Elements teachers can foster in classroom learning environment
Confidence
Learning can be challeging, strenous, draining, and messy. To venture forth day after day in new learning requires a measure of confidece. Empowering students to make choices and decisions, taking ownership of learning experiences and reslts, designing learning tasks which are challenging while at the same time result in visible student growth, and teaching students to recognize successes as they strive to improve are all things teachers can work had to do in the classroom. This, amidst the beautiful array of student personalities which included those who were too critical of themselves, those who needed support in organizing their thoughts and learning, those who were shy, and those who tended not to challenge themselves enough. Problem-based learning and projects seemed to work so well to meet the individual needs of students in a Universal Design for Learning evironment and thus build the confidence they need.
Motivation
Learning requires a lot of energy, which is fueled by motivation and is the cornerstone of engagement.
Wonderment, Curiosity, & the Love of Learning
Building upon students’ natural curiosoty of things and modeling a constant attitude of inquiry is a great way to develop a love of learning in us all. The key to this is the teacher not pretending to be the expert on all subjects. Sometimes your students are the experts, sometimes the teacher is, but many times no one is and teachable moments of, “Let’s find out!” erupt. Develop students questioning skills regularly, and use the Internet and its wealth of information, information-layered tools such as Google Earth, and connect with primary sources of information such as experts or those in the community to answer those questions.
Risk-taking & Resiliency
Setting roadblocks intentionally models the messiness of real-life learning, forces students to draw upon their confidence and thinking skills to generate new solutions and possibilities, and try again.
