I study in Blue Bells School. It has a fine new building. My classroom is situated on the first floor. It is a big room.

The room is spacious. It is forty feet

long and thirty feet wide.
It has four doors and three windows. It has five ventilators. There is one almirah in my class room. The floor of the room is made of chips. I read in
class IX.
There are sixty students in my class room. There is a separate table and chair for every student. There is a big table and a chair for the teacher. The
tables and chairs are very comfortable.
There is a blackboard in my room. There- are six fans in my room. There is a dustbin for the waste papers. The walls are decorated with pictures of
national leaders and charts. We keep our classroom neat and clean. Every year, we win the prize for cleanliness. All the teachers praise us for it. I like
my classroom very much.
Classrooms besides the teachers are the essential for children to start learning. The classroom is where the children are going to spend part of their
day and it has to be comfortable and warming so they can feel like if they are at home and stay. Children need to see things that will get their attention
and want to use the objects they see in the classroom. As a teacher you need to see that you have the correct equipment, furnishings, and materials
you are going to use to support what you are going to teach the children. The classroom environment has to be calm and lovely for children to get
along and be comfortable with everyone including the teacher. My classroom environment would be having space, space is great because this way
children have their own spot and are not all bunched together, this may make them feel uncomfortable. I would have my classroom well decorated
with materials we are going to use during the time school is running. Having decorations of different things will attract the attention of the children and
will open their curiosity of what it means and this way is how we can start the learning process. A classroom that feels warm and with love is what
helps a child have confidence in staying and try new things that are not at home. When arranging a room it must permit all children accessibility, the
ability to enter all parts of the environment including bathrooms and to access equipment and materials and
availability too, the ability to participate in all experiences ( Decker, C.A, Decker J. R, Freeman, N.K, Knopf, H.T., 2009). My room first of all will have a
map of the whole classroom showing what is where and to show the children and parents where the exit is in case of an emergency and where to go.
My classroom for preschoolers...
It was first day of my new class 3 session. I was very happy as well as anxious about my new Classroom many questions were arising in my mind.
For example- Where will be my new classroom, Who will be my new classmate and who will be my new Class teacher etc . On first day my parents
came with me for helping for my new Classroom . I noticed many students were searching their respective new classes. There was very much rush on
the school passage. I was also doing the same for class 3. It was very confusing to find my new class because each room was having two or three
room number labels. Finally one teacher helped me in this regard after that I found my class easily. I became happy to see the interior and the
location of the new class. The class was airy and was at ground floor. The black board was big and nice. My eye was waiting for previous year friends.
After a while I saw two of my friends were entering into this room. I felt relaxed and happy after meeting with them. I talked with them and we all were
very happy.
t all started with a classroom. I cannot recall the date but I know it was the year 1998. Kids were everywhere, all young like me and as I watched my
parents leave the room I asked myself, Where am I? A lady who had short white hair with glasses on stood in front of the room with an outfit that I
believe was a suit. Her name was Ms. Kaye. She told us, Welcome to Kindergarten! At the time, I did not know much about Kindergarten, matter of
fact; I do not think I could even spell it. All I knew was that I was in school.
Everytime I heard the word school I just wanted to know was this school place fun. I really did not know the difference between a good and bad
education. I just knew I wanted to have fun every day. A couple of adults told me that I would be able to experience naptime when I get to school
because that is what all Kindergarteners do. I did not have any friends going to the same school as me but I never worried about that because every
Kindergartener was new so we all had to meet each other.
My mother and father put in a great amount of effort to find me a school that could beneficial to my growth as a person. When I began Kindergarten
I was 5 years old with no thoughts about doing work. All I cared about was the next playtime and when I could take my nap. Things began to change
once I was in Kindergarten. For 6 hours a day I learned some of my life basics such as my ABCs, numbers, shapes and even reading. The school I

attended was a school of high standards where each student studied a grade level above their current grade. Therefore, as a Kindergartener I was
actually doing work that would be given out in a typical 1st grade class.
The environment that the school was in was really nice. The doors were big and brown. The building itself was made of tan brick. Each window was
made of glass and some were even open since the school was not air conditioned. Ms. Kayes room was on the first floor. Right when you walk in the
door you would go down some stairs then there was my Kindergarten classroom. Her room was very kid-friendly. Each Kindergartener sat on a
square that was a different color. A persons square could be yellow, red, blue or green. My square was red which was cool because it was my
favorite color. If a person did not sit on their square they would get in trouble where their parents would be called.
My Kindergarten classroom had another room in it. That room was known as the coat room. Since my school went from Kindergarten to 8th grade,
they tried to make it so we did not have to worry about getting lost in the chaos of the older kids getting stuff from their lockers. I liked the coatroom
because everything was so organized. You also could be sure that no one would steal any of your stuff because everything was labeled and our lunch
assistants would watch everything we brought.
Everyday, my father would pick me up. Ms. Kaye would sometimes talk to the parents or just sit and wait with us as everybody left. As usual, my
dad would come in the classroom, speak to my teacher then leave with me holding his hand. However, one day, Kindergarten changed my life
forever. This day, I got picked up then I was going to give Ms. Kaye a hug I noticed that she was following me over to my dad. As I listened I heard her
say, Suelynn is such a sweet girl and a great student. That was the moment I knew I was destined to be the best.
Ms. Kaye saw a lot of potential in me. She was one of the first teachers to speak highly of me and work with me to improve the person I was. Being
a kid meant I did not have many big decisions to make but I did have to worry about doing my best in school to make my parents proud. Ms. Kaye was
a woman who had a pretty good family life. She had two kids, her sons. Her husband worked for the City of Detroit where he handled giving out
licenses to business owners. She was cognizant that I came from a very good family so she felt that by telling my dad those wonderful words of praise
that it would mean something.
I could have gotten praise from my teacher every day that I went home but none of those words meant as much as the ones that she told my dad
that day. To be honest, I look back at that day and laugh because I really did not understand much of what she was saying since everything we did
seemed easy to me. I knew it was something good since I got ice cream right when I left school. After all, I would never just get ice cream right after
school.
My parents took so much pride in what my teacher said. My mother bought me some new toys. Actually she bought me two Barbies which were my
absolute favorite. My dad was the real reason I fell in love with ice cream because he was the main person letting me get free ice cream because he
was just that proud. You would have thought that I was called the worlds next Kindergarten genius because my parents called my whole family to tell
them what was said. I still was a five year old kid who did not understand what was going on but enjoyed being in the limelight and getting all the free
ice cream I could eat. My grandparents were even more proud of me. It made them happy to know that my parents were doing a great job raising me
along with the fact that I was upholding our familys history of greatness.
It stunned me that so many people were excited over a few words. I just felt like I was being a little girl who did the same thing every school day. I
recited my ABCs, learned how to count and read a few childrens books. All of this was fun but who knew one day of me doing my same routine
would cause me to be praised. As I began to grow I do understand why getting recognized for being the person and student I am is so important. It

