ELM250
Creating and Managing Engaging Learning Environments
Week 1 Discussion
DQ1 What does a professional educator look like? How does a
professional educator behave? What standards guide a professional educator?s
thinking and actions? How is the conduct of a professional educator consistent
with a Christian worldview, as described on the GCU Statement on the
Integration of Faith, Learning and Work? Give examples. Cite your responses.
DQ2 After reading ?To Improve U.S. Education, It?s Time to
Treat Teachers as Professionals,? do you agree with Howard Gardner?s position
on needed changes for teachers to be treated as professionals? Defend your
position. Cite your responses.
ELM250
Creating and Managing Engaging Learning Environments
Week 2 Discussion
DQ1 Of the various student quotes in the Schussler article,
which connected with you the most regarding engaging disengaged students?
Explain. Cite your sources.
DQ2 What three techniques in Lemov?s “Teach Like a
Champion” do you feel most confident in implementing in your future
classroom? Explain. Cite your sources.
ELM250
Creating and Managing Engaging Learning Environments
Week 3 Discussion
DQ1 How are the concepts of authority and engagement
connected in the classroom setting? Please explain how you will establish an
appropriate level of authority in your future classroom while also maintaining
a successful level of student engagement.
DQ2 Please describe the three concepts of classroom
management, engagement, and motivation in reference to education. How are all
of these aspects of education connected and interdependent? Provide examples to
support your response.
ELM250
Creating and Managing Engaging Learning Environments
Week 4 Discussion
DQ1 How are classroom procedures different than classroom
rules? Explain what it means to teach, model, and practice your procedures
along with your beliefs on when procedures should be taught. Please include
detailed examples on how procedures and rules might affect a student?s level of
achievement in your future classroom.
DQ2 The Capizzi article discusses six key areas for
effective classroom management. Explain and defend your position on the ranking
of the six different areas and whether they are all equally important in
maintaining effective classroom management.
ELM250
Creating and Managing Engaging Learning Environments
Week 5 Discussion
DQ1 View the ?Roller Coaster Physics: STEM in Action,?
?Animal Patterns: Integrating Science, Math & Art,? and ?Table for 22: A
Real-World Geometry Project.? Imagine that you are a student entering each
classroom for the first time. How does each setting make you feel? What does
each classroom tell you about the teacher who designed the environment?
DQ2 Which strategy from the seminal article by Kagan do you
believe is the most critical for engaging students in the learning
process? Defend your choice.
ELM250
Creating and Managing Engaging Learning Environments
Week 8 Discussion
DQ1 There are a number of key stakeholders in a school system
and the school community. List at least two major and two minor stakeholders,
in addition to parents, and explain the importance of your relationship to each
of them. How will your relationships with these key stakeholders affect
students?
DQ2 What are some communication do?s and don?ts when
speaking with families? After reading the Conderman et al. article, identify
two of each, and explain why each is either a do or a don?t.
ELM250
Creating and Managing Engaging Learning Environments
Week 9 Discussion
DQ1 California recently enacted a law that precludes willful
defiance or disruption of school activities as a reason to expel students. Do you think it is appropriate for the state
legislature to decide such an issue or should the issue be addressed by the
governing board of a school district?
Defend your answer.
DQ2 What are some of the most significant insights you have
gained from your research on legal issues and the classroom teacher in this
course? How will you or how do you hope to implement this knowledge in your
future classroom as an effective educator?
ELM250
Creating and Managing Engaging Learning Environments
Week 1 Assignment
Professionalism as an Educator
For the benchmark assignment, you will assemble and finalize
your personal, comprehensive classroom management plan developed during this
course.
Review the details of the benchmark assignment. A compiled
and revised draft of the benchmark assignment assembled from Topics 1-4 is due
in Topic 5. You will also be required to submit the benchmark assignment in a
CLC assignment in Topic 5 for peer review.
Research the topic of professional conduct for teachers,
focusing on interactions with students, students? families, coworkers, and
administrators. Complete the ?Professionalism as an Educator Table,? describing
ways to behave professionally for positive, collaborative relationships across
the school system, and to create an appropriate supportive educational
environment for students.
All entries in Part I of the table must be supported by a
reference. Your references may include the NEA Code of Ethics, the NASDTEC Code
of Ethics, the InTASC dispositions, the COE Professional Dispositions in the
Bachelor of Science in Elementary and Special Education Clinical Field
Experience Handbook, the COE Pledge, the Arizona Administrative Code, the GCU
Statement on the Integration of Faith, Learning, and Work, or other relevant
resources.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in
the GCU Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.
