Managing Danielsons Domain 2: The Classroom Environment

Ryan Knowlton-Grallert

The Physical Environment

Danielsons Second Domain, the Classroom environment, is something that I have been able
to observe frequently as I travelled to multiple school districts over the course of my teacher
preparation program. The physical environment of a classroom is often an indicator of what a
teacher brings to class, from disorganization at the worst to intrigue at the best. Some aspects of
the physical environment I teach in will be limited, either by crowded classes or limited
facilities.
When I lay out a classroom, I am inspired by the types of organization seen in elementary
grades (Domain 2E). If there is enough space, I like to shape the room into multiple distinct areas
with a set of functions. While desks can be aligned in rows, facing each other, or paired I do not
feel like this is enough to best serve all purposes. Working with whatever I am given, I hope to
shape my primary teaching space in a way that would be suited to interaction and flexibility, not
to single goals such as paired work or test taking. What I do will always be reflective of what is
happening in the school, is there a room available for test taking, for instance? Will I have
laptops available whenever I need them or will this be an occasional tool used from a cart? My
classroom needs to physically suit my delivery style, and it also needs to be made up from
whatever I have available to suit whatever my classes need (Domain 2E)..
One aspect of the physical environment that I find particularly helpful is being able to shift
the room to shift focus. Whether between marking periods, or between class units it is important
to remake the room. Psychologically, I aim to use changes in the room to both reestablish best
practices among students and awaken the senses as the environment changes. Students are more
engaged in an engaging space than in a plain room. Depending on what I teach, or student
preference, my room could be themed for content units, or current events. In my experiences, I
have seen life-size cardboard cutouts of politicians, taxidermied animals, display quality student
work, and much more. There is, of course, a caution about theming in that the classroom must
remain professional, but any way in which the space is more interesting or usefully divided I can
leverage to add to student engagement.
The Procedural Environment: Responsibility
Classroom management begins with the teacher. If I model professionalism and
respectfulness, students will act professionally and be respectful. If I model organization,
students will be more organized. This means having my own procedures for attendance, calling
on students, varied activities, and literally everything that will be happening throughout class
time (Domain 2C). Strong procedures allow for rapid and complete transitions that keep
engagement high. This cannot be entirely separated from the physical environment, in which
order of the space leads to order in the mind. I will involve students in procedure and give them
ownership and responsibility over what they and their class are able to accomplish in a day.
 Using backwards design to implement relevant lessons aimed directly at content and skill
goals is the critical aspect of creating a culture for learning. The classroom needs to suit the
purposes of the instruction, and only when instruction is strong will the culture work well. My
organization and clarity, coupled with high quality and interesting content, will be enough to
engage and educate most students.
Difficulties with Individual Students
Having realistic and positive expectations for students over an extended period of time
will be enough to win the majority over and have high engagement. Of those students who
require more, there are two loose categories. In the first, there are students with any of a number
of disabilities or emotional issues, or even the simple stress of consistent low performance. These
students will benefit from having a calm, predictable environment in which to work. It is
important for these students to establish a classroom culture that is focused where requirements
and instructions are clear. This will mean always providing at least two sources of instruction,
meaning the incorporation of visual aids as well as making sure to both write and speak
instructions.
The second category of student who might require more than basic management are the
accelerated and bored students. For these students, I will be sure to keep a range of goals that
they can always be aiming for. Advanced and potentially bored students can be given roles in the
classroom that allow them to help out other students, such as having a designated note taker
whose notes are shared with students with disabilities (Domain 2B). Other classroom jobs, such
as collecting work can be given to students so long as they are not highly concentrated in too
small of a number of students and everybody has a chance.
When individual students cannot be won over to respectful attitudes and academic
purposes by these measures, there does need to be a punitive stage (Domain 2D). As much as
positive reinforcement is stronger and preferable, it is unacceptable for one or a few students to
ruin the learning opportunity for their classmates. There is a need here to defer to school culture
and policy regarding discipline. I will advocate against nearly all cases where my school wants to
apply an out of school suspension, to do this I am willing to have ongoing connections with
parents of troubled students while I seek to make school as engaging and supportive as possible
for them.
Conclusion
The secret of the classroom environment at the secondary level is not a mystery. In fact, it
is nearly the same as what is needed for elementary students. Clarity of purpose, expectations,
and procedure are at the core. As a student teacher, I was able to split a large classroom into two
spacesone group of desks curved around the projector for presenting material and the other
group spaced out at the back of the room to move into group work or to allow a student space for
test taking. Using a split design in the room is a tool I particularly like, when the space is
available, as it provides a great way for students of varying levels to function in the same
classroom (Domain 2C). In this instance, as in all others, I suited what I did with the room and
some procedures around the class and school. Designing the instructional space and procedures
in the context of their intended purpose, rather than haphazardly applying techniques I have seen
or heard about, is the way to make my classes function properly. In the ethos of backwards
design, procedures and the physical space need to be created with specific instructional goals in
mind.