was more than a hug and kiss from my mommy and the amount of free Superman ice cream I got. I look at it as someone seeing me for who I really
am and acknowledging it.
Though I was young back then, I did know that what my teacher said explains the reason I am getting constant praise and pressure to do my best.
On the day that this happened I got some hugs and kisses along with a free ice cream. That was a time I could not fully understand the reward from
Ms. Kayes statement. Until now when I look back at that day I realize that Kindergarten changed my life. It was the beginning of me developing into
the person I am now.
Kids were everywhere, all young like me and as I watched my parents leave the room I asked myself, Where am I? A lady who had short white hair
with glasses on stood in front of the room with an outfit that I believe was a suit. Her name was Ms. Kaye. She told us, Welcome to Kindergarten! At
the time, I did not know much about Kindergarten, matter of fact; I do not think I could even spell it. All I knew was that I was in school.
Everytime I heard the word school I just wanted to know was this school place fun. I really did not know the difference between a good My mother
and father put in a great amount of effort to find me a school that could beneficial to my growth as a person. When I began Kindergarten I was 5 years
old with no thoughts about doing work. All I cared about was the next playtime and when I could take my nap. Things began to change once I was in
Kindergarten. For 6 hours a day I learned some of my life basics such as my ABCs, numbers, shapes and even reading. The school I attended was a
school of high standards where each student studied a grade level above their current grade. Therefore, as a Kindergartener I was actually doing
work that would be given out in a typical 1stgrade class.and bad education. I just knew I wanted to have fun every day. A couple of adults told me that I
would be able to experience naptime when I get to school because that is what all Kindergarteners do. I did not have any friends going to the same
school as me but I never worried about that because every Kindergartener was new so we all had to meet each other. The environment that the
school was in was really nice. The doors were big and brown. The building itself was made of tan brick. Each window was made of glass and some
were even open since the school was not air conditioned. Ms. Kayes room was on the first floor. Right when you walk in the door you would go down
some stairs then there was my Kindergarten classroom. Her room was very kid-friendly. Each Kindergartener sat on a square that was a different
color. A persons square could be yellow, red, blue or green. My square was red which was cool because it was my favorite color. If a person did not
sit on their square they would get in trouble where their parents would be called.
Everyday, my father would pick me up. Ms. Kaye would sometimes talk to the parents or just sit and wait with us as everybody left. As usual, my
dad would come in the classroom, speak to my teacher then leave with me holding his hand. However, one day, Kindergarten changed my life
forever. This day, I got picked up then I was going to give Ms. Kaye a hug I noticed that she was following me over to my dad. As I listened I heard her
say, Suelynn is such a sweet girl and a great student. That was the moment I knew I was destined to be the best.
Ms. Kaye saw a lot of potential in me. She was one of the first teachers to speak highly of me and work with me to improve the person I was. Being
a kid meant I did not have many big decisions to make but I did have to worry about doing my best in school to make my parents proud. Ms. Kaye was
a woman who had a pretty good family life. She had two kids, her sons. Her husband worked for the City of Detroit where he handled giving out
licenses to business owners. She was cognizant that I came from a very good family so she felt that by telling my dad those wonderful words of praise
that it would mean something.
I could have gotten praise from my teacher every day that I went home but none of those words meant as much as the ones that she told my dad
that day. To be honest, I look back at that day and laugh because I really did not understand much of what she was saying since everything we did
seemed easy to me. I knew it was something good since I got ice cream right when I left school. After all, I would never just get ice cream right after
school.