This assignment uses a rubric. Review the rubric prior to
beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for
successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite.
ELM250
Creating and Managing Engaging Learning Environments
Week 2 Assignment
Student Engagement Strategies
Teachers are expected to ?manage the learning environment to
actively and equitably engage students by organizing, allocating and
coordinating the resources of time, space and learner’s attention? (InTASC
3(d).
For this assignment, your principal has asked you to develop
a presentation about student motivation and engagement strategies. This
presentation will be used in a professional development workshop for first-year
teachers.
Using the ?Class Profile,? select a grade 1-8 and create a
10-15 slide PowerPoint presentation. In completing your presentation:
Research, analyze, and select seven strategies that foster
motivation and active engagement in learning, self-motivation, and positive
social interaction among the students.
Explain each strategy in your own words.
Identify classroom arrangements that are best for each
engagement strategy.
Support your presentation with three scholarly resources.
Create a title slide, reference slides, slide notes that
provide a detailed explanation of how you would implement each strategy in your
future classroom.
In addition, write a 200-250 word student engagement
strategies statement. Include components of your presentation that you would
incorporate into your future classroom management plan, and explain why.
Include a minimum of three scholarly references.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in
the GCU Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.
This assignment uses a rubric. Review the rubric prior to
beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for
successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite.
ELM250
Creating and Managing Engaging Learning Environments
Week 3 Assignment
Behavior Management Models/Systems
For this assignment, use the same grade level you selected
in Topic 2 and the ?Class Profile.?
Select two classroom management models from the following list to
research:
Harry Wong?s Effective Classroom
Kagan, Kyle, and Scott?s Win-Win Discipline
Fred Jones Positive Classroom Discipline
Morrish?s Real Discipline
Canter and Canter?s Assertive Discipline (middle school
education focused)
Jeanne Gibb?s Tribes (elementary education focused)
Select two school-wide/campus-wide behavior management
systems from the following list to research:
Character Education (e.g., Character Counts, Character
First! Education, I CAN Character Curriculum)
Love and Logic
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Strategies (PBIS) (a
school-wide program that uses PBS)
S.T.A.R. (“Stop, Think, Act, Review” or
“Success Through Accepting Responsibility?) (elementary education focused)
Based on your research, complete the ?Behavior Management
Models/Systems Table.?
In addition, write your personal 200-250 word classroom
management model statement. This statement should include elements of each
model/system you would incorporate into your future classroom management plan.
Explain your selections.
Include a minimum of three scholarly references to support
your statement.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in
the GCU Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.
This assignment uses a rubric. Review the rubric prior to
beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for
successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite.
ELM250
Creating and Managing Engaging Learning Environments
Week 4 Assignment
Rules, Consequences, and Rewards
For this assignment, use the same grade level you selected
in Topic 2 and the ?Class Profile.?
In a 250-500 word essay, create your own rules,
consequences, and rewards system by doing the following:
Choose or create your own set of 3-5 rules with consequences
for your future classroom.
Research various models of consequence ladders and choose
one or create your own based on your research.
Describe where and how you will document the consequences.
Choose or create your own reward system.
Describe where and how you will document the rewards.
Include a minimum of three scholarly references.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in
the GCU Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.
This assignment uses a rubric. Review the rubric prior to
beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for
successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite.
ELM250
Creating and Managing Engaging Learning Environments
Week 4 Assignment
Clinical Field Experience: Interview and Behavior
Expectations
Standards assessed in the field experience:
InTASC: 1(a), 1(e), 2(a), 2(b), 2(g), 2(h), 3(a), 3(d),
3(e), 3(j),3(k), 9(l), 10(l)
ACEI: 1, 3.2, 3.4, 5.1, 5.2
Spend 5 hours observing and interviewing a certified teacher
in grades 1-8 about the teacher?s classroom management plan, the school?s
behavior expectations for students, the school?s behavior management program,
and how these expectations are apparent across the campus and in the classroom.
Your interview questions and observation should probe:
The type, number, and degree to which the expectations are
stated in positive language and the rationales for these expectations.
The forms and locations in which the expectations are posted
on the school grounds and in the classroom.
How expectations are initially taught, reinforced, and
monitored school-wide and at the individual classroom level for students who
start the academic year at the school site or later in the year.
