classroom fort.

WIth the help of class discussions and readings talking about classrooms and how they affect learning I was able to think of some cool ideas on how to make a classroom conducive to learning. A reading area/ nook is a great idea I think. My class in 3rd grade had two bookshelves and between them was a beanie bag chair, a rug and throw pillows. It made it feel like you were just right in the middle of the library and I loved it! Also, someone mentioned in class even having a reading area for your students in a high school setting. I really liked that idea. You could just set up a chair and floor lamp and BAM! a cool looking place to read (great idea person in class!).

We know that a lot of people are visual learners and I think that having things on the walls, no matter what grade, just helps visual learners and gets creative thoughts going instead of just white walls. I think asking the principal of your school how lenient they are about you painting things and hanging things is a great idea. I had a class in high school and the walls had tons of things from history painted on them. It was my great moments in history class and it had the US and when each territory was bought and important dates attached to each state, a nazi flag (not really a great moment but something that was discussed), a railroad, an old plane, etc etc. It was so interesting and it made the class more interesting. Other than that hanging up pictures and laying down rugs..I don't think you can go to far in laying things out to make students feel like this class is different from others, that the teacher cares and they're going to learn something in this class.

Seating is very important in setting up an environment to learn. We've all seen this while we're doing TPs. If you divide the groups up into a too large group and students aren't close enough to talk to everyone it's harder to get a discussion going between them. I think tables are good instead of desks. Or setting up desks to face each other with a walk way down the middle. This setup makes it easier for students to engage and facilitates communication between them - something that is very important to me.

Finally, I believe that to set up a class where students want to learn teachers need to look at themselves and not only their class. I think a teacher should be warm and inviting. I would really want my students to understand that I care and want them to succeed. An open door policy ( a believable one) is a must. I think that staying on your toes, watching how each student is doing and trying new ways to get the subjects across is the best way to make sure the class is learning.

My case study was about a boy named Luke whom I am interpreting for. His behaviors aren't appropriate for class and I have now been requested to contact his parents, who are both hearing, to set up a meeting by his math teacher.
I am having a problem with this because it wouldn't be in my job title to call his parents and request a meeting. I know that his math teacher and I have both noticed the problems and are probably both frustrated but that should be something the teacher does. I think the parents would be very thrown off hearing from me, someone they don't really know, instead of their teacher. It would also look bad on the teacher that he is not himself taking this student's education into his own hands. Also, it says it's my first week so the parents probably don't know me from Steve. Maybe my name is Steve..They have no idea.
I would try talking to the teacher about how that's not something I should be doing and that it would probably be received better by the parents if hearing from him. If he didn't comply I would go ahead and take it to the principal so they could contact the parents. I would happily be involved especially if the teacher felt he didn't need to be and I would discuss what I've seen in the classroom but I would be uncomfortable contacting them on my own. Maybe before that I would try talking to Luke before or after class and see if I could talk to him then. Maybe it's something at home or the fact that his teacher obviously doesn't seem interested in working with him. It seems that he got pretty upset when I was trying to interpret a discussion between him and his teacher so maybe I could start there when trying to talk to him.