Though I was young back then, I did know that what my teacher said explains the reason I am getting constant praise and pressure to do my best.
On the day that this happened I got some hugs and kisses along with a free ice cream. That was a time I could not fully understand the reward from
Ms. Kayes statement. Until now when I look back at that day I realize that Kindergarten changed my life. It was the beginning of me developing into
the person I am now.
Why do they come? Thirty-seven smiling young faces in a classroom look up at me, oozing confidence that I will teach them successfully and help
them pass the course. I confide in them: the course should really have 24 students for an optimum presentation. Nobody moves. And the smiles stay
fixed.
I tell them that everything I teach is available online, and the jokes there are probably funnier than the ones I use. They sit still. As they do in the
classes of almost two million other faculty members.
They will continue to come, the 14 or 15 million students who cant or wont learn by themselves. Yes, there are two million or so students who can
master difficult material on their own, and there are mature individuals whose life circumstances makes it necessary to learn essentials, to pass a
course, and to move on.
But for the vast majority of Americas young people, the classroom and the faculty member -- yellowing notes and all -- seem to work best.
And so they come.
Now picture a full colored photo on glossy paper of college students, gathered happily at graduation. Idyllic, but misleading. Look closely, very closely
at the picture and find that the picture isnt a picture at all, but an assemblage of thousands of individual dots. Separate, and often strikingly different
from each other. Now take away the color and a further grim graininess appears.
Thats the real-world picture a faculty member sees in the classes s/he teaches. A group of individuals, each with different life experience, family
circumstance, personal growth pattern, goals, and course selections.
Pretty pictures are for people who look at higher education from the far periphery; it is they who dare make general statements, universal predictions
and global pronouncements about what will take place in college. I know better. I know that every one of the 2200 or so minutes I will be with this
particular group of individuals will present its own challenges, its own opportunities for teaching and learning, and its own possibilities for failure.
I am alert to the pressures and influences that divert so many young people, and am no longer surprised at the number of hours many of them spend
online. Nor do I express disappointment at the number of students who expect to be taught, who expect to know but who will not do the work
involved in learning. They are, after all, the children who learned the alphabet painlessly on Sesame Street, and grew up one click away from the
worlds store of knowledge.
For the vast majority of Americas young people, the classroom and the faculty member -- yellowing notes and all -- seem to work best.
My students need hand-holding, human-hand-holding, to become engaged, and focus on the depth of material rather than on obtaining a quick,
superficial answer. They live in a digital world, but remain analog beings and must learn to acquire and assimilate great bodies of knowledge,
comprehensive, continuous, and coherent.
Fortunately, they dont face this task alone. Together with their 30-odd peers, they begin to form a class. Even though this class will not reach the level
of a community of scholars, the collective plays its role. Students begin to share notes, discuss homework, assist each other in understanding difficult
material, and interact during class. There is argument, shared humor and collective disappointment; a sudden scurry when an exam is announced, a
flurry of conversation just before the exam takes place, and consultation right after it ends. Every one of these interactions enhances student
engagement.
There is something about the structure of the classroom that contributes to the learning process, perhaps akin to a group of musicians whose joint
effort is so much more effective than it would be were they to play their instrument at a separate location with an expert mixing the sounds. People do
interact and college students better than most.
Fortunately, too, there is the faculty member who knows that teaching is more than presenting information and that learning is a very complex
process, difficult and unusual for most people. A whole range of strategies is needed to keep students striving and stretching for a whole period, let
alone a whole term. Students must be induced, sometimes with humor, to concentrate. There must be challenge, repetition, surprise and praise.
A successful teacher can offer spontaneity, immediacy, and instant, interactive feedback. He/she knows that a question is not just a request for
information. A question can signal to the teacher that something is wrong with the presentation. Often, it can enable a teacher to involve all the others
in the class, becoming part of a different, sometimes unanticipated learning experience.
Teachers learn to walk the aisles, to watch faces, to orchestrate discussion and stimulate questions. Eye contact and a smile or lack of it can
guide the next part of the discussion, and one students difficulties can be used to address those who cant even formulate their lack of understanding.
Some teachers know how to seize on a recent event and weave it into the discussion, or look at a students notebook to determine whether the
student was following properly or not.
Depending on the course and the class, a faculty member will help students overcome anxiety, shyness and diffidence. College teachers will use
connection and analogies to get a point across. And alert students will follow as a scholar approaches a new problem or situation to understand how
an expert thinks.
Listening, correcting, suggesting, modeling, prodding, affirming, critiquing, reflecting, admitting, weighing, arguing, and guiding are but some of the
other strategies faculty will use to move students along on a trajectory of learning.
For many there is nothing as effective as face-to-face teaching, and the five-minute explanation at the chalkboard after class has rescued many a
student.
There is so much more. Experienced instructors know how to address the blank stare, and are able to evoke expression from students who seat
themselves at the back of the room. Reinforcement, encouragement, constructive argumentation all help develop patterns of thinking and behavior
which will long outlast the specific topic being taught.
A traditional college education usually comprises 40 or so separate courses offered by as many different faculty members, each of whom will bring to
bear those qualities and strategies appropriate to the subject, reflecting his/her character and talents. Students will be brought into discussions where
they will venture opinions and defend them without anger. Most will learn to evaluate disagreeable perspectives and remain friends with both
proponents and opponents.
They will learn how to change their minds, to deal with mistakes, and to respect the rights of others.
Faculty members know how to jostle students into active learning. As often as not they are enthusiastic advocates as well as practitioners of the
subject at hand, and students will experience the passion as well as the process of a presentation.

Learning from a scholar enables a student to acquire knowledge in an organized framework from someone who has assimilated so much, and knows
how to provide a roadmap that is uniquely effective for each particular group.
A scholar knows how to form connections with other courses and plant ideas and insights that will bear fruit in a subsequent course, or later in life.
Students must be taught how to approach the unknown, the impossible, the unanticipated and the future. It is the competent, confident scholar/faculty
member who will see the need for this kind of learning and have the ability to present it.
Only after the usual 1,800 hours (over 100,000 minutes in the classroom) and the hoped-for 3,600 hours of after class assignments have been
completed is it possible to compose the glossy, colored picture. Only then do the thousands of interactions, lessons, topics, and learnings combine to
make the graduate and the graduating class.

