11. Think
back over your day. In how many ways did your
environment shape your behavior?
Knowing that
the environment shapes our behavior, how can you
consciously shape your environment so that it’s
easier to
make the changes you desire?
What Amazon
1-click-style tweaks can you create to make your goals just a
little bit
easier to carry out?
How can you shape the classroom environment to encourage positive changes in
students’ behaviors or academic skills?
We recently did this by providing teachers a list of their IEPs with the “start” date and the “notice of staffing” dates highlighted. We also developed templates for the interrelated teachers to fill in the blanks to make it easier to complete their IEPs in an accurate manner. We tried to script things to help busy teachers get this task done.
ReplyDeleteI am very impacted by my environment when it comes to my attitude towards work. I try to make my classroom a welcoming environment with laughter and smiles. I also try to have this atmosphere carry with me. I try to smile and probably seem a bit over the top with my hellos to peers, but I find they are more open to talking with me about change. I also try to only share as much information I think they can handle. I think being so actively involved in the school has helped me learn to handle situations with "kid gloves" with some staff members. My one-click is to make sure that when approaching a person/team about change, I try to make sure they know I am already doing as much as I can for the situation.
ReplyDeleteBut sometimes my environment is dampened by some "Grumpy Bears". I start to loose heart and spirit to push for change. I then need a pep talk from friends and then I am back to my cheerful self.
I love this time of year and even into winter! We have a fireplace at home and when the weather is cold I often light the fireplace as soon as I get home. It's very relaxing and I find my family hanging out in the living room more enjoying the fire in the evenings and that puts us together more instead of being spread all over the house!
ReplyDeleteAt school I have my desks arranged in a circle, not in rows or groups. This adds to the small group atmosphere and is especially useful when we are reading. We simply go around the circle and everyone can see and talk to each other more easily than when students are in rows. Kids see their peers faces and not their backs. I also have a daily assignment poster hanging on the wall by the door. Each week I write what the classes are doing. When I do this I get a lot less (sometimes not at all) "what are doing today?" type questions. I tell them to look at the board where the poster is. This past week for some reason I did not fill out the daily assignment poster and everyday I was asked, often more than once, what are we doing? When it's filled out students look and know what is expected and we can get started with class faster.
There always used to be piles of clothes on the bathroom floor. It seemed like I was constantly picking them up and putting them in the hamper. I rearranged the bathroom and made a space for a hamper in there, and the problem was solved.
ReplyDeleteI've also noticed that when a bag of chips or a bag of M & Ms is left on the kitchen counter it is easy to walk by and grab a handful. Placing the bags in the cabinet reduces the temptation and cuts down on the junk food I eat.
At work I have a project involving the KCCRS that I want/need to complete. It is easy to put it off or forget about it. I need to place the standards as my home page on my computer, so I am forced to look at them daily.
Jan, if I put the M & M’s in the drawer and they are ‘out of sight, out of mind’ will the chocolate get old?
DeleteOne year I was feeling "stuck" at work. I felt like I couldn't get through my to do list, I was constantly looking for paperwork, etc. One day I had the idea to move my office around. I rearranged it and moved my files making them easily accessible. I switched out my desk for a table so I could have more room to work. The next day, I felt renewed and ready to work when I came to school. I think that by moving my office around allowed me to change my environment.
ReplyDeleteAnother huge change I made was to add a tracking sheet on each student I was doing an initial or re-evaluation on. I made an Excel spreadsheet and documented each time a task was completed. Instead of searching through multiple files, I had one paper I could quickly look at to see how an evaluation was coming along. I make changes to it each year, but overall it has stayed the same. It allows me to complete paperwork, interviews, roll-over IEP's, set up meetings in a timely fashion.
I believe my environment shapes my behavior quite often throughout the day. My day changes based on lots of individuals' schedules. I have to be flexible because schedule changes in regular ed classes change my plans with students and what I need to get accomplished with speech and language goals. Some days I go with the flow and other days it makes me grumpy! I try to find out about changes ahead of time if possible to alleviate my frustration in servicing students.
ReplyDeleteAs far as my tubs in the garage, I have not gotten there yet. :( For my one-click-style, I need to put up a note or put a tub on my steps so I will look through one each week.
To encourage positive change in my class, I feel I need to tie my lessons to real-world communication needs. I need to present a situation to my students so they can see how communication impacts their life.
I find being a SPED teacher are lifestyles are full of change and flexibility. Some is due to the staff we work with and some is based on success or lack of with students. There are never 2 days that are the same and some days I feel I have to be more flexible than others. Sometimes this demand becomes so great that by the end of the day my flexibility is gone and it changes my attitude for home time with my family. I have tried to keep that more in check as I have realized I am spent yet it is not my families fault. I found by explaining to my children the simple things like- you are getting old enough now that when you get done with your dishes don’t just stick them on the counter but by helping me rinse them and load them in the dishwasher allows me more flexibility to get to have more play time with them. I have also found that when I take the time to fold the clothes and then send them to put them away they don’t care about the time I have taken to fold them so if they now have to fold their clothes or choose to wad them up and throw them in the drawer it is no longer the skin off my back.
