Running Head: WEEK 3 LITERATURE REVIEW

Week 3: Literature Review

Carrie Creger
TED 690
June 23, 2019
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An educator has a significant impact on the environment in which students learn

and the decisions made by the educator or classroom teacher related to environment

and classroom culture can profoundly alter student success. According to Lina Raffaelli,

Author of, 32 Strategies for Building a Positive Learning Environment, she believes that

successful classrooms are made up of certain components that set them apart from

others. Through the discussion of this topic with other educators, Raffaelli came up with

a compilation of assets necessary for a successful learning environment. Three specific

components are believed to be the most critical and necessary in terms of creating a

strong classroom foundation. These three components include; good relationships,

clear communication and trust.

Relationship building is critical with any successful work environment and a

classroom is no different. According to Raffaelli, it is important to “Build positive

relationships with students and parents starting with the first day of school. Let students

get to know you (and each other) by preparing fun icebreakers or exchanging letters.”

Allowing students to get to know the teacher along with peers creates a much more

comfortable environment for all and a little effort such as the implementation of an

icebreaker or other “getting to know you” activity can yield great results.

Communication is another critical piece of a successful classroom. According to

Rafaelli, it is important to use “humor, tech, or other strategies to get on their level.”

Bridging any potential gaps between teacher and parents or teacher and students is an

important aspect when thinking about a positive classroom culture. We all communicate

differently and for some, communication may be a difficult task. If extra effort can be

made with the goal in mind that developing clear communication will help everyone to
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understand expectations and other important details related to the classroom, many

potential pitfalls can be avoided.

Finally, trust is a significant piece when building a strong foundation for a

classroom environment. Trust can be implemented in several critical ways. This

includes trusting yourself as an educator. According to this article, learning to be able to

trust your own instincts and experiences when you are the classroom teacher with make

you more confident in your ability. Additionally, trust your students. Allow students to

have a say in variety of capacities such as floor plan, assignment details or group work.

When students feel as though they are heard and that their thoughts and opinions are

valued, there is an increase in buy in and students are much more engaged with the

classroom activities. Last, trust technology. Creating a digital classroom by

implementing a website or an electronic newsletter will allow parents to stay up to date

with the current events of the classroom.

There are a variety of details that an educator can implement in their classroom,

but the most critical piece is to begin building a solid foundation based on a few basic

principles. For Raffaelli, this came down to three main pieces, however each teacher

can be the ultimate judge as to what will work best in their particular classroom. The

ultimate goal is to keep the best interested of each student in mind and to create the

best possible learning environment for all who enter your classroom.
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Resources

Raffaelli, Lina. (September 3, 2014). 32 Strategies for Building a Positive Learning

Environment. Edutopia. George Lucas Educational Foundation. Retrieved

from: https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/32-strategies-building-positive-learning-

environment