Through his writings and speeches, Alfie Kohn has been stirring up controversy for years, demonstrating how the conventional wisdom about
education often isn't supported by the available research, and illuminating the gaps between our long-term goals for students and what actually goes
on in schools. Now, What to Look for in a Classroom brings together his most popular articles from Educational Leadership, Phi Delta Kappan,
and Education Week - and also from theAtlantic Monthly, the Boston Globe, and other publications.
From self-esteem to school uniforms, from grade inflation to character education, Kohn raises a series of provocative questions about the status quo
in this collection of incisive essays. He challenges us to reconsider some of our most basic assumptions about children and education. Can good
values really be "instilled" in students? What, if anything, lies behind the label of attention-deficit disorder? Are there good data to support our
skepticism about watching TV? Might such allegedly enlightened practices as "authentic assessment," "logical consequences," and "Total Quality
education" turn out to be detrimental? Whether he is explaining why cooperative learning can be so threatening or why detracking is so fiercely
opposed, Kohn offers a fresh, informed, and frequently disconcerting perspective on the major issues in education.
In the end, his critical examination of current practice is complemented by a vision of what schooling ought to be. Kohn argues for giving children more
opportunity to participate in their own schooling, for transforming classrooms into caring communities, and for providing the kind of education that taps
and nourishes children's curiosity. Through all these essays, Kohn calls us back to our own ideals, showing us how we can be more effective at
helping students to become good learners and good people.
Essay on my ideal classroom set up for elementary school children. My ideal classroom is not entirely, but almost based on fun. My main objective is
to have kids come into my class room and feeling that Ms. English's classroom is a whole lot of fun. Not only do I want my classroom to be fun, but I
also want it to be a special place for all of my children. My ideal classroom would have all of the services for all of my children to learn, grow, and
thrive. At the same time, I want my classroom to be simple and not too busy. I feel a busy classroom tends to make children feel overwhelmed and
more easily distracted.
As far as seating arrangements go I would have to be with my class for at least a full week to figure out the configurations of the classroom. I would
most likely situate the children in a group format so that they can socialize and interact with each other.
I would form this group configuration based on my observations on who works well together and where the distractions originate from etc. My desk
would be situated where I could see all of my students. If I were to get a Kindergarten classroom I would probably situate the seats in a group setting
or large tables. If I had a third grade classroom I would definitely have a big group meeting mat where everyone can gather around during class
meetings. I would also make sure to have comfortable chairs and a big couch for children to grab books and read. I want my students to have a
comfortable place where they can read and relax. This furniture would be situated right next to my library area. I would have a huge...
Providing a learning environment that contributes to the learners needs is the key to their success. The word learning environment brings to my mind
the traditional classroom I was in many years back where my learning suffered a lot. We were sitting in rows and allowed to listen only to the teachers
lecture based instruction. There were no communication between the teachers and the children, peer learning was alien to us and teacher centred
education was commonly in place. Teacher- learner relationship was limited and teacher talk time was more than student talk time. Further the
teachers mostly tended to emphasize the content of their subjects instead of their importance as ways of experiencing and knowing the real world.
There were no teaching resources like maps, overhead projectors, computers, counters or flash cards instead we only had box full of chalks in the
classroom. High achievers, challenged children and the reluctant workers all were treated equally in my class and my class teacher always wanted to
show us that she was the boss by having her desk and chair in front of the class. For me, curriculum means what exactly happens in classrooms. The
curriculum which I had been taught was used as a package of materials or a syllabus of ground to be covered and it was based on lot of board work
and seat work. Every single child should be given proper education that begins from his or her own classroom. How can we set up an ideal classroom
to provide quality education for all?
Educational Values and Ideologies
How can the educational values and ideologies influence creating an effective school? How can they improve failures in schooling? In this chapter I
am trying to reflect upon my practice as an experienced teacher considering the current state of education through hidden curriculum in schools. Does
the hidden curriculum play an important role in setting up the ideal classroom? For me hidden curriculum in a school is like an iceberg with more
open requirements above the water and the rest submerged under water which is visible to a keen eye. As Peter sings in his song that he learnt many
things from his teacher but we know that there are many which we know though we are never being taught. Seddon (1983) as cited in Marsh
(1997:34) argues,