ReplyDeleteGood for you Mom!! Don't sweat the small stuff.... and you're allowing them to take responsibility! The ladders just keep getting taller the older they get so it's good for them to start "climbing on their own"!
DeleteI recently put up my Christmas decorations. I normally don't put them up until after Thanksgiving, but for some reason I couldn't resist this year. We had half a snow day on Friday and it seemed like good timing to me. Since I've put my decorations up, I've been in a better mood at home. Seeing the tree up and colorful lights up makes me feel happier. The environment can have a huge impact on mood, either positively or negatively. When my house is messy, I am typically a little more grumpy (if I'm spending enough time at home to notice!) When my speech room at work is picked up, well organized, and everything is filed, I feel more efficient and I feel I get more work done.
ReplyDeleteJan - I like your comment about leaving food out in plain sight. This is so very true. I just recently put away my leftover halloween candy and I haven't eaten that much of it since it's out of sight. This very simple thing of moving tempting things out of sight can be so powerful.
I have been putting off a couple things at work which aren't as important, but they still need to be done. In order to keep my mind on them, I've brought home books that I need to look through to research a couple things. I have yet to look through those books. Maybe I should put these books on my desk at work and not move them off my desk until I've looked through them.
Little things seem to affect my behavior – I do get my workout clothes out at night. I hate putting them back away if I don’t use them! It makes me angry when I don’t go workout in the mornings. Being on ‘autopilot’ in the morning lets me motivate around without thinking about how hard it is to walk out the door to exercise.
ReplyDeleteWith students, I try to leave things on the tables where they sit. Little items remind them and me that ‘this’ needs to be done first. It’s a very small way of prioritizing things that need to get finished.
I think change for anyone is scare but I think it also is great when you have a great person or team to go too. I think sometimes we forget that we are a team and not think we are just doing something because we want to. I think we need to find ways to work as a team when it comes to major changes that we all need to be involved. I think people would respond differently if they were involved and aptly participating then just being told this is what they are saying. We need to make changes put it is hard when some one is coming to you and telling you you need to change. In ways I think that is what is going on at the school I am working in. We have so many different styles that it is hard to say one is better then the other without hurting feelings. I think if we had to change as a whole and in the same training that it w
ReplyDeleteWould be easier and more accepted. The district I come from was very successful having teachers implement what needed to be implemented. It also means we all go that information.
DeleteI actually enjoy my drive every day. There is something about crossing the state line "we're not in Kansas anymore" that helps me leave school issues behind. It also gives me time to defrag. My room has no windows and by this time of year the shop doors are never open, so we have no natural light. I bought a ficus tree at Goodwill this summer and will put up some lights on it soon. Last year I kept white lights one until March. I've also found some mums this fall to add color to my room. At home I have some geraniums and other plants that are blooming and that really helps my mood! I managed to bring a tomato plant indoors that I planted in a huge planter and just seeing those red tomatoes makes me smile. We're fortunate to have a kitchen in our room and baking improves moods as well as providing lots of hands on life experiences!
ReplyDeleteSmell is another thing that helps me. I have some hand lotion that the scent just makes me feel relaxed.
DeleteI went to some training this summer--StructuredTeaching--and what we learned was to structure the environment, the schedule and the tasks. I have worked hard to structure the environment in my classroom this year. Everything that is on the wall has a purpose, every activity has a specific place and is labeled. It has been a very different experience for me--It is not perfect--still a work in progress,but my students know what to expect and that helps them focus on the tasks. I have also tried to keep my desk cleaned off. I make myself straighten and organize before I go home everyday. Some days I do a better job than others. I have realized that structuring my students' environment has helped me see that I need the structure also. I think my Amazon 1click is having a chart or a table for every kind of data that I collect--again it is always a work in progress
ReplyDeleteI try to make my speech room a fairly stress free, structured zone. I encourage my students to TRY... it's ok to make mistakes, that's how we get better. Student's can't correct each other, laugh or make fun...all they can do is encourage. I use phrases like "good try" and "try again" when they are struggling. We talk about how some things might be hard and thats ok. I also tell them (or visually show them if needed) when they walk in the room what the task is for the day. I think having structure and and accepting environment increases success and decreases behaviors.
ReplyDeleteI also go into several different preschool classrooms (12 different classrooms with 6 different EC teachers). and they all have different feel to them depending on the teachers rules and routines, the make up of the students and how they play off each other. I try to be positive as I support students in these classrooms, hoping to point out progress and strengths to encourage teachers.
My amazon one click would be to increase my efficiency at work....I am really good about sticky notes. I actually make sticky notes about my sticky notes! While they are helpful reminders, I am not sure they help with efficiency. I would love any ideas on this...greatly needed!
To help with my IEP writing I made my "IEP Bible" and few years ago. It's organized into the different sections of our IEPs and then there is a HPEC section with contact and meeting info. It's an easy go-to when I'm writing IEPs and get stuck. I also created an assessment binder for my students. All of the assessments they do are in the binder and it's easier to pull up than the IEPs. Also, I can go through and write down all assessments for all my students and then work on getting them into the computer when I have time.
