In this episode, we are joined by Sarah Neitz, a seventh-grade science teacher who is taking part in the AVID Certified Educator program. As part of that learning experience, she is studying ways to establish a positive and effective classroom environment. Throughout the episode, she shares what she has learned, what she is implementing, and the impact that those strategies have had on her classroom.
Ensure that every student feels seen.
Alicia Ivory, in her article, The Importance of Classroom Community
Resources
The following resources are available from AVID and on AVID Open Access to explore related topics in more depth:
- Manage Your Digital Learning Environment (podcast episode)
- Pedagogy to Prepare Students for Their Futures, with Gina Gamnis (podcast episode)
- Accelerate Learning by Making Connections: Build Trust Through Relationships, Community, and Connection (article)
- Executive Function and the Support of Students’ Thinking Brains, with Allison Morgan (podcast episode)
Being Intentional
While most teachers will acknowledge the importance of establishing a positive classroom community and environment, how they go about achieving that outcome will vary widely. In our conversation with Sarah Neitz, we hear about her approach to this, which has been shaped by her participation in the AVID Certified Educator program.
Sarah talks about the importance of focusing on three different types of environments: physical, philosophical, and digital. Throughout our discussion, several key themes emerge. One is about being intentional in developing these environments. Sarah says that it takes intentionality and hard work to make it happen, but the payoff is worth the effort. She has especially found the value of developing relationships and routines. The following are a few highlights from our conversation:
- About Our Guest: Sarah Neitz is currently a seventh-grade science teacher, an AVID Elective teacher, and an AVID Staff Developer. Throughout her 26-year career in education, she has also served in multiple other roles, including AVID Site Coordinator and District Director.
- A Focus on Environment: Sarah wanted to spend this year focusing on the question of what teachers want students to feel when they walk into a classroom. She sums it up, saying, “We want ’em to feel welcomed.” To do that, she has focused on three different types of environments: physical, philosophical, and digital.
- The Physical Environment: Sarah shares, “One of the things I think that is really helpful with the physical environment is those routines.” In her classroom, she does this partially by having a consistent start to every class period, including a welcome activity up on the screen, some type of connecting activity, and a mindfulness activity to get the students focused.
- Classroom Jobs: Sarah stresses the benefits of “allowing students to have jobs and have ownership in what’s going on—from taking attendance to answering the phone to greeting people when they’re coming to the door—and having students involved in what are the other jobs that we need.”
- Classroom Setup: Other parts of the physical environment include what is posted on the walls and how the desks are arranged. Does the space promote inclusion, collaboration, movement, and accessibility?
- The Philosophical Environment: Sarah says that this involves asking a key question: “Who are we bringing in the classroom as ourselves?” She believes that it’s important to be in the proper brain space for her students, specifically by activating the executive function part of the brain. She explains, “We need to cover up that emotional brain, as well as our brain stem, and make sure that we’re there and present in a way that is helpful for students.”
- Multiple Forms of Relationships: “How are we having kids build relationships with us?” Sarah asks. “How are they building relationships with each other? And the most important, I think sometimes we forget about, is: How are they building relationships with us and the whole class?”
- Intentional Connection Activities: Sarah reflects, “Relationships don’t come easy, and so that is something that you have to work on every single day.” One routine that she has established is consistent connection activities to start the week, which she calls “Meet and Greet Mondays.”
- The Digital Classroom Environment: Part of establishing a productive digital workspace is setting boundaries and consistent expectations. Sarah shares, “Our school has done a really good job of every single teacher saying no cell phones, no cell phones, no cell phones.” She says, “That has been huge.” In addition to boundaries, the school has set consistent practices for organizing, accessing, and communicating through their learning management system, Schoology. These expectations are set schoolwide during their advisory time.
- AVID Certified Educator Program: Sarah talks about how beneficial this learning cohort has been and praises the efforts of leaders like Gina Gamnis, Executive Director of Multi-State Programs for AVID Center, who have led the way in setting up this experience. She says, “It has really guided my thinking and started to narrow down, after 26 years of teaching, like, ‘I know I can improve, but where can I improve, what are the tools I need to improve, and how can I collaborate with other people?’” She adds, “The AVID [Certified] Educator course kind of helped me narrow my focus a little bit and helped guide me to that next step.”
- More Joy: Because of the work that she has done this year to intentionally establish a stronger classroom environment, Sarah says, “I’ve enjoyed my job a lot more.”
- Relationships and Learning: “I’m not going to get anywhere unless I make sure that my classroom environment is in a way that makes everybody feel safe,” says Sarah. She adds, “I have not lost any learning time because I’ve taken those extra 5 minutes at the beginning of class, versus me trying to get their attention 5,000 other times because their minds are elsewhere when they come to class.”
- Academic Improvements: Sarah has seen academic improvements from her students. She says, “I feel like they’re engaging in their learning, they’re following through, they’re participating.”
- Where to Start: In addition to routines to begin each class period, Sarah says, “As teachers, we’re really good at building connections with our kids, but we all need to reflect on: How are we building connections from student to student? . . . If you can build those relationships from student to student, [it] is going to make a huge impact in your classroom environment.”
Use the following resources to continue learning about this topic.
If you are listening to the podcast with your instructional team or would like to explore this topic more deeply, here are guiding questions to prompt your reflection:
- What are keys to developing a strong physical environment in the classroom?
- How can teachers establish a strong philosophical classroom environment?
- What are some strategies for creating a successful digital learning environment?
- What strategies stood out to you in this episode?
- What is one way you can begin improving your own classroom environment?
- AVID Certified Educator (AVID)
- The Cognitive Theory of the First Pancake – Zaretta Hammond (A.J. Juliani via YouTube)
- The First Five (Edtomorrow)
- Classroom Routines Eliminate Chaos and Confusion (Dr. Catlin Tucker)
#358 Establishing Your Classroom Environment, with Sarah Neitz
AVID Open Access
36 min
Keywords
classroom environment, student relationships, authenticity, physical environment, philosophical environment, digital environment, classroom routines, student engagement, mindfulness activities, classroom jobs, student work, connection activities, academic growth, teacher burnout, classroom consistency
Transcript
Transcript is under construction. Please check back later.