Lauren Grumka

Professor Suk
Education Field Experience EDUC 230-01
Spring 2016
Rationale Statement for Standard Three
Standard Three: Learning Environments
The teacher works with others to create environments that support individual and collaborative
learning, and that encourage positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self
motivation.
Artifact: Classroom Management Plan and Layout
Date of Completion: March 31, 2016
Course Completed in: Education Field Experience EDUC 230-01
Rationale Statement:
The attached artifact is a classroom management plan and classroom layout. Both of
which satisfy Standard Three Performance IV, The teacher manages the learning environment to
actively and equitably engage learners by organizing, allocating, and coordinating the resources
of time, space, and learners attention (NJPST, 2014, p4). The physical format of the room
promotes group work as they are a collective of four desks together, which I have done because
one of the paramount necessities of language learning is speaking it. By having four people
there is the possibility of partner work as well as larger collaborative projects. At the same time
the desks will be laid out as such that the students will only need to turn to one side to see the
board and that no student has their back to the whiteboard. This format leaves room for easy
direct teacher instruction whilst also fostering a comfortable environment for group work.
This organization will be altered at least once a marking period to ensure that students do not get
bored, and also in some routine prescribed speaking activities, their answers do not get repetitive.
Some routines that I want to have are a Monday weekend recap and a round robin style
Q&A. These will help break up the possible monotony of just direct instruction and be speaking
activities that will keep the students engaged in the material. It will be a consistent weekly

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activity, so they should become comfortable with the format of it, and only need to adapt to the
new material I am presenting. They also ensure that there is at least some properly allocated
time for speaking exercises, which I want to be a strong component to my classroom.
The rules I feel are a simple portion of this piece, there is nothing really new there, just
some tried and true methods that I have seen in classes I have taken as well as in my current field
placement. They show that I want structure from my students, while still showing some more
vernacular wording that should make them understand that I am not a villainous teacher, but
should still be respected. I make a point to value their lives outside of the classroom and feel that
is crucial to not only running a smooth and honest class, but also in gaining their respect. The
students should clearly know what I expect of them so that way they can do their best to continue
to meet those expectations regardless of what life throws at them.
Regarding personal growth from this assignment, I had actually sat down with my current
placement teacher and discussed in depth her thoughts about the aforementioned subjects. Being
a language teacher for over twenty years, her brain was an excellent one to pick and as such I
closely modeled my sample room on her current lay out. I have seen firsthand what I hope to
achieve at play. Her students are often engaged in discussion whether that be with her, in groups,
or in partners. Although I had a strong semblance of how I wanted my room to function, getting
that practical experience, and then having to translate it into this assignment made it more
poignant and real. I imagined myself in full teacher shoes and tried to think of what structure
would best facilitate my desired goals of a healthy combination of direct instruction and
collaborative work, and I think this current design really suits that. Similarly the rules section is
what I have seen work and what I myself did as a student that I felt was effective. So many
times students have those basic fundamental questions, and I feel that being as explicit and direct

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as I was in outlining my rules for electronics use, assignment submissions, and absences policy
will help reduce the number of times I will have to repeat myself about such things. On a more
subconscious level it portrays the kind of teacher I am trying to be: strong and but still
understanding. Throughout my creation of all the artifacts I have been constantly refining and
tweaking my own perception of the kind of teacher I want to be; especially with this assignment
I had to figure out just how strict I was going to be. I reexamined my time as a student and tried
to really put myself in as many of their diverse shoes as possible. I wanted to accommodate the
bright driven students who do their work, while still making the guidelines accessible and
realistic for those who might have some trouble, or who have chaotic lives and interruptions to
their scholastic lives.
I actually ended up setting up a sample part of a syllabus as part of my management plan
and will use at least some form of it in any future ones I create. It was originally my personal
outline that I realized while doing it worked quite well as part of a syllabus, and I added to it to
make it clearer and more student oriented. As well the lay out will be my ideal for a classroom,
obviously permitting I have my own room.
Reference List:
New Jersey Professional Standards for Teachers Alignment with InTASC NJAC 6A:9C-3.3
(effective May 5, 2014). (2014, May 5). Retrieved March 31, 2016, from
http://www.state.nj.us/education/profdev/profstand/teacherstandardscrosswalk.pdf