The hidden curriculum involves the learning of attitudes, norms, beliefs, values and assumption often expressed as rules, rituals and regulations.
They are rarely questioned and are just taken for granted (Seddon 1983)
He is right because most of the time teachers perform ineffectively with certain children because they come from different cultural and educational
backgrounds and have different learning styles. Despite of having children like these in class the teachers are forced to educate all which is a
challenging task for her. During my own education and my teaching career I have noticed that many teachers bring the academic standards down to
fit all learners needs, pushing the reluctant workers to the back seats of the class & avoiding them taking part in class activities and avoiding eye
contact and interactions between certain children when needed. This type of behaviour of the teachers created discrimination among labelled pupils
such as low group, SEN and LD which prohibited these learners to learn like other children. In our school for year-3 children the topic World War-2
should be taught as part of the History lesson. The teacher commented on the objectives of the lesson as they are too hard for the low ability group to
understand and the video clip on World War-2 is too hard for them to grasp therefore, she was advised to adapt the unit and choose the objectives
according to the abilities as Anyon cited in Hollins (1996) explains,
Take a look at our Writing & Marking Service Index >
Anyon's (1990) discussion of the curriculum, differentiated according to social class, reveals the implicit or hidden curriculum. The planned curriculum
was similar for all social class groups; however, the hidden curriculum included a relationship to capital that was different for each group. (Hollins,
1996, p. 9)
As we all know all pupils are supposed to be taught what they should learn but, it was really sad to realise those underachievers are kept away from
learning the actual lessons which makes them sense biased education in many cases and they think the education they receive is not intended for
them. Keeping the low ability group of year-3 class away from watching the video clip decreased their motivation drastically. In the light of this I think
the hidden curriculum which affects the pupils identity should be destroyed As Hollins goes on saying,
"The knowledge that the school wants the students to learn and the hidden curriculum of punctuality, individual achievement, and authority relations
are both rejected by the students" (Hollins, 1996, p. 284)
Hollins is right because the hidden curriculum in my school sometimes determines limitations to childrens behaviour in the classroom and in the
school which may be a hindrance to learning. Certain classroom codes of conduct restrict the children from expressing their point of views so they
become disappointed. In my classroom children were not even allowed to whisper during lesson and I never understood the child when he moved
around and tried distracting the others had something to add to the instructions. We as educators should ensure that no child is left behind in the
classroom, they should be taught in a relevant way and failures and success should be recognised equally if our motto is to set up an ideal classroom.
Teaching them in a relevant way is easy to put in writing but how can we achieve it?
Effective learning takes place when the learners are treated according to their learning styles and educators move away from traditional to modern
way of teaching. Ivan Illich (1973) says that the children learn more from their day to day experience rather than sitting inside a classroom. By setting
standards the problems we face in classrooms will not be solved but, when I provided the learners in my Year-2 class proper resources, ways to learn
from each other, experiences outside the classroom like going on field trips, reading books in the library and organising socialising events and equally
challenged opportunities they performed effectively as Ivan further explains in his book,
A good educational system should have three purposes: it should provide all who want to learn with access to available resources at any time in their
lives; empower all who want to share what they know to find those who want to learn it from them; and, finally, furnish all who want to present an issue
to the public with the opportunity to make their challenge known (Ivan Illich 1973:76)
John White, a professor of philosophy at London's Institute of Education too has the same point of view of as Ivan about modern education. He
explains,
The teachers need to weigh up the qualities society considers important, such as basic literacy, numeracy and information technology, kindness and
independence and help inculcate these qualities upon pupils (John White)
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~ttzelrn/pgcei/pgcei-b/contexts/documents/1.1.4CURRICULUMOUTOFTIME.pdf--------11-04-2010
I fully agree with John White. In our school we follow QCA scheme which aims quality learning but, as John criticises it does not say why do we want
to learn this subject? The children in our school have no basic literacy; find difficulties to use their mathematical knowledge in daily life such as not
knowing how to buy things in super market & get the change, depending on others help to play computer games or send and receive emails on their
own etc. Therefore, the teachers to set up their ideal classroom should be able to adapt what they teach in order to fulfil the basic requirements of the
society for example teaching them to read road signs, bus signs, maps, telephone directory, user guides and medicine instructions, involving the
learners on more practical based mathematical learning like setting up sale of items, shopping for groceries & toys, encouraging them to develop
friendships outside the country through e mails and teaching them to be kind with their nannies and pets. Therefore, the school curriculum should be
based on childrens requirements, create successful learners, promote learning is fun and produce learners in order to cater the countrys economy
development.
Another devastating issue in my school is most of the learners are unable to read with understanding and write as well as they should by the end of
primary school, year-6 boys need adults help to read and understand their homework assignment, many in year-1 find difficult to add two numbers
and the staff are not given regular professional development courses. Here I have explained the issues we face and I believe I tried to find solutions to
those problems through many useful educational theories but what about the rest of the staff in my team? Therefore, it is important to introduce
suitable curriculum may be through following a successful schools curriculum through collaboration, arranging professional development courses for
the teaching staff, conduct teacher appraisal regularly, and motivating the learners and educators in the path of success by rewarding the
achievements. An ideal school would implement such policies and follow them very strictly to meet these demands and foster good learning practice
around the year.
During my teaching I had to deal with lots of behavioural issues among boys in my classroom such as hitting, verbally abusing each other and not
respecting the teachers. Effective classroom management is very important when we face problems like these but, I did not want to spend my
teaching time on managing them. At times I wondered what could be the reason for children to demonstrate extremely challenging behaviour. Later I

realised that there should be a proper lesson in plan that emphasizes and motivates positive behaviour among pupils and according to Whitneys point
of view I gave importance to PSHE lesson which highlights good behaviour, friendship, citizenship etc. Whitney explains,
"PSHE, as well as citizenship, can help children and young people to develop responsible attitudes and to gather essential information about family
life, relationships, etc." (Whitney, 2004, p. 108)
He is accurate with his point of view because PSHE education which is complemented by SEAL contributes to the well being of the children. In my
classroom I had few passive, aggressive children & some were having attention problems. Dealing with these types of behaviour was a daily issue for
me and caused unrest between children in my classroom. Since I believed effective teaching occur through effective management, I tried to manage
these kinds of problems by having a proper plan such as protecting them from bullying, building strong relationship with other children, rewarding
small success and creating a classroom atmosphere where students feel safe from bullies. It is also crucial to educate them on safety issues like road
safety and fire protection, healthy food, drugs and importance of relationships between family and friends to shape them as good citizens of an ideal
classroom. The children who have attention problems were taught basic concentration and thinking skills; helped them divide tasks into manageable
parts; rewarded their successes; and assigned a peer tutor (TA) for them to provide close attention while learning.
Pedagogy
Observing children during work is a vital part of pedagogy as it gives information on what exactly happening inside the classroom. During my teaching
in my classroom I had observed children, who were talking, not listening, fighting with others and showing less concentration on the work. As
Hargreaves, L. (2002:56) explains I always recorded my observation as it helped me to reconstruct, interpret and analyse my plan in order to solve
these types of issues. Hargreaves, L. Further explains,
The ultimate aim of classroom observation is to improve the opportunities of the children to learn and ensure that they get the best out of those
opportunities (Hargreaves, L. 2002:56)
What Hargreaves says is correct. Through my observations I was always able to identify able, lazy and reluctant workers and those who exhibit
challenging behaviour and I approached them in a different way so as to engage them on task as rest of the class did. From this experience I must
say classroom observation helps educators identify the process of education, provide more prcised data about the needs of the learners and areas
where changes required.
Another important point is cultural heritage transmission which lightened up my discussion further about setting up an ideal classroom. The
implementation of the UK National Curriculum in my school showed that there are certain amount of knowledge and ideas which should be passed on
to all children if they are to benefit of its full range of educational insights. It was beneficial for all children as this style of teaching includes
differentiation, learning through play, literacy hour in class, shared reading, guided reading and circle time. The Arabic language is taught as one of
the core subjects and the parents are not satisfied with the style of teaching Arabic as they see that their children make better progress in English and
enjoy the quality work given to them. The schools are compelled to follow the Arabic curriculum as the way it is transmitted from one generation to
another and the pupils make no benefit from it and this distorts the eagerness of them because this curriculum is old fashioned which gives
importance to lot of board work and seat work. As Bottery explains if the educators in our school, are able to work upon the learners interests and
capabilities and modify the Arabic curriculum according to the needs of the learners I am sure success in all areas will soon be achieved.

