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Learning Environment

The teacher works with others to create environments that support individual and
collaborative learning, and that encourage positive social interaction, active engagement in
learning, and self-motivation.

There’s a strong chance I’ll say this in just about every aspect of my professional

experience to date; but, I can’t express enough how often I think about the autonomy I have

and how lucky I am to have it. Living in a village has its challenges, but creating a classroom

learning environment that promotes success, positivity, engagement, and self-motivation, has

not been one of those challenges.

In a traditional classroom, it’s difficult to make physical changes beyond some wall

decorations. In his book Energizing the Learning Environment, author William A. Draves (1995)

said, “The traditional classroom conjures up all the past experiences with formal schooling,

whether that was 30 years ago or just last week” (p. 19). Despite the challenges, though, he

explains that “A primary goal then would be to shake up the room to give participants the idea

that they too should shed their assumptions based on prior experience in the traditional

classroom and expect something new and something different” (p. 19). In my classroom, with

so few students and no “rules” or limitations (save for a budget or my own pocket money), the

physical classroom environment is one that my students have described as “cool”. That’s a lot

coming from pre-teens and teenagers!

Possibly the lowest hanging fruit in creating a positive and engaging classroom

environment is the wall decor. “Often, this includes student–generated materials that are

evidence of their learning” (Fisher et al., 2018, p. 29). My current classroom walls are covered. I

made the “theme” of the room multi-colored. As such, just about any decor will fit the theme,
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it’s bright and cheery, and I’ve never had to use butcher paper to create a background on the

bulletins! On the walls, I have multiple variations of motivational posters- all portraying famous

quotes from women; custom posters with writing, reading, and math strategies; you name it, I

probably have it hanging up. One of my favorite things I have displayed, though, is a set of large

alphabet cards that were created by a person in King Salmon, purchased and distributed by my

school district. Each card has a letter of the alphabet, with a word or image related to Alaska

Native culture. (e.g., U says Ulu, with an image of an ulu knife). I love that it portrays objects

these students actually see every day and are familiar with, while simultaneously feeling more

advanced than the typical A- Apple or B-Bear alphabet displays.

Another of my favorite spots is the wall area that I saved to display my students’ work.

This section contains a question board and a section for each student to hang their pieces. The

question board benefits our inquiry-based units and our “Power Hour”. When students feel they

have a question that doesn’t have an immediate answer, or that they want to dive deeper into,

they write that question on a sticky note and stick it to the question board. This board- and the

power hour activities that act as a follow up to the questions- provides students with a sense of

being heard and proves that their questions matter. It also gives them confidence in finding the

answers on their own. The spot for hanging work is directly next to that question board. There is

also a whole board for my students’ work in the hallway that I love to fill. However, I particularly

enjoy hanging work in the classroom specifically. This spot can be used for completed work,

incomplete work they want to save for later, and anything in between. I do sometimes have

pieces I strongly recommend that the students hang in their spot, but at the end of the day I

give them full power in determining which works get displayed.

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Displaying student work, for me, was always because the work makes the classroom

personalized. It reminds me of hanging a photograph of your family in the living room, rather

than a mass-printed painting bought from a store. Both look good, but one makes the living

room feel comfortable; as does student work in a classroom. This, along with other parts of my

thought process are supported by Marlynn K. Clayton (2010) working with Responsive

Classroom. Among other aspects, she emphasizes that “This is their classroom as much as ours.

And in this classroom, students share their work, learning from each other”.

While wall decorations are a low-hanging fruit, I have the opportunity to build an

environment that goes beyond the wall decorations. I purchased simple string lights and hung

them across the ceiling. These give off enough light to be productive, but are significantly less

harsh than the lights provided. As Martha Kaufeldt (2010) mentioned in Begin with the Brain,

“Several studies on the effects of standard fluorescent lighting found in classrooms conclude

that students’ vision, fatigue levels, general health, posture, and concentration level were

negatively affected” (p. 38). While she goes on to say that windows and daylight are the best

option of all, winters in Alaska call for alternative solutions!

I also created a little nook (open on two out of four sides) in the classroom with a throw

rug, pillows, and a bookshelf. While I intended for it to just be a flexible seating area, it has also

turned into a way to demonstrate productivity with students. They have the choice to sit just

about anywhere in the room. As they do, though, we learn to focus on which seating options

work best for them. This is important, because, as Martha Kaufeldt (2010) mentions, “Relaxed

alertness is not the same as being calm and mellow” (p. 34). I want my students to feel calm

and safe, but must still be alert and in a learning mindset.

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Thus, the physical classroom environment affects the social and emotional environment.

