Establishing a Culture for Learning
Component 2b of Danielson's Framework entails establishing a culture for learning. There are 3 aspects to this component: importance of content and learning, expectations for student learning and achievement, and student pride in work. When you and your students walk into a classroom, they should feel like they are in a place where they can learn. Learning does not have to be boring, repetitive lectures; it can be having fun using different tools and tech to learn new things and discover new ideas. Creating a classroom environment where students feel like they can learn is crucial to engaging students. Students should feel like they want to learn and want to do well. While it might seem hard at first, all we need to do as teachers is think a little bit and step outside of the box. Finding out how your students learn and what engages them is key. Maybe one class likes to do activities with technology, maybe another likes to use arts and craft supplies to learn, another could like making videos of what they learned. The ideas are endless, so it is up to the teacher to meet the students where they are in their learning and draw them in. If we don't engage our students, we are not doing our part as teachers in making and designing ways for students to engage in learning. There are so many tools, tech, and resources available to teachers for these specific purposes. One way to create this culture of learning could be as simple as setting up an expectation for participation and quality through engaging activities to as complex as gaining real-world insights through co-ops and different techs that are available to the class. We also encourage students to ponder, search, discover, and ask questions. Students should feel good about their work and make it their own, so encourage and praise them for things that they do; maybe you hang student work on the wall, maybe you post shout-outs of classwork and the class working together on Twitter.
References:
- All pictures are under creative common use
- Danielson Group » The Framework. (2017). Danielsongroup.org. Retrieved 30 November 2017, from http://www.danielsongroup.org/framework/