I was hired straight out of graduate school, 30 years ago, as an assistant professor of humanities at Drexel University. At that time, Drexel had only
recently ceased to be a technology institute and become a full-fledged university, though it still tilted strongly toward science and engineering.
At first, I was distressed to teach at an institution where the humanities were peripheral rather than central. But in time I came to see that being
marginal within a university, unlike being marginal within a society, had advantages as well as drawbacks. I could remain under the radar and
experiment more freely in my scholarship, writing, and teaching than at a liberal-arts institution. I also had the opportunity to teach a wider range of
courses to a more diverse group of students. Now, as Drexel has developed into a comprehensive university with a robust English department, I can
reap the benefits of that evolution while having gained from teaching "on the margins."
For the past 15 years I have taught the "Introduction to Shakespeare" course in the spring term. Although my original expertise was in the 19thcentury English novel, I claimed "Introduction to Shakespeare" when Drexel's Shakespeare expert retired. I have never regretted doing so. Harold
Bloom said that Shakespeare invented the modern. I prefer how one of my students put it: "It's as though Shakespeare lived now and then went back
in time." Certainly, you'd have to be a complete dolt not to become wiser as a human being and more skilled as a teacher in the process of teaching
Shakespeare.
What follows are 10 lessons I've learned in the course of my 30 years of university teachinghalf of those assisted greatly by my teaching of
Shakespeare. I don't know how well my insights may apply to institutions different from my own or to disciplines outside the humanities. I believe that
most young people are hungry for context and meaning at this stress-ridden, transitional point in their lives. They want learning to be an adventure but
also a tool to navigate the world. And they want to believe their insights have value. My teaching philosophy places those desires at the forefront.

1. Don't take things personally. Early in my teaching career, I believed that whatever a student did in my classroom had something to do with me. If he
glanced at his watch or she whispered to her friend, I saw that as a mark of disrespect. But after having children of my ownand growing more
attuned to the way the world worksI now see that most of what others do has nothing to do with me. Even if it does, the best way to diffuse animus
is to pretend that it doesn't.
Not taking things personally as a teacher frees you to shrug off or laugh at minor offenses, and to be firm and consistent with more important ones. It
prevents you from being thrown off your rhythm by a student who comes in late or dozes off. You can behave with both more severity and more
largess, as the case warrants, and that will translate into an authorityat once fair and compassionatethat students will respect.
2. Be accountable to your students. That means valuing students for their potential, however limited or uninterested they may initially seem. Last year
I had a brief conversation with an English professor from an elite university who told me that he had only three or four students a year who were worth
teaching. I would reverse those numbers and say I have only three or four students a year who are not worth teaching: Those few students are the
ones who don't require a teacher; they will learn under any circumstances. It's the rest who need to be inspired, prodded, and seduced into learning.
Being accountable to the majority of your students means acknowledging the distinctiveness of their minds, and helping them realize at least some of
their potential. That includes learning and using their names early and on a regular basis, making assignments as immune as possible to student
shortcuts and plagiarism, and offering opportunities for revision so students always feel they have a chance to do better.
3. Make students accountable for their performance. Assign homework that forces them to keep pace with and invest in the course. In recent years,
I've been cutting back on long papers, midterms, and finals, and substituting shorter but more frequent assignments. I also require print copies of
papers to be handed in at the beginning of class, both because that creates an incentive for regular attendance and because the act of printing out
assignments helps students catch errors they might miss when reading their papers on the computer.
And as I mentioned, I also encourage revision, even multiple revisions. If I am being accountable by letting students revise, they are being
accountable by responding and striving to create their best work, which may not happen with the first or even the second try. The culture resulting
from that sort of mutual goodwill often carries over into class discussions: Students end up listening better to each other and trying harder to give
thoughtful responses.
4. Simplify. One of the most important principles I have come to embrace after years of teaching is that of simplicity. I value it on all levels. I assign
excerpted portions of many secondary readings so that students can take away the core idea without having to struggle unduly with verbose and
jargony language. I ask for shorter, more honed papers. I distribute shorter syllabi.
I would rather have students begin with simple readings and move into more complex ones than be frustrated and confused wrestling with complexity
at too early a point. It also seems to me that many students confuse verbosity and pretension with sophistication because teachers have modeled that
idea for them. The ability to simplify is to arrive at the most elegant form of an idea.
One of my steadfast principles is to limit the syllabus to one pageeven for upper-level coursesto avoid clutter and confusion, and to encourage
flexibility. As Michel Foucault has taught us, the more we try to control, the more likely new areas of discord and disturbance will emerge. I never use
the syllabus to break down what a grade will consist of, or specify how long papers are supposed to be. Those things emerge organically over the

course of the term. I post or e-mail additional requirements as the class begins to take shape. Assignment details imposed too early make students
more likely to distrust their purpose and to want to engage in shortcuts and subterfuge.
5. Don't rushi.e., slow down. As a young teacher, I tended to rush to a point, feeling it was necessary to get there before the bell rang. My anxiety
destroyed the rhythm of the class, closed out possibilities, and conveyed the erroneous idea that a single or ultimate answer existed to questions
relating to literature. Being comfortable with ambiguity and incompleteness is both something we need to learn and to teach in the humanities.
6. Listen. This is connected to not rushing. Unless a student is clearly a con artist and hasn't done the reading, there is likely to be something of value
in his or her response.
7. Use. This is the corollary of listening. Everything that is said and that happens in a classroom is part of the teaching process and should be
incorporated. Using what comes to hand is what creates what I call a "classroom culture." Each class has its own mix of personalitiesits own unique
ecology of mind. The classroom culture gets delineated when students have their ideas actively and continually integrated into the discussion.
8. Connect learning to life. John Dewey preached that lesson, and though it is followed in elementary- and secondary-school teaching, it is often
forgotten on the college level. It seems to me important to encourage students to draw continually on their own experience and make analogies to
what they read.
Recently, for example, in a discussion of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, someone compared the relationship of Angelo's initial, extreme virtue
and subsequent fall into corruption with the relationship of antiseptic soap to MRSA infection. In another discussion, we related Shakespeare's use of
disguise with the disguises of superheroesleading to questions of what constitutes a core self versus a disguise. In a third instance, while discussing
the end of Twelfth Night, an Indian student compared the marriage of Olivia and Sebastian (the brother of Viola, with whom Olivia had originally fallen
in love when Viola was dressed as a boy) to an arranged marriage in his culture. He noted that some Indian families try to match their child with
someone who resembles a person that child had liked in the past. The student's observation led to a discussion of anthropological studies of
substitution and gift exchange, and sparked profound thoughts about long-term compatibility and the nature of love.
9. Make form follow function. When I first arrived at Drexel, microcomputers had just been introduced, giving rise to a frenzied effort to incorporate
them into the classroom. Now online teaching tools are the rage. Before I adopt any tool, I want to weigh what will be lost as well as gained by using it.
Is a slide or PowerPoint presentation worth the loss of eye contact with students? Is the convenience and freedom of online material offset by getting
to know students in the flesh? (For Shakespeare, meeting face to face, three days a week, works best for me, but I can also see the value of a hybrid
approach that would make good use of both online discussion strands and weekly meetings.)
10. Trust your voice and amplify it. Students are supremely attuned to two things: inauthenticity and fear. They will forgive the latter but not the former.
It has taken me years to realize that I don't need to seem smarter or cooler than I am. I can be myself in the classroom. Connected to that is learning
how to be comfortable with ignorance. I used to be horrified of not knowing an answer. Now I see it as an opportunity to model how not to know and
how to learn.
I liken teaching to being a supervisor in a lab where a great discovery is under way. With the oversight of a good teacher, ideas are generated and
synthesized that lift the class and the teacher with it to a place that they couldn't have arrived at alone. I have had that happen: A group of seemingly

lackluster undergraduates, many of them nonhumanities majors, can generate insights as original and powerful as those in a Ph.D. seminar. The
combined work of the whole transcends the limitations of the partsand we all profit and are exhilarated by the experience.
Teaching, like psychoanalysis, is an impossible profession. We can give rules, as I have done, but, to adapt George Orwell's famous caveat, "break
any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous." And what is barbarous for one person in one context may be appropriate for another
in a different context. It is an endeavor as difficult to navigate as life itselfas frustrating and as wondrous.
Peter Hasle, a student in Professor Sarah Zale's English course at Shoreline Community College in north Seattle, Washington, read and responded to
the YES! Magazine article, "Life's Best Lessons are Outside the Classroom" by Daniel Fireside.
Writing prompt: In his article, "Life's Best Lessons are Outside the Classroom," Daniel Fireside reports on a group of schools that are emphasizing
place-based learning, where students not only learn about their local environments, but also actively seek solutions to the problems they encounter.
What has your service-learning project taught you about social injustice and how you can be part of the solution? Do you think this kind of experience
is essential to a good education? If so, why?
Read author Daniel Fireside's response to Peter Hasle's essay here.

An Opportunity to Take Back My Education

Im an international student from Denmark, a country that teaches in a way different than many other countries. Denmark is a country that focuses on
class discussions, group work, and making problem statements. In addition, Danish high school students have more than twice as many oral than
writing exams. We, in Denmark, might think that we are educating students who are better at critical thinking and problem solving in the real world.
After doing my service-learning project, I realized that this was definitely something both the American and Danish education systems could learn
from. Through my service-learning project about international students and their work limitations, I learned that social injustice is closer than we might
think. Going out of the classroom and gaining experiences by compassionately listening to people, I became educated in a whole new way.
Learning outside the classroom was a new form of education for me. I must admit, I wasnt too excited to take an English 101 class at Shoreline
Community College. I thought it would be like Danish English classes, where students analyze and interpret texts and books, which I find rather dull
most of the time. This English class would be nothing like my previous educational experiences. For once, we were told to close our books and get out
of the classroom. In this class, we were to do a final project about a certain group of people who suffered from social injustice. Everything we would do
in the class would have a connection to the final project about social injustice. We, the students, would go out in our community and listen to these
people to learn and understand their situation better.
By going out in the community and getting hands-on experience, you gain much deeper insight and knowledge about problems such as social
injustice. For my final project I chose international students and the social injustice they suffer from work limitations. International students are only
allowed to work within the school campus, which makes the numbers of jobs available for the international students limited. For my project, I went out
in my community and listened to an international student from Hong Kong.
By using compassionate listening skills, I found out how she had experienced social injustice. In class we learned and practiced compassionate
listening techniques, and some of us also attended a compassionate listening course outside of class. Compassionate listening is when you listen to a
person in a non-judgmental and non-adversarial way. You want to analyze the persons feelings and values to understand his or her situation better. I
used compassionate listening to the best of my abilities when listening to the international student. She told me how frustrating and irritating it is to
have so few job options and how hard it can be to get one. From listening to her I got knowledge about this social injustice in a way no textbook or
Internet source could provide. I learned that social injustice is much closer than I imagined. Daniel Fireside wrote in his article Lifes Best Lessons are
Outside the Classroom about how Students who engage directly with their communities and surroundings often see ways to take part in solving
problems. By going out and connecting with people in our community, we can learn from them and gain experiences. We can take those experiences
to come up with solutions to problems in our society. Finding a solution is hard, but before any solution can be found the issue needs to be commonly