When differentiation is appropriate for teaching and reinforcing
those expectations, including examples of that differentiation.
How classroom and school-wide behavioral expectations are
communicated to students and families.
The teacher?s reflections on the overall degree of
effectiveness of her or his classroom management plan.
Recommendations for change of the classroom?s management
plan based on personal experiences.
Ask additional questions as appropriate. Retain a copy of
the questions asked and responses received.
After the interview and observations, complete the following
tasks in 250-500 words:
Summarize what you found from your interview and observations;
Draw conclusions from your summary;
Apply the conclusions you have drawn to your practices as a
future educator.
This assignment uses a rubric. Review the rubric prior to
beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for
successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite.
Document the hours and locations that you spend in the field
on your Clinical Field Experience Verification Form.
Submit the Clinical Field Experience Verification Form with
the last assignment by the assignment due date. Directions for submitting can
be found on the College of Education site in the Student Success Center.
ELM250
Creating and Managing Engaging Learning Environments
Week 4 Assignment
Classroom Procedures
For this assignment, use the same grade level you selected
in Topic 2 and the ?Class Profile.? Identify seven classroom management
procedures that accomplish the following:
Establish routines;
Optimize time for instruction;
Allow the learning environment to operate efficiently;
Address digital citizenship, including the safe, ethical,
and legal use of technology and digital information;
Create a classroom environment that is conducive to
learning; and
Consider additional concerns that may arise in the classroom
consistent with the class profile and grade level.
In a total of 250-500 words, write a detailed step-by-step
process that identifies how you will teach and practice each procedure.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in
the GCU Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.
This assignment uses a rubric. Review the rubric prior to
beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for
successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite.
ELM250
Creating and Managing Engaging Learning Environments
Week 5 Assignment
Classroom Arrangements
For this assignment, use the same grade level you selected
in Topic 2 and the ?Class Profile.?
Research five different elementary classroom environments.
Take note of the materials found in each environment and how the rooms are
arranged. Map out three different classroom arrangements that facilitate
students working productively individually or in groups. In creating your
arrangements, consider ease of flow of traffic consistent with age-appropriate
development of motor skills, social and emotional needs, and physical activity
of your students from the ?Class Profile.? Your arrangements can be hand-drawn
or computer generated, but must be submitted in a PDF or Word document.
Include a 250-300 word essay using three scholarly resources
regarding appropriate elementary classroom arrangements. Explain your rationale
for the space you designed. Justify each item in your designs (e.g., materials,
furniture, design elements, how they are arranged).
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in
the GCU Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.
This assignment uses a rubric. Review the rubric prior to
beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for
successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite.
ELM250
Creating and Managing Engaging Learning Environments
Week 5 Assignment
Feedback on Benchmark Assignment Rough Draft
Review the benchmark assignment directions. Based on your assignments submitted in Topics
1- 4, complete any revisions as appropriate, including incorporating feedback
from your instructor, and submit a rough draft of the benchmark assignment to
your instructor.
In addition, share your rough draft with your CLC. Use the
feedback as preparation for and revision of your final benchmark assignment.
Prepare this assignment according to the GCU guidelines
found in the GCU Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An
abstract is not required.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite.
ELM250
Creating and Managing Engaging Learning Environments
Week 8 Assignment
Classroom Webpage or Blog
For this assignment, use the same grade level you selected
in Topic 2 and the ?Class Profile.?
Create a classroom webpage or blog that could be shared at
the beginning of the school year with parents/guardians and students.
Be creative, and include the following:
An introduction of yourself:
Provide brief background information about your professional
life, including your professional qualifications.
Provide a brief overview of your teaching philosophy.
An explanation of your classroom engagement and management
plan with examples of:
Classroom behavioral expectations for students, including
digital citizenship.
Content that students will be learning.
Additional practices and policies that parents/guardians and
students would want to know regarding late work, tardiness, extra credit
options, grade checks, concerns with academics, expectations for homework each
night, office hours, extra help time, etc.
Rules and consequences.
Reward system.
How students will be graded.
How and when you plan to communicate with parents/guardians
regularly.
How and when parents/guardians may access you.
Provide the URL to your instructor.
GCU style is not required, but solid academic writing is
expected.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric
prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for
successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite.
ELM250
Creating and Managing Engaging Learning Environments
Week 8 Assignment
Benchmark – My Personal Classroom Management Plan
For this benchmark assignment, you will assemble your
personal, comprehensive classroom management plan for the students in the
?Class Profile.?