The two forms of environment are interconnected. The study of the brain is never ending, and

in those examinations, scientists continue to study what impacts a students’ brain in regards to

learning. David A. Sousa (2001) explained, “Whenever a student detects a threat, thoughtful

processing gives way to emotion or survival reactions” (p. 61). In other words, it’s a teacher’s

job to make the classroom environment as unthreatening and stress free as possible. This is not

to be confused with eliminating all challenges, struggles, and mistakes. Even stronger and

meaner emotions may occur occasionally. It means that when those emotions and feelings of

being threatened try to take over, the student feels safe and heard in the classroom to feel and

process those emotions. This is where it becomes more than just the physical environment. A

teacher can make the classroom as unique and “cool” as any child could ask for. But without

building trust, learning their culture, and really getting to know the students, the rest of the

environment is almost wholly ineffective.

When a student learns, the learning needs to capture their entire being. It’s an active

process that needs to engage all three domains. The cognitive, kinesthetic, and affective

domains are all engaged when a student feels comfortable but alert; challenged but trusting.

Staying in one place for so long has given me the opportunity to build that trust with my

students through community, and in turn the ability to challenge my students in a more

impactful way. I have known the same 20-30 students for the last four years, and the overall

environment and relationship with the group has only grown.

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When I put together my auto-ethnographic summary1, I stated that culturally responsive

teaching and creating a trusting relationship with my students go hand-in-hand. Zaretta

Hammond’s Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain (2015) is by far one of my favorite

textbooks, especially in the cases of improving classroom environment and classroom

management. I have actually read the book twice, there is a level of authenticity when referring

to cultural barriers and addressing bias that I haven’t experienced in another

neuroscience-based teacher textbook, yet. Just as I quote Sousa and Kaufeldt above, two years

ago I quoted Hammond (2015) with the exact same concept of threats and safety; “Our

challenge as culturally responsive teachers is knowing how to create an environment that the

brain perceives as safe and nurturing so it can relax, let go of any stress, and turn its attention to

learning” (p. 50).

Stress can hit every student differently. Their reactions will be different, and I strongly

believe teachers (working heavily on patience, understanding, and empathy) need to adjust

their reactions to allow a safe space for the little person that is still developing to sort through

their own emotions. I stated the same thing in my autoethnography; growing up, most of my

teachers’ knee jerk reaction to behavioral issues was the administrative team. In these

situations, there is pressure on all sides: the kid for not getting in trouble, for the teacher to

follow protocols, and for the admin to communicate with all parties equally with all students. I

understand the need for continuity, but all the pressure leads to students immediately

perceiving a threat of punishment. In my ideal situation, any behavioral issues would be

followed up with a trained behavior specialist or guidance counselor. In our small school, we

1
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hGKqkooIh4XMxxu1txyIfbZ_DZ59cwch/view
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have long-distance counselors. Oftentimes they aren’t available on the spot. So, instead, my

coworkers and I “tag team”. If the behavior incident is truly causing a distraction for other

students, we say something along the lines of “You can have ____ minutes to take a breather,

then we’re going to sit down and discuss what’s happening. Would you like that to be me,

Taryn, or another adult?” Obviously every situation varies, but this has worked thus far because

it gives the student a chance to voice their opinions and not feel like they are being bombarded.

When they’ve decided, they take a breather and the teachers shift classrooms to cover all

grounds. This could be possible in a larger school as well, utilizing administrative teams. Since it

can take a student so long to just trust one adult, the administrative team can cover the class of

the adult that the student decided to talk to. This would, hopefully, show the student that their

opinions and emotions are valid, and that we are willing to work with them to figure it all out.

All-in-all, it seems like the physical environment tends to be the first line of defense (or

offense) when students enter a classroom and subconsciously determine what kind of day/ year

it will be and what relationship they will have with their teacher, while the emotional

environment between peers, and between teachers and students (trust, communication,

disciplinary actions) comes in from the back. Neither aspect of the learning environment can

succeed without the other. The classroom is the one thing the students see everyday and will be

used to judge the teacher by the cover. As the year progresses, the learning environment can

only improve when there is a strong connection between the humans in the classroom.
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References

Clayton, M. K. (2010, August 18). Displaying student work. Responsive Classroom.

https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/displaying-student-work/

Draves, W. A. (1995). Energizing the learning environment. Learning Resources Network.

Fisher, D. et al. (2018). Engagement by design. Corwin.

Hammond, Z. L. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain. Corwin.

Kaufeldt, M. (2010). Begin with the brain (2nd ed.). Corwin.

Sousa, D. A. (2001). How the brain learns (2nd ed.). Sage Publications.