Positive Classroom Climate

---Yanhua Wang

Classroom Climate is the classroom environment, the social climate, the emotional and the physical aspects of the classroom. It’s the idea that teachers influence student growth and behavior. The student’s behavior affects peer interaction--the responsibility of influencing these behaviors is placed with the Instructor. The way the instructor organizes the classroom should lead to a positive environment rather than a destructive and/or an environment that is not conducive to learning.

------Dr. Karen L. Bierman, the Director of the Penn State Child Study Center and Professor of Psychology, believed that a teacher needs to be "invisible hand" in the classroom.

As we all know that the USA is the number one immigrant country in the world. There are students coming from South America, Asia, Europe and Africa in one class. They speak different languages, celebrate different festivals, have different food, influenced by different cultures. As the teacher in school, I think it’s really important to balance the relationship of students while still doing a good job in teaching the subject. Some teachers may be confused because they believe that teachers’ responsibilities are helping the students in the targeted subject, and there is nothing to do with students’ background. Well, let me tell you why it’s important for creating a climate of caring and concern in the classroom

First, respect is mutual. If you respect students’ cultures, they turn out to appreciate your respect and further respect you. Once you earn their respect, you earn their trust. Respect and trust each other is a very important first step to lead your class into easy management mode.

Second, avoid conflict. Conflict not only means fighting but sometimes it also means the smooth going of the class. Think about it that how does an Indian student feel if other students are talking about how tasted beef is. Or the teacher keeps talking about the family union, parenthood in front of single parent family.

Third, set up a harmony learning environment. I believe students’ learning efficiency would be higher is they are studying in a harmony learning environment. They will grasp the knowledge point very quickly;  they will finish homework on time; they will work together for the project.

In my class, I always pay special attention to understanding students’ background. Here are several steps I take to ensure I have a positive classroom climate.

I introduce myself to the students at the very first beginning of the semester. I want my students to know who I am and what kind of person I am. I also tell them in detail about what they are going to learn in the semester. I ask their opinions or expectation about the subject so they know that I care about their thoughts. I ask them to introduce themselves, their ages, hobbies, families, cultures, ethics, idols. I tell them that we have to know each other well so we can get along with each other.

I schedule a quiz for the students. I have to know how were they doing about the subject in the past year. I analyze the quiz and adjust my lesson plan toward different students. I want to make sure that they will make progress in my class.

I celebrate with my students their festivals, their cultures. I not only teach them Chinese cultures but also do research about my students’ cultural background. My students will introduce their culture to other students whenever there is a chance. For example, on St Patrick's Day, Irish student makes a presentation in the class to share how their family and relative celebrate this festival; the history and tradition of St Patrick’s day. I make sure that my students are proud of their cultures.

I consider communication as a very important part of positive classroom climate. I prepare rubrics for projects, tests to avoid any misunderstanding of the subject. If there is any abnormal behavior of the students, I will always talk with them face-to-face. I prefer to solve problems as soon as possible. I will find out the background story first before taking any action.

There are a lot to do to build up a positive classroom climate. Not only the teacher has to work hard to make sure everything going on well, but also the students have to contribute their effort.

Reference:

1.Bierman, Karen L. (September–October 2011). "The promise and potential of studying the "invisible hand" of teacher influence on peer relations and student outcomes: A commentary". Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology. SI Teachers and Classroom Social Dynamics 32 (5): 297. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2011.04.004. Retrieved 23 October 2013.

2."Classroom Climate". Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning. The Trustees of Indiana University. Retrieved 23 October 2013.

Making Learning Fun

---Yanhua Wang

I am teaching Mandarin Chinese as a second language for  students  who  have never  known Mandarin Chinese before. Language includes listening, reading, writing and speaking. To acquire a language, students need many opportunities to practice and apply what they have learned in class. The  Mandarin Chinese language classroom often poses challenges in this area due to rote teaching methods, dull curricula, or limited opportunities to use the language outside of the classroom. Practicing a new language can also be intimidating, especially for students with a high affective filter or negative emotional factors that may interfere with language learning.

A great way to give students meaningful opportunities to apply their learning and lower their affective filter is to make learning fun! When teachers use activities that make learning engaging and fun, students are more willing to participate and take risks. Having fun while learning also helps students retain information better because the process is enjoyable and memorable. Besides with the development of modern technologies, it’s already a tendency for students to acquire computer skills.

Mobile learning is one of the ways I use to make learning fun and effective. As far as using mobile learning also has its disadvantages, which includes distraction of attention, wi-fi issues, charging factor and so on, I have to think about how to carry forward the advantages and reduce the disadvantages. Some guiding principles turn out to be very necessary.

1.Does every student have computers? Any charge and internet access in the classroom?

2.Are they familiar with the apps? If not, how long would it take to train them?

3.What’s the students’ prior knowledge of this digital content?

4. Is there specific preparation that needs to be done before the lesson?

5.By using this mobile device, does it aid the students in reaching the learning goal?

6.Does it cause more distractions than it’s worth?  

7.Could a different technology or teaching technique be used to reach the goals more effectively?

8.Do I have backup plans if something happens and the mobile learning doesn’t work?

9.How do I monitor what are the students doing?

10.How am I sure that mobile learning should only enhance student-centered learning and the reinforcement of the targeted learning outcomes?

When my answers to those questions are 95% positive, I then will use mobile learning strategy in my class. Here are the two apps I often use in the class.

The first app I use is for the students to learn Chinese Characters. As far as we don’t have environment here for students to read, to listen and to speak in Mandarin Chinese, I have to figure out a learning environment for the students.  In this case,  It’s extremely important that there is an app with Chinese Pinyin. While this app really helps me a lot in typing Pinyin. The app has flashcards and it’s very flexible to use because it has a lot of choices. I can either use Characters, Pinyin or both of them, besides I can choose to turn the audio on or off. so whenever I want to review the Characters, I will use the flashcards.                       

Another app I use is a game. Just a couple of decades ago, it’s unimaginable that human beings can use mobile learning in class.This app is a platform where one can create quizzes, discussions and surveys. It can also display via a TV or projector, and participants enter the game pin to play. I use it as a formative assessment.  At the same time I am able to collect valuable data about where the students’ abilities are. One of the best features of the app is that it collates the data for me in a downloadable spreadsheet, where I can see if students are struggling in their weakpoints.

Generally, I think mobile learning is very useful tools to make class fun. Students are also making progress step by step. I believe that if we can make best use of the advantages and bypass the disadvantages of mobile learning, we can have more choices of teaching and learning.

Reference:

1.Teacher's Corner: Making Learning Fun. (n.d.). Retrieved May 18, 2016, from https://americanenglish.state.gov/resources/teachers-corner-making-learning-fun