Review the instructor feedback on your previous assignments
and consider all you have learned throughout this course, including the
interaction you have had with classmates and current educators in the field.
Your classroom management plan should consist of the
following sections:
Professionalism ? In 250-500 words, analyze how your
professional decisions and actions affect students, families, and other
professionals in the learning community.
Include examples of professional interactions with various stakeholders
including students, parents, co-workers, and administrators.
Student Engagement Strategies ? In 250-500 words, summarize
three strategies that foster active engagement and create supportive learning
environments. Include how these strategies meet, or can be differentiated to
meet, the various needs presented in the ?Class Profile.?
My Philosophy of Classroom Management ? Write a 150-200 word
description of the culture you will promote in your classroom applying
age-appropriate theories of motivation and behavior among elementary students
to create learning environments that support individual students? development,
acquisition of knowledge, and motivation.
Classroom Procedures ? Include five procedures from the
?Classroom Procedures? assignment (one of which must address digital
citizenship) and indicate how you will systematically teach classroom routines
consistent with principles of effective classroom management and human
motivation and behavior. Include a 200-250 word rationale that explains how the
procedures will help create opportunities for students’ active engagement in
learning, self-motivation, positive social interaction, and supportive learning
environments.
Rules, Consequences, and Reward System ? List and explain
your classroom rules. Include a 200-250
word rationale that explains how the system will help create opportunities for
students’ active engagement in learning, self-motivation, positive social
interaction, and supportive learning environments.
Communication with Parents/Guardians ? Identify three ways
you will communicate with parents to establish and maintain a positive
collaborative relationship that promotes the intellectual, social, emotional,
physical growth, and well-being of students. Include a 150-200 word rationale
for each of the three forms of communication.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in
the GCU Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.
This assignment uses a rubric. Review the rubric prior to
beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for
successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite.
ELM250
Creating and Managing Engaging Learning Environments
Week 9 Assignment
Clinical Field Experience Verification Form
Candidates must complete all programmatic requirements,
including practicum/field experience hours defined in their coursework.
Additional information about practicum/field experiences can be found on the
Student Success Center.
To earn credit for this assignment, all required course
hours must be completed and submitted by the assignment due date.
Access the Clinical Field Experience Verification Form in
the My Documents section in the Student Portal.
Complete all required fields on the Clinical Field
Experience Verification Form.
Submit by clicking ?click to sign.? An email will be sent to
the classroom teacher/mentor to complete and verify the practicum/field
experiences.
Communicate with the classroom teacher/mentor to request he
or she verify the practicum/field experience. Once verified by the classroom
teacher/mentor, an email will be sent to the candidate?s primary email address
on file with the final completed document.
Save a pdf copy of the completed Clinical Field Experience
Verification Form to your computer.
Submit the Clinical Field Experience Verification Form to
LoudCloud.
*The data entered into this document is subject to a
verification audit. Candidates who engage in fabricating, falsifying, forging,
altering, or inventing information related to practicum/field experiences,
internships, clinical practice, and/or any associated documentation may be
subject to sanctions for violating GCU academic integrity policies, which may
include expulsion from GCU.
ELM250
Creating and Managing Engaging Learning Environments
Week 9 Assignment
CLC – Legal Issues
in Education
This is a Collaborative Learning Community assignment.
Imagine that your principal has asked your group to prepare
a mini professional development session that can be presented to your teacher
colleagues during lunch. In your group, address the following topic:
Digital citizenship (digital communication, digital
literacy, digital etiquette, digital law, digital rights and responsibilities,
and digital security)
and select 2 additional topics from the list below:
Bullying, including on and off campus
Searches of students (drugs, weapons, cellphones, etc.)
Teachers? duties (supervision, instruction, safety of
students, warning of known dangers) and failure to perform those duties
Teacher?s responsibilities regarding inclusion, compliance
with IEPs and students with exceptionalities
Reporting requirements for suspected child abuse
FERPA and students? privacy rights
Based on your research, prepare a 15-20 slide PowerPoint to
teach your colleagues about the topics you selected. As part of your presentation, include a
scenario for each topic that you will pose to the group to guide your
presentation on the effect of laws on the selected topics.
Support your presentation with three scholarly resources.
In addition, create a title slide, reference slides, and
slide notes that provide detailed explanations of your scenarios and application
of the law.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in
the GCU Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.
This assignment uses a rubric. Review the rubric prior to
beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for
successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite.