Learning Environments competencia

A third-grade teacher is planning a small project during social studies. There are multiple steps that must be completed in order. How can the teacher best communicate the steps to the students?

• Read all steps aloud prior to allowing students begin work.

• Explain one or two steps at a time and help students complete those steps before going on.

• Post all steps on the board and encourage students to refer to them occasionally.

• Explain four to five steps at a time and encourage students to help each other when they've finished their own tasks.

Answer explanation

This method ensures that all students complete their work successfully.

An elementary school teacher has invited students to sit in a circle to listen to a story and participate in a discussion. Halfway through the discussion, a student makes a joke, and then several side conversations begin. The teacher flashes the lights in the classroom on and off and holds her hand up until all students are quiet and holding their hands up as well. Which of the following classroom management techniques is the teacher using?

• developing procedures

• communicating expectations

• redirecting student focus

• enforcing consequences

Answer explanation

In this example, the teacher is redirecting students' focus away from side conversations using visual cues (flashing lights and raising hands). By using this strategy, the teacher is not reprimanding specific students in front of peers which may cause embarrassment or disengagement. Once the teacher has everyone's attention, she can remind students of the expectation to listen actively and wait turns to talk before resuming the story and discussion.

Which of the following strategies is most likely to improve a teacher's communication with parents/guardians?

• The teacher uses common terms that all parents can understand rather than relying on pedagogical terms.

• The teacher conducts all communication in writing so that it can be referred back to later.

• The teacher shares their personal phone number and email address.

• The teacher regularly attends after-school events such as sports and performances.

Answer explanation

Using terms that can be understood by all will facilitate communication with parents.

Which of the following responses would be best to manage minor incidents of inappropriate classroom behavior in a ninth grade classroom?

• posting a bulletin board with tallies of each time someone misbehaves

• asking a grade level administrator to speak to the class about the school's disciplinary policy

• praising students who are engaged in appropriate behavior whenever another student is observed engaged in negative behavior.

• preventing problems before they occur, if possible, and immediately addressing any incidents

Answer explanation

A teacher should seek to establish control in a classroom by preventing incidents before they happen. This research-based practice can be backed up by promptly responding to any incidents that do occur.

A second-grade teacher is trying to build positive relationships with each of her students during the first week of school. Which of the following is the most effective way to do this?

• Share with students some of her personal interests and information about her family.

• Decorate her classroom with warm and inviting tones and natural lighting.

• Briefly speak one-on-one with each student during the first two days of school, discussing their interests.

• Refrain from using too many consequences during the first week of school.

Answer explanation

This will help the teacher establish and build positive relationships with each student.

Mrs. Holm, an eleventh-grade math teacher, has students in her class who vary in their previous experience with the subject matter and current level of knowledge in mathematics. The teacher can best create a positive learning environment for each student by using assessments:

• that focus on how well they performed in relation to other students.

• that contain easy and difficult questions.

• where progress from assessment to assessment is taken into account in the calculation of the grades.

• that are unique to each student depending on their ability.

Answer explanation

By letting students know that progress will be taken into account, the teacher creates an incentive for the students with less subject matter experience to continue to apply themselves during the school year. Also, if the students apply themselves and receive good grades, this positive reinforcement will tend to create a positive classroom atmosphere as students will not think all hope is lost in the school year.

As a first-year teacher, Mr. Kramer is being observed in his classroom by his principal. One of the observations the principal makes is that Mr. Kramer demonstrates higher expectations to higher achieving students and has lower expectations for lower achieving students. This observation has the greatest effect on the students in that:

• the higher achieving students will respond to higher expectations with resentment toward the teacher.

• the higher achieving students will respond to higher expectations with resentment toward the lower achieving students.

• students respond to expectations, and low expectations will reinforce to low achieving students that they are less able to achieve.

• the lower achieving students will respond to the lower expectations by trying harder to gain Mr. Kramer's approval.

Answer explanation

Students respond to the teacher's expectations. The teacher's low expectations will be met by the students; Mr. Kramer should alter his expectations and attitude toward low-achieving students to convey higher expectations.

A 6th-grade history teacher is reading a text about a Pilgrim's journey aboard the Mayflower. After she completes the reading, the students will write journal entries pretending as if they are passengers aboard the same ship. As she reads the text, the teacher adds some thoughts, saying:

"Wow, I can't believe the conditions on the ship were so terrible. The immigrants must have been so brave. I would feel scared, but also excited imagining what the new world might be like. I'm going to write these thoughts in my journal."

What strategy is the teacher using to model for her students?

• a think-aloud

• a storyboard

• a think-pair-share

• a character analysis

Answer explanation

The teacher is using a "think-aloud" strategy to model her thinking for students. This is an effective way for teachers to model the behavior that they are expecting of students.

Which of the following would be the most effective way to organize a classroom to help a first-grade student with a hearing impairment participate in daily classroom activities?

• Use closed captioning whenever the class is watching a video clip during instruction.

• Seat the student close to instruction so that he can look at the teacher when she is speaking.

• Provide detailed written directions to accompany all instruction that the teacher gives verbally.

• Select a responsible peer who can repeat the teacher's directions to the student.

Answer explanation

Seating the student close to the teacher will help him to listen to what she is saying. By watching the teacher as she talks, he will be able to understand her more easily.

A first-grade teacher would like to incorporate more technology in her classroom. Which of the following describes an appropriate use of technology for this age?

• Students use an app that checks spelling and grammar before turning in their work.

• Students participate in a math gaming program when they complete their work.

• Students use a word processing program to type a personal narrative.

• Students use a voice recording app to record themselves reading a book.

Answer explanation

This would allow students to practice reading aloud and would also allow the students and teacher to listen to their recordings at a later time.