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Using the Classroom to its Fullest Potential Brendan Holmes Edug 501 17 September 2013

2 In what waysthrough the classroom environment, student motivation, and instruction can I engaged and support ALL students in learning? Engaging students in the classroom is, in my opinion, one of the most crucial aspects of teaching. If the students are engaged and actually interested in what is being taught, they are more likely to have a want to learn. Wanting to learn the subject material is the gateway to students completing assignments and going above and beyond to increase their knowledge. The environment of the classroom needs to be one where students feel comfortable asking questions when they are confused and feel safe answering those questions even when they are not sure if they are correct (Burden and Byrd 2013). The three ways in ensuring that I, as a teacher, will engage and support all of my students in learning are through cooperative learning with an emphasis on Vygotskys theory between thoughts and words and reinforcing content in multiple ways. Cooperative learning involves students getting into groups to work together to complete certain tasks defined by the teacher. Burden and Byrd (2013) note that research shows cooperative learning approaches lead to more academic achievement than working individually or against other students. By letting the students work together, they will be able to bring different strengths and weaknesses to the group. Through doing this, the groups individual weaknesses will be brought up by the individual strengths. Now that the students are not just struggling to come to a conclusion by themselves, they will begin to become engaged in the task at hand because they can start to see that they are progressing to a conclusion. Vygotsky (1962) notes that thought is not merely expressed in words; it comes into existence through them. Students working by themselves only really have their thoughts to try to figure out the questions that they are

3 given. However, once that student is in a group, they now have the challenge of taking their thoughts and making them into words. Once a student can express, in words, whatever their conclusions about certain questions may be, then they have succeeded in learning. Cooperative learning benefits all students in the classroom because since there are others in your support system, no one will feel the need to shy away from problems. Along with having that support system, Burden and Byrd noted that cooperative learning is simply one of the best ways to learn, better than individual work as well as turning a lesson into a game which pits one group of students against another (2013). The shortest of class times for students is most likely fifty minutes. That is still quite a long time for students to feel engaged especially when they do not understand a concept. Once a student gives up and thinks that they cannot succeed at whatever task is at hand, then their engagement in that classroom is over. TPE 4 discusses how candidates for teaching credentials must be able to vary their lessons and reinforce content ideas in multiple ways (State of California 2013). As a teacher, I will strive to do just that. Some students may not understand the initial lesson and try as they might, nothing will stick in their heads. So by going back to the content and reinforcing multiple ways to do a certain task or problem, the students are given the opportunity to understand in a new way if they did not understand at first. Ultimately I believe that this will increase the engagement of all students in the classroom because once they feel like they understand what is going on, then they will be happy to participate and answer questions that they feel more confident about.

4 References Burden, P., and Byrd, D. (2013). Methods for Effective Teaching. 1-57. State of California Teaching Performance Expectations. (2013). Curriculum and Reader (Single Subject). 97-105 Vygotsky, L. (1962). Thought and Word. Credential Theory Reader. 33-51