.
It has to leave the classroom because they do.

6. Learning is personalized by a variety of criteria. Personalized learning is likely the future, but for now, the
onus for routing students is almost entirely on the shoulders of the classroom teacher. This makes personalization
—and even consistent differentiation—a challenge. One response is to personalize learning—to whatever extent
you plan for—by a variety of criteria—not just assessment results or reading level, but interest, readiness-for-
content, and others as well.
Then, as you adjust pace, entry points, and rigor accordingly, you’ll have a better chance of having
uncovered what the learners truly ‘need.’

7. Assessment is persistent, authentic, transparent, and never punitive. Assessment is just an (often ham-
fisted) attempt to get at what a learner understands. The more infrequent, clinical, murky, or threatening it is, the
more you’re going to separate the ‘good students’ from the ‘good thinkers.’ And the ‘clinical’ idea has less to do
with the format of the test, and more to do with the tone and emotion of the classroom in general. Why are
students being tested? What’s in it for them, and their future opportunities to improve?
And feedback is quick even when the ‘grading’ may not be.

8. Criteria for success is balanced and transparent. Students should not have to guess what ‘success’ in a
highly-effective classroom looks like. It should also not be entirely weighted on ‘participation,’ assessment
results, attitude, or other individual factors, but rather meaningfully melted into a cohesive framework that makes
sense—not to you, your colleagues, or the expert book on your shelf, but the students themselves.

9. Learning habits are constantly modeled. Cognitive, meta-cognitive, and behavioral ‘good stuff’ is constantly
modeled. Curiosity, persistence, flexibility, priority, creativity, collaboration, revision, and even the classic Habits
of Mind are all great places to start. So often what students learn from those around them is less directly didactic,
and more indirect and observational.
Monkey see, monkey do.

10. There are constant opportunities for practice. Old thinking is revisited. Old errors are reflected on.
Complex ideas are re-approached from new angles. Divergent concepts are contrasted. Bloom’s taxonomy is
constantly traveled up and down, from the simple to the complex in an effort to maximize a student’s
opportunities to learn—and demonstrate understanding—of content.

ELABORATE:
● Students will share their analysis on Creating an Appropriate Learning Environment.

EVALUATION:
Picture Collage. Using different sets of pictures, make your ideal or appropriate learning environment.
Using these pictures, the students must be able to come up with a structured and comprehensive picture or
lay-out of the learning environment and they must be able to explain the concept of their work.
The students will be graded according to the following criteria:
Creativity- 35%
 Design- 35%
Explanation- 30%
REFERENCES:
https://www.teachhub.com/classroom-management/2019/05/classroom-management-for-an-effective-learning-
environment/#:~:text=Classroom%20setup%20is%20an%20important,as%20promote%20and%20improve
%20learning.
https://www.teachthought.com/learning/10-characteristics-of-a-highly-effective-learning-environment/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLKC2-WyuqU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9ynlPs_NTM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cscJcRKYxA