ReplyDeleteThis year I made electronic forms using Google Docs for my behavior students. I can email the form to my students' teachers and they fill out how the student did and submit the form. All the responses go into a spreadsheet with a time and date stamp and who submitted it. They can add their own comments if there are specific behavior concerns they want to address. It's made collecting IEP data a breeze for those students and it's an excellent documentation tool to give to parents when they want to know how their child is doing.
To help keep our para's and students organized in their classes we have notebooks. We have them organized into different sections and then all the notes, homework, reviews, tests, etc are in the notebooks. They are very helpful when students are absent. They can come see what they missed and get their work done and turned in.
To make sure my day is going smoothly I have the coffee pot at school ready to go right away every morning! I need my cup of joe to get going. Also, I try to make sure a I have about 10 minutes to myself in my room to get everything together. It's been really nice having my planning 1st hour this year - it's seems to set the day up to go well.
I feel like I am pretty impacted by the environment where ever I happen to be. If people are grumpy...I find that I feel negative and feel grumpier then I normally would. If I am in a positive, upbeat environment, I find that I feel better, am happier, and just have more fun. I think that we should all strive to have that kind of environment! :)
ReplyDeleteAt home, if my house is messy or my kitchen is cluttered...I am not a very fun person to be around. I have a hard time functioning with things that are out of place or messy, especially in my kitchen or in my bedroom. I like for my bedroom to be a place of peace and quiet and a place to relax! We had a leak during the summer in our bedroom ceiling and we had to move furniture and cut a hole in the ceiling to help drain the leak. Our bedroom has not been the same since...it's a disaster (in my opinion) and is definitely not the relaxing place that it used to be. I know that I am not as comfortable in it or as relaxed as I should be. Maybe one day it will be fixed!
I find that at school, I am so much more flexible and can just roll with things. I want my classroom and my office to be inviting and free of clutter. I use a table in the classroom to teach from...I only have small groups and I feel like I can connect more with the students that way. My paras have a posted schedule so that they always know where they should be. They are also very good at being flexible and making changes on a moments notice. We always try and be very positive between us and the students.
To help me carry out my goals, my one-click strategy is a sticky note on my desk that I can check things off as I go. I have been made fun of before for my lists, but it is what helps keep me focused on what needs to be accomplished for the day or the week. It is a sense of accomplishment to be able to check things off of the list and throw away the sticky note.
I feel like my environment affects me in many ways. I try to be very relaxed but if several people around me are stressed or on edge about something I can easily find myself swaying toward that side. I am a person who works great under pressure which is a horrible attribute to have. I try to be very flexible in my life but sometimes that is very hard to do.
ReplyDeleteI think about my classroom and working with students. I have taught an SFA class this semester and have adapted the routine in the class based on my students. The structure of SFA is to work on sounds and strategies first then read a book and finish with a read aloud and writing activity. I quickly found that one of my students would not be successful if I continued with that order since their grade is based mostly on the group book and his attention would not hold on that long. We started reading the book first then going back and working on the sounds and strategies and I have seen a huge change in his attitude and stress level in SFA. His behaviors are tremendously less and he is much happier throughout the 90 minute period. One simple change made a huge difference for him.
Something I have done in my home life is to focus on one cleaning area a night instead of a huge list at the end of the week. This has made me easier to live with at home becuase I am not stressed about everything on the weekend and my house is much more presentable throughout the week.
(Mary Schreck) - My environment does very much shape my behavior, equally at home and at school. At home, I try to always have some food prepared ahead of time so when I get home, it is a matter of just putting "things" together so there is a warm, inviting meal at the end of the day. At school, I not only post my class assignments on the board but most of the other classes we support as well. This give students a visual reminder for both my classes as well as other things they need to work on. With the regularity of these written prompts, they are actually looking at the board to see what needs to be done, and then do it.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the environment has a lot of impact on the way my day is shaped. Especially now, when the winter break is about to be here, students and teachers have a different demeanor about them. Also, our halls are filled with Christmas decorations and the rooms are pouring out with music and I am sure it has made me have smiles that may not have occurred if the environment was different.
ReplyDeleteWhen thinking of ways to shape my environment for desired changes, I think about making it easier for students and my staff to begin their day without first engaging in a distracting activity. Sometimes my kiddos like to walk around and get engaged in activities that do not reflect our daily lesson plan. However, having the room clean and materials placed on the table allows students to see where we will begin working as well as have them ready to go. I have begun making it routine to write each time students come in my classroom. This has been huge in advancing students' writing skills but also in getting them on task. If they see their writing journals, they know where to sit and that they will need to be ready to write.
I know that in my room my environment is impacted by group dynamics and the lessons we learn. I try to keep students involved and up and moving. My room is set up so that I have a group of desks we can use to work in groups and then I have individual chairs for independent work. I also have been bag and pillows for students who prefer to learn that way. In my room I try to encourage kids to never stop trying and keep learning new things.
ReplyDelete