Ethical Practices A classroom must be warm and inviting to establish a culture for learning. My student teaching classroom was very small. It was a classroom built in an addition building as an extension of Pat Diskin Elementary. The room size was intended for 16 students and we had 24 students and two adults inside so there was very little floor space to move around and it was crowded. My cooperating teacher did add warm lighting with three lamps around the room. She also put up Christmas lights in December and decided to leave them up for the remainder of the year. Although, I did feel the class was warm and friendly, I also felt like it was difficult to actively teach with such limited space.

. My own classroom will be very different from this one. I will arrange the desks in pods rather than rows and hope to have a much larger room. Many teachers select a theme for their room and decorate accordingly. I already have selected the ocean and beach theme for my classroom. I love the ocean and the beach and find both very calming and soothing. I want to add in teal, blue, and sea foam green colors to my room. I will also add several small lamps in these shades for warm lighting and have bulletin boards and decorative touches to this ocean theme also. Respect can be gained by being professional. I always wear slacks, a nice blouse, and sweater to school. Appearance always makes a first impression on others including my students. I need to show respect to my students to create a positive learning environment as well. I want to encourage all students to participate in classroom discussions. For students to be willing to have a voice, there are several Kagan strategies that encourage student participation. I use these essential 5 strategies to increase student participation which include rally robin, timed pair share, round robin, rally coach, and stand up, hand up, and pair up. These strategies also give the students the opportunity to work with and build a rapport with others who arent sitting next to them and establish a culture for learning. The movement is also good for students learning environment.

I have shown growth in implementing these Kagan strategies in the classroom. The more practice I have, the easier it becomes for the students and the more comfortable they are in their learning environment. I also am gaining respect because these strategies show that I value all my students input, thoughts, and opinions, while teaching a lesson. At Diskin Elementary, I also had to work closely with many ELL students. I made accommodations for these students such as reading test questions to them when it was possible to help assist them in completing the assessment. I had them write definitions of words on our worksheets, and in our writing and science journals. I took an interest in their culture also which let them know that I cared for them. I would also provide many real life examples and pictures to help them with understanding.