known. I can be a part of that process. With my project I can create awareness regarding this injustice, and in that way take the first step towards a
solution.
Service learning took my education to another level. By going out of the classroom and doing this service-learning project, it was a perfect opportunity
for me to get more involved in campus life and get to know people I wouldnt have talked to otherwise. Most of the international students are Asian.
This service-learning project not only taught me about social injustice, but it also gave me a cultural experience. I became good friends with many of
the Asian students, and they taught me much about their cultures. They took me to different Asian restaurants and showed me around Seattles
International District. By doing service learning, students learn much more than they otherwise would learn in a classroom. Fireside says in his article:
The more students are exposed to hands-on learning the more they express an enthusiasm for engaging with their communities and taking care of
the environment. And they gain critical thinking skills. Service learning can teach students valuable skills, while textbooks and classroom teaching
cannot. Through my service learning, I became educated more than any other English class has managed before.
My experience taught me that service learning is a fundamental part of a good education. After doing this service-learning final project on social
injustice, I have not only learned about social injustice and how close it is to my life, but also about it has also educated me in fields beyond social
injustice. I got more engaged in my community and school, I learned about different cultures from my Asian friends, and finally, I learned to see
problems from multiple angles and to think in a more critical way. In a normal English class I would never have had the opportunity to learn all this. For
this reason service learning is an essential part of a good education, and I hope that in my future education, I will be able to gain similar experiences.

Daniel Fireside's Response:

I selected Peters essay from the many fine compositions of his classmates because it best exemplified the kind of process that I highlighted in my
article. A growing number of educators are coming around to the realization that by getting students to engage with the place they inhabit, they can
become better and more engaged learners.
If the teacher had organized the English class in the conventional way, as Peter had expected, the students would have spent all their time going over
textbooks and readings, writing papers on pre-selected topics, and struggling to improve basic English skills. Instead, the assignment forced Peter to
answer a broad question (How do people experience injustice?), by engaging with the community around him. It led not only to a more interesting
experience (one that I bet he will carry with him longer than many other lessons he has learned in school), but also one that was different for each of
his classmates. Peter chose to look at the impact of work restrictions on foreign students. Others spent time exploring the same question facing
groups from gays and lesbians to people with physical and mental disabilities.
Peter and the others experienced this in a college setting. In my article, I saw first-hand how talented and creative elementary school teachers applied
these techniques to an inner-city school in Boston. Instead of relying on drill-and-kill rote learning, the teachers at the Young Achievers school taught
language arts, social studies, public speaking, and project learning to seven-year olds by getting them to engage in a direct way with their own
surroundings. They ended up not only improving their core skills, but also gaining insight into their own history and community.
Some critics of this approach suggest that time spent outside the classroom comes at the expense of learning the basics of a subject. As Peters
example (not to mention a growing number of studies) shows, this is a false choice. Peter describes how the assignment led him to make friends
across cultural divides and helped him gain an understanding of issues affecting his larger community. Even though he discovered that there are no
easy solutions to the problem he wrote about, he writes that he became educated more than [in] any other English class before.

In my article, I wrote that A number of studies by scholars and education groups suggest that the more students are exposed to hands-on learning,
the more they express an enthusiasm for engaging with their communities and taking care of the environment. Its nice to see that Peters
experience, and those of his classmates, confirms this.
My

behavior was
disruptive to
my
classroom-learning environment.
I
am
responsible
for
my
behavior, actions, and
the
choices that
I
make. Mybehavior
made
it
difficult for
me
and
my
classmates to
learn.
My
success isvery important,
and
I
take
my
education seriously. I
understand
that
I
will now have
to
write
a
description
of
what
expectation(s) I
did
not
meet,
why
Ishould not
engage in
this
behavior, and
what
I
need
to
do
instead. Iunderstand
that
each
section
needs to
contain at
least
40
written wordsand that
I
do
have
the
opportunity
to
include a
potential consequence
for my actions. I
will
staple my
Expectation
Essay to
this
cover
page.
Perfect
Classroom

A perfect classroom looks like a big enough sized room that can fit to a minimum of thirty students and enough space for each individual to feel
comfortable to work. Also, a perfect classroom would have a teacher who is lenient but also discipline. Comfortable seats would be a main factor for a
perfect classroom. Also, There would be a computer with Internet access for every student. Finally, having a TV to watch movies that would go with
the
teachers
lessons.
Thirty Students is a good amount to have in classroom because it will not be as crowded as a regular college classroom. Students want to be able to
relax and have their own space to feel comfortable enough to be able to work as hard as they can. When a classroom has more than thirty students it
will be more complicated for the teacher to keep up with every student and can cause chaos. As a student I feel I will not focus if there are more than
thirty students in a classroom because I would feel a lot of pressure and would need enough space to keep to my own where I can really focus and
give
it
my
100%.
A perfect classroom would have a teacher who can be discipline but can be very lenient as well. Every student wants a teacher who can be fun and
exciting and every teacher wants their students to be excited to go to class. Although, the teacher still needs to show some discipline and have rules
that the students need to obey. As a student I feel the teacher needs to be involved in the students education because if any student feels that their
teacher shows no interest, it will give the student no interest into the class. A perfect classroom would be described with a teacher that sets a good
example
that
needs
to
be
done
in
a
classroom.
Comfortable seats would be added to a perfect classroom because students could be sitting for hours in a classroom and could possibly cause back
problems. Every student would want to be able to enjoy their time in a classroom and should be able to...